Kingdom of roselium ch 10: Come With me

Joshua braced himself as he hit the water, back first. Jeonghan’s weight pushed him further into the thankfully clean water. The two of them swam towards the surface; Joshua quickly maneuvering them to the far side so she wouldn’t spot them.

Jeonghan got out of the water first, grabbing Joshua by the forearm and hauling him up. Placing his finger to his lips, he gestured with his head towards the forest Joshua hadn’t looked at. Joshua nodded. Jeonghan took him by the hand and they ran toward the trees.

Walking underneath the trees, ducking branches, Joshua hissed at the prince, trying to yank his hand free. “What the hell is this about you marrying me? I haven’t seen anything about this pendant of yours choosing the one you marry.”

The man had the nerve to laugh, holding tight to Joshua. “A bit of deception on my part. I’m sorry. It doesn’t choose who I marry. But it does reject those without good intentions.”

He smiled at Joshua, a charming one, Joshua noted. No wonder the girls went wild over him.

“You have a good heart detective.” He yanked Joshua to him a bit more, lifted his hand and kissed the top of it.

Joshua blushed, hissing like a cat, trying to pull away to no avail. It wasn’t charming enough to make Joshua forget about how the prince almost got him killed. “The name’s Joshua, your highness.” Joshua ducked under a branch, sorely tempted to yank it back and smack the prince in the head with it. Deception. Was he ing crazy? Joshua was about to be a smear on the damn tower walls for his deception. “And where exactly are we going?” He pulled once again, groaning internally at just how hard the prince was holding his hand. For someone who just woke up from a rather long sleep he was strong. Joshua would need to work out more when he finished this case.

“Somewhere that will lead us back into the castle. Underground it. We’ll find something that will help us defeat Hana there.” Jeonghan hummed, “Is something wrong Joshua? You keep trying to pull away from me.”

“There’s no reason to hold hands anymore,” Joshua growled. “And you lied to the crazy in love with you woman who cursed you into an eternal sleep that I was your fiancé. She was going to kill me. I’m a regular human your highness, I don’t have any protections against magic as a whole. So, forgive me if I don’t care to be holding hands with you,” he snapped.

Jeonghan pulled them to a halt, turning Joshua around forcefully. “I’m sorry for that. It was to throw her off.”

Joshua blinked. He looked sincere.

“It’s not as if I would mind though if you were my fiancé. You’re quite cute,” Jeonghan said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

And that killed any of Joshua’s feelings on forgiving him. Reading all those tidbits about the prince made Joshua realize that he just wasn’t going to change this flirty attitude. He sighed. “Whatever. Now, give me back my hand.”

Jeonghan smiled and let it go. For now. The detective was really cute. He’d have to ask him out on a date after this was all done.