[BL] Alpha, You've Got the Wrong Mate!

Chapter 354 — I Can Escape Twice

Lying on the floor with an open book over his face, he looked no different from a dead person—still, unmoving.

"Why are you here again?" Vincent groaned as soon as he heard footsteps approaching.

He didn’t need to ask who it was. There was only one person whose footsteps were this light—Ilyan.

"Woah! I was sure I was being careful this time," the lavender-haired young man said, pulling the book away from Vincent’s face, a bright grin on his lips.

The other young man glared at him, crossing his arms.

"I didn’t get enough sleep because of the battle yesterday, Ilyan. Can you not?"

Ilyan’s mouth parted slightly, clearly surprised by Vincent’s words.

"Eh? But why would you participate? Shouldn’t you just stay back and let your knights fight? Your mother might worry to death if you get injured."

Vincent’s gaze didn’t soften upon hearing his friend’s words. After all, he knew better than anyone that his mother might not even notice his absence, let alone his injuries. Perhaps, instead of worrying about him, she would simply discard him completely. Yet it would be a lie to say the thought had never crossed his mind. Instead, he had chosen to prove his worth to her by fighting in the war against Revhara.

"I wish that were the case..." he muttered, his voice so low that Ilyan failed to hear him.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing," Vincent exhaled sharply, leaning against the back of the chair once again.

Ilyan raised an eyebrow, clearly doubtful. There was surely something wrong, but he knew his friend far too well. Vincent would never tell him what it was.

"Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to lately? I haven’t seen you at the main temple all this time. I’ve heard you’ve been hanging around that deserted place where it’s forbidden."

Ilyan froze. But in the next heartbeat, he forced a smile—the brightest kind.

"W-What are you talking about? Why would I go against Her Holiness’s orders?"

Vincent hummed, not answering. He couldn’t tell him that everything that happened in the Temple was always reported to her. It was as if she had not two, not three, but countless eyes watching everything. Yet he was the only one who never caught her attention enough to be summoned to her main quarters—like that child...

"Who knows?" he sighed, closing his eyes once again. "Maybe you’ve finally become brave."

Unlike me...

***

When he opened his eyes again, everything was bright. Countless dazzling chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

He had returned to the banquet of the Imperial Crown Prince.

Back to the present. Away from the fragmented memories of the past. Back to the world where his sole friend no longer existed.

All because he hadn’t dared to go against his mother. Because he had craved even the smallest ounce of her love, her affection—something he now knew he might never obtain.

As he looked over the crowd of unfamiliar faces, he once again spotted Raniel.

He was smiling.

He didn’t look like the man Vincent remembered. Not at all. Vincent noticed how different this version of Raniel was from the one he had known. It was a little different from the smile he used to show around Ilyan. Not brighter—certainly not—but there was no worry on his face. His gaze wasn’t darting across the hall, afraid of being caught.

He simply looked... carefree.

Vincent’s heart ached for a reason he couldn’t name.

Was it envy?

Was it anger?

He couldn’t quite tell.

Soon, what felt like an endless night finally came to an end.

Some servants were sent back to their quarters, while others were directed to a place arranged for the extra servants who had arrived only for the banquet.

Vincent lay on the floor with nothing but a thin blanket to keep himself warm. He wasn’t used to the cold of Ravhara—not when he came from a southern continent. It was much warmer there, even in winter.

And they call this spring?

He scoffed inwardly. It was laughable to him that this cold place still felt warmer than his large bedroom in the Temple.

Must be because they have a proper hearth to keep the room warm... or maybe it’s because there are so many people here.

He told himself, glancing at the countless other servants sleeping beside him.

Just then, the sound of something falling caught his attention.

He jolted upright immediately.

"Who is it?" he muttered, narrowing his gaze.

A thief? At this hour?

Well, it wouldn’t be surprising for a servant’s greed to take over after witnessing the luxury in which the Imperial family lived.

Springing to his feet, he stepped out of the room slowly and carefully. His gaze darted through the darkness until he noticed a faint light a few meters away. His eyesight in the dark was poor—one of the many reasons his mother often scorned him.

Under the dim glow of the hallway torches, he spotted a far too familiar figure standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Vincent asked, raising an eyebrow. "Raniel."

The silver-haired man didn’t speak. He fidgeted with his hands, his gaze fixed on the floor as if something interesting were happening there—when in reality, there was nothing.

"Aren’t you afraid I might truly kidnap you, bring you to Mother, and make you live that life you barely escaped—only to be caught by me?" Vincent grinned, crossing his arms. There was pride in his voice, although in his heart he knew better than anyone that it wasn’t what he truly wanted to do.

But he was bound by his mother’s orders. He was trapped in this relationship knitted by blood.

She was all he had.

"Why should I fear that? I escaped once. I can escape twice."

"Your friends won’t be there to help you. Nor will Ilyan."

Ah.

That was the thin line Vincent shouldn’t have crossed.

It was a name he should never have used to provoke Ren, whose crimson eyes snapped upward as if they held fire within them—burning flames that could turn Vincent to ashes.

"Hah... You truly are an asshole."