Keel watched his younger brother angrily storm away. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
How could Myriem still not know that his 'wife' was a man?!
Keel stepped away and turned around, but didn't move. Ina dropped out of the shadows a moment later, bowing in preparation for her expected orders.
Ina waited. After a long moment, she looked up and saw Keel staring blankly.
"...Your Highness?"
"My younger brother is an idiot," Keel said flatly. Ina simply bowed her head.
"... As your Highness says."
Keel frowned at her. Ina hid a sigh.
She couldn't scorn Myriem, neither could she defend him. Keel's complicated feelings towards his younger brother never failed to make her sigh helplessly.
"Will your Highness return to his study?" She prompted, hoping to get him out of his disbelieving reverie. Keel shook his head slightly and then gave a sharp nod, and Ina followed him to his study.
Keel was lost in thought, frowning as he contemplated what to do. Recalling Myriem's coldness, a wave of hopeless incredulity caused him to sigh.
'I'm doing you a favour here, foolish younger brother.'
Younger brothers were younger for a reason, Keel determined, putting it out of mind. It was Myriem's problem, what did Keel have to care? Keel entered his private study.
He took two steps in before he looked up and froze.
Fien reclined casually on Keel's chaise lounge, lounging comfortably with her legs up on the cushions. Snacking on his favourite blood oat bites in his private study, Fien gave Keel a welcoming smile.
"Keel Ani-jaan!" she greeted cheerfully and waved at him, but remained in her disrespectful posture.
Keel's brow twitched, and his fist clenched as he watched his younger sister spill more of his favourite snack on the carpet than in her mouth.
She didn't even like blood oat bites. She was just being a nuisance.
Keel took a deep breath. "Fien-chi."
Fien smiled sweetly, wiggling her toes at him. "Is Ani-jaan not coming in?"
Keel eyed her toes in disgust. His private study had become her playground so easily. It truly made one despair. Keel turned and gave the guards at the door an accusing look. They shivered and looked down, but didn't move to remove her at all.
Sorry, your Highness, but we're scared of her more than you, they thought in unison. Ina politely shut the door on their faces and they sighed a breath of relief.
At the center of this farce, Keel's face stiffened and turned cold. He turned his back to Fien and warily walked to his desk, seating himself without a word.
Fien lay down, reclining her body over the arm of the chaise to look at Keel upside-down.
"Ani-jaan, guess what? Havine Aji-jaan's first commander's wife is pregnant with their third child," she babbled. "Do you think it will be a girl or a boy?"
Keel didn't reply. He stiffly opened a scroll and began reading the expenditure report of his trip to the Country of Aselan. He had to confirm the total before sending it to the Ministry of Revenue, and he couldn't allow a single mistake.
"You know who else is pregnant? One of the siren maidens who came with the Siren Princess recently. Her name is Miya and she's my new friend. She's said to be handsome, and she has more muscle than you." Fien stuck her tongue out at him. "Who does Keel-ani think she slept with?"
YOU ARE READING
Of Thrones and Heartstones #BL
FantasyA blood pact is eternal, and Third Prince Myriem Lee has to make his by the end of the year. Myriem had every intention of binding his fate to his darling best friend, Darien. And then his parents announce that they found him a partner - the siren p...
