Chapter 16
Finally I can upload the next chapter... Have fun while reading the chapter :D
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Youn gasped in shock, saw to her younger brother who was about to drink the wine. She ran in his direction. Actually, the physician warned her not to be careless with her pregnancy since stress could lead to miscarriage but she didn't care about it right now. Of course, her unborn child was important to her and she wanted it to be born in this world but Arthit was more important to her right now. While running to him, she kept telling herself that she made the right decision. According to herself, she could get pregnant again if luck was by her side. But there wouldn't be another younger brother if something happened to Arthit. There wouldn't be a Crown prince left for her country either.
Before his Highness could taste the wine, Youn managed to snatch the cup out of his hand, smiling at him to hide the real reason for snatching it away.
„You can't drink wine today... I need you to be sober to hear the surprise I want to annouce today", it was a lie but she didn't care about it. Since it was a white lie, she didn't have to feel guilty from hiding his assassination from him. She hide the cup behind her, pouring the wine on the ground without giving him the chance to notice it.
The crown Prince believed her lie. However the maid was in tight spot, feeling scared since the Princess saw through her plan. Now the harsh punishment awaited her. The maid feared her life but another men were angry at their failed plan. They were the prime minister and the minister of Left, the mastermind behind the assassination. The prime minister sensed a dark presence watching him, menacing him. As he looked aside, he realized a young man staring at him, his eyes reflecting the hatred he was feeling towards him. Wait! How did the young man found out about the assassination? Did he notice they were the mastermind?
However Kongpob, the man watching him, remained quiet, sending threats towards him. His fierce look was enough for them to realize how angry he was. They felt intimidated. One thing was sure: that young man was looking for revenge!
Youn hold onto the maid, yanking her to stand up, „I need you to help me with my dress", it was her second white lie. She walked in a direction, dragging her to follow her till they arrived at her own palace. As soon as she called for guards, they appeared out of nowhere, grabbing at the maid so she wouldn't run away.
Slap! It was the loud sound that echoed in the air when Youn slapped the assassin across the face. Her cheek turned red from the hard hit, it hurted like hell.
„Who send you?", the Princess asked, threatening her. She was in rage that someone tried to assassinate Arthit, her only brother who was like her son.
The maid shook her head many times, was crying. „I beg you, spare my life... Please, let me live...", she pleaded while sobbing.
Her pleading for mercy, irritated the angry princess more than before. She grabbed at her chin, gritting her teeth. „Spare you? You want me to let you live after you tried to assassinate my only brother? ...Trust me, I'll make sure to let you suffer until you threw up the truth about your master that send you", she promised before making her guards a sign to take her away. „Bring her in the dungeon... You have to keep your mouth tight about it. I'll cut everyone's tongue if I hear anyone talking about today's incident."
The young assassin screamed for mercy as she was being dragged in the way to the dungeon. Youn sighed in relief, falling deep in thought.
Thanks to Ko Chan Tha she could prevent a big calamity that overshowered her country. Her younger brother almost lost his life due to a poison. When would those many attempt on his life cease? Arthit would never find peace if those higher officials refuse to leave him alone. Because she was worried about him, was she reluctant about leaving the palace for another country. She was always afraid they would succeed to kill him someday but today's incident showed her that she didn't have to worry about him anymore. There was a young man named Ko Chan Tha to protect him.
She felt a shadow watching her whereupon she turned back, only to find Kongpob standing in the hallway. The latter witnessed everything. He approached her but didn't talk to her, he just passed beside her, leaving for his chamber. His wound hurted more than before, he clenched harder onto his stomach to staunch the bleeding. He leaned his left side against the wall to allow himself a short break. A faint moan escaped his mouth.
Youn noticed red colours on the clean ground, it came down from Chan Tha. Blood? Was he bleeding? She dashed to him, wanted to grab at his arm but the latter immediately turned to her, grabbing at her wrist, preventing her from touching him. There was his fierce expression again. Youn was scared of him, she tried to flee by stepping back many times but she failed to escape since the grip he hold her with was too strong.
Just now she complimented him, thankng him for being there for her brother but now she changed her thought about him. Chan Than was loyal to Arthit but he wasn't interested in the other royalties, proving he only cared about Arthit. He would always rescue Arthit if he was in danger. But would he do the same if her other family member was in danger? Surely not!
The grip holding her tightened, she started to feel pain in her hand, it was shaking. Kongpob finally let go of her.
„I'm not a friend of the imperial's law but I want you to show some respect to me."
Kongpob just bowed his head down to her, it was a thank for saving Arthit. He then took the way to his chamber. She pouted behind his back, cursing his rude behaviour for not respecting his elder. Arthit approached her, looked around to see if something unusual happened.
„Did something happen?", she asked him, smiling innocently at him to hide the assassination from today.
„No... Did you see Ko Chan Tha?"
„He went in the direction of your palace."
Arthit nodded his head, was about to walk away but his eldest sister pulled him back to her.
„What's going on between you and Chan Tha?"
„There's nothing between us... He's just my royal guard."
Youn raised one of her eyebrowns, couldn't believe him. The way they were staring at each other was suspiscious enough to let her know that there must be something going on between them. Love was in the air whenever they were beside each other. Arthit and Youn fell in silence, a calm minute passed by. She was enjoying the little moment with her brother, wanted to spend more time with him but he seemed to be busy with something else. No, he seemed to worry about someone else. He was even searching for him, always distraction his attention from her to look at the direction Chan Tha disappeared. Now that he found someone more important and capable than her, he was seeking for that person, couldn't wait to see him. He didn't need her anymore. She wasn't jealous of Chan Tha. No, she really wasn't. She was in denial with her own feelings. Okay, she was a little bit jealous of him. But just a little bit for stealing her cute brother from her.
„Do you feel something for him?", her calm voised asked, breaking the silence.
This sudden question took him aback, he froze on the spot, couldn't answer due to the shock. He stuttered, wanted to say something but shut his mouth a second later. Whatever he wanted to say, he had the feelings he should keep it a secret or else he would regret it later. His instinct warned him not to say anthing word. A fresh breeze blowed over them, Arthit's heart skipped a beat while thinking about Kongpob. His stomach twisted when he thought about seeing him soon, he missed him although he just left for a moment.
„Does your heart beat faster whenever you think about him?"
Indeed his head skipped a beat whenever Kongpob was next to him. It threatened to jump out of his chest if the latter smiled at him, showing him his seldom but cute side. He thought he was going crazy since he never felt like that toward another person. „Yeah but... I don't know why... I don't know why I'm feeling like that only by him..."
„I see."
„Do you think I'm sick?"
She shook her head, smiling at his sweet artlessness for not knowing why his heart was restless whenever he was beside Ko Chan Tha. He was in love with him but thought that he was sick. Too cute! „No, you're not sick... You told me everything I want to know... Now go to him... He seems to be in pain", she told him.
As soon as he heard about him being in pain, he left his sister, ran to his own palace, ignored every guards speaking or bowing down to him. The only important matter right now was his Kongpob. His heart beated faster the more he came closer to the chamber. He rushed in the chamber without announcing his visit, waiting in front of the entrance. Kongpob was in front of him, faced him with his back, his upper body undressed from the cloth. The taller man was pressing something onto his stomach, there was a pool of blood on the ground beside him.
Kongpob turned back, finally noticed the Crown Prince waiting before him. Arthit's saw him from head to his stomach. The latter was ashen, was clenching at the reopned wound. He was trembling, fighting to not fall unconscious. It wasn't hard to see that he had difficulty to stand straight at his own feet. The shorter man's face dropped, he froze on the spot, was lost for words at first. His heart pained to see his most important guard being in pain. It was too much for him, he couldn't take it anymore. His eyes filled with tears, he slowly walked to him. He wanted to yell at him for being an idiot but he hold back his tears. Instead he tried to take care of him first.
„What're you...", Kongpob asked.
„Shut up! You're not allowed to speak to me!", Arthit said with a serious voice, his blood boiling from rage, anger writting in his face. He took Kongpob's arm to rest it around his own shoulder then laid his own arm around the latter's hips.
Now that the taller man supported by him, he could stand straight at his feet. His Highness helped him to move forward. Together they walked toward the bed, Arthit let Kongpob sat down on the bed. He wanted to exit the room but his guard grabbed at his hand, preventing him from leaving him.
„Where're you going?", the soldier asked.
Arthit shot him a deadly glare, clearly showing him that he was angry at him for hiding something so important from him. He yanked his hand out of his grip, talked to him without facing him.
„I told you to shut up! Don't talk to me if you don't want to fight with me this night", the shorter man warned him to hold in for his own sake. He was calm while leaving the room but something else happened outside when he disappeared from Kongpob's sight. As soon as he left him, he couldn't keep his strong face anymore. He was scared his beloved guard would die. His heart couldn't stop thumping so hard, he felt restless, was worried about Kongpob. He rushed in the kitchen, searched for a pot, tumbled over the table that he almost fell down to the ground. His foot hurted but he clenched his teeth's, telling himself that his pain could not be compared to Kongpob's suffering.
Because he was the crown prince who never worked nor set foot in the kitchen, he didn't knew where to find the items he was searching for. His memory about the last time he came here before visiting Kongpob and Maprang in the dungeon came to his mind, he remembered where he found the items. He quickly opened the storage in another room. There they were! He took a bigger pot, filled luke warm water that was breawed in the pot then ran back to Kongpob.
Meanwhile the latter was fighting with himself, trying to remain conscious like Arthit wished from him. His eyes were closing slowly but he managed to open them again. He leaned his back against the wall, the hand clenching onto his wound weakened, it nearly fell down. Some guards met the crown prince on their way to their watch post, they immediately offered him their help but he politely rejected them. A few of them refused to let him work like a servant but he yelled at them by telling them to not block his way because he was in hurry. Finally he returned to his Kongpob, laid the pot on the ground, took many dressings and silk from the table then quickly sat down beside him on the bed. There was too much blood gushing out of the big wound. Arthit felt helpless, didn't knew where to begin with the blood. It scared him but he had to maintain calm for Kongpob's sake.
„Why... didn't you... call the physician?", the injured guard asked him, was worried he wouldn't handle such unexpected situation. His Highness took care of his injury before but with the royal's physician's help. Only with the physician's support, didn't he panick. Don't misunderstood Kongpob. He wasn't afraid that the latter would make his injury worse but he was worried about him. In his bad state, he was still worried about Arthit ending up being traumatized after treating such a badly wound. It could leave a scar in him - a scar he didn't want to torture him for the rest of his life. Because he care for him, he didn't want him to treat him for Arthit's own sake.
But Kongpob underestimated Arthit. The shorter man was clueless in matter of state affairs and poor in judging people but he would turn into a brave man when it was about his people. He would change into a serious man, brave man if it was about Kongpob. He wanted to take care of his guard himself so he didn't call for the physician's help. Right, he could do it by himself too since it was about saving Kongpob's life.
Arthit gulped down, braved himself then took some silk to press onto the wound. After he managed to staunch the injury, he cleaned the wound till the last blood stain on the stomach.
While the shorter man was treating his wound, the taller man had his eyes on him the whole time. Arthit was so close to him, he could smell his body fragance that had a mixing smell: The was a nice fragance of roses on him, just like a royalty should smell. But there was a sweat smell coming from him too. Arthit soaked with sweat, was because of him. Because he had to run to help him, he sweated. But Kongpob like this mixing scent. It showed that Arthit was a normal human being too, he would sweat if he was in a tricky position too. It showed how much Arthit didn't care about the law. It showed how much he cared for Kongpob. A little smile appeared on the taller man's face, the smile turned brighter as Arthit bit on his underlip to concentrate.
Arthit had to concentrate on his task. After cleaning the wound, he began to dress it just like the physician explained to him last time. He remained silent while doing his work, didn't want to speak to Kongpob since the only words coming out of his mouth, would be curses. Not only was he angry at him but he seemed disappointed in him too. The taller man hiding his compounded condition from him, meant he didn't consider him as an important person to share his pain with. It hurted to be casted away by the person he admired, liked and even had unknown feelings for.
His Highness managed to dress the wound properly, knoted the end of the bandage to fix it. Now he adverted his attention to Kongpob, their eyes met. The more time passed by, the sadder Arthit got. He felt hurt and sad too that Kongpob didn't consider him as important enough to tell him the truth about his wound. But he was disappointed at himself that he failed to notice his bad condition just because he was too busy with the banquet. They remained quiet, let a calm minute pass by before the shorter man just took the taller man's hand and placed it on his chest, let him feel his too fast beating heart.
„Thuthump, Thuthump, Thuthump...", it was the sound his heart was making.
A calm atmosphere laid in the air, the only sound Kongpob listened to was Arthit's pondering heart. Why was it beating so fast? Did something happen to him that made him feel anxious? Kongpob was curious, wanted to know the reason for the crown prince to feel unsettled.
„This is how I feel when I found out about your worsened condition... I'm worried about you. Why didn't you tell me about it? Why do I have to learn about it from my sister?"
Kongpob was still flabbergasted after knowing that Arthit's heart was beating harder when he was by his side. It flattered him but it scared him too because the prince's feeling the same just like him. But Arthit's next question yanked him from his daydream, he didn't expect him to think negative about himself.
„Is it because I'm helpless?"
„No", Kongpob immediately denied, he almost ended up telling him the truth about the assassination.
„Then why?"
Arthit looking at him with his puppy like eyes, was Kongpob's weakness. The defense he built around himself began to crumble because of the beautiful young man in front of him. He stared aside, avoiding the sad look in the shorter man's eyes. The only way to prevent himself to succumb to him completely, was to ignore him for the time being. „Well, you seemed busy with the beautiful maid so I didn't dare to interrupt you", the guard said. Of course, it was a lie to cover the truth reason for him hiding his reopened injury. He wanted to protect him but didn't want him to found out how the injury was caused. It would cause a big uproar if he heard about the assassination attempt on him.
„It's... it's not true", Arthit stuttered, found himself under pressure to offer an explanation. His voice quievered, „I... I have to be polite toward the maid", was his explaination. Wait! Why did he felt the urge to clear the misunderstanding? It's not like they were lover and he had to tell him that he didn't cheat on him. Wait! Lo... Lovers? Why did he come to such conclusion that they weren't lovers? Seriously, why lovers?
The crown prince felt the need to flee from this awkwardness. But before he could walk away from his feelings, a cold hand grabbed at his wrist, preventing him from escaping. He looked from the strong hand up to the man that was holding him. As he turned back to face him, he didn't realize the taller man already standing up that he bumped his head against Kongpob's chest! Both of them were standing too close to each other.
Kongpob smiled, he decided to initial the first move, wanted to satisfy his lust. Ever since he found out about him having special feelings for Arthit, he always wanted to touch him, be there for him, calming him by telling him that everything would be alright someday. His hand moved forward, resting on Arthit's cheek. He caressed at his pale skin, was careful as if the latter was something precious, a fragile object that could shatter if it was touched with too much strength. His thumb went over Arthit's cheek, wipping away the single teardrop that streamed down his eye, sending shivers down the prince's spine.
His Highness could feel the taller man's warmth raising his own body temperature. It calmed him down. It felt good to be caressed by Kongpob. On the other hand, Kongpob could feel how his pain relieved while touching his highness, the wound didn't hurt anymore. Both of them were in their own world, ignoring their surroundings filled with schemes, crimes, jealousy, hate and treason.
„I'm sorry that I hide important matters from you... I won't do that again", was Kongpob's promise to him.
Arthit's eyes widened in surprise, he couldn't believe that the always serious Kongpob promised something to him, using a soft voice too. The promise made him think that their relastionship could last forever if he really keep his promise. It gave him the security that Kongpob would never leave him. He wished they would be together till they grew old. Please, let this time freeze on this moment. Please, fate don't seperate us. Or else he wouldn't be able to handle another seperation.
„Promise?", he asked him to assure himself.
„I promise", was his last words. Even Kongpob wished the time would freeze this very minute. In this very moment both of them seemed to be normal men, sharing their feelings without being bound to any duties for the sake of their countries. He didn't have to betray him in the end just like his family was expecting from him. Even if he wished them to be normal people, cruel reality always caught up to him, letting him remember the reason he was sent in Burma. Why were they born in different countries? Why were they born with such ill fate? Today, Kongpob began to scrutinise his intention to destroy Burma. He didn't want to lose Arthit. Moreover he didn't want to hurt him.
They thought they were alone but a person was listening to their conversation outside. The person was smiling but tears rolled down her eyes. She was moved from their relationship, granted them to be happy for eternity. Youn was happy that her younger brother found a man who could provide his safety and happiness. Ko Chan Tha proved himself that he was worthy enough to leave her younger brother in his hand. After today's assassination attempt, she realized that he was the only one who could make Arthit happy and protect him from the evilness of the corrupt higher officials.
Even if she knew he didn't care about her other siblings, it didn't matter as long as Arthit was precious to him. Now it was time for her to let go of her younger brother. She had to let go of her beloved son. The child finally grew up and became mature. Now he need to find his own place where he belongs to. It was sad to let go of him but she had to do it for his own sake. She approved of their relationship, even blessed them to live in happiness.
„Please, don't let me down", she mumbled. The last plead was directed at Kongpob.
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Arthit survived the assissation thanks to Kongpob. Both of them finally realized that they were Feelings something Special toward each other. Let's wait and see where their relationship/love would lead them. Unfortunately there would be sacrifices on their way to freedom :(
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