My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 274: Make a Mistake Together

Chapter 274: Make a Mistake Together

At one point, a moment like that would have been a dream for Quinn. For as long as he knew Stephano, he always wanted the man’s undivided attention knowing he would never be able to have it.

Why couldn’t he have pursued him so fiercely when he wanted it and not when he was feeling hopeless and accepting a life where he had to move forward as his own man?

There was silence for a while and he felt Stephano lean into him. No longer was the monarch simply trapping him, but he had leaned into him enough that his chin was on the other man’s shoulder.

Quinn blamed it entirely on his sobriety or lack thereof. Otherwise, he wouldn’t want to be close to him like that.

"You ought to sleep this off, Your Majesty," Quinn uttered and he slipped his hands between the two of them so he could place them on the King’s shoulders. "We can talk when you’re in the right state of mind."

Stephano entirely ignored the mage’s words and his expression became anguished.

"Your Majesty," the King echoed. "It feels more like a slap to the face each time you address me so respectfully."

Quinn had been observing the King’s face and he noticed something that had been eating at his heart. He shouldn’t have been offended or surprised but the words fell out of his lips before he could stop them.

"Why are you here?" he managed to get out between his clenched teeth. "Why don’t you go back to whoever put their makeup on your lips? Being here is a waste of your time."

The King’s hazel eyes filled with rage and he brought a hand to his lips after throwing off his gloves.

"Do you think I wanted Leonor’s conniving sister to kiss me against my will?" he spat. "I am uncomfortable when people touch me. Perhaps the only positive thing about being the King is that no one has permission to."

Quinn hated that he was glad for that. He clearly couldn’t bear even the thought of someone touching Stephano.

The mage tried to start walking away but Stephano grabbed his sleeve.

"What happened to the Quinn who needed me?"

Quinn pushed harder until Stephano was leaning against the counter and not against him. It was becoming too much for him to handle.

"I grew up," Quinn uttered. "I stepped out from underneath your shadow to try and figure out what it was like to be a mage without you having to do everything for me. My entire education was based on all you had given me."

Stephano seemed to be absorbing nothing of what Quinn said because he gripped the counter with one of his hands and he placed his other hand in a fist against his face.

"I thought we were friends more than that," the King continued, slurring his words. "I thought that you would come here and help me feel less alone. This palace is a prison that I have to stay inside of. I wanted you for your skill, but I wanted you because you made my life feel less bleak whenever you were around."

His voice broke at the end and Quinn was taken aback at the King’s shoulders slumping.

"You’re... crying?" he asked hesitantly.

"My best friend doesn’t want to be around me," Stephano explained then, to Quinn’s shock, he slid to the floor, uncaring about the fine clothing he wore.

Stephano’s words wouldn’t stop once they started. He started uncovering things he had buried in his heart.

"After I slit my father’s throat, I considered slitting my own as well but I knew of the disarray the kingdom would have been cast into and I held back. I considered that it might make you feel a little bit sad so I stopped myself," Stephano spoke to the floor since that’s where his watery eyes had drifted. "After the way you’ve been despising me, I wonder if I should have just done it and finally knew what peace felt like. Unfortunately, scripture states those who commit suicide go to hell because I know my mother is in heaven."

Stephano let out a laugh that was so devoid of humor that Quinn had to drop to his knees and place his hands on the King’s shoulders once again.

"Don’t ever say such a thing," Quinn pleaded. "Your life marks the beginning of a better future for the kingdom. It shows that, despite all your father forced you to endure, you’re still a good person with a good heart."

Stephano leaned his head against the cabinet behind him.

"I don’t want to be a good person any longer," he said. "I want to fill the empty space around me with people who don’t care about me and I don’t care about. Will I be less alone if I pretend? I have nobody else. Not even you." Stephano’s chin started to wrinkle as the feeling of being wounded by his dear friend appeared once more. "Will you at least tell me what changed?"

Quinn wondered if the monarch would even remember if he confessed to him. Was it wrong to take advantage of his drunkenness?

He took a deep breath. It was the hardest truth for him to reveal. It had taken over nearly ten years of his life to learn about, accept, and then try to get out of. Yet the King was in front of him crying and pleading for him to be entangled with him once more and he had the faintest sliver of hope that it would all work out in the end.

"What changed was that, as a tenderhearted teenager, a hero came to my rescue when I thought all hope was lost and I found myself clinging to him," Quinn responded vaguely. "I grew a little more to realize that my feelings had also grown and what I felt was beyond the bounds of platonic friendship. Instead, I’ve been cursed with being a sinner and someone with impure thoughts about men. As an adult, I’ve had to hide myself because I will ruin your life. I will ruin the image you have of me. And our friendship... It will also be ruined..."

"If that’s all that it is..." Stephano uttered.

Quinn didn’t know what the other man meant and he peered over his glasses at Stephano. His face felt hot due to the alcohol and embarrassment at that point. At least he knew he was more sober than the King who had paler skin than him.

The drunk monarch was a force to be reckoned with. Normally he didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve or have any desire to please others or bend to their will.

However, as Quinn said such words, he found himself leaning into the man’s hands that were already on his shoulders.

Without warning, he grabbed his elbows and bent them so that Quinn would come crashing into him. He took that moment to then grab the sides of the younger mage’s face and he ferociously pressed his lips against the other man’s.

Stephano was someone who didn’t feel for others so much so that his own father made a rumor that he was a womanizer so people wouldn’t start questioning him. He never held romantic affections nor did he battle with desire strong enough not to simply take care of himself and be done with it for weeks on end. He had even tried to be with women and found their company boring and their kisses unmoving.

It helped stir the rumors that he was a womanizer, but the girls who left would never tell a soul that they couldn’t seduce the womanizing then Crown Prince.

As Quinn spoke words of his love for him, Stephano wanted to test it out for himself. His unfiltered drunk mind didn’t think of how it could hurt his friend just because he wanted to see if he could connect feelings to action.

Despite Quinn being on top of him, Stephano was undoubtedly the one taking control as he removed the man’s glasses and brushed his fingers through his silver locks.

All the mage could do was cling to the front of the King’s outer coat. He felt rigid as an ice cube at first but the more he fell into the strange reality he was living with, he started melting in Stephano’s hands.

However, standing up made Quinn realize just how intoxicated Stephano was.

They found their way to the small loft that Quinn had recently put a more comfortable bed inside of and they fell into it together, not caring about anything else for at least a couple of hours.

Stephano fell asleep holding onto the mage.

Quinn felt momentarily fulfilled.

That was until there was a knock at the mage’s door and the two men, more sober than a few hours before, swiftly escaped each other’s grasp.

They pretended to have already been awake as Quinn went to the door.

Soldiers pushed into the room.

"Your Majesty," the highest-ranked officer said. "The envoys you sent to Eirenguard have all been murdered. Their heads have arrived at the palace a short time ago in wooden boxes."

"Go fetch Duke Montclair" were the first words out of the monarch’s mouth.

It was time to take action.