A week wasn’t long and soon enough, the party left the desert and passed the border to the kingdom of Kai, slowly approaching the border town where the merchants would sell their goods off. The mood between Hou Dong and Kanuen was delicate.
Hou Dong couldn’t help but feel that he had picked up a treasure. Never mind that Kanuen was beautiful. After this time was him, he felt that even more than his outer appearance, his thoughts and the way he spoke were even more appealing. He could have listened to him talking about the kingdom of Sou, his life in the town, the anecdotes about his family for hours and hours on end. He really couldn’t imagine letting this person go.
Unfortunately, even though Kanuen didn’t seem to have a problem being close to him, he also hadn’t indicated that he wanted more than this. Just casually talking, while they were on the road seemed to be enough for him. It truly made him wonder if he didn’t possess any charm at all. Just what did he have to do for Kanuen to consider him?
Seeing their Master try so hard only to be met with a seemingly cold shoulder made Hou Dong’s brothers feel bad as well. They wanted to help but there was nothing they could do. Their Master had the most charm among them. So how come he still wasn’t able to win the beauty over even after such a long time? And actually, the way the beauty looked at him suggested that their Master hadn’t been unable to sway him. So what was there that they could do? There had to be something else awry! Unfortunately, they couldn’t figure out what that something was and thus, they could only continue to look at the two of them worriedly, hoping that their Master would find a way to turn things around.
The only ones who were happy were the merchants. They didn’t care about the feelings of these two men but the closer Hou Dong and Kanuen got physically, the surer the merchants were that the warrior had agreed to their suggestion and used the boy for his pleasure. So now, there shouldn’t be any problem with selling the boy off and returning without having to pay these warriors in full. Wasn’t that a reason to be happy? Thus, they felt that they had made an especially good deal when the party finally entered the border town.
Kanuen looked around and couldn’t help but raise his brows. The street was paved with cobblestones, not a speck of dust in sight. The houses lining it on both sides had two or three stories, the upper ones with wide balconies where people were sitting and eating or standing and chatting with each other, their brightly colored robes standing out even in front of the red-lacquered wood and making for a beautiful picture. The beams holding up the balconies were intricately carved with depictions of animals or scenes of trade, the paper windows of the doors painted with beautiful scenery.
Seeing this, Kanuen couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart. He glanced at Hou Dong, wondering if the things he had told him about the kingdom of Kai before had all been lies that were only used to scare him and drive him into this man’s arms.
For the last few days, Kanuen’s feelings had been all over the place. Even though he couldn’t help but doubt him at this moment, for the most part, he thought that the man that had seemed to just want to take advantage of him had turned out to be much deeper than that. Hou Dong had often listened to him or told him many things about the world out there. He would hold back when he felt that he was saying too much and if he did something that Kanuen didn’t like, then one word was enough to make him stop. Even despite his occasional doubt, this was exactly the type of man he would’ve liked to be his husband.
Still, he couldn’t help but worry again now that they had entered the city. This was the time when he would see if Hou Dong was serious about him. Would he truly save him after the merchants sold him off? Would he really do what he had promised and bring him safely back home? It was hard to say.
And even if he did and thus showed once again that he was a man that could be counted on, then how many weeks would it take to return to that oasis and finally to his hometown? He was afraid of that time as well. Because by then, who knew how deep he would have fallen? And despite his feelings, he might need to say farewell to this man. He just couldn’t imagine Hou Dong giving up on the life he had had before and he didn’t want to leave his family. So a relationship between them was impossible.
This kind of thought made him feel that life was full of difficult choices. He couldn’t have everything he wanted. His family and his hometown, this man … All of that together was impossible. No, if he wanted one, then he would have to give up on the other. Unfortunately, that was the way it was. Nothing could be changed about that. It truly made him feel bitter.
Kanuen faced back to the front, gulping down his resentment for their situation and trying to swallow his fear of just being played by Hou Dong along with it. He forced himself to smile and lightly spoke up. "Mister Hou, are you sure that this is the same kingdom of Kai you’ve described to me?" It did indeed seem like a place that put a lot of emphasis on money but it also looked like a rich place that wouldn’t need to treat its citizens badly.
Hou Dong gave a low hum and motioned to the side. "Don’t look at the main streets. Look at the small alleys instead. You’ll see what I was talking about."
Kanuen turned to the side, forgetting about his doubt when he heard Hou Dong’s assured answer. He only got a glimpse of those alleys above the heads of the people when they passed by but it was enough to understand. A few steps in, the alleys didn’t look much different than the main road even though they weren’t quite as colorful. But the further in he looked, the worse things got: The ground was littered with waste, small shadows flitting around from side to side, nibbling at whatever they could find. The pitiful leftovers of a fruit, paper that might originally have been used to wrap up food but had been crumpled and carelessly thrown away, they even scuttled over to the side of the huddled figures lying on the ground, trying to gnaw at the rags wrapped around their bodies and any extremities that were exposed to the air. The people swatted at them, making them scuttle away before they returned soon again.
Kanuen furrowed his brows and wanted to speak up. Something had to be done about this! How could they let the people live in such conditions? But before he could say a single word, Hou Dong nudged his arm and motioned over to a small marketplace in the front.
Kanuen looked over and took in the few dozen stalls that had been spread out on the square. Most of them were offering luxury goods: there were rocks with beautiful patterns, colorful cloth, and sparkling jewelry, spices that were completely foreign to Kanuen, perfumes and powders and everything that the wealthy would love.
Hou Dong motioned further to the side. "See these stalls over there? Those are delicacies of the kingdom of Kai and fruits of the southern isles that they imported. They buy them for just a few copper coins and sell them at five or ten times that price. The merchants don’t mind, the wealthy people of the city don’t mind either. They like it if it’s more expensive. They feel they’re getting something for their money if it is even though they know perfectly well that they’re actually being scammed. Unfortunately … not everybody can afford these prices."
Kanuen looked over and his brows furrowed even further. Currently, a small child dressed in the rags he had seen in the alleys before had snuck up to one of the stalls and extended a hand, carefully taking one of the fruits while the richly-dressed vendor wasn’t looking. The boy looked on a moment longer and then whirled around, running to the main street in a mad dash.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t gotten far when the vendor turned back around, noticing that something had been stolen. He screamed at his guards that weren’t standing far off. The men chased after the boy, finally catching up to him when he wanted to run back into the alley.
They roughly grabbed him and pushed him to the ground, the fruit rolling out of his hands. The guards didn’t even care for it. They dragged the boy to his feet and back to the stall, leaving the fruit where it had landed in the dirt. When their steps couldn’t be heard any longer, a small girl ran over and picked up the fruit, not even dusting it off before she gobbled it down.
Kanuen shuddered and looked back at the stall where the boy was forced down to his knees. What were that vendor and his guards doing? Where was the sense in this? Obviously, neither of them cared about that fruit! So why punish this child? He looked up at Hou Dong but only got a resigned sigh in return.
"That’s the way it is here. In this city, is still better than in a lot of others. I’ve seen far worse already. You should be happy that the group we’re traveling with only wanted to go here this time. It could have been worse." He couldn’t help but say it again. After interacting with Kanuen for this long, he felt that he understood him a bit. The life in the kingdom of Sou seemed to be good. He had never seen this kind of ugliness. And as much as Hou Dong wanted him to be able to always live that way, he also felt that Kanuen needed to be prepared. The things he might see in this city even if they only stayed a day or two … It would hit him too hard otherwise.
Kanuen nodded and didn’t dare to look over anymore. He hid in Hou Dong’s embrace, closing his eyes to this bitter reality. "You still didn’t tell me what would happen to me if I was sold here."
Hou Dong closed his own eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "And I won’t. It’s better if you don’t know." Yes, he wanted him to see a bit of the bitterness of this world but he didn’t want to make him scared. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t be able to go through with his plan. He wouldn’t be able to take the thought of Kanuen shivering in fear for the few hours they’d be separated.
He brushed through Kanuen’s hair and continued to watch the scene on the square. He was merely a foreigner here. Even if he pitied the child, there was nothing he could do. The situation in these cities couldn’t be changed if the ruler of Kai didn’t make a change. This was their problem and nothing a foreigner could do anything about. Unfortunately, the people here had already suffered for such a long time that nobody believed things could be changed and unfortunately, the current ruler that had been instated a few years ago was just as incompetent as the previous one. Who knew if the next one would be any better?
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