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 over Noah’s back to press him into Levi’s hot, bare chest so tightly it was as if Levi wanted to embed the smaller body into his own.
Levi pressed his lips firmly shut to contain the urge to kiss his baby senseless, closed his eyes to prevent himself from being tempted by his baby’s alluringly pink cheeks. All that was left was his nose and the light, clean scent emanating from his baby. Levi buried his face in Noah’s fluffy hair and inhaled deeply.
Noah, whose face was now rubbing the smooth and hot skin of his brother-in-law’s bare chest, was justifiably both flustered and thunderstruck. All kinds of different feelings roiled inside of him chaotically until they could only come out in the form of a deep blush. However, what he felt more deeply than all of that, was heartache. How did he not realize just how sentimental and sensitive this outwardly cold brother-in-law actually was?
He liked Astar Levi, really liked him, but it would seem that the other liked him far more than that.
No, perhaps this wasn’t a question of like.
To Noah, Levi was someone whom he truly liked very, very much, but he didn’t need him.
However, to Levi, to this loner wolf whose world contained only a handful of people, Noah was an existence that he didn’t just like, but desperately needed.
“It’s a promise!” Noah’s muffled and nasally voice reverberated against Levi’s chest. “I really won’t die! I am not speaking empty words!”
Thinking the other might not believe his promise, Noah could only explain Blackie off as something else, “You know how you have a sharp instinct for danger?”
Noah felt Levi subtly nod, his nose brushing against Noah’s scalp. The soft and ticklish sensation made a shiver run down Noah’s spine.
Noah closed his eyes, trying to ignore the unfamiliar sensations coursing through him and concentrate on what he wished to convey to Levi. “I, too, have an instinct about these sorts of things.”
Noah couldn’t see Levi’s response, but he could intuitively feel his question.
“My instinct is telling me I won't die. That's why I'm not afraid. Even if death is staring me right in the eye.”
Levi’s right arm let go of Noah, and Noah took the opportunity to push himself away from Levi’s chest far enough to look up. “Do you think that surviving three terrorist attacks is all a lucky coincidence? It might look like that, but…”
…But would Levi let go of his precious this easily?
Noah’s eyes locked with Levi’s, and his voice abruptly died down.
Levi’s left arm still held Noah firmly inside his embrace. The other moved to pinch Noah’s chin, locking his head in place.
One looked up, the other looked down, their noses nearly touching.
Noah’s breath hitched in his throat, and his amber eyes widened into saucers.
Levi’s hot breath puffed against Noah’s lips, but it was his gaze that left Noah feeling like he had been singed.
Those pools of blue should have had either a calming or a chilling quality of water, but instead, they rippled like the stormy sea, about to swallow him whole.
“Mmm? You were saying?” When Levi’s deep and husky voice reached Noah’s ears, an uncontrollable shudder shot through his body.
The callused fingers pinching his chin were comfortably warm, yet the places they touched burned. Their rough texture stimulated all of Noah’s senses. Strong but gentle. Coarse yet comfortable.
It became hard to find his voice, “As-as-as I was saying…” Noah’s stuttered, “It-it might look like-like a coincidence… but… but…”
“Mn?” Noah felt Levi’s murmur reverberate, the rumble passing from Levi’s naked chest to his own hands. Noah forgot to breathe, he shrunk his pink neck, trying to hide his burning face, but Levi refused to let go.
Feeling cornered, panicked, and confused, Noah pushed against Levi’s sturdy chest, but the sensation of his fingers sliding over those smooth muscles only made his mind go into an even more exaggerated frenzy. He struggled to break free like a fish caught in a net, frantically trying to widen the distance, desperately searching for his voice, but his thoughts were a jumbled mess impossible to be voiced with words.
His flustered yet helpless state woke up every predatory instinct in Levi’s body. His breaths grew heavy, his blood restless. His boxers grew tight, and the blanket covering them could no longer hide what was underneath.
The friction caused by his darling’s wiggling sent tingles of pleasure down his spine, like gentle gusts of breeze, only serving to further stoke the flames.
Ah, he knew that lying in the same bed with his baby could only lead to a single outcome.
Yet he still wasn’t willing to pass on this opportunity to get closer to his darling.
Levi felt his baby’s soft fingers press against his chest, inadvertently touching everywhere in his desperate attempts to push him away. Every single piece of skin graced by those ten slender fingers itched as if ticked by a feather. Those white hands left trails of scorching heat in their wake, the kind of heat that was both immensely pleasurable and yet at the same time, so very unbearable.
It wasn’t enough! He needed those fingers to touch him, but not there! That wasn’t the right spot!
Recognizing that he was on the verge of snapping, his reason mere moments away from going offline, Levi used the last vestiges of his self-control to let go of the delicious meal in his arms.
As soon as his hold loosened, Noah pushed himself out of his arms.
Levi grasped the blanket covering his lower half, hiding his trembling fingers beneath while simultaneously giving the bulge another explanation – ‘not my dick, but just my fists’.
With Levi’s long fingers no longer rubbing against his chin and his own fingers no longer feeling the sexy lines of the other’s muscles, Noah felt like he could breathe again. His wide limpid eyes darted around, looking everywhere but at Levi, every visible inch of his skin pink like it had been steamed.
“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
Cordia mommy’s eyelid twitched again; she tried very hard to block out Levi’s form from her peripheral vision and concentrate on the conversation, “Then why did you give me that exasperated look earlier? You think they shouldn't have gotten married?”“How would I know whether they should have gotten married or not? I haven't watched this drama,” Noah shrugged again.“Then why the look? The look!”“It's because the setting is a bit… hmm… how should I put this…” Noah licked his lips, “From the setting, it would seem like the two were unwilling but had no choice but to get married. And I think that where there is a will, there is a way. If they were really against getting married, they would have found a way out of it.” Noah once again wore that same exasperated look, “The scriptwriters were just lazy and wanted them together for the plot.”Cordia mommy w