The Crown Prince fell silent for a moment.
"Shen Zhuanxie, do you still want to be alone tonight?"
Shen Yangge said, "Your Highness, I am ashamed. I have no face to seek your protection again."
[System 615: Host, could overacting backfire?]
[So should I go with this bastard or not?]
While he was agonizing over it, the Crown Prince had already turned around, looking ready to leave. Shen Yangge's heart lurched.
[Why isn't this bastard following the usual script? Isn't he normally so forceful?]
[Why is he leaving? No... let him leave. What am I agonizing over? If he leaves, I can just find somewhere to hide.]
He was halfway through his silent grumbling when the Crown Prince, already at the door, turned back, grabbed him, and dragged him outside. The movement was so sudden that Shen Yangge stumbled and slammed his forehead into the Crown Prince's back.
[Fuck, is this bastard's back made of steel?]
The Crown Prince released Shen Yangge's wrist. "Did that hurt?"
He asked as casually as if he were asking whether Shen Yangge had eaten dinner.
"Your Highness, it didn't hurt. Besides, this is my good fortune. How could it possibly hurt?"
[I'm getting better and better at sarcasm. A round of applause for me.]
[System 615: Host, have you noticed that the Crown Prince seems rather strange, especially when he's dealing with you?]
Who would be strange if not the Crown Prince? He was a lunatic. As for why he acted strangely around him, wasn't that because he was the Crown Prince's "pet"?
So thought the wonderfully "self-aware" Shen Yangge.
System 615 had nothing to say, but after pondering its host's reasoning, it managed to confuse itself too.
Once they reached the Crown Prince's bedchamber, Shen Yangge lay down on the low couch without being asked.
The Crown Prince seemed somewhat displeased, though Shen Yangge couldn't work out why just yet.
He said good night to the Crown Prince.
He spread out a thin little quilt for himself, then lay down. Suddenly feeling chilly, he tucked his neck in. As he lowered his head, he abruptly remembered that he had been wearing nothing but thin underclothes ever since washing and bathing.
He hadn't put on anything else before coming to see the Crown Prince.
Embarrassed, he wondered why the Crown Prince hadn't immediately had him executed upon seeing him dressed like that.
In a dynasty like this, appearing improperly dressed before a sovereign could cost someone their head. And the person he had met was such a temperamental Crown Prince, at that.
Unable to make sense of it, Shen Yangge simply rolled himself up in the thin quilt and covered his head.
At some point, the candles in the bedchamber went out, and Shen Yangge drifted off to sleep.
Later that night, Shen Yangge had to get up because his bladder was painfully full. But when he realized there was no difference between having his eyes open and closed, he froze for a moment.
Normally, every palace hall would have maids or servants replacing the candles to keep it lit.
Why hadn't anyone replaced the ones in this bedchamber?
Everything around him was pitch-black; he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. Shen Yangge swallowed, suddenly feeling as though a pair of eyes was watching him from the darkness.
Even though he couldn't see them, the feeling persisted.
How was he supposed to feel his way to the door in darkness like this?
If he kicked something and made a noise, wouldn't the Crown Prince rip out his tongue?
After much deliberation, the timid little quail that was Shen Yangge decided to leave the bedchamber anyway. If he didn't go soon, his bladder would explode.
But as he braced both hands against the low couch and prepared to sit up, his cheek inexplicably brushed against something. He froze for several seconds before realizing that what had touched his cheek seemed to be a few strands of hair.
His scalp instantly tightened. Surely it wasn't what he was thinking?
Was this actually a horror world?
System 615 explained with absolute certainty: [615 can responsibly assure you that this is not a horror world. We aren't running a horror scenario, either.]
Then what were those things brushing against his cheek?
[System 615: Well, Host, do you really want 615 to tell you what they are?]
Spit it out!
[System 615: This world's male lead~]
Faced with System 615's gloating, Shen Yangge decided to find an opportunity to give it a taste of its own medicine.
What mattered now was why the Crown Prince was standing beside his bed.
And why was he watching him at his bedside in this impenetrable darkness?
In a horror world, this could scare someone straight to death.
It was still pretty hair-raising, but once the system told Shen Yangge that the person standing beside his bed was the male lead rather than something else, he no longer found it frightening.
System 615 thought, shouldn't the male lead standing in front of him and staring at him in a pitch-black bedchamber at this hour be even more frightening?
It felt that this host seemed to operate on a different wavelength from other hosts.
This was 615's first time dealing with a host like this, and it had no experience whatsoever. It had collected information on all kinds of hosts and discovered that the one it was currently bound to had the strangest personality of them all.
It didn't know whether to call itself fortunate or unlucky.
"...Your Highness?"
Shen Yangge tried to keep his voice as soft as possible, but in the dead of night, even the quietest voice sounded terribly loud.
His call received no response.
System, are you sure it's the male lead?
System 615 answered with complete confidence: [Yes!]
Shen Yangge called softly again, "Your Highness?"
Suddenly.
He felt two hands brace themselves on either side of his neck.
Then a thick curtain of hair fell over both his cheeks. "Shen Zhuanxie."
The Crown Prince's voice was low and hoarse. Just hearing it made it clear that he wasn't in his right mind.
Usually, the Crown Prince spoke with a languid air tempered by authority and aristocratic grace.
"Your Highness, how are you feeling right now?"
As soon as Shen Yangge asked, a warm breath washed over his ear. His entire body stiffened!
What is he trying to do?
Before he could figure it out, the Crown Prince gave him his answer.
The Crown Prince bit the rim of his ear. The bite wasn't particularly hard, but Shen Yangge was extremely ticklish, and the mixture of stinging pain and ticklishness nearly drove him frantic.
The Crown Prince really had gone mad again. With him out of his mind in the middle of the night, would he finish Shen Yangge off?
What started as only a little pain grew worse as the Crown Prince bit harder and harder. Shen Yangge's eyes widened, and he pushed with both hands against the Crown Prince, whose hands were still planted on either side of his neck.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."
[Fuck, if I let this bastard keep biting, I won't have an ear left!]
[Last time I passed out, he had a fit of madness, but he didn't bite anyone like this. What the hell is going on?]
His eyes reddened with pain.
Just as he was about to lose his temper, the Crown Prince suddenly released his ear and licked its rim.
Shen Yangge: !
The Crown Prince seemed to like the taste and wanted to continue.
But Shen Yangge seized the moment when he relaxed his hold and promptly slipped away.
He wasn't very familiar with this bedchamber, though. Every so often, he would bump into something and have to stop and feel around for a way forward.
Something seemed to be covering the windows tightly, making his hope of reaching the door by moonlight nothing more than a fantasy.
Before long, the bedchamber had become the setting for a game of chase.
Shen Yangge felt his way forward as he ran, while the Crown Prince followed steadily behind him.
[Damn it, this bastard stops every time he's about to catch me. Is he just toying with me?]
[System 615: ...He is indeed toying with you. Please don't doubt it, Host.]
He really was just toying with him...
Was this bastard this ridiculous every time he went mad?
If they kept running around like this, both of them would eventually exhaust themselves.
System 615 immediately proved him wrong: [Host, you're the one who'll run out of energy and get caught, not both of you. The male lead's combat stats have always been very high. (^-^)]
Shen Yangge: ...
It was bad enough that he was a weakling himself, but the body's original owner had also been a "scholar" too feeble to truss a chicken.
The Crown Prince never seemed to tire of this "game." Finally, Shen Yangge gritted his teeth and simply stopped running.
But when he stopped, the Crown Prince pushed him forward from behind with one hand.
With no other options left, Shen Yangge turned around, grabbed the hand pushing him, and said breathlessly, "I'm not playing anymore!"
"..."
In the pitch-black darkness, he couldn't make out the other man's expression. Shen Yangge could only guess that the Crown Prince looked cold and defiant.
"Let's play something else. Something else!"
Shen Yangge asked, "All right?"
He coaxed him as he tried to gauge his response.
To his surprise, the Crown Prince answered, "Mm."
Perhaps his earlier understanding had been too superficial. Look at the Crown Prince in the middle of a fit now. Aside from being a little dim, stubborn, and defiant, what else was there?
In the novel Century of Prosperity, the mad Crown Prince he had read about would behead anyone he saw during an episode, or chop off their hands and feet, except for the cherished loves who stayed by his side. But even they couldn't always save the day.
There were always one or two who nearly died in his bed.
Shen Yangge said, "Here's what we'll do. First, light the candles in the room."
With a click, the candles came alight.
Light finally filled the pitch-black bedchamber. Shen Yangge almost wept with relief. He realized that being with the Crown Prince truly was torture.
It was even worse than wanting to get himself killed but being unable to do it openly.
"Now turn your back. Don't speak, and don't look back. Count from one to fifty, then come find me."
The Crown Prince was still mad anyway. Whatever Shen Yangge did, he wouldn't break character.
Wait!
If he stabbed the Crown Prince now, would that finally get the Crown Prince to finish him off?
[System 615: Host, you won't escape the imperial palace that way.]
True...
The Crown Prince didn't turn around. He stared at him.
"Why aren't you turning around?"
The Crown Prince said, "I won't be able to see you."
"Huh?"
The mad Crown Prince spoke bluntly. "When I can't see you, I want to kill people."
Fuck, the Crown Prince's true nature hadn't changed. His brain just occasionally short-circuited around him.
"Then... shall we play something else?"
The Crown Prince said, "I must be able to see you."
Was this cold, vicious madman really the future emperor of Great Chu who would unite the world?
He was finding it a little hard to believe.
Wasn't he supposed to say things like that to his cherished loves?
Shen Yangge asked, "Your Highness... do you know who I am right now?"
"Little bastard."
What? What the hell was a little bastard?
As long as it wasn't him. Apparently, the Crown Prince had mistaken him for another of his cherished loves. But had there been one called "Little Bastard" in Century of Prosperity?
While he was searching his memory, the Crown Prince grabbed his hand. "Keep playing."
His expression allowed no refusal.
Shen Yangge asked, "Are you in your right mind right now?"
The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment, then said, "No."
Fuck, this bastard could actually tell whether he was in his right mind. Of course he could.
In the end, Shen Yangge and the Crown Prince played no more games, but Shen Yangge sacrificed his throat to tell him stories.
If the other man hadn't looked so intent on listening, Shen Yangge would have suspected that the mad Crown Prince had already regained his senses.
As dawn approached, Shen Yangge finally got his wish and went to the privy. But after trying for ages, he still couldn't pee. He seriously wondered whether something in him had broken.
"Are you done?"
Outside, the Crown Prince urged him coldly.
The instant Shen Yangge heard that voice, he lost control and let it flow.
"..."
The Crown Prince really was a nightmare-level character. Just hearing his voice could "scare the piss out of him."
Shen Yangge hastily pulled on his trousers and opened the door, only to find the mad Crown Prince standing motionless right outside.
If his eyes hadn't flicked toward him every so often, Shen Yangge would have thought he had turned into a zombie.
"Your Highness, are you in your right mind?"
"No."
Phew.
Shen Yangge patted the Crown Prince's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go back to the bedchamber."
As they walked, he grumbled, "Why are you so different when you're sane and when you're out of your mind?"
"I prefer Your Highness like this. So good and obedient, doing whatever you're told."
Wait...
Good and obedient, doing whatever he was told... would telling him to order his execution work too?
Shen Yangge immediately perked up. He tugged at the Crown Prince's sleeve and said, "Could you do me a favor, Your Highness?"
"Mm."
"Write a decree right now. Say that Shen Zhuanxie has offended the Crown Prince and repeatedly refused to mend his ways, and is hereby sentenced to death."
The mad Crown Prince said, "No."
This was the first time the mad Crown Prince had rejected his suggestion. It was different from his refusals when they had been playing games.
The mad Crown Prince said, "You cannot die."
"If I cannot see you, I will kill people."
He repeated that sentence again, as though it served as a reminder to himself.
Shen Yangge said, "You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not Your Highness's little bastard, so even if you kill me, you'll still be able to see her!"
The Crown Prince frowned. "...You cannot die."
This bastard's getting stubborn now. Looks like this trick won't work.
He really would have to follow the path the system had laid out.
Life was hard. Shen Yangge sighed.
After holding his bladder for so long, Shen Yangge kept feeling as though he still hadn't relieved himself. He grew a little anxious, and with the Crown Prince watching him from beside him, he found it even harder to sleep.
"Your Highness, may I ask why you don't light any lamps in your bedchamber?"
"If they are lit, bad things happen."
Shen Yangge froze for a moment.
Then he remembered what had happened in the book. The Crown Prince had apparently been afflicted with Curse-Head Sorcery on a brightly lit night.
"Your Highness, lighting lamps at night doesn't always mean something bad will happen."
Shen Yangge lay on the low chair with both hands behind his head, staring up at the rafters as though lost in a memory.
He continued, "At least, nothing bad is happening right now."
He didn't know that as he spoke, a flicker passed through the Crown Prince's previously vacant eyes.
Before you continue