[BL]The Hero and his Party Won't Let Me Go-Chapter 40: Ch : An Uninvited Guest

"I will show you to your rooms for your stay here. The rituals will take a few days to finish, so we hope you do not mind the delay."

The head priest told the group as he led them around.

Liam and Reina were given rooms first, and then Prince Kaiden was taken to his own. "I hope you enjoy your stay with us, Crown Prince. As for your... companion, we will show him his room-"

"There is no need to do that. Shuu will stay with him here."

Prince Kaiden declared, and a lot of priests looked like they wanted to collapse.

The head priest quickly interfered, his eyes looking at Shuu to ask him for cooperation. But there really was nothing Shuu could do about it.

"Prince Kaiden, think about your reputation. It will not serve you well to have rumors follow you around. You already took a companion, which is a big deal. Please don’t make the situation any worse for yourself."

The head priest tried to make Prince Kaiden change his mind. He was even willing to go as far as his reputation in this mess.

But Prince Kaiden pretended he did not understand what the head priest was trying to do here.

"And... what does it have to do with anything? My reputation is something that I should worry about. There is no need for anyone else to get involved... unless they have a death wish."

Prince Kaiden’s smile was dangerous. The priests quickly backed off and realized that there was no point in talking to him.

Their only ray of hope was Shuu, so they tried to glare at him in submission. But Shuu was getting annoyed by the same thing happening to him again and again.

Even he pretended he could not see the priests’ looks and walked deeper into Prince Kaiden’s room.

’Do these priests really think I have the authority to go against Prince Kaiden’s words? They need to get their minds checked if that’s the case.’

The head priest noticed that his plan was not going to work. Shuu had somehow already managed to charm Prince Kaiden to be on his side, and nothing they said was going to change this.

"I understand. We will call you when it’s time for dinner. For now, I should take my leave."

The head priest bowed to the duo (more to Prince Kaiden) before he left. Shuu let out a sigh of relief as he was left alone and without those judgmental glances.

But he was not allowed to be alone for long before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his middle and pulled him into a hug.

"I missed you. Ah, it was so annoying to come here and take care of the mess these priests made. I almost wanted to skip this whole segment and not do the rituals. They are all symbolic anyway."

Prince Kaiden whined as he held Shuu closer on the bed. Shuu’s body relaxed in the hold of those calming arms.

He wanted to tell Prince Kaiden something, but his eyes started to close.

"Ah, looks like you are too tired to continue. You should go to sleep now. I might not be here when you wake up because I need to start on the rituals. But don’t feel worried, because I will come back for you soon."

Prince Kaiden reminded Shuu just as Shuu fell asleep. That night, he did not dream of anything, but he kept feeling unsettled. It almost felt like he needed to recall something, but was not able to.

When he woke up, the sun was up in the sky and it was all bright outside. Prince Kaiden was not in the room, but Shuu had a new weight on his wrist.

The bracelet he had been given by the cat was tied securely on his wrist, and it would not come off.

He tried a few times to tug at it, but it was of no use.

"What is this...? Can I not take it off?"

Shuu questioned as he looked at his arm. The weight had been unnoticeable before, but now that he had paid attention to it, it felt so obvious.

"I wouldn’t try to take it off if I were you. But if you truly do want to take it off, I can help you out by cutting your wrist."

A monotonous voice told Shuu, and he got startled enough to start coughing. He looked at the window where that voice had come from and noticed that it was a human... child...

Or something that looked like a human child.

Somehow, Shuu had a feeling the creature in front of him was too grand to be called a human or a child.

"Who... no, what are you...?"

Shuu questioned in a tense voice, and the monotonous voice replied back.

"Me...? I am Nero. I am here on Prince Kaiden’s orders to guard you while he is going through the ceremony."

Nero replied, and Shuu recognized that name. He had heard Liam and Reina mention it before.

"I see... do you want to come inside? I can open the window for you."

Shuu offered as he opened the window, but Nero made no gesture to come closer.

Once the window was fully open, Nero wasted no time entering the room, and Shuu froze as soon as he felt something sharp touching his face.

He took a step aside, not daring to move either forward or backward.

"You have good situational awareness. I officially like you better than that spoiled brat Prince Kaiden insists he likes. Let me introduce myself once again. I am Nero, a familiar of Prince Kaiden."

The monotonous man spoke once more as he pulled his claw back and gave a small bow. Scales appeared all over his body, making it apparent that he was not a human... at least, not fully.

Something felt wrong about having Nero in the sanctuary. The scales made him look out of place.

But they were gone the next second, and Nero looked just like a normal child, waiting for Shuu to tell him what they should do.

"Err... would you like to take a walk with me?"