Yongguk's words haunted Mingi's mind. As he rolled in bed even three uneventful days after the oracle's cryptic prediction, he tried to make sense of them.

Something to ask. What did he have to ask? What question in Mingi's life could be important enough that a future-seeing medium took notice of it? Its impact had to affect Mingi's life majorly.

Whenever he didn't think about the mysterious message, Mingi fretted over the future. The townsfolk and the nobles were jittery, all awaiting the next strike. Security had tripled and yet nobody quite trusted their defences. It had all of them on edge. Less music played in the dining room, and the usual boisterous voices had dulled to hushed whispers.

Yunho's gaze was dark these days. Dark with anticipation and plans of how he could keep the pixie from shedding any more blood.

But the enemy was unpredictable. He attacked from the darkest shadows and disappeared in a flash. Only leaving blood and hornless demons behind.

After yet another fruitless day of discussions on how to trap their enemy and San's bold suggestions to use a bait, Yunho all but dragged his hooves to dinner. His father was less than pleased with their failure so far, and he wasn't reluctant to hold them to account with his brusque words.

Once Yunho had fended off San, who wanted to take a stroll with him through the gardens, he hid away back in his room. Mingi followed him dutiful and quiet, unsure how to cheer up his prince. No amount of jokes were appropriate. The only thing that would raise the demon prince's mood was the head of the pixie on a spike.

Cumbersomely, Yunho dropped onto his bed. His golden jewellery jingled, playing less of a harmonious tune today but a sad chime.

"Want to help me repaint my hooves and horns?" Yunho inquired when Mingi lingered unsurely in a corner. The curtains of the bed hung open around Yunho's shoulders, casting a golden frame around him that was backed by the last light of the day outside.

"I would love to."

In the many hours that Mingi had spent inside Yunho's room figuring out the system behind his neatly ordered things, Mingi had already discovered the jar of golden dust and the sticky transparent tree sap that Yunho used to decorate his body. As Mingi pulled both of them from the drawer at the bottom of Yunho's wardrobe, he wondered if the golden powder was pixie dust.

Yunho picked up on his curious gaze as Mingi carried the ornately decorated jar, the elegant brush, and the sap back over to him.

"It's not pixie dust. I would feel weird eating the same material that I walk on. These are the seeds from a rare flower in the northern kingdom. It grows far up in the mountain and is used for decoration and art purposes only," Yunho explained kindly as Mingi sat down beside him to sort the objects between them.

"Will you take care of my horns first?"

A rush of excitement passed through Mingi at the idea of touching Yunho's horns in the same manner he had done to Mingi.

Ming nodded and scooted behind Yunho on the bed. The prince laid his head down on Mingi's lap so his horns rested at a comfortable arm's length.

Mingi started by scrubbing the old mixture of sap and golden dust off Yunho's horns. As the wet rag travelled over the hard material, Yunho's eyes slipped shut in bliss. A happy sigh escaped his lips.

Mingi couldn't help but stare at him. Stare at the beauty that the prince was, how vulnerable he laid in his lap. Every so often, his lips curled around little smiles whenever the awkward silence between them made him giddy. Each time, Mingi had to snicker, too, as they eased up.

Either Yunho's horns were not as delicate as Mingi's, or he hid his reactions well. Apart from the occasional sigh, no other noise gave his pleasure away. Sulking, Mingi slathered the sap on the tips of Yunho's horns. As he spread it around the tips with slick fingers, Mingi's mind wandered to places nowhere appropriate. It seemed to become a habit whenever they were in this part of Yunho's room.

Frozen as a marble statue and so near to Mingi's touch, Yunho laid patiently still as Mingi dusted his horns with the golden sprinkles. He copied the usual look on Yunho from memory, making sure that the gradient into his black horns looked natural.

"Your horns are less sensitive than mine," Mingi said, not able to help the feeling of unfairness. Yunho chuckled, not needing to open his eyes to guess his expression.

"They are used for fighting. They lost their sensitivity with time."

Upset that Mingi couldn't weaponise them against the prince, Mingi pouted again. As soon as he set the brushes down, Yunho sat up smoothly from his lap. As he regarded Mingi's work in the mirror opposite of his bed on the wall, Mingi awaited his evaluation patiently.

With a big smile, Yunho turned back towards him and clapped his hands.

"Fantastic! You did wonderfully, thank you a lot."

Shy at the compliment, Mingi flung his gaze at his lap.

"I'll do my hooves myself. It's usually a dripping mess with them and I don't need that sticky stuff on my sheets." When Yunho extended his hand to take the brush from Mingi, Mingi pulled it away with a pout. He had fun watching Yunho relax as he painted him.

"Then why not let me do it still? I can sit on the ground."

Momentarily surprised, Yunho faltered. Then he leaned further into Mingi's space. His free hand came up to cradle Mingi's chin in his hand while the other one wrapped around his fist with the brush. Trapped by his heavy gaze, Mingi sat petrified in place.

"I will not ask you to kneel between my legs on the ground, Mingi. That would hurt my honour."

"Oh," Mingi muttered as he understood the problem. His fingers loosened, but his eyes remained transfixed on Yunho's lidded ones.

However, as soon as Yunho pulled back yet another time to leave only emptiness behind, indignation bubbled up in Mingi's chest.

Why not? It wasn't as if Mingi would object if the position led to more, since he had suggested it. Even beyond his inexperienced fear of doing something wrong, he was willing to have Yunho guide him through those things. Mingi trusted him; he wanted to repay the sweet favours of the exciting moments they had shared. It had been a long while since the thought of being between a man's legs had terrified Mingi. With Yunho, he wouldn't be afraid.

But what made him even madder was that others had been there before. Yeosang had likely been there before. And he got to live a wonderful life at Yunho's side and share his touch every so often.

Why did Yunho want Yeosang in that way, but not Mingi?

Mingi's sudden outburst of emotions overwhelmed him. He stood from the bed with the excuse to wash his hands. Unknowing of his inner tumult, Yunho went to work on his hooves.

As Mingi angrily washed his hands, the solution to his problem fell from the sky as if lightning had struck him. For a moment, he stared dumbly at the sink made of black volcanic stones.

He could just... Ask.

Slower than before, Mingi returned to Yunho. He lingered near the bed, still hesitant in his sudden enlightenment. He hadn't thought about it a lot, but it all made sense.

Yeosang had also just asked.

"Yunho would you... If I asked you for an answer on a personal matter, would you reply according to my personal feelings or the truth, even if it might be harsh?"

Yunho curiously tilted his head. His fingers set the brush down on the designated towel.

"In what aspect?"

Once more, Mingi didn't know how to word himself. The anxiety of the answer twisted his stomach and made him nauseous. The need to ask battled with his cowardice.

"If I... Uh, if I asked for something that might hurt my feelings if you answer the truth and thus damage our relationship."

Drawing his brows together, Yunho watched him worriedly.

"I don't want to damage our relationship. I truly don't." The honesty in his words had Mingi's knees turn soft, but his gesticulating grew more agitated when he wasn't understood.

"What if it's something that might sound profitable to you, but more profitable when rejected? Especially knowing that I have trouble wording it? Something that would bring us closer if accepted, but that might be a bold thing to ask? And damaging to turn down."

When Yunho picked up on Mingi's fumbling, he stood from his bed. The expensive robe dragged over the black stone behind him, exposing more of his chest as he approached Mingi. One of his hands cradled Mingi's in his, tender in its touch.

"You don't need to be afraid to say anything that you want. I will listen and hopefully reply the way you wish for," Yunho assured him gently. Melting at his compassion, Mingi gathered his words once more. Yunho's proximity unnerved him, but at the same time calmed Mingi. In a clustered jumble of words, he rambled, trying to fit all the important information in.

"I'm meaning to say... You said you'd accept requests from those you liked. If this attraction between us is just inside my head, you are free to tell me, but I needed to ask either way. I ask you to overlook shattering my entire confidence and the definite possibility of me resigning from the castle and moving far away if you reject me. I just want an honest answer clean of any inhibitions you may have because of your rank or your duties."

With big eyes, Yunho stared at him. While his head seemed to piece together what Mingi could hint at, his surprise had the cogs in his mind running at high speeds.

Before he could interrupt Mingi to follow up with a question of himself, Mingi shushed him. Their chests rose and fell in a matching quickened pace, brushing against each other as if their hearts wanted to jump out to join in the middle.

Mingi gathered all his courage. His every emotion, every nervous skip of his heartbeat and every second he had laid awake at night thinking about Yunho, his gentle smiles and his tender touches poured into his words. Despite the trembling in his voice, he spoke all the words in one rush. They spoke the same language, but never had his own speech sounded so foreign to himself.

"Yunho... Asking as a servant. Would you allow me to share your bed? Just for a night?"

Yunho's fingers tightened around Mingi's. Mingi looked between his eyes, trying to find a hint of an answer behind his golden irises. But he found neither the usual playful affection nor rejection.

Nervous like the fluttering wings of a bird, Mingi's heart thumped in his chest.

"No," Yunho breathed. The simple word had Mingi's body locking up. His mind emptied when all that remained was shame. Hot and horrible shame.

Before Mingi could hasten to apologise and flee, Yunho continued. His free arm came to wrap around Mingi's midst, pulling him in gently for them to lean against each other. Warm and solid, his body provided support to Mingi's shaking limbs.

"I don't want you to share my bed as a servant, Mingi. Or only for a night, for that matter. I want you to be my lover, to give your body and soul to me. Everything you are willing to entrust me with. I want to be greedy, want to hold you from dusk until dawn and when the cycle repeats. I will accept no less from you. I hold you in too high regards to let you off easy. It's not me who has to agree to this. I already know that I want you in every possible way. You just need to allow me."

Shocked, Mingi stood in his arms. He wanted to avert his eyes, flattered and embarrassed by Yunho's words. He couldn't help his awe. Astounded, he kept his gaze locked with Yunho's steadfast eyes. Eyes that spoke the truth, always.

"I didn't know you felt like this about me. I thought I was the only one," Mingi muttered shyly once he regained his ability to speak. Yunho's hands still cradled him, claws carefully avoidant of scratching him.

"You were not. But I feared to gain your approval only because you admired me as a prince. Hence why I didn't ask. Recently, I understood that your feelings for me are genuine."

Sweet like a blossoming flower on the riverbed of the lava stream near his house, Mingi's stomach filled with sweet joy. Affection so pure and exciting to him in its newness had his tail shudder with exhilaration.

When Mingi smiled, Yunho had to smile, too. Then, Mingi was the first to bury his head shyly in the other man's chest. With a chuckle, Yunho held him close until Mingi could barely hear the gurgling volcano outside anymore with how happily his heartbeat danced away.

"I will sleep with you if you want to. But first, let me call you mine and shower you with all the love you deserve."

Unable to look at him, Mingi just nodded against his chest. Gleeful, Yunho's tail curled around his, its movements just as shaky as Mingi's. Both of them snickered about it as they stood there, sharing the tenderness of their hug and their unfolding feelings.

After so many years, both of them had found happiness in the most unlikely of times. To Mingi, it was the most prized thing that could ever happen to him. And the yearning for Yunho finally found its end.