Due to the Cleanser’s thorough cleansing of both their bodies and clothes earlier today, the two men only washed their teeth and left the shower for the morning after. Noah had found an extra toothbrush in his cupboard, and graciously offered it to Levi. Levi eyed the two toothbrushes standing side by side within the same cup and couldn’t help but feel extremely pleased by the image.
Afterward, Noah, as usual, wore an oversized t-shirt to bed, and Levi… Noah averted his eyes from his brother-in-law’s naked torso, “Brother… I have several t-shirts here that should fit you–”
“No need,” Levi interrupted, “It’s fine; I usually sleep like this.”
Noah swallowed down the rest of his words. There… there was nothing strange with men only sleeping in their boxers… In his previous life on Cradle, he totally knew a lot of guys who slept only in their boxers… It’s just… it’s just… how come when his brother-in-law did it, he got a strange feeling? Like it wasn’t quite proper?
Bah, he was clearly confused due to the lack of sleep! What was improper about two bros sleeping in their boxers? It’s not like he hadn’t already seen his brother-in-law’s fine 8-pack when they went swimming.
Wait…! Back then…
Noah’s eyes curved playfully, “Brother, didn’t we conclude that your future wife wouldn’t want others to see you half-naked?”
Levi silently stared at the mentioned future wife, who had yet to realize his title, for several long seconds, “No. We concluded your future husband wouldn't want others to see you half-naked.” Then he meaningfully glanced downwards to Noah’s very-much-not-naked torso.
Noah interpreted that glance as ‘Since your upper half is not naked, all is fine,’ while, in reality, the true meaning was ‘Tsk. Why are you hiding your body from your own husband?’
For a moment, Noah felt torn between whether he should point out the double standards or the fact he wasn’t gay, but in the end, he just chuckled and shook his head. When all was said and done, neither of the two topics were worth quibbling about.
Soon enough, the two men were, once again, lying side by side on Noah’s large and comfy bed.
Noah laid with his arms crossed behind his head, looking at the simulation of the starry night sky flickering on the ceiling of his bedroom. Levi, of course, laid on his side, staring at Noah with a gaze that seemed to be affectionate on the surface but hid a bottomless pool of enraptured obsession beneath. Of course, his eyes stayed on his baby’s clothed upper half. No matter how much he wanted to see those long, white, naked, slender legs, he didn’t dare glance downwards. Otherwise, even the thick blanket he was already using to cover his own lower half wouldn’t be enough to hide his bulge.
“Now then, brother, is there something else that’s bothering you?” Noah glanced away from the ceiling towards his brother-in-law.
Levi’s eyebrows shot up in alarm, don’t tell him his baby noticed how pent up he felt??
Interpreting Levi’s tension as confusion, Noah elaborated, “Everything has its cause and effect. What happened today wasn’t a random misfortune. You said it yourself – you destroyed the manor due to a nightmare. Cause and effect. Then, why did you suddenly have a nightmare?”
Levi did not respond. Or rather, he couldn’t respond. How could he tell his baby the real contents of his nightmare?
Even if he steeled his heart to prematurely confess his feelings, this wasn’t something that could be fixed. He, Astar Levi, would forever be terrified of losing him, his precious treasure. Even if he married him, tied him to his side, locked him in the safest bunker in the world, he would still remain afraid.
The future was full of uncertainty. No matter how Levi tried to control every variable, he was only a mortal. There were too many things out of his control. From today to the end of this life of his, he would never be able to put down this fear.
It could be temporarily appeased, but it would always be there, omnipresent, lurking in the back of his consciousness.
It was just the way things were.
The more you treasured something, the more afraid you were of losing it.
Levi did not respond, but his silence wasn’t enough to elude Noah. He vividly remembered how tightly Levi had hugged him yesterday after the second terrorist attack. And that was more than enough to deduce what had been left unspoken.
Other than recognizing the difference between intimate brotherhood and romantic love, Noah was very sharp when it came to perceiving the feelings and thoughts of others. His soul grew up inside a stunningly beautiful shell, with no family or home, with nothing but his identity of a worldborn to protect him. It could no longer be considered as emotional sensitivity or natural intuition – it was a basic survival instinct.
Ironically, it was this worldborn identity, which had protected him for 20 years, that had pitted him this time – he had taken too many things for granted.
Things that might not work in the ways he expected them to.
“This nightmare… the thing that’s bothering you… is it about what happened yesterday?” Noah turned to fully face Levi.
Noah took Levi’s silence as tacit approval.
“Brother… are you worried about losing your loved ones?”
Blackie’s shard form nearly doubled over in shock. His host could shoot blind and still hit the bullseye?!? This was unscientific!!
Blackie wasn’t the only one shocked by the accuracy of Noah’s deduction, Levi’s pupils shrunk, and his body stiffened, thus confirming Noah's guess.
“Brother…” Noah gently sighed, “How many assassination attempts did your parents already go through? And they are perfectly fine. Just like they've survived up to now, they shall survive in the future."
Levi’s mouth twitched into a sneer, “Who is worried about them? My folks are so well protected in Astarea, even a mosquito wouldn't be able to bite them!"
Noah gaped at that unexpected reaction; it was as if Levi disdained the mere idea of someone trying to off his parents. “Then… are you worried about sister?” Noah guessed, “Actually, due to the vulnerability of the patients inside, the central hospital is one of the best-protected places in Concordia. First-class security."
Levi couldn’t prevent a snort from escaping him, “Why should I worry about an S-rank Healer? Even if half of her body got blown up, she'd still live through it. I can die, you can die, but she definitely won't die.”
Noah’s mouth fell open, and his mind couldn’t help but come up with a bold conjecture, “Then… are you worried about me?”
Sure enough, Levi once again fell silent and started to avoid his eyes.
Noah’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat. He felt something warm bubble up within his chest. A bit sweet, a bit sour, but all parts moved.
To have someone worry about himself, to care about himself to the point of having a nightmare, to the point of accidentally demolishing their manor… how would he not feel touched??
Even a millennium-old iceberg would melt into a puddle, ok?!
Noah couldn’t help but once again remember the memories Blackie shared with him, and his two amber eyes moistened.Before he could register what he was doing, he grabbed Levi’s chin and made the other face him. “I won’t die,” Noah proclaimed solemnly. ‘I really won’t die. I have Blackie.’Blackie: (눈_눈) ‘Oh? Now you remember how useful this system is? Then how come I remember you constantly doubting this lord’s abilities and even asking for a mute button?’Noah didn’t have the chance to continue his pledge because as soon as he made the first move, it was as if all hell broke loose.As if a tight string had snapped within Levi, his previously motionless form abruptly enveloped Noah within his arms. His left arm wrapped around Noah’s waist and lower back, his hand stealthily gliding over Noah’s round bottom to rest on his hip. Meanwhile, his right arm slid
“Surv-surviving three… three times…” As Noah attempted to recover his train of thought, his voice came out shaky and broke in several places. Only after clearing his throat several times did he finally manage to piece together a relatively fluent sentence. “Surviving three times might… might look like a coincidence, but–but if my instincts told me I would die… would… would I not change my actions until I found a way to live?”Noah shrunk his pink neck, lowered his head, and stared at his own feet as if they were the most interesting of species. “From an outsider's perspective, these–these might look like… like close brushes with death. But from mine, they… they are just a multiple-choice question to which I already know the wrong answers.”Levi’s eyes had not once left his alluring baby. Letting go of him had already taken every drop of Levi’s will power; how wo
When Cordia daddy received the report from the butler, he nearly choked on his spit.This son-in-law is treating his little son’s room as his own!! Has he no shame?? So many rooms in the manor, including his fiancée’s place, yet he chooses to settle in his son’s bedroom?!?For goodness sake! His son’s room didn’t even have a sofa! There is only that one bed!!It took Concordia city lord a long while to finally manage to swallow down his indignation.Very well! Every problem has its solution. (ꐦ ◠‿◠)And thus, he passed down his orders – tomorrow, when the two boys left the bedroom, move another bed inside.Not enough room for another bed? Make room! Even if you have to replace the large bed with a smaller one, you shall do it!Can’t get that huge bed out of the room? Don’t care how you do it! Even if the only solution is to split the huge bed into two with a bloody laser cutter, y
No, it wasn’t the matter of his baby’s suitors! He, the dignified and the magnanimous ruler of Astarea, and his darling’s one and only future husband didn’t need to worry about some peasants stealing the goddess–ahem, the god of his heart!(︶^︶)ノAlright, fine! The actual truth was that he hadn’t gotten his hands on that list just yet… (≖ ‸ ≖)Apparently, getting a list of his love rivals involved a lot of research; getting accurate information within such a short time frame was unrealistic. Or at least that’s what his people had claimed with tears in their eyes.Hmph, since he had more pressing matters to attend to right now, he would let them off the hook this once.As for the mentioned pressing matters, they were naturally related to getting married to his baby. Back when he had decided to switch the bride of the arranged marriage to his baby, Levi had lamented how much easier it would all be if h
By the time the eldest Cordia sibling, Noah’s sister, handled all of the work assigned to her, the day had already turned into night. Her healing powers had been squeezed dry, leaving her utterly exhausted self, stumbling on her way to the employee lounge.Her glassy eyes lit up when she saw the vacant sofa as if seeing a great benefactor. Without further ado, she slumped into the comfy goodness, intending to briefly rest her tired body before hauling herself home. However, as soon as her head touched the sofa, she ended up inadvertently dozing off. When she finally snapped out of it, the time on the wall showed several hours had already passed.She sat up in a fluster, her abrupt actions making the quilt covering her slide off. In a daze, she gazed towards the soft blanket which she did not remember covering herself with.Ah, Shaw must have seen her embarrassing state and considerately fetched a blanket. What a mature, thoughtful gentleman! Tsk, unlike he
Noah’s sister wasn't the only one who had trouble falling asleep that night. Somewhere in Concordia, there was a dimly lit room with all of its window sills shut tight in an attempt to keep the proceedings inside private. A futile effort since neither the tightly shut windows nor the thick door could keep the loud and agitated bits and pieces of the conversation from leaking out."How is he fine and well?!?""…don't know!""Didn't you say… estimated power… SS-rank Soother?!?""I told you… results… unpredictable!""Didn't… increase the doze?! How is… Astar Levi… fucking fine?!?""Differences in mental power? Differences in the level of… abilities? For all we know… soothing power …increasing…""So we are fucking training the enemy to counter our plans better?! Is that it?!?"A sharp sound of glass breaking could be heard from within.
Noah’s eyes were wide and watery, every inch of his skin red, and his “natural” facial expression anything but natural. He attempted to meet Levi’s eyes because avoiding the other’s gaze would make him look guilty, but his poor acting nearly made Levi’s very good acting fall apart! He just looked like a trembling little rabbit trying to look brave and lock eyes with the wolf, only to falter and look down shyly. But then remember he was supposed to be brave, so look up again, but ah! Can’t look in the eyes! So embarrassed, ah! (/≧ω\) ‘Oh, for the love of…!! Baby, that’s a foul!!’ Levi’s heart melted into a puddle from the overwhelming cuteness attack he had been subjected to. The corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly, and he swallowed hard, the knot on his throat bobbing up and down. Thankfully for him, his acting was still passable, either due to his naturally thick face or the fact that his facial expressions were naturally less expressive than most pe
Levi ground his teeth, “Thanks…”Noah’s now empty hand gave him a thumbs up, “You are welcome.” ╰(*°▽°*)╯Levi, “…”‘Sigh~ At least he is cute…’ Levi comforted his broken heart while putting his clothes on, ‘Mn, so very cute.’Soon enough, Levi came out of the room, fully clothed, much to Noah’s visible relief.Levi eyed his cute little kitten and then sighed, “…I’ll be right back; I need to talk to your sister. Wait for me to have breakfast together.” Sure, he did break off the engagement last night, but that was one-sided, and he had yet to hear his ex-fiancée’s agreement. Not to mention, there were still several marriage-related matters that needed to be settled.Noah nodded very understandingly, and thus Levi set off on his martyrdom. With an overbearing manner, he strutted through t