Chapter 5-The Palace That Waited For Him

The royal west wing did not look like part of a palace anymore.

It looked like Seo Jaemin lived there.

The cold gold interiors had disappeared entirely.

Now there were soft black couches, floor-to-ceiling windows, expensive gaming consoles still unopened, shelves filled with luxury fashion books Jaemin once glanced at for three seconds, and a ridiculous amount of strawberry desserts arranged across the dining table.

Jaemin stood in the middle of it all wearing Cassian’s oversized hoodie and stared silently.

“…You’re insane.”

Cassian, standing nearby with one hand in his pocket, answered calmly.

“You said the palace felt suffocating.”

“So you rebuilt an entire wing?”

“Yes.”

Jaemin turned slowly.

“You’re saying that like it’s normal.”

Cassian looked genuinely confused. “Is it not?”

Jaemin burst out laughing.

God.

No wonder the ministers looked dead inside all the time.

He walked deeper into the suite lazily while servants bowed and disappeared instantly.

Cassian had trained the palace staff well.

Nobody bothered Jaemin.

Nobody questioned him.

Nobody stopped him.

At this point he practically outranked half the royal family.

Jaemin opened a random door.

A walk-in closet.

Filled.

Completely filled.

He blinked.

“…Cassian.”

“Yes?”

“Why are there clothes here?”

“You stay over often.”

“These still have tags.”

“I wasn’t sure what mood you’d be in.”

Jaemin slowly turned back toward him.

“You bought an entire wardrobe based on my moods?”

Cassian loosened his cuffs slightly. “You complain when your clothes are uncomfortable after drinking.”

Silence.

Jaemin honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or call a psychiatrist.

Instead he grabbed a silk shirt from the rack.

“Pretty.”

“I thought you’d like it.”

Of course he did.

Cassian had memorized his taste years ago.

The scary part?

He never got it wrong.

—

Later that night, Jaemin lay upside down across the giant couch while scrolling through social media.

Cassian sat nearby reviewing state documents.

The atmosphere was strangely domestic.

Comfortable.

Dangerously so.

Jaemin suddenly read aloud from his phone.

“‘Seo Jaemin seen entering the palace again. Citizens joke that His Majesty should simply marry him already.’”

Cassian’s pen paused.

Only for a second.

Jaemin noticed anyway.

Interesting.

He smirked faintly to himself before continuing dramatically:

“‘The king looked happier standing beside Seo Jaemin than during diplomatic meetings.’”

Cassian returned to signing papers calmly. “The diplomatic meetings are unpleasant.”

“And I’m pleasant?”

“Yes.”

Direct again.

Always direct in these tiny harmless ways.

Jaemin looked at him lazily from upside down.

Really.

If Cassian ever confessed openly, it would probably sound just as simple.

Stay with me.

I’ll kill everyone else for you.

You’re pleasant.

Jaemin almost laughed imagining it.

A servant suddenly approached nervously.

“Your Majesty.”

“What.”

“The former queen requests Young Master Arden leave the palace before midnight.”

The room chilled instantly.

Cassian did not even look up from the documents.

“No.”

“T-The former queen said—”

“I heard you.”

The servant paled immediately.

Jaemin watched quietly.

Ah.

Here it comes.

Cassian finally placed the pen down carefully.

“Did she forget whose palace this is?”

“N-No, Your Majesty.”

“Then remind her.”

The servant practically fled.

Jaemin clicked his tongue softly. “You’re mean to your mother.”

Cassian looked at him.

“That woman watched servants beat me as a child because she was afraid of losing her crown.” His voice stayed calm. “She stopped being my mother long ago.”

Jaemin hummed.

Not sympathy.

Not judgment.

Just acknowledgment.

Cassian relaxed slightly again afterward.

Only around Jaemin could ugly truths exist without becoming dramatic.

—

Meanwhile, in another part of the palace—

Queen Evelyne shattered a teacup against the wall.

“That little actor is still here?!”

The servants trembled silently.

Former King Leopold sat in his wheelchair nearby looking murderous.

“He humiliates us intentionally,” the old king spat.

Evelyne’s nails dug into her palms.

Ever since Cassian became king, their lives had become a nightmare.

Royal authority stripped.

Political influence erased.

Personal staff replaced.

Even the guards outside their residence answered to Cassian now.

And the center of it all—

Seo Jaemin.

That damned boy.

Leopold’s face twisted with disgust. “A future king reduced to following an actor around like a dog.”

Evelyne lowered her voice carefully.

“You know how he becomes regarding that boy.”

The former king sneered.

“Yes. Weak.”

“No,” Evelyne whispered fearfully. “Dangerous.”

She still remembered the night Cassian paralyzed his father.

The silence.

The blood.

The terrifying calmness in his eyes afterward.

He hadn’t looked human.

And all because Leopold drunkenly suggested marrying Jaemin off politically to another royal family.

Evelyne suddenly spoke again.

“He cannot continue this relationship publicly.”

Leopold’s eyes narrowed.

“You have an idea.”

Her expression hardened slowly.

“If Seo Jaemin disappears…”

Silence.

Then the former king laughed darkly.

“Yes,” he muttered. “Let’s finally see whether our son loves the crown more…”

“…or that boy.”

—

Back in the west wing, Jaemin had fallen half asleep on the couch.

One sock missing.

Hair messy.

Phone still in hand.

Cassian quietly approached after finishing work.

For a long moment, he simply looked at him.

This—

This was the only peace he ever knew.

Not the throne.

Not victory.

Not power.

Just this spoiled, reckless man sleeping in his palace like he belonged there.

Cassian carefully removed the phone from Jaemin’s hand.

Jaemin stirred slightly.

“…Cassian?”

“I’m here.”

A sleepy hum.

Then Jaemin unconsciously reached for him.

Small habit.

Old habit.

Ever since they were teenagers.

Whenever Jaemin got sleepy, he became clingier without realizing.

Cassian’s chest tightened painfully.

Jaemin’s fingers caught his sleeve lightly.

“Stay.”

One word.

Careless.

Half asleep.

Probably meaningless.

To Cassian, it felt catastrophic.

He sat beside him immediately.

Jaemin shifted closer against him naturally, still barely awake.

Cassian looked down silently at the man curled against his side.

So warm.

So trusting.

If Jaemin knew the things Cassian had done—

No.

He couldn’t know.

Cassian would never allow him to see that ugliness.

Never.

Jaemin suddenly mumbled sleepily against his shoulder:

“You smell like smoke again.”

Cassian froze.

For one dangerous second, silence filled the room.

Then Jaemin only frowned slightly in his sleep.

“Don’t like it.”

Cassian relaxed slowly.

“…Sorry.”

Jaemin hummed and fell deeper asleep.

Cassian stared at him for a very long time afterward.

Then quietly pulled a blanket over him with terrifying gentleness.

Outside the palace windows, all of Elarion slept peacefully beneath their king’s rule.

Nobody knew their monarch had blood on his hands tonight again.

Because an actor somewhere had cried while drunk over Seo Jaemin.

And Cassian could tolerate many things.

Just never tears connected to him.

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