Spirit Hotel

Translated by rook of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Have you ever loved me for even a second?

Shamal heard his heart jumping crazily within his chest. Jesse stared at him unblinkingly and soundlessly, waiting for his reply.

Shamal had a strange feeling. He thought that if he never opened his mouth, Jesse would wait forever, until the end of time. He bit his lip and slowly lowered his head.

But there was no "forever" between them, there was no "until the end of time". Only the third prince of the faeries and the leader of the witch clan, only deceit and anger.

Jesse reached out a finger, hooked it beneath his chin and lightly tilted Shamal"s face. Shamal had no choice but to meet Jesse"s deceitful and unfathomable eyes.

"Look at me. Answer." His tone was indifferent, but the steel in his voice was not to be questioned.

The correct answer would be, "love". Only with this kind of answer would he have a chance. This was what his heart was warning him. But as the words reached his mouth, they were swallowed back again.

Maybe it was a trap? After speaking, maybe he would be laughed at mercilessly.

Maybe Jesse would slap him away in abhorrence, just like how one would slap a mosquito.

"Lion." Jesse"s voice was low and clouds were gathering across his face. He was obviously becoming impatient.

Shamal suddenly smiled, "What do you want me to say?"

Jesse soundlessly looked at him, the treacherous waves in his eyes slowly calming down and in the end becoming a dead lake. He lifted the corner of his mouth, "You will say whatever answer I want?"

Shamal self-mockingly said, "I"m under your roof, aren"t I?"

"Yes, you"re right. In this case…" His hand suddenly reached out to his neck and grabbed it tightly, and then swiftly pulled him forward.

Shamal was startled. At this distance, his lips could clearly feel Jesse"s breath.

"Why should I be courteous to you?" After Jesse finished speaking, Shamal"s lips were covered by his, his tongue fiercely attacking his mouth.

Shamal unconsciously backed away but his hand was held in an iron grip and he couldn"t move.

"Oh." Faced with the forceful invasion of Jesse"s tongue, Shamal stretched out his tongue and did his best to fend Jesse off.

But faced with Jesse"s attack, his defense was so weak it collapsed at the first blow. Very quickly, Jesse captured and occupied the enemy territory and began licking as he pleased within Shamal"s mouth. Shamal felt his knees becoming weaker and weaker and a sprout of fire ignited in his abdomen.

He was very familiar with this feeling. Because a thousand years ago, he was frequently utterly defeated by this feeling.

He suddenly opened his eyes wide.

But this wasn"t a thousand years ago, it was a thousand years later!

The two hands at Jesse"s originally holding him off fiercely pushed him away. Jesse seemed to expect it and he grabbed the two hands hard. Shamal felt a pain in his mouth. Jesse had already ruthlessly bit down on his lower lip.

The taste of blood quickly spread through his mouth from his wound. Jesse relaxed his teeth and lightly licked the wound and let him go.

Shamal pressed his lips tightly together, watching him warily. The corner of Jesse"s mouth still had a trace of blood. It was so bright he badly wanted to rub it off for him.

If he didn"t know with a 100% certainty that he was a member of the witch clan, he would suspect that he had some vampire blood. Maybe even one of Gin"s distant relatives.

Jesse"s hand ferociously grabbed his face, "When you"re with me, you"re not allowed to think of someone else!"

Shamal"s temper shot through the roof but quickly died down and he said lowly, "When do you plan to let me go?" After speaking, he felt the hand grabbing his chin slowly loosen.

"If I say I"ll never let you go?" Jesse smiled leisurely.

Shamal glared at him, "My royal brother will never agree."

Jesse arched an eyebrow, "Other than being the third prince of the faerie, what do you have?"

Shamal"s fist tightened furiously. He was never an impulsive person. One could even say that although he was often wilful, he was very cautious. But this time, he wasn"t sure why but seeing Jesse"s contemptful expression when he looked at him made him so furious he felt like there was a volcano within him, impatiently and urgently wanting to spew fire.

"I also have…" Shamal used his wind magic and instantaneously brought himself five to six meters away, and then glared at him and said, "Magic! Wind edge!" His hand abruptly opened and countless blades of wind as cutting as knives flew at Jesse.

Jesse seemed unmoved as he sat there, as idle as if the wind coming at him was nothing more than a pleasant and refreshing breeze.

Shamal was alarmed and frightened as he watched the first strike of wind brush past his shoulder. His hands jumped as if he had been shocked and he changed the direction of the remaining blades of wind as quickly as he could.

Despite that, there were still two blades of wind that swept past his shoulder and his hair. A strand of white hair lightly floated to the ground. On it were two droplets of bright red blood.

Shamal sucked in a deep breath to calm the heart that was jumping uneasily in his chest, "Why didn"t you hide?"

"Why did you change the direction?"

The questions were asked at the same time.

The two of them looked at each other.

In the end, it was still Shamal who looked away, "You"re bleeding."

Jesse lowered his eyelids, "Softening your heart toward the enemy is placing yourself in danger."

Shamal"s eyes widened and saw his hands open slightly, his mouth quickly moving for a moment. And then the slavery curse on his arm began to turn hot and he began to feel dizzy and his consciousness slowly slipped away.

His only awareness as he drifted into unconsciousness was Jesse"s face was suddenly magnified before his eyes and his smile… was even more repulsive than in his imagination!

Jesse carried him. When he was certain that Shamal was unconscious, he gently touched the wound on his lip, "Silly (1). Other than being the third prince of the faeries…" He sighed, "You still have me."

※※※

Shamal slowly came awake.

The sky was already dark. He moved a little and then got up but he discovered that someone was lying beside him. He didn"t even need the lamplight to know that it was Jesse.

"If you"re hungry, there"s food on the table in the living room." In the dark, Jesse"s voice was especially clear.

Shamal was on the inside of the bed. If he wanted to get down, he had to go over Jesse. He was silent for a moment, "Have you bandaged your wound?"

"No." A tone that was unruffled and indifferent.

"Why?" His tone had some anxiousness.

"I can"t reach."

Shamal thought for a moment, bandaging one"s arm with only one hand was really quite difficult. "Where"s the medicine box?"

"This is your room, don"t you know?" There was a hint of mocking in his voice.

"…..You"ve never been hurt before." It was always Shamal who was hurt and Jesse who helped him bandage it. So he never knew where that mystical medicine box in Jesse"s hand had always appeared from.

Jesse moved a little and he said, "In the innermost part in the cupboard in the living room."

Shamal silently groped about and was preparing to go across Jesse to get down from the bed. But as he groped around, he discovered that Jesse had already withdrawn his legs and gave him a way off.

Hearing his fumbling as he climbed down, Jesse said indifferently, "Remember to turn on the lamp, don"t fall…"

Thump.

"…down."

※※※

After switching on the lamp, Shamal brought the medicine box to the bed and found out that his wound was already stuck to his clothes.

"You…" He couldn"t bear to look.

"This is the wound you created." Jesse indifferently said, "Seeing it like this, shouldn"t you be happy?"

Shamal took out a pair of scissors from the medicine box and said hatefully, "Yes, I"m so happy I wish I could create a bigger wound."

"Please help yourself." Jesse narrowed his eyes.

Shamal took the scissors and narrowed his eyes and fought with his sleeve, the blood and his skin. After fighting for a full hour, the fragments of cloth were finally removed.

Jesse watched him rub the medicine and as he prepared the bandage, his hand strangely stopped in mid-air. "Regrets?"

Shamal put back the bandage.

Jesse raised an eyebrow.

"I only remembered that as the third prince of the faeries, very unfortunately, I know healing magic." Before, he had to keep a low-profile and appear powerless, so whenever he was injured, he had to use items to heal. But now that his ident.i.ty was exposed, he could unrestrainedly use his magic.

His palms lit up with a ball of golden radiance and he gently brushed over the wound.

Jesse felt the flesh of the wound speedily st.i.tch itself together, healing itself.

"Done." Shamal began to keep the medicine box.

Jesse looked at the pink scar on his arm, "This is the healing magic of the third prince of the faerie world?"

"Compared to the slavery mark you left on my arm, it"s both better to look at and pleasing to the eye." Shamal"s voice came from the living room.

Jesse rose and slowly walked into the living room.

Shamal was very unhurriedly eating his dinner.

"Why did you save me?" Jesse stood at the door, his eyes bright as he looked at him.

Shamal paused in his eating and then replied nonchalantly, "To win your favor."

"Oh?"

Shamal put down his bowl, wiped his mouth and turned his head to say seriously, "Only by winning your favor will I be able to go back safely, right?"

"Is it?" Jesse answered with a question.

"It is." These two words rolled around in Shamal"s mouth but in the end, didn"t leave his mouth. He only spoke in a low voice, "I have to go back."

"You really want to go back so much?"

Shamal realized that since he had came here, he couldn"t answer a single question that Jesse had asked him.

Did he really want to go back?

His answer should have been an unwavering yes, but he discovered now that he was hesitating.

Jesse seemed to take his silence as a.s.sent, "If that is the case, I"ll tell you a method."

Shamal was stunned. He didn"t know why an intense sense of disappointment surged in his chest, but he quickly adjusted himself and forcefully smiled to ask, "What method?"

Jesse looked at him, gaze so deep that it seemed about to suck Shamal in, "Cooperate nicely with me." (2)

Cooperate?

How to cooperate?

Shamal"s eyes couldn"t help but stray to the bed.

Actually, Shamal"s determination to escape in the past had a reason. That was, he discovered that he actually couldn"t resist Jesse"s propositions at all. Not only was he unable to resist, he was actually showing signs of sinking into it.

He was the third prince of the faeries. How could he lie under another man mellowly and make that man happy? His face suddenly turned red. But he didn"t know if it was from shame or fury or even… other things.

Jesse"s finger gently brushed his ear that was so red it was emitting smoke and spoke in a dark and husky voice, "This is your only way."

—–

T/n:

(1) The word he uses is 傻瓜 "fool/idiot" but it"s also used as an affectionate term, like, "that silly/idiot child, he fell down again"

(2) The word Jesse used 配合 can mean "cooperate", "fit", "conform to" or "match". It has the connotation of "go along with what I want".