Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR IS MISTAKEN ABOUT HIS FEELINGS

The scene dissolves around him. Yao Shen opens his eyes and finds Si Wang screaming in his face.

"You're such a fucking bleeding heart," he shouts, his eyes blazing as he looks down at the Crown Prince seated next to Yao Shen on a bed in a plain room. They must be in the Crown Prince's lodgings in Youdu.

The Crown Prince remains silent, but Si Wang has more to say, "What does it matter how I became a ghost king?"

"It matters to me," the Crown Prince says, between gritted teeth.

"Did that demon tell you about it?" he asks. "You're impossible, there isn't a lost cause you don't think about picking up."

That's right, Yao Shen thinks, Si Wang doesn't know about the Crown Prince's meeting with Xin Hulei in the forest, and what transpired between them.

He knows for a fact it won't remain like that for long.

"What did you do?" the Crown Prince insists, his voice steady.

Yao Shen can tell from Si Wang's eyes that he's debating going on another tirade, but something about the searching look in the Crown Prince's eyes makes him click his mouth shut.

"Fine, since you're so determined to find even more reason to hate me." His words are coated with bitterness, but it's obvious he is also relishing the opportunity to hurt the Crown Prince. "I thought you were dead, you disappeared out of nowhere, and there were people after you. I thought they killed you...what else was I supposed to do?"

"So you killed them?" the Crown Prince asks, a muscle in his jaw twitching. Yao Shen remembers the group of mercenaries sent after him, and the people behind them.

He has no problem imagining Si Wang orchestrating their deaths -- but he doesn't think he stopped there.

"I did, and everyone else who had ever hurt you -- or me."

The Crown Prince's back goes rigid. He knows that's a long list. "How- how many..."

Si Wang smiles. He didn't want to admit it at first, but now that he's talking about it, relieving the memories gives him immense pleasure. "Thousands, enough for me to lose count. I started with father's harem. All those bitches who liked calling me a bastard," he grins, childish and excited. "I loved seeing them squeal. Of course I made father watch, not that he cared. All he did was beg for his life."

The Crown Prince looks up at his brother in open revulsion, but Si Wang can't stop himself now, he's overwhelmed with the manic desire to brag about everyone he killed, how much pleasure he got from taking revenge for small and large slights alike.

He might not know how many he killed, but he delights in recalling the more gruesome deaths in vivid detail.

The disgust in the Crown Prince's face only grows, and while Si Wang notices it, he also knows that there's no turning back. His brother will never look at him with the kindness of an older brother again. But that was never what he wanted, not really.

And if he can't have that, he might as well have the Crown Prince's hatred. After all, an enemy is not easily forgotten.

He grins and spreads his arms wide. "When he blood reached my ankles, a god came to see me...I guess you know the rest of the story."

The Crown Prince scoffs and gets up to his feet, trying to get out of Si Wang's way, but Si Wang holds him back by the elbow.

"Do you want to know why I decided to become a ghost king instead of a god?"

The Crown Prince wrenches his sleeve free with a sharp tug. He glares at his brother. "Not particularly."

Si Wang smiles and it turns his young face into something cruel, almost animal. "I asked him where you went, and I decided to come after you." His grin widens like a threat. "You won't be so easily rid of me."