The Imperial Palace looked magical.
Between the ethereal glow of the floating lanterns and the shimring moonlight reflecting off the walkways, the ambiance was romantic enough to take one’s breath away. It was the kind of setting where one would expect a soft confession or a quiet, intimate stroll.
Instead, the silence was shattered by indignant complaints and a whole lot of frantic flailing.
Ollie Mylor feared for his already-shaven-off life. He had absolutely no idea what was going on as his boyfriend strode forward with alarming confidence toward the grand hall.
"K-Kyle, wait! Where are we going?" the trembling barnacle asked, confusion written all over his face.
But the man nad Kyle didn’t even slow down as he answered.
"Ho," he replied, his tone nonchalant, yet his pace anything but.
In truth, the word signified so many things logistically, but as usual, the blonde didn’t see all the different things attached to it, but focused on what felt alarming to him.
"What?! Already? But the others? Shouldn’t we be going with them?!" Ollie panicked, glancing around only to realize that his good brother and his brother’s husband weren’t even following.
"That’s probably not happening anyway," Kyle said calmly, still walking with purpose. "Besides, we’re just doing what we should’ve done long ago."
"Huh? What do you an?"
As if hearing sothing worth replying to, the star-carrier finally looked at the fidgeting mop. His gaze seed relaxed, but for so reason, the blonde couldn’t help but worry.
"Mn."
"Just deepening our relationship. Haven’t you been extrely worried about that?"
"!"
A massive tingle shot straight down Ollie’s spine. Those eyes carried a hint of sothing else—sothing intense that he couldn’t quite place. But nonetheless, it made the young man’s heart nearly jump out of his chest.
"Wah! N-No, about that—our relationship is already deep! Really deep!" he sputtered in distress.
Because clearly, his boyfriend had heard everything.
"Ah, then that’s fine," Kyle said smoothly. "If it’s not for us, then consider it a lesson you can teach your friend who seed to be in such a dire situation."
"Hic—"
The guilty little liar hiccuped out of nowhere.
He was dood.
So, so dood.
"What?" Kyle raised a brow, his lips twitching slightly.
"Didn’t you say you wanted to atone for not being able to offer a solution?"
His smirk was unmistakable. Then again, even if the man hadn’t changed his expression, to the blonde, he would’ve still looked like he was speaking with a nacing grin.
"Waaah! Noooo! T-the friend... there’s no friend!"
"Oh."
The exclamation sounded surprised, even though it was painfully obvious he wasn’t.
"Yes! So there’s really no need to make the extra effort! It’s fine! Everything’s fine!" Ollie said desperately, his eyes sparkling with the kind of hope that bordered on delusion.
"Ah, well. I still think this is the best way," Kyle replied easily.
He shrugged like he’d been left with absolutely no choice, and the mop’s eyes widened at that.
"What?"
"If it wasn’t for a friend, then it must have been for you."
The word "you" practically echoed as if cursing the very man who thought he had already escaped certain death.
"And I can only hope that you were thinking of when you raised those concerns."
Kyle finally stopped.
Ollie froze.
The firm boyfriend looked at him with complete seriousness now, and the lighthouse—despite his guilt—actually flushed instantly, the redness climbing all the way to the roots of his hair. Even his hair antenna shook in embarrassnt.
"No—"
"No?" Kyle repeated quietly. "Then you weren’t thinking of as your partner?"
Kyle’s eyes dimd just slightly, and Ollie panicked imdiately.
"Ah! Not that! Of course, I was thinking about you! Who else would I be referring to?!"
At this, the careful adjutant nodded, clearly satisfied.
Then he leaned in and placed a light kiss near the corner of his little star’s eye.
"Thank you. But that just proves why this is necessary. I think it’s important to show sincerity. I can’t have you walking around without a sense of security, can I?"
Ollie heard all of that.
Every single word.
And yet all he could do was stare blankly, completely unable to formulate a reply. Because sooner than he expected, they reached the grand hall where most of the guests were still mingling.
Several people tried to approach them at once, but Kyle simply kept Ollie tucked close to his chest, offering polite yet unmistakably dangerous smiles to anyone who ca too close.
And then, without slowing, he headed straight toward the table where their parents were seated.
Eh???
__
He just knew it!
He should’ve run away in protest long before they reached the archway. If he had, then he wouldn’t be standing here with puffed cheeks while his own mother handed him over to Kyle like a backpack with far too much free space.
"Moooom! How could you do this to ?!" Ollie whined, practically vibrating with indignation.
Then, when that didn’t work as well as he hoped it would, he imdiately turned his wide, betrayed eyes toward his father. "Pop! Y-you! What about you? Do you not love anymore?"
Honestly, this tantrum was probably one of the most absurd things following the slew of inexplicable events that had transpired today.
"Child," Marquise Julienne said, clearly exasperated despite having just finished a bout of disbelieving laughter. Beside her, the Marquis had one hand pressed against his temple, massaging it as if a headache were blooming right then and there.
"If you wanted us to believe you," his mother continued, "then you shouldn’t have told us the story of what just happened. Because now, my son, even the jurors wouldn’t be able to save you from yourself."
She gave him a pointed look.
"And if you were going to insist you didn’t want to stay with him, the least you could’ve done was release his leg, right?"
She didn’t stop there.
"Even now, you still have one foot anchored to him."
Gasp!
"No! I don’t—"
Everyone looked at the sa ti.
And the evidence was undeniable.
While they weren’t exactly glued shoulder to shoulder, the bridge of Ollie’s foot was very clearly resting against Kyle’s calf.
He was... not convincing.
At all.
The blonde huffed and puffed in embarrassnt. But after weighing his chances that didn’t even amount to that of a feather’s weight, the blonde chose to give up and imdiately buried his face against his boyfriend’s chest.
It was clearly the most dubious of hiding places, but what could he do when that was always where he felt the safest?
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