Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight! novel Chapter 586

'But I didn't even damage him.'

Not directly.

Not like the original Florian—the one Heinz maimed, betrayed, broke beyond recognition.

If anything… this Florian was angrier for that Florian.For the boy Heinz killed, the boy Heinz forgot, the boy Heinz blamed even after remembering.

And yet…Why did it still feel like this Florian hated him more deeply than anyone ever had?

Why did it feel like cruelty?

"I know what you're thinking, Your Majesty," Lancelot said, voice calm but heavy. "You believe His Highness shouldn't be this affected. That everything he feels is borrowed—pain he inherited from the original Florian."

Heinz's finger twitched.

Because yes—Lancelot had struck the exact nerve.

"But the truth is," Lancelot continued, "His Highness has been through a lot himself."

He stepped forward, tone softening.

"Those first months? He was constantly looked down on by the princesses. He was treated as an outsider. And you—well, you ignored him. Dismissed him. And when the two of you finally grew closer…"

He hesitated—but pressed on anyway.

"…you used him. You put him in danger. And I cannot forget the look on his face the day I found him during his first kidnapping."

A drop of shame slid hot down Heinz's spine.

He remembered that day—how bored he'd been.How indifferent.

Back then, he already knew Florian would be the one to take the damage—physically and mentally—and he still let it happen.

"Prince Florian has always been scared of you," Lancelot said. "Even when he spoke boldly. Even when he argued with you. Lucius saw it, and so did I."

He tightened his hands behind his back.

"It wasn't the fear of a subordinate fearing punishment. It was… the fear of someone who genuinely believed you might kill him if he made one mistake."

Heinz's breath stilled in his throat.

"And yet," Lancelot added gently, "even under that fear, there was always something else."

A pause.

Then—

"Affection, Your Majesty. No matter how critical he acted, no matter how angry he was… I always saw how he looked at you."

Heinz's heart twisted painfully.

He didn't deserve that affection. Not then. Not now.

"And after the second kidnapping," Lancelot said quietly, "when I saw how terrified he'd become… His Highness was shaken to his core. Traumatised. You saw everything inside his mind—and yet you waited until your confession to tell him any of it."

Heinz looked away. "I told him the moment I confessed."

"And that," Lancelot answered immediately, "is the problem."

He took a slow breath, gathering courage.

"You and His Highness… you don't communicate. You hide things from each other—especially you. And whether you mean it or not, every lie, every omission, every time you choose silence… he sees it as betrayal."

Heinz swallowed.

Lancelot wasn't wrong.

"Prince Florian always finds out," Lancelot continued. "He always realizes you've hidden something. And each time… it tells him you don't care how much it hurts him."

Lancelot bowed his head slightly.

"That is why he's distant, Your Majesty. That is why he's cold. Because you've been hurting him even after you started trusting him—again and again—without even realizing it."

Heinz closed his eyes, chest trembling, breath shallow.

'Florian saw Asher… and heard our conversation.'

The realization sat heavy and sour in Heinz's throat.

At first, he had been indignant—resentful even—that Florian hadn't given him a chance to explain.

But now?

Now, that flicker of indignation crumbled into dust.

What was there to explain?

Heinz should have told him from the very beginning.

He should have told him everything.

"And lastly," Lancelot said quietly, bowing so deeply his forehead nearly touched the floor, "I will apologize in advance, Your Majesty."

Heinz lifted his eyes at that—just enough to meet Lancelot's.

"But it seems," Lancelot continued, "that because you apologized, you expected everything to simply… reset. Clean slate. No consequences. No atonement. You say you will make it up to him—but saying so is different from doing so."

He straightened slightly.

"If you truly want His Highness to forgive you, then you must be regretful without expecting forgiveness in return."

Heinz inhaled sharply.

Ah.

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