Little Pink Starfish

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Asher’s eyes snapped open, and for a moment, he couldn’t tell where he was.
Blinking repeatedly, he stared at the familiar canopy of his bed directly in front of him.

“……Huh?”

As he slowly sat up, the cloth placed on his forehead slipped off. Looking around, he realized that he was in his own room.

“……Why?”

Just moments ago, he had been with Theodore in an unfamiliar place.
And… just remembering it made him want to crawl into a hole.

For a second, he almost believed everything had been a dream, but then he noticed the bandages wrapped around his arm.
Asher removed them.

Though the wounds had already closed, faint reddish teeth marks remained, slightly swollen, scattered across his arm.

“……It wasn’t a dream. I made it back to the castle…”

Yes, it wasn’t a dream—
Which meant…

Asher’s face instantly flushed red as the memories of what Theodore had done to him came rushing back.
Overcome with embarrassment, he rolled around on the bed, kicking his legs.

That kind of appearance!! He saw me like that…!! My whole body… was licked…!!
And even… with Theodore’s hand, I…!!

As Asher writhed on his bed, he suddenly heard faint voices outside the door. Then, there was a knock—before he could even respond, the door swung open.

“Excuse me, my—…! Asher-sama, you’re awake!!”

The maid, Ellie, who had entered, widened her eyes in surprise before breaking into a smile.

“Ah… Ellie…”
“I-I must go inform everyone at once!”
“Eh? No, wait—”

Asher’s words never reached Ellie, who hurriedly ran out of the room.

If she was going to inform everyone, that meant someone would be coming here soon…

With a groggy motion, Asher sat up and quickly fixed the sheets he had messed up while thrashing around.
Then, suddenly, a thought struck him—what if Theodore was in those sheets?
With a boof, he buried his face into the pillow.

God… I’m going to die from embarrassment. I can’t face Theodore… Please, please…

As he was in the middle of praying to some unknown deity, there was another knock at the door.
Unlike before, the door didn’t immediately open this time.
Flustered, Asher weakly responded.

The door opened, and stepping inside were Samuel, Hugo, another knight besides Ward, and several soldiers, including beast soldiers.
Seeing that Theodore wasn’t among them, Asher secretly felt relieved.

Samuel quickly approached Asher’s bedside and gently stroked his cheek.

“You’re awake, Asher.”
“Samuel-niiue…”
“Has your fever gone down? Let me see…”

The hand that had been stroking Asher’s cheek moved to his forehead.

“…It seems to have lowered a bit. You must be hungry, right? …Bring some porridge.”

Ellie, who had been standing by, immediately responded and left the room.
Asher remained in a daze, unsure of what was happening.

He had expected someone to come, but he hadn’t imagined Samuel, let alone Hugo, would enter his room.

“Um…”
“What is it?”
“…Mother…?”

Yes, the one person he thought would come first wasn’t here.

“Queen Angela is terribly distraught right now… We can’t let her see you in that state.”

Smoothly, Samuel’s hand ran through Asher’s hair, gently stroking his head.
Up close, Samuel’s golden eyes narrowed, forming a smile—he looked breathtakingly beautiful.

Asher, flustered by Samuel’s unexpected gesture, simply sat still and let himself be petted.

Something… something feels off.

Samuel had never openly shown such care or affection toward him before.

His confusion deepened. Feeling overwhelmed by Samuel’s proximity, Asher averted his gaze—
And that’s when he noticed Hugo staring at him.

However, the moment their eyes met, Hugo quickly looked away.

“…I’d like to stay by Asher’s side a little longer, but I can’t.”

Samuel reluctantly pulled his hand away, let out a sigh, and wiped the smile from his face.

“Rest easy, Asher… The ones who did this to you—I’ll have them all executed.”
“Executed…?”
“Everyone involved in your kidnapping will be put on trial shortly.”

Asher opened his mouth to speak, but Hugo interrupted before he could.

“Sam, it’s time.”
“…I know. Asher, take your time and rest. There’s nothing to worry about.”

With that, Samuel turned his back to Asher and left the room.

“Eh? Ah… wait.”

But his words never reached Samuel.

Hugo, however, turned back for a brief moment, looking as if he was about to say something—but in the end, he said nothing and simply followed after Samuel.

The soldiers bowed their heads to Asher before filing out one after another.
Ward was the last to remain.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Prince Asher.”
“Ward… about the trial…”
“Marquis Clarke and the beast bandits who kidnapped you will all be put on trial… and this time, it will be a public trial.”
“A public trial!?”

In Dias, a public trial essentially meant an execution.
Criminals were judged in front of the people as a warning.

“I-I’m going too!”
“Prince Asher, you’ve been unconscious with a fever for two whole days… His Majesty has also ordered that you rest— Are you even listening? Eh, wait—!?”

Asher jumped out of bed and immediately began stripping off his nightwear.
His body, covered in bandages, was exposed, but he paid no attention as he pulled on a new shirt.

“Wait! Prince Asher!! Listen to what I’m—”

Before he had even finished putting on his jacket, Asher rushed out the door—
And came face-to-face with Theodore.

“Uwah!”

Completely caught off guard, Asher froze in shock.

“Prince Asher! You can’t go out dressed like that!! Lewis, stop him too!”
“Since when… since when has Theodore been here…?”

Unable to meet Theodore’s eyes due to embarrassment, Asher lowered his gaze and asked.

Instead of Theodore, Ward sighed and answered.

“Since when? This man hasn’t moved from in front of your room since he returned. He keeps insisting that he’s your direct bodyguard… Prince Asher, you should personally order Lewis to make him rest. Otherwise, he won’t.”
“Since he returned… this whole time?”

Asher, still looking down, lifted his gaze in surprise and stared at Theodore.
And only now did he notice—Theodore had returned to his normal human form.

…His fangs… his ears, and his claws, they’re all back to normal.
Well, yeah, if they weren’t, it’d be a huge commotion.

Asher stared at him intently, while Theodore stared straight back.
Their gazes locked, and Asher’s heart pounded.

His deep black eyes hadn’t changed in the slightest, and Asher felt as if he was being swallowed by them.
Panicking, he looked away and lowered his head once more.
Neither of them spoke, and Ward tilted his head in confusion.

“Prince Asher? Dressed like that…”

The silence was broken by Ellie, who had returned with the porridge for Asher.

“I will now return to Prince Samuel’s side.”

As she left, Asher grabbed Ward’s arm.

“I’m going too.”
“But—”
“I’m not hungry. Besides, I’m already an adult prince. It’s only natural for me to attend the trial… and I’m the victim here.”

Seeing that Asher wouldn’t back down, Ward sighed in resignation.

“…Then, at least wear formal attire befitting a prince. If you do that, no one will stop you.”

Quickly, Asher rushed back inside to change. Ellie, though worried, helped him dress properly.
Royal clothing had intricate decorations, making it time-consuming to put on.

Finally, as Asher stepped out to leave with Ward—he was nowhere to be seen.

“Huh? …Ward? No way…”

Panicking, Asher was about to run off when Theodore spoke.

“…Your Highness, Ward was in the middle of guarding Prince Samuel. He did not leave you behind. Since your kidnapping, the number of guards for the royal family has increased.”
“Ah… I-I see.”

Surrounded by Theodore and other guards, Asher set off toward the trial grounds.