[WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC AND BRUTAL SCENES. IF YOU FIND THIS DISTURBING, PLEASE SKIP!]
With a confused expression, Eralio looked at the innocent face of the little boy sitting stiffly on Calian's lap.
His gender is indeed a man. Eralio muttered inwardly, his brain still struggling to process the Prince's words. But, no matter how you look at it, his physical form is still that of a child. Why did Prince Calian refer to him as a 'man'?
Sensing that something was not syncing up, the man shifted his gaze back to the purple-haired youth in front of him.
"Then... what is it that you want from me regarding this little boy, Your Highness?" Eralio asked carefully.
Calian, who had been calm and rather relaxed all this time, now changed his expression. The gaze in his eyes sharpened, radiating a seriousness that made the temperature in the room feel as if it had dropped several degrees.
"Before I explain everything, I want to ask you to assist my spouse first." Calian said in a tone that accepted no refusal.
"What must I do to help, Your Highness?"
Wasting no time, Calian lifted the boy's body from his lap and handed him over to Eralio.
"Hold this man's body. Grip the base of his thighs firmly, and position his body facing down, as if he is lying face down in the air." Calian instructed very specifically.
Although he did not understand at all, Eralio did not dare to argue. He immediately stretched out his arms, received the stiff little body, and began to do what Calian had ordered.
He held the base of the boy's thighs tightly, lifted his body slightly, and then lowered his head to face the floor, as if Eralio were holding a heavy pair of horse reins.
Seeing that the position of Eralio and the child was right, Calian did not want to waste time.
"Wolvin, hold my hand!"
The Night Wolf youth immediately stood up from his sofa, stepped closer, and tightly grasped his husband's left hand.
And what happened in the next second completely stripped Eralio of his sanity.
The flow of time instantly stopped inside the room. The dust floating in the air became frozen. The air felt solid.
Wolvin, who was directly connected to Calian through touch, could still breathe and move freely. As for Eralio, he suddenly felt a horrifying sensation where his entire body from his shoulders down to his toes completely froze. He could not move his fingers that were gripping the child's thighs, nor could he twist his body, yet strangely, he could still breathe and move his head.
Realizing his body was suddenly paralyzed and immobile, Eralio was incredibly shocked. Cold sweat instantly dripped from his temples. He looked at the Prince's face with an expression that was a mix of confusion and extreme terror.
"Y-Your Highness?! W-Why can't my body move at all like this?!" Eralio asked in a panic, his voice trembling violently. "W-What are you going to do to me?!"
Ignoring the panic of the man in front of him, Calian very calmly reached for the hilt of the sword sheathed at his waist, then slowly drew it out.
Seeing the Imperial Prince suddenly draw his sword, Eralio instantly shivered in terror, his heart pounding rapidly.
What is actually happening?! Eralio screamed inwardly, his mind starting to piece together worst-case scenarios. Did I commit a fatal mistake? Did I ask too many questions until Prince Calian intends to silence and execute me right here?!
However, that series of horrific assumptions instantly became meaningless when Calian instead handed the sword to Wolvin.
Even so, Eralio still could not breathe easily. His body remained trapped like a statue due to the influence of the Stasis authority from Calian's [Time Loop] blessing.
"Please calm down, Mr. Eralio." Calian said, his voice flowing cold yet soothing, cutting through the man's panic and putting an end to the misunderstanding between them. "I stopped the flow of time on your body up to your neck, not because I intend to kill you."
Calian stared straight into Eralio's terror-stricken eyes.
"I just do not want you to make any reflexive movements and ruin everything. The man you are holding will truly die if you make a sudden movement just because you feel panicked and scared."
Eralio became even more confused, completely failing to understand the meaning of the Prince's words.
Although his brain could not find a logical answer, Eralio's survival instincts forced him to keep obeying whatever Calian told him.
Calian now shifted his gaze to his spouse.
"Wolvin, behead that man! Slash right at the base of his neck!"
Eralio's eyes widened upon hearing that order.
"At the base of his neck, I intentionally did not stop the flow of time completely." Calian continued detailing. "So, you can easily cut off his head without being blocked by my wall of time."
"Okay, Darling, I understand! I will do it!" Wolvin answered in a casual tone, as if he wanted to split a piece of fruit.
The Night Wolf youth immediately walked over to where Eralio and the little boy were.
After hearing the interaction between the two of them, Eralio finally understood what the Prince was actually planning.
Good heavens... no wonder he stopped the flow of time on my body! Eralio thought, his eyes staring blankly at the sword blade in Wolvin's hand. If he were to behead this child right in front of my eyes without stopping my movements first, I would definitely be scared half to death and let go of my grip on this child's body, instantly ruining everything!
Wolvin was now standing right next to the brown-haired boy's body tightly held by Eralio. He immediately raised his sword high, aligning the sharp blade perfectly with the neckline where the black slave collar was attached.
"Do it!" Calian commanded firmly.
Hearing the cue from his husband, Wolvin swung the sword down with incredible force and precise speed.
Next to the Night Wolf youth, Eralio could not bear to watch. He reflexively squeezed both his eyes shut right as the silver flash descended.
Slash!
The sword instantly severed the base of the little boy's neck without mercy. His head was perfectly cleanly cut from his body.
Eralio, with his eyes closed, bracing himself to feel the splatter of warm blood that would spray onto his face and clothes. However, as seconds ticked by, not a single drop of blood touched him.
"Wolvin, hurry! Take off his slave collar right now!" Calian ordered again, but this time his voice was no longer as calm as before. "My energy has started to drain heavily because all this time I have been holding back and resisting the authority of death from the man you just beheaded!"
Hearing his husband's breathing starting to grow heavy and not wanting the person he loved so much to end up killing the innocent man, Wolvin did not want to waste a single second.
With a swift movement, Wolvin tossed his sword aside, reached for the severed neck, and then pulled off the black slave collar, throwing it to the floor.
Likewise with Eralio. When he heard the instructions Calian gave to Wolvin, his eyelids slowly opened.
And as his eyes opened completely, he became a living witness to a phenomenon beyond human comprehension.
Crazy! This is absolute crazy! Eralio screamed in awe and horror in his heart, transfixed by the power of the [Time Loop] blessing. Even though this child's neck had been slashed until his head was severed, not a single drop of blood spilled from the cut wound. His blood stopped right at the surface of the wound, frozen and held back by the power of time.
And what was far more shocking, to the point of making it difficult for Eralio's common sense to accept, was when he saw that the severed head did not fall to the floor and was still hovering stiffly, suspended in the air without moving.