CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27: THAT’S WHAT GOOD HUSBANDS DO

Veynar tried to draw back, to hiss out a denial, but the words were small against Meical’s motion. The blows pushed him through the flowerbeds,tearing blooms from stems.

Servants spilled into windows and onto porches, their faces blanching as a man they’d long respected was driven past the gate and into the public street.

Meical did not slow down. He pressed the assault outward until the old man stumbled onto the cobbles. People in the street stopped what they were doing to watch.

This was deliberate, the fall of a patriarch made spectacle and Meical ensured the spectacle was visible to all who might be tempted to take another man.

When Veynar collapsed to his knees, drenched in soil and doubt, Meical bent close until their faces were inches apart. He whispered with a voice made of winter wind.

"Sleep with one eye open. Veynar.." he said. "I will strip you of coin, of favor, of allies. I will take everything you use to bargain. After that I will take your life. You have touched what belonged to me. You signed for this the moment you touched my wife..."

Veynar’s mouth opened and closed. Pride shredded into fear. Around them the street hummed with low, fascinated whispers. The patriarch tried to rise but could not.

Meical straightened. "Tell your household what happened. Tell the king if you must. Tell anyone." His tone had no pleading, only a closing ledger. "Every word you shout will only hasten your end."

He turned and walked back to the carriage.

The crowd watched him mount and drive away, leaving behind a scene that would not be smoothed over by servants’ tongues.

The carriage wheels had barely stopped turning before Meical was already stepping down.

His body still hummed with adrenaline, but the fury that had carried him through the day had cooled to something else, exhaustion, maybe, or the sharp, hollow ache that comes after vengeance.

Except he still wasn’t satisfied.

The estate gates swung open at once. The maids bowed low, but he hardly saw them.

All that filled his mind was Kaizar’s tear-streaked face from before.

When he had gotten to the steps, he saw him.

Min-jae stood at the door, barefoot on the polished steps, wrapped in one of Meical’s loose robes. His eyes were swollen and rimmed red, lashes clumped together from dried tears. When Meical stopped in front of him, Min-jae’s lips trembled.

"You promised..." His voice cracked halfway through the word. "You promised you’d stay by my side. So why...why we’re you gone when I woke up?"

Before Meical could answer, Min-jae’s fingers curled tightly around his hands, holding them as if to anchor him there. His voice dropped to a whisper, raw and uneven.

"I was scared. When I opened my eyes and couldn’t find you. I felt so alone."

The tremor in his tone cut deeper than any wound.

Meical’s chest tightened. He didn’t hesitate this time. He pulled Min-jae into his arms, holding him close enough that the other’s shaky breaths fanned against his neck.

"I’m sorry.m" he murmured, one hand slipping into Min-jae’s damp hair. "I couldn’t let it go. I had to..vent it out. I went to see them... to teach the father and son a lesson."

Min-jae stiffened and pulled back slightly, searching his face. "You didn’t...hurt yourself, did you?"

Before Meical could respond, Min-jae caught his hands, turning them over. His breath hitched.

The skin over Meical’s knuckles was raw and reddened, tiny cuts glistening where the skin had split.

"Oh shit..." Min-jae whispered, the words shaking. "You’re bleeding."

"It’s nothing.." Meical said softly, trying to pull away, but Min-jae only held tighter.

"No.." he said, voice trembling but firm. "Let me take care of it."

He guided Meical inside without another word, calling out for the first-aid kit. The maids scrambled to bring it, but Min-jae waved them off. "I’ll do it."

They sat together by the hearth, the fire throwing soft light across the room. Min-jae dabbed a cloth gently over Meical’s knuckles, the scent of antiseptic mingling with warmth and smoke.

Every touch was tender, careful, his lips pressed together in a thin line of concentration.

Meical watched him in silence,the way his brows furrowed, the faint tremor in his hands. The anger that had consumed him all day faded into something heavier—Guilt.

When Min-jae was done, he bandaged the hands neatly and looked up, meeting Meical’s eyes. "You shouldn’t have gone alone.." he said quietly. "You didn’t have to do that for me."

Meical exhaled, his voice low. "I couldn’t stand the thought of them breathing after what they did. If I didn’t go, I would’ve lost my mind."

Min-jae’s gaze softened, though his heart still ached. "Then... next time.." he murmured, "just don’t disappear without telling me."

"I won’t.." Meical promised. He reached out, brushing his thumb over the faint bruise under Min-jae’s eye. "I swear it."

For the first time that day, Min-jae smiled, it small but it was genuine.

He leaned forward until his forehead rested against Meical’s chest, his whisper almost lost in the quiet of the room.

"That’s good.." he breathed. "Because if you disappear again... I’ll come drag you back myself."

Meical tilted Min-jae’s chin up, the firelight catching on the faint sheen of tears still clinging to his lashes. He didn’t say anything for a moment, just looked at him, his eyes dark and steady, before lowering his head to press a kiss to his lips.

When he spoke, his voice was low, rough with possessiveness.

"Your body, your soul, your heart... they’re all mine.." he murmured against Min-jae’s mouth. "And I won’t let anyone else touch what belongs to me."

Min-jae’s breath caught, but then he smiled, a small, shaky thing that softened the tightness in Meical’s chest.

He slid his hands up to cradle Meical’s face, thumbs brushing over his cheeks before kissing him back, slower this time.

When their lips parted, Min-jae whispered, "That’s what good husbands do."

Meical’s eyes widened slightly at the word husband, but before he could say anything, Min-jae’s expression changed. The warmth faded into worry.

"...The king will hear about this.." Min-jae said quietly. "You know Veyner won’t stay quiet after what you did. What’s going to happen to you, Meical?"