By Zephyria 
Side Story 8
The man slowly lowered the hand that had been holding the Emperor, inserting his fingers into the hole that was still slightly open, thanks to the torment it had endured all night.
The hole, accustomed to receiving, welcomed the fingers with pleasure. Despite being a little swollen, it wriggled and sucked in the familiar presence, swallowing the fingers up to the knuckles with satisfaction.
“Ket, Ket… I, I’m…”
“Yes, Eddie. Tell me.”
The fingers instantly multiplied. Without needing any further loosening, the fully engorged cock plunged into the hole, which was perfectly prepared to receive the man’s cock inside.
It didn’t take long for the slightly cooled air to heat up again.
The bed, already overworked tonight, creaked laboriously, and the Emperor, panting, embraced the man’s back as he invaded his body.
“I love you.”
A body that clung as if it were the most natural thing in the world, a confession that poured out as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and even the person listening seemed to feel that the emotion was natural, making him smile gently rather than being moved by the love—a truly perfect relationship.
The man who heard the confession whispered something in the Emperor’s ear. It was obvious without hearing it that it was a word with the same meaning as “me too.”
Is that what it’s like to be in a relationship where you can whisper your love to someone without hesitation?
For Lorentz, who was just a young boy, it was impossible even to fathom what that great thing was.
The lovers in front of him were whispering sweet nothings, and Lorentz felt the heart that had been pounding for various reasons gradually calm down.
Lorentz didn’t really know what love was. As a rural noble, he scoffed whenever he saw his parents, who had married for love, and his older brother, who was dating a young lady from a noble family in the frontier, just like them. He was full of useless affectation, saying that a true noble should be able to arrange a marriage for the sake of profit.
But if this is love. If this overwhelming feeling, where the only people who come into your eyes are each other, is love.
Then.
He realized that the most perfect timing to neatly fold away this immature feeling was now.
He was not someone who was qualified to interfere between them, nor did he have the depth of emotion to do so, nor was he in such an environment.
The young man, who had almost been blinded by a momentary emotion, felt a jolt of clarity. He hurriedly left the place and returned to his room.
And the moment the vision that had left him completely returned to his body, Lorentz had to experience the scenes he had seen quickly fading from his mind.
He knew what he had seen, but if he were asked to clearly recall the scene or explain it to someone, he would not be able to say it in detail. It was as if someone had poured gray water over his memory, making it unclear.
Ah, this.
He soon realized that this was the blind spot of the Artifact. Of course, he could roughly know what he had seen, so he could recognize things like someone betraying him or enemies rushing in, so it was still an amazing Artifact, but its weakness was also clear.
Moreover, once the Artifact was used, it seemed to take a long time before it could be reused, as it lost its original light and turned black and died.
I don’t know when the light will return, but it’s all over for secretly returning it. Lorentz, who lamented inwardly, shook Julian awake, who was still sound asleep because it was early dawn.
Julian, still deep in sleep, groaned as if in pain, but Lorentz didn’t care.
“Julian.”
“…Hmm?”
“Let’s go back to the Count’s territory when the morning sun rises.”
“Huh? Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
It was an unusually firm attitude. But it was a different face from when he had stubbornly insisted on going to the capital, so Julian didn’t feel like it was Lorentz’s whim.
Lorentz deliberately straightened his shoulders at Julian, who was narrowing his eyes as if he had finally given up his vain dream. It was a movement that said, “I’ve really come to my senses.”
Now was not the time for him to dare to pursue his dreams here. The Emperor and the Hero hadn’t really done anything great for him, but thanks to this short midsummer night’s dream, Lorentz was able to realize.
That love and dreams are only allowed to those who are prepared.
Although it was only a brief passing, if he had been a prepared person, he wouldn’t have even had the courage to confess his feelings to the person he fell in love with at first sight and would have missed them so futilely.
…Of course, even though the memory is blurry, it didn’t seem like there was any room for me to interfere between those lovers I spied on with the Artifact, but if I had confessed, I would have been cut in half by the Hero’s hand, but anyway.
“I haven’t given up.”
“You don’t give up easily.”
“I’m going to study more, learn more, and prepare to come back.”
“…”
“I’m definitely coming back here.”
At that time, he would return not as a wandering rural noble without a title, but as an ambitious noble who would truly become a central noble.
Unless luck is very bad, opportunities come to those who are prepared. Whether it’s ambition or a stunningly handsome man.
Lorentz packed his bags with a deep determination.
“…”
As someone who acts immediately once he makes a decision, he hesitated for a moment before packing his bags and trying to leave right away, then tore off a piece of paper and pondered for a long time before writing a very short phrase, and then slipped the note in front of a certain room just before leaving the inn and left the place.
* * *
[You were my first love.]
When Eddie woke up in the morning, he found an unknown note near the door.
“…Huh?”
The note, which did not have a sender or recipient properly written on it, contained only that one sentence, which was very meaningful.
It seemed like it might have been sent to the wrong person, but it was accurately inserted between the doorframe of the room, so it didn’t seem like the recipient was wrong.
Of course, even after it was known that Eddie was the Emperor and that he had a Hero and hero as his lover, there were still newcomers who fell in love with him at first sight and confessed their love, so this wasn’t the very first time, but the frequency had decreased rapidly due to the lover’s very tight guard and the talk of marriage, so it had been almost non-existent recently.
Ketron, who had checked the contents, frowned subtly so that Eddie would not know, and took the note as if he were snatching it away. He knew exactly who had sent this note.
It wasn’t like it was just one or two days that someone had fallen for Eddie and was acting like this, and Ketron spoke calmly on the outside while growling inwardly.
“It must be Ebon’s prank.”
Ketron brazenly spat out words that Ebon, who was far away, would have jumped up and shouted, “What nonsense are you talking about!” He burned the piece of paper he was holding in his hand.
“Is that so…?”
Ebon had left notes as a prank several times in the past, so Eddie tilted his head, but soon thought it was okay and lightly dismissed the matter. It was a situation where only Ebon was unfairly foaming at the mouth, but originally, not knowing was the best medicine.
Ketron changed the subject so that Eddie’s thoughts would not wander to unnecessary places.
“Eddie, let’s talk about the trip we’re leaving on soon.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Eddie made an excited expression and hugged Ketron’s neck. Ketron skillfully pulled the body clinging to him closer and lightly kissed the exposed neck. It was a very good choice, as he would have had a hard time walking anyway because he had overworked him last night.
It was after a late breakfast that Eddie heard the news that the young noble he had been concerned about had returned to his hometown.
“Really?”
Eddie tilted his head, wondering if he was returning to his hometown too quickly. However, even though they had met by chance several times, they didn’t know much about each other personally, so the regret wasn’t very long.
Still, he was a young man who had somehow caught his eye, and Eddie asked Sebastian, swallowing his regret.
“Will we ever see him again?”
“That’s hard to say.”
Sebastian, whose face was more radiant than the day before, talked about Lorentz with a very happy face.
“I saw him in the morning, and his facial expression was good.”
“That’s a relief then.”
“He’s not just young, he’s young. I heard him talking to his servant a few times, and he seems to have a lot of spirit and is good at taking action… He might do great things in the future.”
“Ah.”
Eddie nodded, saying, “I see,” at Sebastian’s rare praise, as if he was in a good mood.
It was the starting point of the man who would later return to Irena under the name of Count Montar and make a name for himself as a noble of the Emperor’s faction and a close aide to the young Emperor, but it was an irrelevant matter for the two of them now.