The look in Ressas’s eyes as he severed the connection between Charlotte and Aster was exactly like this. The overwhelming force radiating from him was unlike anything ever felt before. Considering how easily he stripped away the Devil’s power that manipulated people at will, it almost seemed as though he had borrowed divine strength.
‘Last time… he said the ‘Sun’ was by his side, didn’t he?’
Looking back, Ressas had tried to tell him as much as he could back in the South. When he had questioned him for walking unaffected by Nir’a’s influence, his words from then gave a rough idea of the origin of his powers.
A force that inspired awe beyond human reach would no doubt ease their situation significantly, and it also addressed the part that troubled Seiyad the most. However, what kept him from feeling purely relieved was the fact that Ressas had never used this power in their previous life.
Of course, things had been very different back then. Seiyad hadn’t hesitated to kill, he wasn’t by Ressas’s side, and Aster hadn’t gone to such lengths to drive them into a corner. Changing how one uses their abilities depending on the situation was a rational choice, so it wasn’t a huge problem, but…
‘Can a human truly bear the power of a god?’
This was the part that stirred unease in Seiyad. Both Tither and the Guide wielded powers that had descended in part from divine origins, but they had paid the price. Tither’s destructive power came with spiritual and physical side effects, and while the Guide’s was less severe, continued purification drained him rapidly. Given that, if Ressas were to wield a power capable of directly confronting the Devil, Seiyad feared what price he might pay. A bad feeling loomed.
“Indeed. Let’s rest here until the rain lets up. In the meantime, tend to the horses and grab something to eat.”
“Understood, Your Grace.”
Once Kirill received permission and the knights were dismissed, Seiyad immediately cupped Ressas’s cheek. Both hands suddenly reached out and cradled his face, and Ressas’s eyes widened in surprise.
“E-Eid?”
His cheeks, flushed with warmth, were soft to the touch. The heat that rose from shyness and joy was unmistakably his Ressas, and yet… those eyes were troubling.
“What did you just do, Your Highness? It’s been weighing on my mind since yesterday. You’ve never used power like that before, have you?”
Fixing his gaze on the glimmering gold tint that had clearly flooded Ressas’s pupils, he watched as Ressas flinched and averted his eyes. His trembling lashes betrayed the faint turmoil within him, intensifying Seiyad’s suspicion.
“I just… haven’t had a reason to use it until now. It’s one of the powers given to me. I… don’t possess healing abilities, so the Sun granted me something to replace it.”
Ressas’s voice, spoken in a low whisper, sounded doubtful. For someone explaining a divine blessing, he didn’t seem particularly welcoming of it.
‘I want to know what you’re hiding, Ressas. If only I could uncover why those beautiful eyes of yours are sometimes filled with a sorrow I can’t understand…’
The desperate frustration gnawed at him. He ached to know what made his lover wear that expression, where that sadness stemmed from. There was too much he wanted to understand—it was almost unbearable. And perhaps it was harder because he never expected a day would come when he so desperately wished to understand another’s heart.
“Then why didn’t you use your power sooner? Even three days ago, when we reunited, you were clearly enduring random attacks. You confirmed it yourself just now—You left your knights behind because of the Curse of Night. If you could purify it like this, why didn’t you do it before?”
His voice cut sharply into the inconsistencies, and Ressas clamped his lips shut. This gentle young man had always been unexpectedly stubborn when it came to things he set his heart on. As Seiyad considered how to make him speak, he finally said:
“When Your Highness avoids my questions, I feel awful. I haven’t been sad lately, but now, seeing you avert your gaze like this… it feels like my heart’s breaking.”
His low voice, thick with sorrow, made Ressas immediately meet his eyes again. He clutched Seiyad’s waist with urgency and spoke with sincere desperation.
“I’m sorry, Eid. I didn’t know how to explain it. Please don’t be sad, okay? I was really wrong.”
The sight of him more distressed than expected softened Seiyad’s heart. Pressuring Ressas like this was hard on him, too.
“I’ve kept my powers hidden because I didn’t want the Darkness to know the extent of what I can do. That way, it might lower its guard, giving us a chance. But when I saw the Darkness driving you into a corner like that, I knew I couldn’t keep hiding it. What it wants is your soul, Eid—so I had to stop it above all else.”
His explanation was convincing. As Seiyad stared into his face while listening to the flawless reasoning, the eyes looking back at him were clear and steady. The lingering unease didn’t vanish, but if Ressas said so, he had no choice but to believe him. He didn’t want to doubt him anymore. He’d already done so far too many times.
“Understood.”
“I’m sorry I upset you, Eid. I won’t do it again.”
“You don’t need to apologize. People naturally have different views. When that happens, we just talk it out.”
“…You’re right.”
As Seiyad added that in response to how overly considerate Ressas was being, Ressas smiled like someone who had just seen something they’d long missed.
“Eid… you’re such a kind person. So lovable, so cute, and with such a beautiful heart…”
The sudden flood of praise left Seiyad a little flustered. He’d noticed before that Ressas had a habit of comparing him to odd things, and he’d casually called a grown man “cute” without hesitation. When in truth, the one who was truly lovely and beautiful was Ressas himself. The overly sweet compliments made him a bit uncomfortable, so Seiyad changed the subject.
“Come to think of it, you must be hungry. We’ve gone well past mealtime. Let’s head back to camp. If we rest a bit now and ride through the night, we should reach the Axid Territory by morning.”
“You were hungry? I kept you here too long. Let’s go, then. Together.”
Ressas reacted with a seriousness as if something terrible had happened. As he gently took Seiyad’s hand and led the way, Seiyad felt both relieved and uneasy at the same time.
After a simple meal with the provisions they had, they waited another two hours until the rain let up. When Ressas showed signs of wanting to hurry, Seiyad didn’t hesitate and headed north. They rode without rest, and just as the horses began showing signs of fatigue, the sky began to brighten. In the far distance, the towering Axid Castle came into view, and the forests that surrounded the entire northern border emerged through the light mist.
It had already been nearly a year since he’d last seen Ressas in the north. True to the region where autumn elsewhere meant the beginning of winter, the morning air in the northern territory, now nearing the end of summer, was quite cool. With only a thin layer of clothing, the chill started to bite—soon, within ten days, the temperature would drop sharply and snow would begin to fall, as was typical of the north.
Already wet from the rain and with the dawn air growing colder, Seiyad decided to take Ressas straight into the castle. Regaining his sword was urgent, but he also wanted to let Ressas rest—even for a moment. Remembering how poorly he handled the cold, Seiyad felt a strong urge to place him in a warm room.
As soon as they entered the castle, Seiyad dismissed the knights and led Ressas inside. The last time they had been here, they had only clashed, so this time, Seiyad tried his utmost to speak kindly and gently, hoping to offer Ressas a more comforting experience.
“Since we’ve come without rest, it would be best for you to sleep here until the afternoon. We can go to the forest after that—it won’t be too late.”
“Yes, that sounds good. Eid must be very tired too, so let’s do that.”
When Ressas once again spoke while putting Seiyad before himself, Seiyad stopped abruptly. Ressas, quietly following him like a shadow, blinked in confusion.
“I’m more concerned about Your Highness’s condition.”
With that, Seiyad gently wrapped his arm around Ressas’s shoulders. Pressing his fingertips into the tensed muscles, Ressas flinched and his lashes trembled.
“…Eid?”
“Your muscles are tense—you must be very tired. I’ll have a bath drawn for you. After you bathe and eat, you should rest a little.”
However, every time Seiyad touched his shoulders, instead of relaxing, Ressas stiffened even more, eventually swallowing down a low breath.
“You seem very tired.”
Usually, massaging tight muscles would relieve tension, but his stiffening was strange. Seiyad asked, puzzled. Ressas averted his gaze, clearly uncomfortable. When he began biting at his lips, Seiyad quickly reached out to stop him.
“You’re chewing your lip again—”
“It’s because when Eid touches me like that, I get strange feelings.”
While Seiyad’s fingers lightly grazed his lips, Ressas suddenly spoke. The unexpected confession froze Seiyad in place. Then, Ressas lowered his gaze and looked up at him from beneath his lashes. His deep violet eyes were saturated with emotion, dark and rich—just like when they had kissed in the garden. So intense was the emotion in his gaze that it felt as if the air itself had thickened.
Seiyad wasn’t an idiot—he understood perfectly well what Ressas meant. The memory of that consuming kiss, the way he’d been swallowed whole by those very eyes, sent a sharp tremor through his core and a parching thirst to his lips. His heartbeat surged, stoking the embers of impulse.
“Do you have to restrain yourself?”
Seiyad asked, genuinely confused. Ressas had always pushed him away in such moments, using excuses like wanting to cherish him more.
“Now that my heart belongs to Your Highness.”
Repeating the excuse Ressas always used to fend him off, Seiyad flipped it on him—and saw the vein in Ressas’s neck rise. His already intense gaze clouded with turmoil. To urge him on, Seiyad shifted the hand on his shoulder to gently caress the tense line of his nape. He brushed the soft skin as if to tickle it, coaxing a deep breath from Ressas, who then suddenly pulled away with a barely contained sigh.
“This… isn’t the time for that.”
“I’m only saying there’s no need to suppress it. Since Your Highness clearly wants the same as I do, the situation is merely an excuse. If anything, isn’t this exactly the kind of time when desiring each other is most right?”
As Seiyad pulled at his waist to stop him from stepping away, Ressas grabbed his wrist. His face was taut, visibly holding himself back, and he whispered like he was in pain.
“…That’s why.”
“What is?”
“Because being with you feels so euphoric and beautiful, I’m afraid I’ll want to forsake everything else. I feel like I’ll lose myself just from tasting your breath. I want to lock you away so no one else can see you, so only I can have you. Just a kiss already makes me feel like I’ll unravel completely, and if I learn something more than that… I…”
Ressas’s eyes briefly gleamed with a feral glint. The beast-like aura retreated, and he gripped Seiyad’s wrist tightly—as if to say “Let me go.” The desire to pull him close clashed with the pain evident in Ressas’s voice, softening Seiyad’s heart.
“So please… let me fulfill my duty first, Eid. Just let me be certain that you’re safe—if I can have that, I’ll give you everything you want. You are… my master, after all.”
Either oblivious to how strange it was for a royal to call his subject “master,” or simply not caring, Ressas used the word without hesitation. The sheer intensity of his blind devotion sent a chill down Seiyad’s spine. The words were both thrilling and deeply worrying, prompting Seiyad to speak softly, carefully.
“I don’t understand why my safety matters this much to you. You could prioritize your own desires, Your Highness.”
“No, Eid.”
Ressas replied, in an uncharacteristically firm and anguished tone.
“I can’t bear to watch you get hurt anymore. If there’s anything worse than dying, it’s that.”
Ressas’s voice, murmuring those words, was so full of pain that Seiyad couldn’t bring himself to contradict him. In his mind, the image of Ressas plunging a sword into his chest overlapped with the faint memory of those violet eyes growing wet, even though his pale face had shown no emotion. The moment when blue veins had risen thickly across the back of his hand gripping the sword came to mind, and the memory twisted something deep inside him. A crushing sense of collapse pierced sharply through his chest.
A heavy silence settled over the corridor. He couldn’t speak—unsure how to melt away that pain, that unfathomable suffering. Just then, Ressas offered a soft smile, as if to apologize.
“I’m sorry. That must’ve sounded sudden. It’s just… we have plenty of time ahead of us, and I want to be more careful about it. Please forgive me, Eid.”
“…No, it was me. I rushed things.”
It was just… anxiety. A fear-driven urgency to keep Ressas close, to not let go, had made him push too fast. It wasn’t the right moment—he could admit that much now. The fault was his.
“Your Highness! Oppa! I heard you returned!”
The slightly awkward mood was broken by Cecilia, who came running from the entrance of the castle. Her hair flying as she hurried to them, she quickly joined their side and wasted no time.
“You came back because you’re going to the forest, right? You have to take me with you. You absolutely cannot leave me behind.”
Neither of them had given advance notice—so how did she know? Both Seiyad and Ressas turned to her at once.
“How did you know that, Cecilia? Did Sir Kirill give you word?”
Ressas asked on Seiyad’s behalf, and Cecilia shook her head. She looked at Ressas with focus before replying.
“No, it’s just… it’s been a while, but the future came to me again. That’s why—if it’s alright with you, Your Highness—may I borrow my brother for a moment? There’s something I need to say to him in private.”
With a gentle smile, Ressas nodded. As he had before, he was exceedingly generous when it came to Cecilia.
“Yes, I’ll give you two some privacy.”
“Thank you so much, Your Highness.”
After making eye contact with Seiyad and giving him a cheerful smile, Ressas turned and entered the castle. Seiyad couldn’t help but watch his retreating figure with lingering attachment. Seeing Ressas climb the castle steps without hesitation and without needing guidance stuck with him. He had been here once before, last winter, so it wasn’t entirely strange—but there was something oddly familiar about his gait, his sure movements.
It was strange. Seiyad was now nearly certain that Ressas, like himself, remembered their past life. But in that previous life, Ressas had only stepped foot in Axid Castle once, and that was at the end of the year he came of age. With the Ritual of Invocation canceled after last year, it shouldn’t be a place he was intimately familiar with…
“Oppa, as nice as it is to watch His Highness, you need to hear this. It’s about him.”
Cecilia’s sudden tug pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned his gaze toward her, his brows drawn tight.
“Speak, Cecilia.”
With a worried glance toward the direction Ressas had gone, she leaned in and spoke cautiously.
“You know how the futures I see have never had voices, right? But last night… for the first time, the moon in my dream spoke to me. Every time I dream of the future, there’s always a moon. A full, bright moon descended to the ground, and it said that if I want to protect His Highness… I have to go with you into the forest.”
I LOVE affectionate and devoted couples.