1.4 Regression

Caspian woke up and took a shower. He quickly ate and went to the main palace. He knocked when he reached the emperor's chambers.

"Enter."

He entered.

"Good morning, your majesty."

Caspian opened the drapes.

He looked at the emperor, who had reached out for reports on his side table.

"Should I ask the cook for something specific?"

Salvatore looked up and asked:

"What do you like to eat most in the dawn?"

Caspian seemed to think, then answered:

"Shrimp dumplings."

"Then instruct the cook that's what we'd like."

"Yes, your majesty."

Salvatore put down the reports and walked to the bathroom.

"When the maids come, ask them to take care of the chamber while you help us bathe."

Without waiting for Caspian to speak, Salvatore went to the bathroom.

Caspian's eyes darkened. He went to the walk-in closet and looked at all his robes. His eyes stopped when they landed on dark blue robes. He smiled and pulled them out. When he came in the room again, two maids came in with Eben.

Caspian ordered:

"I'll help his Majesty bathe. You two take care of the room. You tell the cook the emperor would like to eat shrimp dumplings."

Eben told:

"I have a name."

Caspian spoke with cold eyes:

"I don't care, just do your job."

After saying that, he entered the bathroom. Eben looked at him go with dark eyes. He left for the kitchen. There's no point in getting angry. The empress is going to deal with him, anyway. And even if Caspian is his superior, the emperor still trusts him more.

When Salvatore was done brushing his teeth, he leaned against the wall and looked at Caspian filling his enormous bathtub. He tilted his head thoughtfully. Caspian oddity won't leave his mind. He can't stop wondering about him.

Salvatore is the obsessive type, so it isn't surprising. Caspian is different but familiar, while before he felt none of those things. And he also has the need to tease him. He feels as though he did something to him, something that made him the butt of a joke.

He knows that none of it makes sense, but he has all those sentiments swirling in his mind. Furthermore, he enjoys teasing him, he enjoys seeing him forcing himself not to lose it. Salvatore can tell that he isn't shy like other gers, but he is.

Again, he can't help but feel two contradictory feelings out of him. It's like Caspian is two people or sides of a coin. Caspian stood up when his bath was ready. He looked at the emperor, and he walked to the bathtub.

He dropped his robes and entered the bathtub. When his body was submerged, he relaxed and closed his eyes.

"Should I let his majesty relax for a few minutes first?"

Salvatore simply said:

"En."

Caspian leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. After thinking he opened his eyes and saw that the emperor was already looking at him.

Salvatore asked:

"Would you like to ask us something?"

It was as though Salvatore had read his mind.

Caspian stood up correctly and said slightly uncomfortable.

"I would like to present his majesty with a business offer, but it is hardly the place to talk about it."

Salvatore spoke:

"Speak."

Caspian walked to the bathtub and knelt, so they were eyes to eyes.

"I would like to open a shop and sell my inventions. I came up with tools that will help with work and make communication easier."

"Do you have prototypes?"

Caspian said:

"I do, and they all function. If his majesty could look at it, I'm sure he would appreciate it."

Salvatore studied Caspian in silence for a long time.

Caspian leaned back slightly, it seemed like he had finally realized how close he was. Salvatore looked at his flushed cheeks and said:

"Bring them while we are in court."

Caspian smiled enthusiastically.

"I will, thank you, your majesty."

Salvatore nodded. Caspian stood up and leaned against the wall, waiting until the emperor was ready.

Fifty minutes later, he rubbed him and helped him wash up. When they were done, the emperor walked out of the bathroom. Caspian frowned when he saw the maids weren't there.

He said:

"I'll hail the maids."

"No need, you'll dress us."

Caspian's eyes darkened. Is he a eunuch or a fucking maid? If Hades continues, he'll kill him in his sleep. It's already annoying to call him your majesty and pretend to be this shy ger who blushes, but now he is trying to push him further.

Caspian said:

"Yes, your majesty."

He dried him and dressed him. When he had on thin white robes, Caspian grabbed the blue robes he had pulled out with a gleam of excitement.

Salvatore frowned at the robes, this is the first time since Caspian entered this universe that he's seen any kind of reaction out of him. Caspian forced himself not to smile, but it was hard. The emperor looked at him suspiciously, but let him put the robes on him.

When Caspian was done, the emperor sat in front of the mirror while Caspian brushed and styled his long hair. Salvatore who was looking at him through the mirror asked:

"How did you know we don't like blue?"

Caspian met his eyes through the mirror. He was about to lie, but he doesn't want him to snap again, and he said he won't lie anymore. He knows because Hades hates blue for some reason.

He would regularly leave him notes written in blue, with a big heart, a few hours after he missed catching him. He always had cameras installed and would invariably look at his reaction, it was the best.

"I guessed it after I noticed his majesty's reaction to the empress's favorite blue robes."

Salvatore's eyes flashed. Even Camilla and Eben never spotted how much he hates those horrid robes, but Caspian did. It's the most valuable garments Camilla has in her closet, so she put them on when there are important functions, but it only repulses him.

There's just something about that color that angers him. He can't recall the memory behind why he hates it, but he still feels it.

"Do you want us to be indignant?"

Caspian, who was done with his hair, met Salvatore's eyes again.

"Sometimes."

"Why?"

Caspian said, pouting:

"Because his majesty wants me to be angry too, so I thought I should make you, using something you hate."

Salvatore laughed.

It shocked the guards who were guarding the chambers hearing his laugh, and so was Eben, who was about to knock.

The most shocked was Caspian, he's never heard Hades' laugh. All he did was smile once when he caught him. He looked at him, stunned through the mirror. Salvatore stood up with a smile and faced Caspian.

He broke the space between them, and Caspian blinked. Salvatore reached out and caressed his cheek. He still had a smile on his usual stony face.

"We don't want you to be angry. We just like to tease you."

Salvatore tilted his head when Caspian swallowed and blushed.

"Why?"

Salvatore could tell that Caspian was genuinely confused.

"We don't know, we just do."

Caspian looked at Salvatore intently. Did he have a thing for the original? If it's the case, it will make his mission easier, but he doesn't intend to let Hades touch him. He'll just manipulate him until he gets what he needs from him.

When Caspian smiled shyly, Salvatore's eyes softened. Caspian forced himself not to burst out laughing. Seriously? Hades regressed in this life. That fool is falling for a pretty face. That man is so stupid.

Salvatore almost shook his head at Caspian. How can this kid be so obvious? There's a reason he is the emperor. He can read people better than they know themselves. He'll let him think he doesn't know what he is up to. He wants to see how far Caspian will go.

Capsian asked:

"Does his majesty want to have breakfast now?"

Salvatore pulled back his hand and walked out. Caspian followed behind with a smirk.