Oh right. It was him—literally just a few seconds ago.
Sure, kissing Somnus in the heat of the moment had been fine. He was a guy, after all. He had enough courage to kiss someone he liked first.
He had that courage... but this? This was too much!
Why wasn’t Somnus letting him go?!
Wait—he was the one who grabbed Somnus’s face and kissed him, right? When did things flip around?! Why was Somnus now gripping the back of his head so tightly?! And why was his neck starting to hurt?!
Aaaand why—why did it turn into a deep tongue kiss right away?!
"Mnn...! Ngh... mmmf...!"
Li Shen froze up, unable to keep up with Somnus’s vastly more experienced movements.
Just as he tried to pull his tongue back, Somnus gently caught it, then ran his own along the roof of Li Shen’s mouth.
The gap between their experience levels was just too big.
Li Shen couldn’t react at all—he just stayed there, helpless, as Somnus did whatever he wanted.
A shiver ran down Li Shen’s spine.
Wait—hold on, time out! Even in his head, Li Shen dropped the whole "older and more composed" act. He didn’t care about pride anymore. He just wanted a break! Please, just a minute!
Desperately trying to escape, Li Shen reached out with one hand while still clinging to Somnus’s shoulder with the other. He grabbed Somnus’s long golden tail and gave it a firm tug. Only then did the kiss finally end.
"Pwah! Somnus?! You don’t go full-on like that with a beginner—!"
"I love you, Li Shen. I’m sorry, but I can’t hold back anymore."
Li Shen was just catching his breath, trying to protest, when Somnus suddenly scooped him up in a flawless bridal carry. Without giving him any time to respond, Somnus walked quickly toward the large canopy bed that had basically become Li Shen’s personal nest.
"Wait—what? What? What the hell?!"
Li Shen didn’t want to pretend to be innocent or anything. He was an adult. He knew full well what it usually meant when a man took someone he loved to bed.
But still... wasn’t this going a bit too fast?!
They had just confessed. Wasn’t this a bit much right after saying "I love you"?
Somnus, who always seemed so calm and elegant, the kind of man who could read people’s emotions three steps ahead—was this really that Somnus?! He seemed unusually eager, and Li Shen couldn’t keep up.
While Li Shen sat there with his mouth opening and closing like a fish, trying to find words, Somnus had already laid him down on the bed and lowering him gently onto the soft sheets.
Then, Somnus leaned over him, placing both arms on either side of Li Shen’s head, caging him in.
He then looked down at Li Shen with steady eyes.
"I said I wouldn’t do anything until you gave me permission," Somnus said. "But I’m taking that back. If you don’t hate it, I want to touch you."
"Oh, right. I remember that version of Somnus—the Emperor—saying something like that," Li Shen muttered, trying to hide how fast his heart was pounding. "But I’m pretty sure you already kissed me before I said anything..."
He was trying to play it off with a joke, anything to distract himself from how loud his own heartbeat had gotten. But Somnus’s deep violet eyes didn’t budge.
They were serious—almost dangerously intense.
Li Shen could see the wrinkle between Somnus’s brows.
That crease was probably proof that, if Li Shen said "no," Somnus was ready to pull away, to stop everything.
He was an emperor, someone with enormous power and status.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d been a little forceful.
But even now, Somnus was still putting Li Shen’s feelings first.
That thought made Li Shen’s chest ache in a different way.
"...Please," Somnus said softly. "Say you’ll forgive me, Li Shen."
"...If it’s you, Somnus... it’s fine. I told you, didn’t I? I said I like you—mmf!"
Li Shen’s words never made it to the end.
Somnus swallowed them up in another kiss, deeper and more desperate than before.
...
Li Shen would later insist—quite passionately—that everything after that point had become a total blur.
Everything was a mix of heat, noise, and overwhelming emotion.
He couldn’t remember anything clearly, and that was exactly the story he was sticking to.
Honestly, it was hard to believe, but Li Shen clearly remembered how things had turned into a complete mess after that kiss.
He’d been so overwhelmed that he almost cried.
He could recall Somnus giving some fantasy-like explanation about magical compatibility and once Li Shen finally wrapped his head around it and accepted it like, "Okay, I guess this is fine then," things had really escalated from there...
Yeah.
It was amazing.
Somnus’s sensuality was on another level. Being held tightly against bare skin again and again felt so good. From start to finish, Somnus had been so gentle and considerate.
Even though it was Li Shen’s first time, it felt like his brain had completely melted—like his body had gone all soft and warm and gooey...
And now, here he was: curled up beside Somnus with his head under the sheets, he tried not to die of embarrassment as he replayed every moment he could remember from last night.
And why?
Because...
"Then, we will bring your breakfast here a little later. As for Lord Arvina and Lord Lexentale, we will inform them that today’s tea gathering is canceled."
"That’s fine. Redirect all remaining official work to Senel."
"Understood. Please relax and enjoy your rest, Your Majesty. Lord Li."
Yes. It was that kind of morning.
The classic "afterglow morning." The romantic, if not cliché, morning-after.
And just as Li Shen had been opening his sleepy eyes, the first thing he saw—up close—was Somnus’s beautiful face and those sweet, melted violet eyes looking at him with a sleepy gaze.
His heart practically jumped out of his chest.
But before he could even settle down from that, the imperial attendant, Agares, had come in with a cheerful "Good morning."