Chapter 73: A Familiar Tension

“It must be the rain; it’s still a bit chilly.”

A faint scent of rain clung to Huey Cloud as he arrived at Bliss’s private residence.

“Open the ceiling. Let some rain in.”

Upon hearing the mention of rain, Bliss instructed Dale.

Immediately, Dale contacted the system room. The geometric ceiling of the building, resembling a colossal domed stadium subtly twisted, began to hum, slowly opening to reveal the sky above.

Thick defensive doors, crafted from high-purity Ekanetium and special materials, opened first. The glass ceiling beneath them then opened with a slight delay, creating quite a spectacle, prompting Huey to let out an exclamation of awe, his head tilted back.

“Honestly, tell me. This state-of-the-art building—can it actually fly?”

Oh.

Ethan’s face lit up with genuine curiosity. He, too, had harbored the same thought the moment he first saw the building.

Though he had refrained from asking such a childish question himself, seeing Huey Cloud pose it so earnestly made it seem genuinely plausible.

“…Are you suggesting the grass in the center, the trees embedded in the ground, and that artificial lake and soil would all fly along with it?”

Even Bliss took the question seriously, offering a lengthy reply. They exchanged jokes in a manner befitting a political debate.

[Aren’t these two brothers, not Enoch?]

Ethan deeply empathized with Dongja’s remark. He offered a simple greeting to Huey Cloud, who had turned his gaze towards him.

“We meet again.”

‘This was far from the convoluted noble etiquette of ‘I greet you, Lord Huey Cloud of the Cloud family’, yet Huey’s gaze did not miss the polite, abbreviated formality in Ethan’s stance, maintaining a perfectly appropriate distance.

Judging by the natural demeanor of Bliss and Dale, Ethan Prescott likely wasn’t deliberately acting this way in front of him.

‘Perhaps he truly is the scion of a noble family from another country.’

“We meet again.”

Returning the greeting with the same words, Huey chided himself for unconsciously calculating which noble lineage would benefit Devon Green. He was here today to ask for a favor.

“Dale, guide him to a room and bring him to the shelter when he’s ready. Assign a maid bot to him.”

Bliss, effortlessly intercepting their gazes, gave his instructions to Dale. The butler responded with the amiable smile of a seasoned professional, stepping forward.

“Understood. Lord Huey, I am Dale, the butler. Before entering the shelter, I have prepared comfortable clothes for you to change into.”

Ethan followed Bliss into the elevator, descending to the area housing the shelters.

The doors of the shelters, prepared for use by any Esper guard, bore markings of Esper ranks, with the exception of S-grade. Resident researchers, who had been awaiting Bliss’s call, were there to greet them.

“Lord Bliss, both the C-grade and B-grade shelters are available.”

Ethan spoke to Bliss, who was momentarily lost in thought, standing between the C-grade and B-grade shelters.

“How about we set it for B-grade? Although it’s a psychic ability, this is his first seizure after manifestation, so it would be wise to allow some leeway.”

Bliss, who had been contemplating a similar idea, widened his eyes slightly. Then, with a faint smile, he ran a hand through Ethan’s hair.

“Ethan.”

“Yes.”

Bliss pulled Ethan closer, embracing him from behind. He then motioned for the researchers to keep their distance.

Raising an arm, he began to manually set up the system. He rested his chin on Ethan’s head, whispering in a low, placid voice.

“I don’t care if you’re a spy for the Center, or a person of high standing from an unfriendly nation. Even if you’ve lost your memories, or if you’re in a situation where you must claim to have lost them for some reason, I believe you.”

Ethan’s body stiffened. However, Bliss, having finished the setup, wrapped both arms completely around him and continued speaking.

“So, I will wait for you to tell me, Ethan, rather than discovering it through other means someday.”

“……”

Ethan’s tensed shoulders slowly relaxed. He exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, a sigh escaping his lips. Unable to muster the courage to turn around, he simply nodded.

Bliss released Ethan, speaking playfully.

“Thanks to you, I’ve learned that Bastard Ghosts truly exist, and that they’re quite fond of you, too.”

[Bastard Ghosts?! Just ‘ghosts’ is fine!]

Behind Dongja, who was fussing dramatically, Huey Cloud, now clad in a gown, came into view.

Huey briefly looked flustered upon seeing the grade of the shelter he was to enter. However, at the mention that a B-grade would be better for his first manifestation seizure, he nodded with a stoic expression.

“It’s a communal space for guards, so we can’t fine-tune it for rare affinities.”

Huey, who had been opening the door with a dry expression while listening to Bliss’s cold words, suddenly turned back, fixing his gaze on Bliss and Ethan.

“……Thank you.”

Ethan’s eyes widened at the gratitude that had been so difficult for Huey to utter.

“To offer courtesies when you’re about to turn into a beast—how amusing.”

Bliss, sneering, pushed him inside. He then personally closed the door.

****

“Bliss.”

“……Yes.”

Ethan lay with his arms behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling, as if mistaking the vast bed for a lawn. There was no trace of the tension that should have blossomed between them, spending the night together.

“Would you believe me if I said I fell from the sky?”

“……Yes.”

“Do you believe in other worlds?”

“…Since ghosts exist, I suppose I can believe in an afterlife.”

“No, not that.”

“Are you referring to other planets?”

This is difficult. Ethan’s brow furrowed in thought. How on earth was he supposed to explain this?

“…If I had to say, what if there’s another Aitoolia somewhere? Ah, but it’s not exactly the same.”

It was difficult. Ethan’s words were hard to grasp, but the atmosphere was even more so.

Ethan was clearly holding onto the conversation they’d had in the shelter. He was still earnestly trying to convey something.

Knowing this could be a truly important conversation, Bliss tried to focus on Ethan’s words. Yet, the situation itself was disorienting: both of them fresh from a shower and dressed in gowns, with only Bliss feeling palpably tense.

“……There are other empires similar in scale to Aitoolia, of course. There’s the Mohacar Empire in the Western Continent, and the Lafer Empire in the southeast.”

“Mmm… I’m not talking about empires…”

As Ethan, looking drowsy, naturally turned to face him and let out a small yawn, a tiny tear droplet shimmered at the corner of his eye. Bliss unconsciously licked his lips.

“But… lying… like this… talking… it feels so… good.”

Ethan’s eyes were closed, his words drawn out and murmured. As Bliss stealthily brought his lips closer to them, he suddenly froze.

“Right. Guiding…”

From Ethan, who was murmuring and burrowing deeper into his embrace, his shield vanished, adding insult to injury.

With only a thin gown separating them, Ethan’s energy, accompanied by a gentle warmth, flowed smoothly into Bliss. Bliss instinctively shifted away from Ethan.

“Ah, whyyy…”

Ethan whined, drawing closer to Bliss as if he couldn’t comprehend. Bliss, in turn, retreated once more.

After repeating this strange chase several more times across the vast bed, Bliss, with nowhere left to retreat, bit his lip and pulled Ethan into a tight embrace.

Ah.

Bliss squeezed his eyes shut, overwhelmed by the flowing energy, the comforting warmth, and the intimate scent of Ethan’s skin.

‘It felt like cheating, falling asleep like this after saying he liked talking while lying down.’

‘Even if I am a beast, against a sleeping lover…’

‘Wouldn’t masturbation be fine?’

Though he wore underwear, his swollen penis strained against the light gown, lifting it in a telltale bulge.

‘After all, if I don’t calm myself, I won’t get any sleep at all.’

Before meeting Ethan, he had endured countless sleepless nights due to insomnia. Never, however, had he found such a perfectly brazen rationalization. Bliss slowly turned his upper body to face Ethan, then brought his hand down.

As he pushed down with his fingers to remove the underwear that had felt cumbersome since he lay beside Ethan, he felt a sticky thread stretch and break between his urethral opening and the fabric.

He kicked the discarded underwear, sending it falling beneath the bed. With his left arm, he embraced Ethan, and with his right hand, he grasped his own penis.

“Ugh…!”

He had merely held his painfully erect penis in his hand. Yet, perhaps due to the subtle guiding flowing from embracing Ethan, the sensation was far more intense than usual.

“…Hn. Hah…”

As he slowly stroked up and down, the thin foreskin covering the firm shaft repeatedly bunched into folds.

The soft skin that had risen over the large glans was pulled taut by the hand gripping the shaft and moving downward.

His breathing gradually grew ragged.

“Ugh, ugh… Kugh…!”

His quickening strokes reached their climax at a certain point, then abruptly ceased.

His short, ragged breaths were cut off as if by a knife. Bliss’s body went rigid.

Forgetting the intense grip he had on Ethan, he finally exhaled slowly and opened his eyes. And an Esper’s keen eyesight could not help but notice Ethan’s ears, flushed red in the dimly lit bedroom.

[Eek, Ethan! That stuff he ejaculated splashed onto your gown and body!]

Ethan, who had been awake since some unknown point, listening to Dongja’s dramatics, silently whispered a wish he didn’t fully understand himself.

‘Please, please.’

“Ethan.”

Bliss’s alluring voice, twice as low as usual, struck Ethan’s ears, where he was pouring all his energy into pretending to be asleep with his eyes closed.

“Are you hard?”

‘I’m ruined. Ruined again. If there’s a bed ghost, please just let me sink into the mattress.’

His eyelids, which had only been closed, trembled violently.