Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight! novel Chapter 596

"You have got to be fucking joking."

'Ah. I knew it.'

Lucius didn't even look surprised. Instead, he closed his eyes with the solemn acceptance of a man preparing himself for divine punishment as the entire office trembled around him.

"Tell me you are playing a trick, Lucius." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Heinz's voice was deceptively calm—too calm.

Lucius swallowed. "U-Unfortunately, Your Majesty… his highness said he was serious. And that…" He paused, inhaling deeply as if preparing for a death sentence.

"…if you have any qualms and try to go to him, he will return to Floramatria instead of traveling with Duke Elara tomorrow."

The room did not simply shake this time.

A boom erupted from the other side of the study—loud enough to rattle the chandeliers, loud enough for fractures to spider across the marble floor.

"…Why is he being so difficult!" Heinz exploded, fingers digging into his hair as he paced like a caged dragon. "I understand he wants to punish me, but with that—"

He didn't even finish his sentence.He just stood there, seething, trembling, breathing like he wanted to set the whole palace on fire.

And then the large window behind his desk shattered, glass raining down like glittering snow.

Lucius didn't flinch.

'I just wanted to start working again… but of course I walk straight into whatever… this is…'

He truly shouldn't be surprised.

After everything that happened—Florian and Heinz practically living together, the clear intimacy between them they both pretended wasn't obvious, the ball, the incident—things had soured spectacularly.

And somehow, Florian now had the king of Concordia on a leash so short it was strangling.

The infamous tyrant… powerless.

It should have been terrifying.

Yet Lucius found himself something closer to impressed.

Amused, even.

One of the things Lucius had liked about Florian in the beginning was how Florian made him feel strong.

Made him feel reliable. In control. Someone who could protect another man—someone softer, smaller, someone who made Lucius understand why men were drawn to delicate partners.

But then Florian changed.

He gained fire.

From a weepy, overdramatic prince who yearned for the king's attention to the one who draws attention just by walking in a room.

He argued back.

He didn't care about titles.

He said whatever he believed was right, no matter who stood in front of him.

And Lucius realized—he liked that too.

He liked the challenge. The unexpectedness. The chaos that followed Florian like perfume.

To think that stubborn spark—a spark that ignited everyone Florian touched—had now even ensnared the stone-cold, tyrannical king…

Lucius exhaled slowly.

It was almost funny.

Lucius was glad—deeply glad—he didn't have to deal with that right now.

Yes, it hurt that Florian didn't return his feelings. Yes, it stung that Florian had chosen another path entirely.

But being in Heinz's position?

Absolutely not.

He didn't even want to be in Heinz's line of sight at the moment.

"Summon him. Bring him here."

Lucius looked up sharply.

Heinz sat behind his desk, long fingers pressed against his forehead, eyes shadowed, breath heavy. He looked like a man holding back a storm with sheer will alone.

"Bring him…? You mean Prince Florian, Your Majesty?" Lucius asked carefully.

"No."

Heinz's jaw tensed.

"Bring Hendrix here."

Lucius froze.

His breath caught.

Then—

'Shit.'

Heinz had avoided Hendrix for nearly his entire life.

Not out of dislike. Not out of indifference.

Out of something much deeper, older, and far more complicated as Hendrix was the former king's more favored son.

He had never summoned him before.

Not when they were children.

Not when they were young adults navigating their roles.

Not during the entire existence of the harem.

There was no possible world where Heinz voluntarily called for Hendrix.

Not until now.

'Is it that serious?' Lucius wondered, dread curling in his stomach.

It must be.

Something had pushed Heinz past a threshold Lucius didn't even know existed.

And then the bigger question finally hit him.

'Why was Florian inviting Hendrix?'

Lucius blinked, trying to recall every interaction he'd ever seen between the two.

He came up empty.

He didn't even know Florian and Hendrix had spoken privately before. Hendrix hardly ever stayed long in the palace. During the months of the harem, he was practically a ghost, a rumor—he didn't even appear during the first ball because he had banished himself from Diamond Palace.

Even recently, Lucius had never seen anything that hinted at closeness between them.

Other than Hendrix appearing whenever Athena was around—because she was his cousin—that was it.

So why?

Why would Florian invite Hendrix of all people?

Why now?

Lucius' chest tightened—violently, unexpectedly.

He hadn't even thought about it until this moment.Hadn't connected the threads. Hadn't allowed himself to.

But now the pieces were arranging themselves whether he liked it or not.

Lucius didn't want to assume the worst.He didn't want to believe Florian was capable of cruelty.

Yet—

'Is Prince Florian so furious at His Majesty that he'd use Hendrix—'

"Go, Lucius."

Heinz's voice cut through his thoughts like a blade.

Low.

Cold.

Dark.

The kind of voice Lucius had only heard once before.

The night Heinz calmly stated he intended to kill his own father.

Lucius shivered.

"I need him in front of me this instant."

Heinz didn't raise his voice.He didn't need to.

The air itself seemed to darken around him, shadows tightening like coiled serpents.

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