The Reborn Sovereign of Ruin, Bound by His Star Chapter 114: Cocoa and Retreat

Liam ran.

Technically, strategically, and with enough dignity to argue the point in court if necessary.

The mont Marin’s ssage appeared and Arik’s comm channels began filling with words like scans, damage reports, Gabriel, Damian, and imdiate, Liam had recognized the format of the evening collapsing around him.

Then zos appeared beside the car before the doors had fully opened.

Noah arrived three seconds later carrying three thick folders, visible irritation, and the expression of a man who had already accepted that his life would never contain normal working hours.

Liam had heard sothing about ergency relay stabilization, another sentence involving Gabriel personally requesting updates, and the deeply concerning phrase "if the Emperor is awake again—"

That had been enough.

He escaped.

Not emotionally, obviously.

Emotionally, unfortunately, he remained trapped in a diplomatic vehicle with Arik Lyon’s hands still phantom-warm against his waist and the mory of a mark promised against his throat.

Physically, however?

Gone.

An excellent distinction.

By the ti Arik realized Liam had vanished, Liam was already inside the diplomatic residence, showered, wearing a dark cream bathrobe that belonged to the palace and probably cost more than so engineering departnts, and sitting sideways in the corner of his temporary suite with a tablet balanced on one knee.

A cup of cocoa rested beside him.

The staff in the diplomatic palace were terrifying.

Not rely competent. Competence was common among imperial households. These people operated with the horrifying precision of a military intelligence network disguised as hospitality staff.

Last week, during the tail end of his heat, Liam had asked for one, one, hot cocoa.

Now a fresh cup had appeared beside him approximately four minutes after his shower ended.

No note.

No servant announcent.

No visible human delivery system.

The cocoa had simply manifested like a threat.

Liam narrowed his eyes at it suspiciously before taking another sip anyway.

It was excellent.

Naturally.

Outside the enormous suite windows, Alexandria glittered beneath the night haze, all blue ether veins and gold-lit bridges stretching through the city like illuminated circuitry. The diplomatic district shimred slightly brighter than the rest, security wards threading invisibly through the air with enough force to make Liam’s skin hum faintly whenever he walked too close to reinforced sections.

The suite itself remained painfully warm despite the filtered ventilation.

Not physically.

Physically, the temperature was perfect.

The problem was mory.

Arik’s scent still lingered on Liam’s skin beneath the soap and steam. Temple stone ward by sunlight. Caral. Sothing heavier underneath when the alpha lost control enough to stop pretending restraint ca naturally.

Liam took another drink of cocoa with visible annoyance.

His tablet glowed softly in his lap, reports and diagrams scattered across the screen. Half of them involved the owl suppressors. The other half involved the Gate, which Liam was absolutely not thinking about right now because thinking about the Gate led directly into thinking about Arik asking for patience in that dangerously sincere voice.

And that... That was a problem.

Liam hated sincerity from powerful people.

Arrogance was manageable. Manipulation was asurable. Political gas could be dissected, anticipated, cornered, and occasionally set on fire.

But sincerity?

Sincerity was structurally unsound.

His fingers paused briefly over the screen.

Would you wait?

Liam pressed the tablet harder against his knee as if pressure alone might physically suppress the mory.

"You are being ridiculous," he inford himself aloud.

The cocoa did not argue.

Coward.

The tablet chid softly.

Liam looked down imdiately, reflexively hopeful in the deeply embarrassing way people beca after agreeing to wait for soone dangerous.

The sender was Noah.

His disappointnt beca murderous on principle.

Noah’s ssage opened automatically.

’zos says Arik hasn’t blinked in six minutes and is one more report away from biting soone. Congratulations on your emotional terrorism.’

Liam stared at the screen.

Then slowly typed back:

’That sounds dically survivable.’

Three dots appeared instantly.

’You say that now. zos is currently pretending not to notice and Kamal has started making tea with the energy of a man preparing for war.’

Liam snorted softly into the cup before he could stop himself.

Another ssage appeared.

’Also Marin knows.’

Liam froze.

Then typed carefully:

’Knows what?’

Noah responded imdiately.

’Everything. Probably including your childhood fears and tax history.’

Liam narrowed his eyes.

A second ssage arrived before he could answer.

’He told Arik to stop looking at the channel scans like a widower in a tragic opera and finish the reports before he scares the diplomatic aides.’

Liam choked on cocoa.

He set the cup down with offended dignity while coughing once into his sleeve.

"That old oga is a public nace," he muttered.

His comm chid again.

This ti the sender na froze his spine instantly.

Arik.

Liam stared at it for three full seconds before opening the ssage.

’I miss you already.’

Liam closed his eyes.

Absolutely not.

No.

This is illegal.

He reread the sentence.

Then reread it again with growing horror because the warmth spreading through his chest was becoming dically humiliating.

Liam stared at the screen another mont before typing:

’You saw less than two hours ago.’

The reply ca almost imdiately.

’And yet.’

Liam hated how his pulse reacted to that.

He hated it more because he could picture the exact expression Arik probably wore while sending it: calm, devastatingly handso, and entirely too aware of his own effect on people.

Liam typed furiously.

’You are supposed to be working.’

’zos says I am.’

’That is not the sa thing.’

A pause.

’No.’

Liam pressed his fingers briefly against his eyes.

Saint’s breath curled faintly through the room before he forced the scent back under control.

Wonderful. Now even my pheromones are traitors.

Another ssage arrived.

’Wait for tonight.’

Liam stared at the ssage, raised his gaze to the window to cleanse it, and then stared at it again.

The cocoa in his hand was suddenly too hot, which was absurd because the cup had been sitting beside him for long enough to lose the kind of temperature that could be blad for anything.

’Wait for tonight.’

Saint’s breath slipped through the room again, brighter this ti, delicate and pleasantly honest.

Liam set the cocoa down before he did sothing catastrophic like smile into it.

"No," he told the tablet.

The tablet, being an object with better manners than most princes, did not respond.

Liam typed.

’Define wait.’

Then deleted it.

Too revealing.

He typed again.

’That depends on whether you intend to arrive before I die of old age.’

Deleted.

Too eager.

He glared at the screen as if Arik could feel the force of it through secure correspondence.

The ssage remained there, glowing with the absolute shalessness of a man who had probably sent it while surrounded by three classified reports, two murderous Shadows, and a physician capable of sedation-based diplomacy.

Liam picked up his cocoa again.

Took one sip.

Set it down.

Picked up the tablet and decided to set everything on fire.

’You have one hour before I dress into pajamas and go to sleep.’

He stared at the ssage for exactly two seconds after sending it.

Then realization arrived.

"Oh, that was catastrophic."

The comm pulsed almost instantly.

Arik apparently abandoned basic human functions the mont Liam beca reckless.

’Five.’