’I have to do this.’
Heinz’s gaze remained impassive, but his mind was calculating, turning over every possibility. He had already made his decision—there was no other choice. He exhaled through his nose before turning to Lysander, who was watching him with poorly concealed apprehension.
"I will be the one to help him," Heinz stated evenly.
Lysander stiffened. "Your Majesty, surely you do not mean—"
"I do."
The royal physician looked genuinely unsettled. "Your Majesty, I understand your concern for Prince Florian, but there are others who can—"
Heinz cut him off with a single glance. "Exactly." His voice was calm, deliberate. "I am the king. Florian is part of my harem. It is only correct that I take responsibility."
Lysander opened his mouth as if to protest but quickly shut it. There was nothing he could say against that. Heinz’s word was absolute.
Still, hesitation lingered in the man’s posture. Heinz took a step forward, closing the space between them, his gaze sharpening. "Leave. And make sure no one comes in."
Lysander swallowed hard. "Your Majesty—"
"Do not tell a soul what is about to happen here." Heinz lifted his hand, and magic crackled at his fingertips—raw, tangible power that sent a chill down Lysander’s spine. A warning. A promise.
Lysander paled, his breath hitching. He knew Heinz’s power. Knew that he was not a man who bluffed.
"...Understood," Lysander murmured, bowing his head in submission.
"Good," Heinz said, the threat lingering in the air even as he lowered his hand. "Now, get out."
Lysander didn’t hesitate this time. With one last glance at the writhing figure on the bed, he turned on his heel and left, shutting the door behind him.
Silence settled over the room.
And for the first time, Heinz was alone with Florian.
He didn’t move immediately. He stood at the door, staring at the trembling boy before him. Florian’s body was slick with sweat, his chest rising and falling in uneven pants. Shackles rattled against the bed frame as he shifted, his emerald eyes glazed with delirium.
"...H-Heinz..." Florian whimpered, voice hoarse and needy. "Please... it hurts..."
Heinz exhaled sharply, forcing himself forward.
Never in his life did he think this moment would come.
That he would touch Florian.
The boy he had ignored, the boy who had once loved him desperately, the boy who had sobbed in front of him and sworn he wished he had never loved him at all.
And yet—
Here they were.
Not because of love. Not because of desire.
But because Heinz had no choice.
Right.
He had no choice.
He approached the bedside, his steps slow, deliberate. The air between them was thick—heavy with heat, with desperation, with something unnamed yet undeniable.
Florian’s fever-bright eyes latched onto him the moment he drew near, pupils blown wide, his breath catching in his throat. His expression shifted—pleading, mindless, lost in something far beyond reason.
"Y-You came..." Florian’s voice was barely above a whisper, but it struck Heinz like a physical blow. His lips parted, trembling, his body arching slightly toward him as if drawn by an invisible force. "Please... please touch me, Heinz..."
Heinz’s fingers curled at his sides.
This wasn’t real.
This was the aphrodisiac talking—clouding Florian’s mind, twisting his thoughts, warping his senses until he didn’t know what he was saying. Until he was begging for something he would never ask for otherwise.
And yet—
The way his voice shook, the way his body reacted just from Heinz standing near him, the way he trembled as if the absence of touch was agony in itself—
It was enough to unnerve him.
He lowered himself onto the edge of the bed.
Florian whimpered at the proximity, his bound wrists tugging at the restraints, his breath coming in quick, uneven gasps. His skin was flushed, damp with fever, and his body twisted helplessly beneath the silk sheets.
"Shh." Heinz placed a firm hand on his shoulder, trying to steady him. "Calm down."
But Florian only shuddered at the touch, twisting beneath his fingers as if that single point of contact wasn’t enough.
"Heinz—more—" His breath hitched, his legs shifting restlessly, the chains preventing him from pressing against the man before him. "I-I need—"
Heinz inhaled sharply, forcing his muscles to remain still, forcing his thoughts to remain sharp.
’How do I even begin?’
He had no experience with this. Not with Florian. Not with anyone. Not like this.
Obligation. Responsibility.
That was all this was.
He forced himself to move—to do what needed to be done.
For Florian’s sake.
His fingers hovered just above Florian’s fevered skin, hesitation locking his joints in place. The heat radiating from his body was unbearable, as if he were burning alive from the inside out. A sharp exhale left Heinz’s lips. He could feel the sweat gathering at his own temples—not from the heat, but from the weight of what he was about to do.
Florian whimpered again—a sound so broken, so utterly desperate that something in Heinz’s chest clenched tight. His hips twitched involuntarily, his bound wrists trembling against the restraints, his entire body seeking something he could not grant himself.
"Please," Florian breathed. "Please, Heinz—just touch me. I need it. I need you."
His words struck something raw inside Heinz.
A memory surfaced, unbidden—Florian’s voice from another time, another place. A voice untainted by fever, by desperation, by anything other than quiet, painful sincerity.
"Your Majesty, Heinz... I love you."
The contrast was unbearable.
Heinz’s hands clenched into fists. He had sworn to himself that he would never let sentimentality dictate his actions again. Sentiment had gotten him killed once before.
And yet—
Before he could think better of it, his hand moved. His fingertips brushed against the damp skin of Florian’s wrist, and a violent shudder wracked through Florian’s body at the mere touch. His breath stuttered, his lashes fluttering as he arched, as if his entire being was wired to Heinz’s presence alone.
"More," Florian whimpered, his voice barely more than a breath. "More—please, please—"
Heinz exhaled sharply through his nose. His control was slipping, his resolve fraying at the edges.
This was nothing.
Just an obligation.
A responsibility.
That was all.
And yet, as Florian writhed beneath him, his entire body aching for relief that only Heinz could grant him, that bitter taste in Heinz’s mouth deepened.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.
But it was how things were.
’I have to stop stalling. I already decided on this.’
Heinz’s hands hovered over Florian’s chains, his magic crackling to life at his fingertips. With a single motion, the restraints shattered. The sound of metal breaking filled the room, but neither of them moved for a heartbeat.
Then, Heinz rose to his feet.
Florian followed his every motion, his fevered gaze fixed on him, his body trembling as if caught between the ghost of his restraints and the anticipation of something more.
Heinz met his gaze, his expression unreadable.
"I hope we both do not regret this."