Ten months later.
Ten whole months since the documents were signed, since vows were sealed beneath stained glass and quiet applause.
Nael lay sprawled across the cushioned bench near his chamber balcony, staring up at the painted ceiling with exaggerated despair.
"It's been ten months," he declared dramatically.
Leo, seated at the nearby desk reviewing military dispatches, did not look up. "I am aware."
"Ten months that we've been betrothed."
"Yes."
Nael turned his head slowly toward him. "Leo."
A pause.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Nael narrowed his eyes. "Let's go abroad or somewhere far away."
The quill in Leo's hand stilled mid-stroke.
"…Abroad huh?."
"Yes," Nael said, sitting up abruptly. "Far away. Somewhere warm where no one will not know us. Somewhere no one cares about royal decrees or court whispers. We'll live there forever. Quietly. Freely."
Leo placed the quill down carefully before turning to face him fully.
"That is not a small suggestion or decision we can take freely without any consideration."
Nael hopped off the bench and walked toward him, hands clasped behind his back like a plotting child.
"We could disappear. Take new names. You could open a fencing school or something you want. I'll…" He paused. "I'll do something impressive."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"
"I don't know yet," Nael muttered. "But I would."
Leo stood slowly.
"You are under direct protection of the king," he said evenly. "Your movements are tracked. Guards rotate shifts around you. Messengers report regularly. How exactly do you propose we vanish without a trace?"
Nael gave him a sharp side-eye.
"I've told you many times," he said accusingly. "And you always reject it."
"Because it is unrealistic."
Nael stepped closer, poking his chest lightly. "Or because you don't want to?"
Leo looked down at the finger against his uniform.
"I don't want you harmed."
"That's not what I asked."
A beat of silence.
Nael's voice softened, though his eyes were searching.
"Did you fall in love with me?"
Leo answered without hesitation.
"No."
The word landed flat.
Nael blinked.
Leo continued calmly, "I am simply worried about you."
Nael's mouth dropped open. "That's worse."
"It is honest."
Nael turned away with a dramatic spin, throwing his arms up.
"It's suffocating here," he burst out. "Every corridor has eyes. Every garden walk has whispers. Every noble stares like I'm some rare exhibit."
He looked back at Leo, frustration cracking through his usual playful tone.
"I can't bear their eyes anymore."
Leo watched him quietly.
"I just want to breathe without someone reporting it to Father. I'm not like his younger brother, I won't end up like him."
His voice trembled faintly on the last word.
His voice, when he spoke again, was softer.
"I've already escaped once," he said quietly. "During my college last year."
Leo's jaw tightened immediately.
"You were caught in two days," he interrupted. "And that time you didn't even tell me."
Nael turned halfway, eyes shining now.
"I didn't need to."
"You absolutely did."
"If something happened then?" Leo's voice sharpened—not loud, but edged. "You vanished without informing your assigned guard, without leaving a trace. Do you know what that was like?"
Nael looked away.
"I was fine."
"That is not the point."
Nael pouted faintly, though the expression trembled at the edges.
"Something did happen," he muttered.
Leo went still.
"What."
"It got resolved."
"Nael."
"It wasn't a big deal."
Leo stepped closer. "You were alone."
"I handled it."
"You were unguarded there."
"but not helpless!"
The air shifted again.
Nael blinked rapidly, forcing the moisture in his eyes not to spill. His voice dropped lower, quieter.
"If we leave," he said slowly, "you can be free from me."
Leo froze.
Nael continued, words coming out uneven now.
"You can find a lover. Someone normal. Someone who isn't constantly watched. And later…" He swallowed. "You can return and say I had an accident outside. They won't hold it against you."
Leo's expression darkened instantly.
"You can live here normally then," Nael finished weakly.
The silence that followed was heavy.
Leo walked toward him with deliberate steps.
"Look at me."
Nael hesitated.
"Nael."
Slowly, reluctantly, he lifted his head.
Leo's gaze was steady—serious in a way that stripped away all teasing.
"Do not speak like that."
Nael blinked.
Leo's voice lowered further, more controlled now.
"Do not speak bad omens into existence."
Nael let out a frustrated breath. "It's not an omen. It's logic."
Nael's hands clenched at his sides.
Leo stepped even closer, until only a breath of space remained between them.
"You think I guard or stay by your side because I am trapped here with you?"
Nael faltered slightly.
"You think this is a burden or am I a burden?"
"I didn't say that. You're getting wrong"
"You implied it."
Nael's composure cracked.
"I just don't want to be the reason you're stuck in this engagement anymore you didn't want in the first place!"
The words burst out, raw and unfiltered.
For a second, neither moved.
Leo's eyes softened—but his voice remained firm.
"I am here because I choose to be."
Nael shook his head. "That's duty. My father imprinted this into your mind nothing else"
"It is not only duty. No one imprinted anything, I'm here because I want to and I choose to be your fiance because I want to"
Nael's breath hitched faintly.
"Huh??"
Nael said " don't say these kind of things I might start falling for you. You're really bewitching".
A knock came door was already half opened before the comer. Adrien coughed " should I burn the bewitcher then?"
Nael " brother you're here".
Adrien " I was here to have an accompany but I got to see the drama".
Nael stiffened 'god please brother shouldn't had listened from the beginning the plan of escaping '
" Brother how much did you listen? Hahaha" awkwardly.
Adrien truthfully said with smirking tone" when you said you might fall in love with leo"
Nael blushed deep red " can't I fall for my fiance he's handsome, tall, have a good job and a loyal person best for life partner which omega will not fall for him".
Leo coughed awkwardly adrien laughed at blushed nael the aura of this room changed 360 degree.