Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight!-Chapter 226: ’What is so funny?’

Heinz stared at Augustus, the flickering firelight casting shifting shadows across his face. His words—to make a statement—hung in the air, absurd to the point of being laughable.

’They’ve lost it,’ he thought. ’The entire village has officially lost it.’

He exhaled slowly, keeping his composure, but the weight of the situation pressed against his skin like a suffocating heat. The scent of burning wood and charred flesh curled in his lungs, thick and suffocating. Yet, beyond the fire, beyond the destruction, it was their eyes that unsettled him most.

Desperation. Hunger. Something deeper, something irreversible.

He spoke, his voice level, devoid of amusement.

"A statement?" Heinz repeated. "And what exactly does that mean? What does any of this have to do with your cheap illusions?"

Augustus smiled—slowly, knowingly. As if he had been waiting for that question.

"At first? We only wanted to scare you off. You and the prince. Thought you were just another pair of the king’s dogs sniffing around where you shouldn’t be."

His gaze flickered toward Florian, still limp in Kane’s grasp. Blood matted his light-purple hair, streaking his pale face. A dull pulse of irritation ran through Heinz’s jaw.

"But then I started thinking... none of our tricks worked, did they? The illusion magic—worthless. The fear tactics—useless. The two of you... you acted strangely for a couple of knights. You weren’t just any envoys."

Heinz said nothing, watching him carefully.

Augustus’ expression darkened, his smile thinning into something bitter. "We’ve been abandoned. By the king. By the gods. No matter how much we begged, how much we prayed, no one came."

’One of them already gave me this speech.’

Heinz felt an odd sense of repetition. The same justifications. The same bitterness. It was almost boring.

Augustus continued, voice sharpening. "But now... now we know one of you is important. No, more than important."

His lips curled as he nodded toward Florian.

"The sole prince of the king’s harem is here. And that changes everything."

Heinz furrowed his brows. "Why?"

Augustus’ eyes gleamed, something almost triumphant in their depths. "Because Florian is the key to finally making the king notice us."

There it was again.

’Florian being used to get my attention.’

A realization settled into Heinz’s chest, cold and sharp. Someone had put that idea in their heads. The very thing he suspected—that the traitor had been feeding the ignored villages dangerous ideas—was now undeniably confirmed.

’But why Florian?’

It didn’t make sense. There were easier ways to get an audience with the king—desperate ways, but easier nonetheless. Yet time and time again, Florian was the target.

Kane let out a dry laugh, his grip on Florian’s hair tightening. "You don’t even look surprised, Anastasius."

The name curled off his tongue like a taunt.

Heinz’s eyes snapped to him.

Kane’s sneer deepened. "Guess it makes sense. It’s not like this is the first time he’s been kidnapped, right?"

Something coiled deep in Heinz’s chest—slow, seething, dangerous.

His voice was sharp, cutting through the thick, smoke-filled air.

"What do you know?"

Kane smirked. "Enough."

Heinz’s fingers twitched at his sides. The heat of the burning village pressed against his back, but he ignored it. He was getting agitated. Annoyed. He didn’t have time for this. If they wasted another second, he was going to call for Azure and have every single one of them reduced to ashes.

Augustus tilted his head, watching Heinz carefully. Then, with something almost like resignation, he exhaled.

"All I wanted was for this village to survive. For my people to live."

For the first time, his voice carried something raw beneath its smoothness.

"Your king is the one who forsook us. And the only sin we committed..."

He trailed off, lips parting in something close to a smile.

"...was choosing to eat our sick. And our children, so they no longer had to suffer."

The world stilled.

For a moment, Heinz only heard the crackling of the fire. The distant cries of villagers. The dull hum of something rotten.

Augustus spoke as if he had simply stated a fact. Something obvious. Something inevitable.

Heinz didn’t react. He didn’t move, didn’t even blink.

’That’s it, then. That’s what they’ve become.’

Something in his chest tightened—not in pity, not in sympathy, but in recollection.

Florian’s words.

The anger, the frustration, the sheer rage Florian had thrown at him earlier.

"These people look to you for guidance, for hope. Because they’re your people, Your Majesty. Whether you acknowledge it or not, they belong to this kingdom. They matter."

"Just because it isn’t your fault doesn’t mean you can ignore it. Isn’t it still your responsibility to try?"

Heinz exhaled slowly.

This was not the time to think about that.

Florian’s words weren’t relevant to this situation. If anything, this proved that the village was done for.

It should have been dealt with years ago.

There was no way to help them.

They were cursed.

Cursed because their ancestors were foolish.

’Absolutely foolish.’

Heinz’s mood soured.

Whatever mild amusement or curiosity he had left had withered away, burned to cinders along with the village around them. He was tired of their speeches, tired of their self-righteousness, tired of their hollow justifications.

All he wanted now was to take Florian and leave.

Yet, they just stood there. Augustus, Kane, the villagers—watching him, waiting, their expressions unreadable. The flames crackled, and the silence between them stretched thin, taut like a wire about to snap.

Heinz exhaled through his nose. The longer they stared, the more irritated he became.

’They should be groveling. Begging for their lives. Not just... standing there like this is a mere conversation.’

His eyes flickered to Florian’s still form. Blood stained his temple, his lips, the edge of his jaw. Heinz clenched his teeth. He needed to put an end to this nonsense.

"So?" Heinz asked, his voice flat. "What was the plan, exactly? Take Florian? Hold him for ransom?"

No one answered, but a few of the villagers twitched at his words.

"And then what?" Heinz continued, tilting his head. "Did it never occur to you that the king—the one you all acknowledge as powerful—would simply wipe this place off the map?"

Still, no answer.

His fingers twitched. The firelight cast sharp shadows against his face as he took a slow step forward.

"You act like you have the upper hand," Heinz said. "Like this was ever going to end in your favor."

Then Augustus laughed.

It started slow, almost soft, before Kane joined in, his laughter harsher, more grating. And then, one by one, the other villagers followed. Their voices rose, an eerie, discordant sound that echoed through the burning remains of their homes.

Heinz’s brows furrowed. His irritation twisted into something colder.

His fingers twitched again.

He tilted his head, eyes narrowing.

"What is so funny?"