“No matter how much I stuff you until you’re about to burst every single day, you just won’t put on any weight.”
Mihail clicked his tongue, whispering into Chaika’s ear as though murmuring to a pig destined for slaughter at a festival. Lately, at every meal—three times a day—Mihail had seated Chaika beside him and fed him all kinds of food until he complained that he couldn’t eat another bite. Even that wasn’t enough; every time tea was served, Mihail made sure Chaika ate every biscuit and dessert that came with it. It was all in an effort to put some flesh on his emaciated body.
But perhaps because he’d long been accustomed to eating very little, and only sporadically, his stomach was extremely small. After just a few pieces of meat, he would shake his head and say he couldn’t eat anymore. For Mihail, who could easily devour several pheasants in one sitting when hungry, it was maddeningly frustrating. Still, he couldn’t force him to eat either—having once tried to make him swallow a few extra bites, only to watch him vomit it all back up.
“You’re such a handful.”
Clicking his tongue again, Mihail kneaded Chaika’s thighs, buttocks, flat stomach, and narrow waist as he pleased while the boy sat on his lap. Chaika, unable to grow accustomed to it no matter how often it happened, hunched his shoulders tightly and let out utterly graceless little sounds—hic, hic, and the like. Even that was so pitifully cute it made Mihail feel like he was losing his mind.
“Your Grace…”
When Mihail squeezed his ass a bit more firmly and suggestively, Chaika finally called out in a faintly tearful voice. Ah, truly. Mihail muttered to himself. He was dying to torment him. And yet, at the same time, he also wanted to do nothing but good things for him. Of course, the urge to torment him was stronger.
“Try calling me Mihail.”
Mihail murmured the command as he nipped at the pale, delicate rim of Chaika’s ear hidden beneath his scruffy hair. Gasping softly, Chaika stiffened and shook his head side to side. Disobeying a direct order—how perfect an excuse to bully him further. Mihail pulled the shirt out from inside Chaika’s trousers and slipped his hand underneath. His palm pressed against the soft, flat stomach and the chest above it. When his bare skin was touched, Chaika twisted his waist back and forth in what he probably thought was resistance.
“Ah! P-Please don’t… If you touch places like that… it’s, it’s embarrassing… Your Grace.”
Clinging to Mihail’s arm, Chaika pleaded almost tearfully, apparently unaware that his squirming and begging only delighted Mihail further.
“If you call me Mihail, I’ll stop.”
Mihail whispered again. Even so, he didn’t expect a timid, overly cautious creature like this to call his name so easily. He was simply using it as a pretext to torment him a little more.
“B-But how could I do something like that… You’re the Duke….”
“The Duke is telling you to do it, so you should do as you’re told.”
Mihail murmured with an undisguised grin. Then the hand that had been stroking the space between his chest and stomach moved up and lightly brushed against the small protruding nub on his chest.
“Uah!”
Chaika jolted violently.
“Your Grace!!”
He was so startled that he actually shouted. Mihail finally lost his composure and burst out laughing. Chaika turned his head to glare at him, lips jutting out resentfully. His lips twitched as if he wanted to spit out a complaint, but facing someone who was a Duke, he clearly didn’t dare voice it aloud. Mihail stopped teasing him further and withdrew his hand from beneath the shirt. Then he brushed aside the shaggy hair covering half of Chaika’s face, revealing it.
“……”
Sunlight streaming in through the wide window poured directly onto Chaika’s pale, small face. A completely different sensation crashed through Mihail’s body compared to when he’d seen him under candlelight in the dark of night. Those violet eyes that had seemed secretive and mysterious when reflecting candlelight now shone clear and transparent beneath the bright sun. Long golden lashes framing them trembled faintly.
“…Your Grace…”
Chaika murmured, lowering his gaze slightly. He seemed deeply embarrassed and unfamiliar with being seen so clearly under the bright light. His pale, small, unadorned face—beautiful or not—held something that powerfully stimulated Mihail’s senses.
The fact that this small, fragile, foolish yet simultaneously shrewd, cunning, and cautious creature was sitting so obediently on his lap made something swell enormously in his chest. It was excitement, satisfaction, fullness, joy—and something else entirely, something too complex to name.
“Call me Mihail, Chaika.”
Mihail whispered, lowering his head and pressing his forehead gently against Chaika’s. Their faces drew close until their foreheads lightly tapped together, and they found themselves staring directly into each other’s eyes. Reflected in those clear violet irises, Mihail saw his own eyes. The violet gaze filled with Mihail wavered faintly.
“Call me Mihail, Chaika.”
Mihail whispered again, this time touching their noses together. When the tips of their noses brushed, he could feel Chaika’s uneven, hurried breathing. Beneath that small, straight nose were the tiny lips—reddish and eye-catching from the very first moment he’d seen them.
“……”
Those small red lips parted just a little, as if about to make a sound. Mihail waited for his name to emerge from the faintly trembling mouth.
“…M…”
After a long moment, the lips that had released a tiny syllable seemed to close, then moved again, letting out a sound as soft as a passing breeze.
“…Mihail….”
“……”
Just those three short syllables were enough to steal his breath. Mihail froze, unable even to blink as he stared into the violet eyes. Perhaps thinking Mihail hadn’t heard him, Chaika furrowed his brow slightly and moved his lips again. As if drawing out every ounce of strength and courage from within his body, he tensed up and called out a little louder than before.
“…Mi-ha-il.”
The thing swelling inside his chest finally burst.
Mihail grabbed the small back of Chaika’s head and kissed him. No—swallowed his lips would be a more accurate description. The small red lips were just as soft as he’d imagined—so soft they felt like they’d melt away if he sucked on them a few more times.
“Mmh—… Mm. Mm.”
Once again, the creature let out graceless moans while twisting his waist. But when Mihail bit his lip lightly, he went still. Good. Mihail wanted to praise him, but he simply couldn’t pull away. All he could do was suck, lick, bite—and then suck, lick, bite again. He had never tasted anything sweeter, softer, or more delicious in his life.
Mine.
The word drove itself deep into his mind and chest like a wedge.
Mine. Mine alone. Something that belonged only to me. Something that only I should have.
That firmly embedded thought drifted through his mind in fragments before eventually filling it completely. This is mine, as if his very body were crying out. An alpha’s possessiveness—whether toward an object, a person, or a place—was always intense, but Mihail had never felt anything like this. The overwhelming urge to possess, so powerful it felt as though he’d been born solely for this purpose, was almost enough to paralyze his reason.
Was this what love was? If so, then all those foolish love stories scattered throughout the world would have to be called true and sacred without exception.
“Ng… ah…”
Chaika whimpered as he clawed at Mihail’s collar, his voice breaking like a sob. His face had turned pale, deprived of even a moment to breathe while Mihail had been relentlessly sucking and licking his lips. Reluctantly, Mihail forced himself to pull away. Then, holding the panting Chaika close, he stroked his small back slowly to calm him. Even kissing him freely was impossible—he really was a troublesome little creature.
“Slowly breathe in. Slowly breathe out. Yes. Like that.”
Having been the one to do this to him, Mihail now gently coaxed him to breathe properly. After Chaika had taken a while to steady his breathing, he suddenly tapped Mihail’s chest lightly with his fist. Then, as if afraid he might be punished, he hunched his shoulders and froze stiff.
It was hard to tell whether that little tap was meant as a resentful punch or if his clenched fist had simply bumped into Mihail by accident. It was so weak that it barely registered as contact. Still, judging by his reaction afterward, he seemed to have struck him out of resentment, in his own way.
Mihail let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of it all, and Chaika timidly protested.
“…Y-You didn’t let me breathe.”
“I kissed you.”
“S-Still… you didn’t let me breathe.”
For a timid, cowardly creature to repeat the same protest twice meant he’d gathered quite a bit of courage. Mihail considered smacking him for it, then decided against it—there was nowhere on him that actually seemed suitable to hit.
“When we’re alone from now on, call me Mihail.”
“……”
Biting down on his lips, Chaika clearly looked like he absolutely couldn’t do that. Mihail traced a finger over the lips that were still swollen and red from the kiss. Perhaps worried he’d be deprived of air again, Chaika hurriedly nodded.
“Yes. Lord Mihail.”
The voice that added Lord sounded resolute in its own way—a declaration that this was as far as he’d go, no further. Mihail laughed and pinched his cheek.
“Ugh.”
The graceless whimper and squirming that followed were so adorable he felt like he wanted to chew him up and swallow him whole. No—if this was how much chaos a mere kiss caused, then actually devouring him would require an extraordinary amount of patience and care beforehand.
A considerable amount.
