There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 379 - 371. Caged Paradise

Chapter 379: Chapter 371. Caged Paradise

Radia said they should get some sleep, but Bassena kept his eyes open for the remainder of the night.

Not because of the incessant darkness of his dreamscape--that place had been changing recently, often being filled with blue sky and the sound of crashing waves. He no longer had an aversion to sleep nowadays, ever since Zein came into his life. So he didn’t mind the sleep, not really.

But that was why; he wanted to make sure that the very person who brought him his nice dream could sleep more soundly. He kept on watching that sleeping face, so pretty and delicate. Unfortunately, it was also far from peaceful.

There was a scowl that didn’t seem to want to go away. The steadily moving chest told him Zein was asleep, but there would be groans every now and then, as if the guide was in a constant nightmare. It persisted throughout the night, that Bassena couldn’t bring himself to sleep so he could soothe the guide.

He didn’t mind though. It was only a small skirmish for him earlier, didn’t even make him break a sweat. He wasn’t tired, and he was able to vent his anger. So he rather used his night to keep watch over his lover.

Again, Zein groaned, and Bassena stroked the black hair tenderly, pulling the guide closer to him. Zein squirmed and stuttered a breath, clutching into Bassena’s shirt tightly, as if looking for a lifeline. If he could, Bassena would have inserted himself into that nightmare, so Zein wouldn’t be alone. But alas, he could only wish that his touch and his presence were of help somehow.

Enveloping the guide in his arms, Bassena whispered soothing words, pressing his lips against the dark locks, patting the back of the agonized man. All through the night, until the first light of the sun slipped through the crack between the curtains.

Even while he was plagued with nightmares, Zein stayed to his biological clock. The blue eyes blinked open just a few moments after the first light, to an expanse of warm, clothed chest. Zein blinked twice, slowly, and brought himself closer, sinking his face there.

Bassena chuckled softly, pulling the older man into a tight embrace. "You’ll suffocate me," Zein sighed into the inviting chest, but made no attempt to push away or get out of the tight hold. In fact, he clutched the esper harder.

"You should sleep some more," Bassena whispered.

"I don’t think I can," Zen sighed, finally tapping on the esper’s back to let him go. He pulled himself up and leaned against the backrest once the embrace loosened.

"Why?" Bassena raised his upper body immediately, looking at the guide with a concerned gaze. "Is the nightmare so bad? Or are you worried about making them wait? You know they’ll wait until you’re ready--"

"No," Zein slipped his fingers between the platinum hair, stroking it fondly. "I’m hungry."

Bassena blinked, before slumping to the guide’s lap with a shaking shoulder; laughter muffled by the blanket. He exhaled in relief and lunged forward to kiss the guide. "What would you like to eat?"

"Something hearty," Zein chased the lips back. "Something filling. I haven’t eaten much last night, and there’s a lot we must... discuss today."

Bassena pecked the guide’s lips once again before climbing down the bed. He looked at the guide once more before getting out, making sure that Zein was truly alright.

The guide, instead, approached him. "I’m fine," he said, patting the esper’s back, whose concern was apparent in the amber gaze. "I guess I didn’t have much quality sleep, huh?"

"Well..."

"But I still managed to get some sleep, so I’m fine now," Zein walked out of the bedroom. "I...had some talk inside my dream."

Bassena widened his eyes slightly, before asking carefully, still with worry. "With...your father?"

"With myself," Zein glanced at the esper; a smile that seemed to bring about a bright spring etched on his lips. "My mind feels clearer now."

"I see..."

Zein drummed his fingers on the fish tank, greeting his little group of fish. "I’ll feed them while you’re making my food."

"I’ll make you a hot cocoa, so come down after you’re done with that," Bassena kissed the guide’s shoulder before descending the stairs. "Ah, we should tell her she may come home now."

"Nayla?" Zein grabbed a small packet of fish food from the drawer.

"Yeah."

She had been hiding in a convalescence home while the whole case was happening, ’living a pampered life’ as she called it. They were concerned about the Horins using her as bait, but the bait prepared turned out to be something even bigger.

Indeed, if they used it, Zein wouldn’t be able to resist. Although of course, as he said last night, he wouldn’t be so foolish as to not inform Bassena or Radia about it. He wasn’t the loner that he was once, after all.

Zein sighed and poured the little packet into the tank, watching the group of fish snatch the little pellets. He wondered...what was it that they were looking for; what was the objective of looking for this greater power? What enticed humans so, that they would turn to a power that wished upon their destruction?

A food...inside a cage decorated as a paradise.

"Are you feeling comfortable in there?" Zein tapped on the glass. "Are you secretly resentful of me, or do you think it’s better to receive this comfort than fighting the wilderness on your own?"

The fish, of course, didn’t answer. They scattered to their own favorite places, between the water shrubs and the coral tunnel, digesting the food that was just being served.

"If I don’t give you food, you’d die, would you not?" Zein stroked the glass, watching the fish cluelessly wandering about, before sighing and climbing down the stairs, where a steaming glass of chocolate had waited for him.

* * *

Only Senan came to the apartment that morning. "I sent Cohen to fetch the Elder."

"That’s good," Zein nodded, before pausing for a moment, frowning. "Would he be alright?"

"No," Senan sighed. "But he’ll get even sicker if we prevent him from seeing Master Roan one last time."

Zein felt fortunate now that at the very least, his father looked peaceful in the end. Perhaps he thought, pitifully so, that his attempt had managed to save his wife and unborn son.

Well, Lucia did manage to give birth to Zein, far away from the Horins, so it wasn’t so futile after all.

"Do we have anyone available? I need someone to pick some people from Eiyuta," Zein asked the middle-aged man. "Preferably woman."

"Of course," Senan took out his commlink. "How many should I send?"

"There are two--no, three ladies. We only need to send an escort and a car to bring them here,"

Senan paused his typing for a moment. "Is this the friends of Lady Lucia?"

"Yes."

Senan narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering what was in Zein’s mind. Certainly, he wouldn’t call them to see Roan, since they had never even met him before. There was hardly any need to let them see his remains. Then why--

His eyes widened. "Young Master--"

"Have you found someone?" Zein asked with a calm smile.

"Ah, yes," Senan shifted back to his commlink, as a text message already blinking on the screen. "Fianna will go--my daughter. She’s a good driver."

"Good. Let’s head to the Peak now."

While they were having breakfast earlier, Radia had sent a text, telling them to head to the Mallarc mansion for breakfast and answer. It seemed like Han Shin went there after the visit to the Columbarium, and Radia’s parents, as well as the Matriarch, wanted to know everything too.

They were led to the main building, right into the greenhouse where the Matriarch was sipping on her tea. "Ah, you’re here early, Young Head."

"Good morning," Zein nodded at her, following her invitation to sit at her table.

There were several round tables there, and the house staff were pushing on trolleys of food bearing breakfast, coffee, and dessert. At present, no one but the Matriarch and the house staff was there.

"Coffee, Sir? Or a plate, perhaps?" the butler offered, but Zein said no to both.

"Not a fan of morning meal?"

"I’ve had breakfast already, a hearty one," Zein replied, and then added when the Matriarch glanced at the clock. "My lover is quite a good cook."

"Is he, indeed?" Ludya looked at Bassena, who was feeling rather bashful by the sudden compliment. He would brag if it was anyone else, but the Matriarch still made him quite nervous. "Love does make wonder, doesn’t it?"

"Did you tell Radia about it?" Zein asked, recalling their conversation yesterday.

"Not yet," she smiled behind her teacup. "He was busy sorting out the evidence all night, but...I did hear something last night."

She looked at Zein keenly, and it was easy to deduce what was it that she heard. "Ah, do pardon me," she put her teacup down and shifted in her seat so she could face Zein properly. "It might be impertinent, but I need to know about all of the evidence found, Young Head."

Zein frowned slightly. "Evidence?"

"Evidence," she looked straight into the blue eyes. "You presented the case yourself, did you not? That it was Torodeo Horin that caused House Ishtera’s downfall."

"That’s--"

"Young Head--no, Luzein," she looked at Zein, with a gaze and a smile that was so alike her grandson. "We seek to pile as much punishment as we could on our dear enemy and prevent any ability for them to rise back. That, my dear, should include financial ruin."

Zein narrowed his eyes, failing to comprehend the connection between his father’s remains with the presupposed financial ruin.

Ludya leaned forward, propping her chin with her hand. "Causing the downfall of an old House isn’t just a huge crime, Young Head," her lips curled deeply. "It is also an expensive one."

"You mean..."

"They would have to pay a sizable penalty," she said, "and the bulk of it, would go to the injured party."

"...me?"

"You," Radia patted Zein’s shoulder. "And we shall squeeze as much as we can from them," he plopped himself on the other side of the Matriarch. "Gotta fill your account again, don’t you think?"

Zein recalled what Bassena said in Seven Ether--that Radia did not look particularly like his parents. But looking at the Matriarch and her heir side by side like this, with their gleaming crimson eyes and deceptive smile, he finally knew who Radia was taking

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