By Zephyria 
Afterward, we panted breathlessly, kissing and thrusting into each other, until Ardian and I climaxed at the same time. I had figured that once we entered the inn, I wouldn’t be able to come out until tomorrow. That was exactly why I had booked the room. However, Ardian said something unexpected.
“Shall we wash up and head out?”
He was lying beside me, exhausted and limp, kissing my interlaced fingers as he said it. For a moment, I thought I had misheard. I blinked blankly and looked back at him, only for Ardian to press his lips firmly against the bridge of my nose. I realized I hadn’t misheard.
“What? What’s gotten into you?”
“What do you take me for?”
“A bastard crazy for sex?”
“Hmm. When it comes to you, that might not be wrong.”
“…Usually, people say no to that?”
I let out a hollow laugh, baffled. Ardian laughed along with me, fiddling with our interlaced hands. I felt his soft, slender fingers slide between mine, gripping them tightly, pressing against my nails, and stroking the back of my hand.
“We came out on a date. If possible, I want to do a lot of things—like enjoying the world with you like a normal couple. Compared to how long I’ve lived, I’m lacking in those kinds of experiences.”
I had never explicitly mentioned a “date,” but well, let’s go with that.
I instinctively reached out and brushed aside Ardian’s bangs, which were fluttering down. As I stroked his long, thick eyelashes and eyelids with my thumb, he leaned his cheek into my hand as if asking for more. Finding that cute, I stroked his cheek before pressing down on his lower lip.
His soft, supple lips parted slightly.
“What are you doing, Ray?”
“…You’re pretty.”
Ardian’s gaze deepened as he looked at me.
I shifted the topic of conversation slightly.
“I thought so even when you were still a spiritual body. That you were pretty.”
“Yeah, you told me that mimicry form suited me well. That’s why, after the seal was broken and some of my power returned, I continued to use that mimicry as my new physical body.”
“But why do you look so much like Adam? Is that even possible?”
I asked, studying Ardian’s features anew.
He replied while nibbling on my thumb with his mouth.
“Occasionally, individuals that look this similar appear. Just as there are those close to Adam’s side, there were many times I was closer to Gilbert’s side. Generally, I think I heard a lot that brothers look like clones of one another. Hmm, I guess the genes I created are strong.”
When he spoke of “created genes,” he meant it in the truest sense of fabrication. After all, Adam himself was not a life created through mating with someone else.
A body created by combining formulas with his own Mana to arrange the genetic sequences. The mimicry form he said he used as his new body after the seal broke was exactly that.
‘I guess so.’
I didn’t know about the other brothers, but the eldest, Albinus, who currently sat on the throne, looked a lot like Ardian if you looked closely—despite being quite overweight.
“Let’s get up. Want me to wash you?”
Ardian pushed himself up from the bed. I waved my hand to signal I was fine and said I’d use the bathroom first, then picked up my clothes which I had dropped below the bed to keep them from getting semen on them.
While we each washed up and prepared to head back out, Ardian waited remarkably patiently. That sight… seemed almost commendable. I stared blankly at his face, which was excited to see the world, and as I left the room, I pondered where I could take him that he would enjoy.
The first place we visited upon descending to the plaza was a clothing store. I hadn’t intended to take him there, but he urged me, saying he wanted to see the clothes, so I agreed.
Looking around inside, it seemed to be a high-end boutique catering to nobles traveling to Valentasia. Naturally, the shopkeeper did not recognize the identities of Ardian or myself.
Even for the locals, it wasn’t as if they knew every single face of the Monarch’s family, and they had even fewer opportunities to see the faces of the Imperial family from further away. For my part, it was easier to move around if people didn’t know who I was, so I didn’t give anything away.
“Ray. Try this on.”
“Didn’t we come here to pick out clothes for you?”
“I came to pick out things to buy for you.”
He then pulled out another garment from beside him and held it up to me.
I felt a bit strange, as if I had become a dress-up doll, but well… if he likes it. I looked at the amused Ardian and took the clothes he handed me.
However, enduring that for about an hour became exhausting. Eventually, I picked out just a few pieces and forcibly dragged him out, with the boxes of clothes cradled in Ardian’s arms.
“I think there were more pretty things inside.”
“Enough. We’ll come back next time.”
“Will you come with me again next time?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
A bright vitality surged across Ardian’s face.
He followed closely by my side, whispering softly.
“Next time we come, please wear the clothes I bought you.”
I didn’t mind. I nodded.
Then, suddenly feeling a void in my stomach, I realized it was time to eat. It was even more so because I hadn’t eaten breakfast and it was nearly lunchtime. Since Ardian said he hadn’t eaten either, we stopped at a nearby restaurant for brunch.
It was a high-end restaurant where the chef cooked the food normally and the servers delivered the dishes by hand without using magic.
In Adelmaide, the capital and the direct territory of the Empire—also called the sanctuary of magic—there is the Merzel Academy and many mages, so there are many shops that utilize magic.
However, in other cities, the proportion of non-mages is higher, so magic isn’t used as much in daily life; thus, these ordinary shops are actually more common.
Regardless, the quality of the food at the establishment was quite decent.
That was more than enough to be satisfied.
“Hey, Ray.”
As the meal was nearly finished, Ardian suddenly called me. I looked up while wiping my mouth with a napkin. Staring at me from across the table, he set down his knife and fork and asked.
“Once this vacation is over, you have to go back to White Night, right?”
I nodded. For some unknown reason, Ardian looked somewhat sullen; he sank into thought with his eyelids drooping before speaking again.
“Should I join the guild too?”
“…Hmm.”
I let out a short hum and tilted my head.
Joining the guild was his choice, and for my part, I wouldn’t dislike seeing his face more often. It wasn’t common for a Prince to join a guild, but if it was Cloud, the Guild Master, he probably wouldn’t care whether he was a Prince or anything else.
However, the one who could actually answer that question wasn’t me.
Although I currently held the position of Vice Guild Master, the final decision on admission was Cloud’s.
And Cloud, likely making various excuses, would probably refuse to let Ardian join. Partly because he still viewed Ardian with suspicion, and partly because he was openly showing his dislike, calling him the guy who ‘snatched you away before I could even properly seduce you.’
Furthermore, I knew that Cloud was having a headache because of the incompetent current Emperor. Wouldn’t he be too busy, even for him? As I just looked at him, caught between that subtle worry and the fact that I couldn’t give a hasty answer, Ardian read my expression.
“Do you hate the idea?”
“No, I don’t hate it. But do you think it’ll be possible?”
Even if Cloud did accept his admission, there was a high possibility he’d do it ‘just to torment him.’ Ardian seemed to know this as well, as he rested his chin on his hand with a pouty expression.
That expression, which sometimes looked blunt.
It was a look he often wore in the past, when he was far more emotionally expressive than I was when I was a Sealed Soul. I had never said it aloud, but personally, I liked that pouty face because it was cute.
I unconsciously brushed away the faint smile on my lips and asked.
“Why did you suddenly think about joining the guild?”
“…That man works you too hard, Ray.”
“Is that so?”
“When you’re doing guild activities, you’re so busy it’s hard to even contact you.”
“Hmm.”
“I hate not being able to see you often.”
As the Vice Captain, I do distribute a fair amount of incoming requests. However, since the rewards match the work and there are few extremely dangerous high-difficulty missions, I hadn’t thought much of it. But it seems Ardian hated that I only worked.
‘I’ve been indifferent too.’
Thinking back, there were many times he asked if I was busy and showed signs of regret. Every time, I simply answered that I was busy and didn’t think to look deeper into his feelings.
“…You should have told me. I could have adjusted the workload.”
If he had told me in detail, I would have realized sooner.
“Ah.”
He wore a blank expression, as if he hadn’t thought of that. I could understand why. I had never lived my life adjusting to others, and Ardian had spent his time simply chasing after me without a moment to think that I would adjust for him.
Because they had lived that way for so long, they were still clumsy with one another.