"Not sleepy?"
The crown prince straightened the collar of his nightclothes and lowered the beaded curtain. "I've heard of a method that can put someone to sleep very quickly. Since you have such trouble sleeping in an unfamiliar bed, Scribe Shen, why not give it a try?"
Shen Yangge said, "...I suddenly feel sleepy, Your Highness. Good night!"
He hastily kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, but before he could get up, a hand brushed him aside. He looked up and met the crown prince's meaningful gaze.
After a moment, the crown prince said, "Although I've permitted you to sleep on the inner side, there is a condition."
Shen Yangge: "?"
"I don't like people making noise beside me."
He stared into Shen Yangge's eyes and spoke casually, but Shen Yangge knew this bastard meant every word. If he dared grind his teeth, snore, or so much as move...
The consequences would be nothing short of... having his tongue pulled out, his limbs chopped off, and his body bundled up, turning him into a monster incapable of making a sound.
Other than still being able to breathe, he would be no different from a dead man.
Shen Yangge swallowed. Wouldn't that be a fate worse than death?
His fingers twitched, clutching his slightly rumpled clothes. A little nervous, he said, "I've always slept very well. I don't snore, grind my teeth, or talk in my sleep. Please rest assured, Your Highness."
The crown prince said, "Is that so?"
His lashes lowered as he leaned against the bed frame and continued languidly, "I'll remember what you said, Scribe Shen."
You're the one who told me to sleep on the bed, and you're also the one stopping me from getting on it. Why are you so fickle? Your mood changes faster than a woman can turn a page.
So how exactly do all those future wives of yours sleep with you?
Shen Yangge slowly climbed onto the bed, doing his best not to touch a certain someone, and rolled all the way to the inner edge, leaving a wide space in the middle.
If possible, he wanted to put something between them as a barrier, even if it wouldn't do much good.
After adjusting his clothes, Shen Yangge lay flat, folded his hands over his abdomen, and closed his eyes.
On the surface, he looked as though he was trying to fall asleep, but inside:
I absolutely cannot fall asleep tonight!
I can't sleep!
An hour later.
Shen Yangge was dead to the world.
System 615:
[...]
It had actually wanted to remind its host that the medicine he had applied to his wounds before bed contained sedative ingredients, but telling him wouldn't change anything. It was only a courting-death system; it had nothing that could save its host.
Better to let its host sleep in ignorance than fall asleep in terror.
In the middle of the night, Shen Yangge was awakened by a commotion. He opened his eyes in confusion, just as a sharp sword swept past his face and plunged straight into the wall beside him.
Holy shit, what happened? Am I about to be skinned alive and have my tendons ripped out?
How did I fall asleep?!
He had barely tried to move when an icy hand seized his arm and dragged him toward the middle of the bed. A dagger stabbed into the spot where he had just been lying, with enough force to seemingly pierce the entire mattress.
"Y-Your Highness?"
The words had only just left his mouth when someone seized him by the scruff of his neck. A cool, damp breath brushed his ear. "Keep your mouth shut. Don't move."
Shen Yangge curled up pitifully like a little quail. The person behind him felt like a block of ice from head to toe, making it deeply uncomfortable to lean against him.
The two assassins exchanged a glance.
"So the bastard crown prince isn't uninterested in women-he just prefers the back door."
"Enough talking. Send him and his little lover straight to hell!"
The assassins split up, attacking from the front and rear.
Shen Yangge was still wondering what "the back door" meant when he heard the part about sending "his little lover straight to hell." Anger flared within him, but before he could protest, a sword slashed over his forehead. If he hadn't ducked fast enough, his head would already have gone flying.
Still shaken and pale-faced, he instinctively leaned farther back.
If you don't need your eyes, donate them to someone else. What part of me looks like this bastard's lover? No wonder you're both going to die here tonight. Keep courting death and you'll end up with nothing, losing your dignity and your lives!
You think the two of you can kill the crown prince? Pfft, what a fucking joke. I suggest you crawl back into the womb and have yourselves rebuilt.
Perhaps he was imagining it, but the crown prince's grip on the back of his neck seemed to ease, as if he agreed with those thoughts. Shen Yangge knew that was impossible, though.
After several exchanges with the crown prince, the assassins gradually fell behind. They could hardly believe it. According to the information they had received, the crown prince was skilled, but he should never have been this powerful.
And he was protecting that damned brat, too.
"We can't drag this out any longer. Kill his little lover first!"
Their attention finally shifted from the crown prince to Shen Yangge.
They had fallen into the trap the crown prince had laid from the start.
When Shen Yangge was shoved toward the assassins, his mind went blank for a moment.
Fuck, I knew this would happen!
System, this counts as him indirectly executing me, right?
System 615 fell silent for a second or two.
[...I suppose so.]
Then what are you waiting for? Get that button ready. I want to die happy!
System 615:
[The data indicates no threat to the host's life.]
Shen Yangge: ?
The sword was right before his eyes.
Suddenly, his sash was yanked tight, and a powerful force jerked him backward. In the blink of an eye, a sword shot past his waist and stabbed into the assassin who had been about to strike.
"Urgh-"
The assassin's eyes widened in disbelief as he slowly collapsed. The other clearly realized something was wrong and tried to retreat, but ultimately, he couldn't escape the crown prince's grasp.
With two corpses sprawled across the bedchamber, Shen Yangge's face alternated between pallor and darkness, his expression shifting unpredictably.
"Aren't you going back to sleep, Scribe Shen?"
Sleep, his ass. How was he supposed to sleep with those two corpses lying here?
I absolutely cannot sleep again. Falling asleep earlier was an accident.
What exactly do I have to do to get this bastard to execute me? Why won't he just kill me?
While Shen Yangge agonized over this, the crown prince had already summoned people to clean up the room. Incense was also lit in an attempt to disperse the smell of blood.
Instead, the two odors mingled into an indescribably foul smell. Shen Yangge wrinkled his nose. "Your Highness, I'm no longer sleepy at all. You should retire for the night, though."
I'll only feel safe once you're asleep.
What are you looking at me for? Don't tell me you still want me to sleep with you. Come on, man. You won't kill me, so what's the point of insisting I stay right in front of you and annoy you?
Even if you're not tired, I am. Give it a rest.
The crown prince said, "Scribe Shen, come up here."
Shen Yangge couldn't resist the urge to hold his forehead. He really had to hand it to him. This bastard had simply found another way to torment him, but he refused to deal the killing blow!
"...As you command."
When will this end? Maybe I should pick a different target.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the crown prince, sitting on the edge of the bed, swept a sinister gaze toward him.
That look, as though he were staring at a dead thing, made Shen Yangge's brow twitch.
Then he was overjoyed.
Here it comes, here it comes! That murderous look-I definitely didn't misread it this time!
Before you continue