After Nile, who had stayed for three days, departed, Castiya Castle returned once more to its everyday routine.
Perhaps Nile had spoken well on his behalf, because Chaika no longer panicked and fled whenever Mihail touched him. Still, it wasn’t as though he would obediently let himself be held either—whenever it felt like things were progressing a bit, he would quietly slip away. Of course, if Mihail truly wanted to force him, it wouldn’t be impossible, but Mihail exercised superhuman patience and held himself back. In any case, Chaika’s fear of becoming pregnant had disappeared, so they could take things forward little by little.
It hadn’t even been that long, yet Chaika had already changed a great deal. The blond hair that had grown out from the roots had become fairly long, and his body was no longer so thin as to be painful to look at. His face had filled out as well, his cheeks now plump enough that they begged to be pinched.
Most of all, what had changed the most was Chaika’s attitude toward Mihail. In Chaika’s gaze when he looked at Mihail, there was warmth, trust, and affection. His expressions had grown brighter, and he talked more. At times, he had even learned to ask for what he wanted. Watching Chaika steadily recover, both body and mind, and grow healthier was Mihail’s only pleasure these days.
“Lord Mihail. I already have so many clothes made before, so I don’t need new ones.”
While the tailor busied himself taking measurements here and there, Chaika said this with an awkward expression. The tailor, however, paid him no mind, lifting Chaika’s arms this way and that as he meticulously measured. Mihail sat nearby with one leg crossed over the other, watching the scene.
“All finished.”
The tailor spoke to Chaika, then turned and reported to Mihail.
“Your measurements have definitely increased little by little compared to before. I’ll prepare several outfits tailored perfectly to your current body.”
Mihail nodded silently and gestured for him to withdraw. The tailor left the room wearing a beaming smile.
“I’ve put on a bit of weight, but the clothes I’m wearing now still fit just fine,”
Chaika said, examining his own body. Mihail beckoned him closer with a flick of his hand. When Chaika approached, Mihail ran his hands over his body here and there.
“Clothes need to be comfortable when worn and have good lines. When parts start to feel tight like this, the overall silhouette gets ruined.”
“I don’t really know about that.”
“You don’t need to. You just have to wear whatever I give you.”
“But… it feels like such a waste…”
Chaika pouted his lips and muttered, unable to give up easily. When Mihail firmly grabbed those protruding lips, Chaika let out a strange, muffled sound—“Ubbph—.” Snorting with amusement, Mihail scooped Chaika up and set him down on his lap. Having gotten into the habit of keeping him there so often, Chaika no longer panicked just because he was sitting on Mihail’s knee.
While Mihail read and processed the important reports that had made their way up to him, Chaika sat sideways on his thigh, comfortably leaning back against his chest as he gazed out the window. There wasn’t much of note to see, but the rows of towering castle spires standing tall in the distance against the gray sky made for quite a spectacle. Chaika would watch the sky and the spires like that until he grew bored, then close his eyes and doze off. When he woke again, he would eat the biscuits or honey-soaked dates Mihail placed into his mouth.
It was around the time Mihail’s work was drawing to a close. Chaika, who had been sitting quietly in his arms, suddenly straightened his upper body and shouted,
“It’s snowing!”
When Mihail turned his head to look, small snowflakes were indeed falling from the gray sky.
“It’s snowing! Snow!”
Chaika slipped down from Mihail’s lap and ran excitedly to the window. He threw it open wide. Cold winter air rushed in, but Chaika leaned out, stretching his hand as if to catch the snow.
“You’re not a child—making such a fuss just because it’s snowing,”
Mihail clicked his tongue as he spoke, but a fond smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Ah! I caught one!”
Chaika cried out as he waved his hand back and forth outside the window. He then ran back to Mihail with one hand clenched into a fist and opened his palm for him to see.
“I caught snow.”
Joy hung thickly in Chaika’s eyes. But the moment he looked down at his open palm, disappointment spread across his face. The snow resting there had already turned into droplets of water.
Mihail rose from his seat and closed the window. A creature with such a weak body shouldn’t be exposed to winter winds while wearing only indoor clothes. Chaika returned to the window, pressing his face close to the glass, eyes sparkling as he watched the snowflakes grow larger and more numerous.
“Didn’t it snow at the marquis’s estate?”
No matter how innocent he was, reacting like a child just because it snowed seemed odd. When Mihail asked, Chaika quickly nodded.
“Yes. It’s warm there since it’s in the south, so it almost never snows. Sometimes it does snow in the middle of winter, but it comes mixed with rain and eventually turns into rain anyway. Seeing only snow fall so cleanly like this is almost a first for me.”
Even during that brief explanation, the snowflakes pouring down grew larger and denser. Surprise bloomed on Chaika’s face. Mihail cracked the window open slightly, extended his arm, and caught several large snowflakes in his palm before holding them out in front of Chaika. The big flakes slowly melted before his eyes, turning into water.
“It’s pretty,”
Chaika said, smiling with crescent-shaped eyes.
“You’re much prettier.”
At Mihail’s words, Chaika made a strange “Eh—” sound and promptly flushed red.
“If you say things like that… it’s really embarrassing for me. You’re far prettier than I am, Lord Mihail… beautiful, too…”
Chaika muttered with his head slightly lowered. Mihail grasped Chaika’s chin and lifted it. His cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment, and his violet eyes were moist. A sweet fragrance gradually thickened, blooming extravagantly like flowers in full bloom. Chaika was instinctively seducing him. If any other omega had done that, Mihail would have clamped his nose shut and bolted outside immediately. But Chaika was different. This one was his.
“Lord Mihail….”
Chaika lightly tugged at the front of Mihail’s clothes with both hands. That small amount of force shouldn’t have been enough to pull him forward, yet Mihail’s upper body bent down, his face following suit. When Mihail obediently lowered his head, Chaika hesitated for a moment, then very carefully pressed his lips to Mihail’s. It was a shy kiss, like a snowflake that would melt the instant it touched skin.
After pulling his lips away, Chaika kissed him lightly again. When Mihail remained still, he kissed him once more. Peck, peck, peck. After planting three consecutive kisses, Chaika’s face turned even redder. His violet eyes searched Mihail’s reaction. When Mihail showed no response after the kisses ended, a hint of unease crept into Chaika’s gaze.
“…I did something unnecessary….”
Had he thought Mihail disliked the kiss? Chaika muttered as he lowered his head completely. Only then did Mihail let out a soft laugh and hook an arm around Chaika’s waist, hoisting him up and slinging him over his shoulder in one smooth motion.
“Uwah!!”
Chaika let out a short scream as he was suddenly lifted into the air and draped over Mihail’s shoulder. Like a hunter returning with his captured prey, Mihail left the study. The butler and servants waiting outside quickly averted their eyes. All the way down the corridor to the bedroom, the servants retreated to the walls to clear a path. Having experienced this more than once, Chaika covered his face with both hands instead of asking to be put down.
“Whoa!”
Upon entering the bedroom, Mihail immediately tossed Chaika onto the bed. The soft mattress gently received his body. As if he knew what was about to happen next, Chaika slowly scooted backward. Mihail cast aside his patience entirely and climbed over Chaika, swallowing those dark-red lips.
“Mmhn….”
Chaika immediately wrapped his arms around Mihail’s neck and responded to the kiss. To avoid crushing him, Mihail braced himself on the bed with both forearms and poured deep, intense kisses onto him. With some experience now under his belt, Chaika followed Mihail’s lead fairly well.
“Mmm, mm.”
Mihail savored the small mouth, the small lips, the soft and pliant tongue to his heart’s content. He bit down on the lips, sucked them in, sucked and licked the tongue. In between kisses, Chaika panted for breath.
“Hah… Lord Mihail….”
Chaika whispered during a brief separation of their lips. That whisper was laced with urgency and anticipation. Mihail grabbed Chaika’s outer garment and tore it open to either side. He did the same to the shirt underneath, ripping it apart as well. As the expensive fabric tore and buttons scattered across the room, Chaika looked startled.
“What a waste…!”
“You’re getting new ones made anyway.”
To draw Chaika’s attention away from the ruined clothes, Mihail swallowed his lips again. He caressed the newly exposed upper body and pinched his nipples.
“Hngh—.”
Chaika twisted his waist. His body was exquisitely sensitive. With a look of regret, Mihail gave his lips one last hard suck before lowering his head and biting down on a nipple.
“Ahh!”
Chaika’s body stiffened. As Mihail sucked on and gently gnawed the nipple, small as Chaika himself, Chaika nearly came undone. When Mihail rubbed and rolled the other one between his fingers, pinching it lightly, moans spilled endlessly from Chaika’s mouth.
While sucking on his nipples, Mihail stripped Chaika of his trousers and underwear—no, tore them off would be more accurate. Now completely naked, Chaika curled inward shyly. Mihail grabbed both of Chaika’s thighs and lifted them into the air. The intimate place between his legs was fully exposed to Mihail’s view.
“I’m embarrassed,”
Chaika said, covering his face with both hands. Mihail slowly swept his gaze over the exposed area. The cock nestled in the golden thicket was standing hard, its tip already beaded with sticky fluid. Below, the place meant to receive Mihail was slick and wet with arousal as well. The thought that Chaika’s body desired him made the already-throbbing hardness between Mihail’s legs grow even more insistent. Mihail took Chaika’s lovely, upright cock fully into his mouth.
