Rae’s eyes had filled with tears before he could stop them and were close to overflowing. 

“I…” Rae said, but his throat closed up before he could explain. Before he could think of an explanation. 

“Hey, I’m sorry if I overstepped. Don’t cry,” 

All Rae could do was scowl at Ven, but that made his embarrassing state even more obvious. When he saw Ven’s face twist in sympathy, he covered his eyes with his sleeve. 

“These last few days have been overwhelming,” he said when he finally regained his voice.

“I’m sure they have,”

“Speaking of such matters, are you going to explain why you saved me at the guesthouse? That ‘beast’ of yours… Even if you didn’t know my identity, he was there on the orders of Duke Ashem, why not let him finish his job?”

Having slept twice since the incident, Rae’s mind had cleared and he was ready to hear answers.

“The beast was acting in my father’s interests, but not on his orders. He is little more than a poorly trained dog,” Ven said, his expression dark, “he won’t act on his own again,”

So the unruly beast had been punished? Rae almost felt pity, wondering just how enraged Duke Ashem had been.

“My father doesn’t intend to harm you. I can’t guarantee that will last, especially if the baby… Once the baby is born, it might change things. 

It might only buy Rae a few days, but that sentiment was a relief all the same. 

“You didn’t answer my question. Why did you step in?”

At that, a glistening smile appeared on Ven’s face. Once, Rae had thought it was the look of a wolf baring its fangs, and it still made him queasy. But he’d been at the wolf’s mercy before and it had never taken a bite out of him. 

“I thought you were nothing but a beautiful youth, about to be cut down by a vicious beast. The man in me couldn’t help but intervene,”

At that moment, Rae realised the wolfish look was certainly the same one he used on the women he took ‘tea’ with. It was more intense than any he had been faced with before, so he couldn’t help but blush. Ven stepped in because he thought he had found a nameless beauty in distress, and if he became their saviour, they’d offer him something trivial in return. 

“Ah… were you upset when the truth came out?” It took all Rae’s effort to keep his voice steady. Ven was shameless and loose but clearly wasn’t a bad person. Plus, Rae was Shak, it wouldn’t do to be driven over the edge by a little teasing.

“What truth? Everything I said was true, and still is,”

Rae spluttered, which he tried to play off as a laugh, “Young master Ven is shameless. Don’t tease me any more,”

Rae couldn’t allow the AShem young master to see how red his face had gotten, so he turned on his heels and stalked back towards the palace. 

The cat let out a squeak and Ven was soon next to him, with the creature in his arms. 

“Your majesty, even if I didn’t know the weight of my words back then, what I said before still holds true. If you ever need anything… you can come to me,”

Fuck off! Rae wanted to say. The alternation between shameless teasing and sincerity was giving Rae a headache. Heartburn, chills, A fever. Rae’s body wasn’t used to enduring such nonsense. If he didn’t speak to someone normal soon, he might end up bedridden. 

 Ven followed him until they reached the gates of the Shana’s palace, where someone had been waiting for him to return with the cat.

“So you found him,” the Shana said, eyeing Rae but thankfully not commenting on his bloodshot eyes, and sour expression, “you took so long, the girls have been inconsolable with worry,” 

She had recovered somewhat since their first meeting, perhaps reassured that Rae hadn’t yet banished her from the palace. Even so, there was a pervasive weakness in her stance, a tiredness in her breath. 

Ven stroked the cat, which had relaxed bonelessly sleepy in his arms and was purring, “they better learn not to let him out, if it makes them so worried,” Ven said, before glancing to Rae, “I thank Your Majesty, for taking good care of him. Would you like to come in? Your sisters will want to thank the one who found him,”

A frown fell across the Shana’s face. She glared at Rae, who considered it for a moment. Rae had expected he might live out his whole life without so much as meeting his half-sisters and hadn’t felt much grief over it. Innocent as they were, their existence was evidence of his father’s and the Ashems’ desperate wish to replace him. Each new daughter was another step in the countdown to Rae’s doom. 

“I need to go see Duke Bejuk. It’s already quite late, so I won’t keep him waiting any longer. I don’t require any thanks,” As he spoke, disappointment flitted across Ven’s eyes. The sight made something in Rae’s heart seize again, and he hurried off before the Ashem young master could drive him unwell.