The Meaning of Roses (Alberu Crossman x Cale Henituse)

Chapter 2: Orange Roses (361-362)

You probably know that red roses symbolize love and passion, but you may not know that the color, number, and how roses are combined have coded meanings.

Orange roses means passion and desire.

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It hadn't even been that long, and yet the nobles already insisted on giving him more work.

Of course, they were the Central faction nobles.

"How annoying," Alberu murmured, the amused smirk on his lips betraying his words.

Alberu had been a powerless Prince longer than he'd been a respected and influential Crown Prince. These nobles trying to crawl their way up was nothing new. Alberu was used to this. This little problem was nothing compared to the headache that was Cale Henituse.

How peculiar, wasn't it, for his ally and newfound crush to be more of a hassle than the group of people who wanted to take him down?

"How peculiar, indeed," he murmured again.

Speaking of Cale Henituse, Alberu needed to call him. Their work in the Mogoru Empire was starting to take effect and a revolt was likely to take place soon.

Alberu took the video communication device and placed it in front of him. Being proficient in magic, he didn't need any mage to use the device. It saved him a lot of time and trouble, considering the amount of sensitive information he relayed and received daily.

His mana was already gathering at the tip of his fingers when he paused.

On the other side of his office was a mirror. He could see his reflection even from where he was sitting.

His disguised golden hair was shining as brightly as ever, matching perfectly with his disguised clear blue eyes. The white royal suit he wore added to the blinding effect in his appearance.

Alberu's normal attire screamed royalty, but his suit today was more majestic than usual. The number of medals on his lapel and the pure white highest quality fabric was a deadly combination for the people trying to undermine him. He lightly touched the orange rose on his chest that Tasha had recommended to soften his dominating look.

Alberu was no narcissist, but even he had to admit that he looked really good.

I wonder what Cale would think, Alberu thought, cheeks warming just a tad bit when he realized what he was thinking.

Alberu shook his head and swept his hair back to dispel the thought before panicking when he realized he messed up his hair.

It took him another ten minutes until he was finally ready to call Cale.

The communication device glowed for a moment before clearing up, revealing the sight of Cale who was...

Who was...

"What the HELL are you doing?!" Alberu let out quite a non-majestic screech.

He didn't know what he was expecting to see, perhaps the sight of his beloved finally taking a rest, but definitely not HIM UNDRESSING WITH SUCH A RED AND SWEATY FACE!

Cale turned to the communication device. His eyes were half-lidded. Alberu could see the way his chest (his smooth and pale bare chest) rose and fell, the sound of his heavy breathing sending some very familiar feeling to a place on his body that Alberu should not mention.

A single drop of sweat fell from Cale's temple and Alberu watched with bated breath as it slid across his cheek, down to his neck and chest, before disappearing behind what was left of Cale's shirt.