"I am the king," the voice confirmed.

"Why then are you concerned about me and not your servants?"

"In my castle, there are no servants. This is my home - there's no place for extra ears that can spread lies about me to my citizens."

"Do you think that gossip is a servant's prerogative?"

"More or less."

"But courtiers also love gossip." The prince cautiously argued while continuing to pull the sheet up.

"Everyone loves stories. You see, Prince," the king's figure sat down on the edge of the bed, where the prince had settled in the gray twilight, "Stories of happiness, prosperity, and abundance always irritate - no one believes that such things truly exist. Everyone wants juicy details, passions, intrigues. It creates fun."

"Don't you enjoy having fun?"

"Why wouldn't I? I had a great time watching your attempts to reach the castle without a guide."

The prince's eyebrows furrowed.

"So why didn't you let your guide take me?"

"I wanted to have fun," the king simply replied.

"Ah, I see," the prince reclined on the pillows and started sadly examining the gray stone ceiling. "You just enjoyed watching my misery. So, how are you better than Evil?"

"I won't cause you pain," the king replied.

A hand emerged from under the hood, clearly belonging to a young person. Gray but smooth skin indicated a different age than that of Evil.

"What did Evil call you?" he quietly asked.

"My prince," he whispered.

"Does hearing that word disgust you?"

"Indeed," the prince confirmed hoarsely.

"What should I call you then?"

"Don't call me," the prince requested.

"Prince... Tell me your name, and then I'll show you how pleasant it can be..." The king of the gray world asked seductively, smoothly approaching the edge of the sheet that concealed the rest of the prince's body.

"My name is certainly not for you," the prince croaked.

The king sighed and withdrew his hand. "Then lie down on your stomach again. I'll remove the remnants of your blood."

"No!" The prince recoiled, drawing his legs up to himself.

"Then... shall I bring you food and drink?"

The prince was about to refuse, but a painful rumble in his stomach and the persistent dryness in his throat changed his mind.

"I will bring it," the figure of the king of gray world said and left.

The prince simply curled up on the bed, making no attempts to escape. It wouldn't make sense anyway. "If that's what it takes, I'll take it as punishment for my promiscuity. Maybe it won't hurt as much..."

But the main problem was that failing the trials meant death. The prince immediately chose to live. He didn't know how he would live after all of this, but he decided to think about it later. For now, his main goal was to cling to life.

The prince didn't lie in the gray loneliness for long.

The door creaked, and a cart with food appeared, operated by the king of gray world.

"Do you want to eat alone? Perhaps, I create too oppressive an aura for you."

"No," the prince grabbed the edge of the cloak. "Stay with me," he quietly asked.

The king sat at the head of the bed and gently played with the prince's hair. The prince took a spoon from the cart and reluctantly began to toy with the soup.

"Are you so tired that you can't eat on your own? Then I will feed you."

"Yes. Please," the prince intentionally put on endearing eyes, even though he couldn't see the king's face. He decided to seduce him himself to make the process more bearable.

The king sighed and took a plate of soup and a spoon. "Open your mouth, my prince... for the queen."

When the prince swallowed the soup, he deliberately held the spoon between his teeth and sensually licked it with his tongue.

"Oh, prince, you are impatient," the king said. "I understand why Evil was so cruel to you."

"Really?" The prince released the spoon. "I still don't."

"You provoke so sensually and passionately."

"And what if I do it out of habit? None of my former lovers were rough with me."

"In that case," the king of the gray world fell silent.

"You see, you are looking for subtext. You enjoy creating intrigue. That's why you don't keep servants near you."

Because the main gossipmonger is not them, but the one who likes to have fun by tormenting others," the king said. He placed the soup plate and spoon on the cart. Then, he touched the hood with his hands and began to pull it back. Now, the prince could see a different face. His face.

His face was dirty, tear-stained, and his eyes were so empty and faded that they seemed gray rather than brown. But what frightened the prince the most was his hair. The light locks had turned dark.

"It's just dirt! Right? It's just dirt...?" The prince grabbed the figure's head, which exactly replicated his own appearance.

He began to vigorously scratch one strand with his fingernail, hoping to remove the black color, but the figure only smiled.

"Maybe... Is it on me?!" He immediately removed his hands from the figure's unfamiliar head and grabbed his own hair.

"Black! Oily black. The color of raven's wing..." A solitary tear rolled down the prince's face.

He angrily ran his hands through his hair, pulling out individual strands.

"Don't harm yourself! Prince!" The figure grabbed his hands and forcefully pressed them against the wall. Their own lips covered the prince's lips. The kiss was wet and salty.

"Prince..." The figure whispered when the prince froze and didn't respond to the touch.

"It can't be me, right?" He looked with glassy eyes, hiding tons of pain and resentment, at the figure.

"It's you, my prince," he released the prince's hands, allowing them to fall limply onto the bed. The figure touched the prince's cheek with his index finger, wiping away the tears.

"I'm sorry, but this is the evil that Evil managed to inflict on you."

The prince grabbed the figure's neck and pulled him into an aggressive kiss. His tongue forcefully invaded a familiar mouth.

"Why is he me?" The prince wondered while continuing to cry.

"Why did I let this happen? Where is the truth?"

The prince forcefully bit the figure's lip.

"Ouch!" The figure hissed.

The prince pulled away.

Gray, thick blood oozed from the wound. The prince's lips were intact.

"You're not me," the prince said.

"No, we are one."

"I don't know who you are, but you're not me."

When the king reached out from under the cloak for the first time to touch the prince, he noticed carved hieroglyphs similar to the ones Evil had on his back.

The figure pressed its lips against the prince's hair, smearing them with its gray blood. The prince didn't waste any time and grabbed the sleeve of the figure's cloak. At first, he wanted to tear it apart, but he didn't have the strength. Besides, the king angrily pulled away.

"You're not playing by the rules, Prince," the king hissed with a malicious grin.

"Then you're not me," the prince concluded.

The king of the gray world seized the prince's slender neck.

"And where would I get such strength from?" the prince thought as he began to suffocate.

His hand touched the figure's face, and it released the prince slightly, allowing him to breathe.

"Forgive me," the prince whispered.

The king grimaced and removed his hand.

"Don't apologize."

"I won't go anywhere from you. After all, I can't leave myself," the prince said.

The king of grayness smirked and stroked the prince's hair, smudging his own blood.

"You're clever, Prince."

The prince began to stroke the figure's hand, trying to suppress a happy smile.

When he thought he had raised the sleeve of the cloak high enough, he looked at the hieroglyphs. They had formed into letters.

"L" 

"I"

"E"

The king of the gray world immediately lowered his eyes after the prince. His face contorted in a panic.

"You deceived me!" the king screamed.

"How could you deceive the King of Lies? I only revealed the truth. You're not me. You're afraid that I'll apologize. Even your rule, your castle, and your food - it's all a lie! You lie, even when you talk about lies. And your servants are liars too. It was you, wasn't it? You saw a proud man in me and decided to have fun by leaving me in the swamps. And you cause pain! Not physical, but moral pain! You know," the prince quietly added to the figure, which began to bubble and transform into something else and terrifying, "I almost believed that I could be like you."

In front of him sat a huge, frightening toad.

"Croak!"

Right in front of the prince, a small handheld mirror appeared. The toad opened its mouth, preparing to devour the prince, but he touched the magical surface of the mirror and immediately left the realm of Lies, finding the truth.