Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight! novel Chapter 299

Chapter 299: ’Quiet Week’

And yet another week had passed.

The sovereign summit was just twenty-four hours away, looming over Florian’s head like a storm cloud thick with thunder and judgment. The palace halls buzzed with subtle energy—servants whispering, guards sharpening blades, banners being unfurled in distant wings—but for Florian, things had been... strangely quiet.

But not in a good way.

The silence wasn’t peaceful. It was hollow. A quiet that pressed against his chest and made it hard to breathe sometimes, like walking through a fog where you couldn’t see your own hands.

Ever since Heinz’s public announcement, Lucius had been keeping his distance. No, scratch that. He’d been icing him out.

Of course, Lucius wouldn’t say that. No, Lucius would insist he was "busy," with that irritatingly polite smile and those frigid eyes. But every time Florian did catch a glimpse of him—passing in the corridors, during briefings, across the training yard—Lucius would barely look at him. And when he did, it was with a look so sharp it could slice bone.

It stung more than Florian wanted to admit.

’It’s not like I wanted him to flirt with me again or anything... but this?’

It wasn’t just distance.

It was rejection.

Cold, calculated rejection.

And Florian hated it. Not because he missed being flirted with—he didn’t. Not really. But because Lucius had been a constant. A steady, annoyingly handsome presence who made this twisted world a little more bearable.

Now, even that was gone.

’He probably thinks something’s going on between me and Heinz... or worse, that I somehow seduced my way into becoming a queen candidate.’

The thought made Florian grimace. He couldn’t even argue—it wasn’t like he understood Heinz’s reasoning either.

Lancelot, on the other hand, was MIA for a legitimate reason. He’d been dispatched to investigate suspicious activity near the border villages. No word, no letters. Just gone.

Heinz? He still summoned Florian. Sometimes. Always formal. Always business. He’d brief Florian about the dukes—what to expect, how to talk, who to avoid. Apparently, they were all volatile, unpredictable, and most of them hated Heinz.

Which made Florian a target by association.

Great.

’There’s a real chance someone might sabotage this summit just to spite him.’

Florian hadn’t seen the princesses either. Not even Alexandria or Athena. They used to show up at least once a week for tea and idle gossip. Now? Nothing. No knocks on his door, no sarcastic quips, no laughter.

The absence of sound was deafening.

Even Cashew was absent, oddly enough. His shy little shadow, the quiet comfort in his chaotic routine. Apparently, Heinz had entrusted him with a "very important task" for the summit. Cashew had been running around like a flustered duckling ever since.

So, Florian was alone.

He spent most of the past few days with Azure curled on his lap, or watching butterflies flit around the garden. Sometimes he’d re-read his notes, practicing lines he would deliver with a strained smile. Other times, he just... laid there, staring at the ceiling, too overwhelmed to move.

Today, he couldn’t sit still anymore.

The summit was tomorrow.

The dukes would arrive.

And Florian felt like he might throw up.

He walked through the marble corridors, the soles of his shoes echoing off the floor like a metronome counting down the hours. His hand pressed against his chest as he exhaled deeply.

’Ah fuck. I’m so nervous.’ He hit his chest lightly, trying to coax his heart into slowing down. But it thudded stubbornly, tight with dread.

’Should I just run away? I don’t... I don’t think I can do it after all.’

It was a stupid thought. He knew that. He’d done presentations before. He’d pitched campaigns to executives with shark-like smiles. He’d once humiliated himself in a boardroom by presenting a tagline for glow-in-the-dark sex toys.

And yet—this felt worse.

These were dukes. Practically royalty. Unpredictable, spoiled, foul-tempered, and powerful. Some of them barely respected the king. And Florian?

Florian was a harem member with a marketing degree.

’At least businessmen had some damn decorum...’ he thought bitterly.

Still... his mind kept circling back to Lucius.

Even if the man was probably jealous or angry or whatever, his absence was jarring. He had been a constant in Florian’s bizarre new life—stern, sharp-tongued, overprotective. Someone Florian could banter with, argue with, trust in a weird way.

And now?

Gone.

Just like that.

’If I’m being honest... if I ignore the fact that he’s in love with whoever he thinks I am... Lucius was good company.’

And it wasn’t just him. Cashew. Lancelot. Alexandria. Athena. They had all become... something. A ragtag collection of people Florian could almost, maybe, possibly consider friends.

To feel... lonely?

’I should be relieved. I’m free from the ridiculous flirting. The drama. The stupid BL tropes...’

’God, I’m so confused.’

Right now, he just wanted someone to sit beside him and say, "You’re doing fine."

The sun always seemed to shine in Concordia—its skies unblemished, the gardens perpetually blooming as though nature had been placed under a never-ending charm. _{freēwēbnovel.com}

’Come to think of it... I’ve never seen it rain here.’ Florian blinked, glancing up at the cloudless blue above. ’Is it not rainy season? Or does it not rain at all? Odd.’