There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 439

Chapter 439: Chapter 432. The Heart of The South

Zein thought the portal would lead them inside the palace, but when he arrived on the other side, they were in a pavilion outside of it--on a slightly higher land that allowed him the sight of the palace’s estate; the house of the only Old House in the whole kingdom--the royal family of Rakai clan.

It was a clever spot; almost like a tourist attraction, and made sure that the palace guests had a grand view of the majestic palace the moment they stepped out of the portal.

And Zein was sure this was the objective in their case; to show Bassena the grandeur of the palace which he had once rejected.

It was a good position--Zein thought. Unlike the Eastern Federation, whose landscape consisted of skyscrapers, the buildings in the Southern Kingdom were large and spacious. Seldom were they higher than three stories, but each occupied huge plots of land.

This, of course, included the palace.

Eastern Federation’s presidential palace was shaped like a tower; its many governmental details occupied the many floors that brought the tower to touch the sky. The way to bask in its grandeur, of course, was by looking at it from below.

But the Southern Kingdom’s palace was different. Just like any other building there, it wasn’t tall. The ministry and governmental bodies were spread throughout the compound outside of the main palace itself, which made the estate look like a small city on its own, with the grand palace as the centerpiece. Naturally, they wouldn’t be able to appreciate its greatness fully if it wasn’t from a higher place where they could see the entirety of the palace complex.

And it was indeed a centerpiece worthy of attention; the heart of colors exploding in harmony. The buildings in the Eastern Federation, although carried various architectural shapes, mostly contained muted, cold colors; white, black, grey, the color of steel. It was meant to be calm and not distracting.

The palace, however, was glittering. A lot of reds, yellows, and blues with green palm trees and shrubs around. It was decorated in ornaments of ivory and shining gold, glittering beneath the scorching sunlight that made the fountains look like it spewing jewels.

Talking about jewels, Zein could see statues and ornaments with shining eyes that he thought were polished stones at first but then thought they might be real jewels. Perhaps the golden color wasn’t paint, but real gold--who knows.

He had to say, though--it was indeed grand and eye-opening. He could understand how Bassena’s mother grew to have an interest in accessory-making. She was surrounded by beautiful ornaments and people who walked about in colorful clothes with intricate patterns and jewelry adorning their bodies.

Naturally, with so many precious items out in the open, the place was guarded heavily by guards who wore the same outfit as the one escorting them--just differed in color and insignia. Of course, everyone was espers, although they were of low ranks. He reckoned the higher ranks espers would see the money and prestige from dungeon raiding more appetizing.

Except for the red-uniformed man knocking on the car door earlier, which was at least a four-star. Must have been one of those royal officers.

The man brought them through a park with fountains and palm trees. From how quiet it was, Zein presumed it was a place that could only be frequented by the royal family.

Well, Bassena was technically half-royal, so...

"At this point, it’s inevitable, huh?" Zein chuckled while looking at the sky through the intertwined palm leaves.

"What is?"

"That something will always happen during our date."

"Ugh," Bassena groaned and cursed under his breath. "Don’t jinx it for the next time."

Zein raised his brow. "Next time?"

"Why? You don’t think we can have a date in the Deathzone?" Bassena turned his head to look at Zein, smiling cheekily. "I managed to have sex with you there, you know."

How about that--he was actually right. Despite the less-than-ideal place, and despite Zein’s insistent that there was no such thing as love in the Deathzone, the esper managed to creep his way into Zein’s heart.

And it wasn’t like there was no site to have a date; a nice date, a battle date, a horror date...

"...you’re going to ask me to do it again in that ruin, huh?" Zein narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the smirking esper.

"Wow, are you a mind-reader now?"

Zein scoffed and Bassena grinned in elation at the absence of rejection from the guide. Of course, someone like Zein wouldn’t have any qualms about doing it in the most tricky places.

"Ahem--"

But their small flirty moment was disturbed by a small coughing sound.

Look, how ungrateful he is to reject the king’s grace; look, how ignorant he is to reject nobility.