Title: The Flower of Alosha
Kay is living his best simple life as the vice captain in Lablen. He's a bit of a womanizer, enjoying the company of women, though never more than one at a time. This does come at a price, earning him the ire of his captain, who often longs for the very women that Kay ends up with. It is an annoying but small problem in his life, so Kay is relatively happy at the end of the day. But Kay's simple world is rocked when none other than the Grand Duke, Zigryl Rhyner, arrives in this small, cold region of the empire unannounced.
Zigryl is well-known for his chaotic and cruel nature, and though he isn't the emperor, his brother, the emperor, who has been ill for some time, has no successors. So, he has all the power of the emperor without the shackles of the crown. What is a man with such power and freedom doing in this snow-covered rural region of the empire? As it turns out, Zigryl, alongside his attendant Schumann, isn't here for Lablen but for the subregion of Edor, which is well-known for being dangerous and near-impossible to reach thanks to the surrounding Forest of the Dead. They are after something called the Alosha's Flower, and they need a guide to get there.
Unfortunately for Kay, as soon as Zigryl lays eyes upon him, the Grand Duke wants Kay and only Kay for the journey ahead. Kay, unable to deny the wants of someone with such power, has no choice but to acquiesce. Kay anticipates this mission will only take a few days, and then he'll be able to return and live his everyday life back in Lablen. But what Kay doesn't realize until it's far too late is that Zigryl wants Kay as a guide and a bedmate, and once he gets a taste of him, he has no intention of letting Kay go.