How did others endure such intense hunger and unfulfilled desires? The notion of living with this constant longing to bind with someone deeper and longer was so provocative. An overwhelming number of emotions for one person filled the mind so much that no other thoughts could form, and yet the desire to escape from them seemed strange.

He wondered if Kishiar La Orr was thinking the same thing.

During such disorganized thoughts, a faint sound of knocking from somewhere reached his ears. Suddenly coming to his senses and opening his eyes, the man who had been embracing Yuder as if to imprison Yuder between the chairs gently bit his lower lip as if to say don't worry.

A moist mucous membrane slid smoothly over the reflexively parted lips and delved back in. A low sound was made as the tips of long fingers gently supported the tilted neck. The insignificant sensation of feeling the soft flesh inside the hair merged with something hot deep inside the mouth, and in an instant, a surprisingly sharp pleasure brushed the brain.

The core of desire ignited again, threatening to blur his mind, but the knocking from outside the door brought consciousness back. This time there was a voice as well.

“Commander, may I enter...?”

He thought they were servants coming to clear the table, but it wasn’t. Yuder quickly turned his head as soon as he recognized Ever's voice. Just that alone felt like it required tremendous patience.

“...Commander.”

Not liking the muffled sound of his voice as if he had just woken up, he cleared his throat. Kishiar chuckled and kissed Yuder's furrowed brow.

“Hmm?”

Even though he knew why Yuder had called, the tickling sensation of a nose rubbing against the ear and neck caused the shoulders to involuntarily shrink. Yuder, lightly kissing his neck, briefly battled fiercely between the desire to pull the unmoving man closer and the reason to push him away.

But reason won in the end. Barely releasing his hand from around Kishiar's neck, he gestured towards the closed door.

“...We must open the door.”

“We must.”

But contrary to his words, Kishiar remained still even after responding. It was an unusual reaction.

Perhaps Kishiar felt the same regret as he did, and the sensation of his heart tightening and loosening came again. Exhaling hot breath from deep within his throat, Yuder unknowingly reached out and caressed Kishiar's cheek. Unable to fully feel through the glove, but when Kishiar looked up with a profound, smile-less gaze, an indescribable emotion welled up.

Without exchanging words, it was understood.

He felt the same as Yuder.

Yuder changed his mind from pulling away after just one caress and carefully swept Kishiar's eye. The very small, meaningless sound of golden hair brushing against the glove felt strangely loud.

Kishiar also reached out and caressed Yuder's cheek. Like looking in a mirror, the stroking of the same spot ignited an inexplicable emotion. Perhaps it was a tenderness worth naming.

Only then did Kishiar finally straighten and stand up. The emotion just shown could not be felt in the voice commanding to enter.

“Ah, you were still eating. My apologies.”

"It's fine. I was about to call the servants to clear the table. But what happened?"

Ever, who had entered the room, seemed surprised at the sight of a table still laden with untouched dishes but quickly composed herself and reported on the purpose of her visit.

"The members at the security management team, led by Finn, searched all over the third floor of the dungeon where Yuder found it. They say the sound of the wind coming from there is most likely the voice of a person... and possibly even that of an Awakener."

At the mention of a human voice, Yuder recalled the strange wind sound he had heard in that place. When he thought back to when he heard it closest to the wall where the Tain's crest was, it was indeed more like a sharp sound that leaks through a window crack when it snows rather than a normal wind sound.

But it could also be the voice of an Awakener.

"Are you certain?"

Ever nodded at Yuder's question.

"Probably. The sound isn't constant; it's heard for a while and then quiet for about half a day. This pattern has been repeated, the guards testified. Based on that, Jody has listened several times, and he's sure it's a person, and he feels that the sensation is similar to that of an Awakener like himself."

Jody Sliem was a Cavalry member who could scream and launch various patterns of attack. He was much more sensitive to sound than others, and if such a person assured that the voice was like that of someone with similar abilities, there seemed to be no need for doubt.

Yuder turned his gaze to Kishiar.

"It seems most likely that they have hidden people in there after all."

"It seems so."

Ever, noticing the serious expression on Kishiar's face, seemed to catch on to the general content of the ongoing conversation and lowered her voice.

“Did Prince Pruelle find out the information as planned?”

"Yes. It seems they've hidden lifeless objects in the Red Deer Consortium and people in the security management team's dungeon."

"My God..."

Horror and anger darkened Ever's face.

"Ever, did Baron Willhem show any signs of visiting the security management team?"

"No. Not while we were watching. But according to the knights and soldiers, Baron Willhem secretly met with Knight Commander Jeymer Phil a few times a month."

"A few times a month... That's an absurdly insincere interval to feed and manage people regularly."

Kishiar's fingers tapped his crossed arms. Ever waited silently until he had finished thinking and issued his orders.

"Continue to monitor the third floor discreetly without attracting attention. Baron Willhem will surely visit there again in the next few days."

"Understood."

After bowing her head in response, Ever briefly mentioned a few more ongoing tasks at the Cavalry Investigation Headquarters set up in the Security Management Team and concluded her report. She seemed about to leave but then fumbled in her pocket, as she had one more errand.

"Yuder. I took care of the letters that came for you this morning. Here it is."

This had happened before when letters had come for Yuder, and Ever had taken care of it then as well. Yuder thanked her and took the few letters she handed over. Seeing familiar names after a long time, his expression relaxed slightly.

"By the way... did you chew on Reaper grass during the meal?"

"What?"

"Your lip seems swollen. Here."

Ever tapped her lip to show where it might be swollen. Yuder awkwardly felt his own lip, but without a mirror and only feeling it, he could not tell if it was indeed swollen.

But if it was really swollen, the reason was obvious. It was likely due to what they had just been doing.

“...”

Yuder furrowed his brows with an indescribable feeling, then slowly nodded.

“It seems so. That must be... what it looks like.”

“Be careful. The pepper herbs in the West are much spicier than in other regions. Even Emun accidentally chewed on some in yesterday's lunch dish, and his tongue and lips were swollen all the way until today.”

After leaving kind advice that sucking on ice would help, Ever patted Yuder's shoulder and bid him farewell.

“I will take my leave now, Commander.”

Once she left, silence filled the room again. Yuder looked back at Kishiar with a peculiar feeling. He was slightly furrowing his brows, smiling apologetically.

“...Is it really swollen?”

“A little.”

Despite having engaged in the same activity, Kishiar looked perfectly fine. Well, the one who had been bitten on the lip during their kiss was Yuder, not him. The first time they had kissed, Kishiar had suffered a minor injury to his lips, but except for that, there had never been a mark. Perhaps that was just his nature.

“It's fortunate that there was already someone who had mistakenly eaten the pepper herb.”

“I thought you would be upset that I had bitten your lip, is that how you're going to let it go?”

“I won't get angry over something like that.”

“My assistant is indeed magnanimous.”

“It's something I wanted to do, and it didn't hurt.”

Kishiar reacted rather differently to those words, for some reason.

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