Chapter 128: Our First Morning

So that was a relief.

As if in response, Jay pressed his lips against Philius’s.

When their swaying caused their mouths to miss, he extended his tongue and licked him instead.

It was clumsy, yet unabashedly explicit.

Roused by that raw desire, Philius drove his hips upward once more.

Stronger than any movement before.

As though he would pierce straight through him with his penis.

“Ah—!”

Jay let out a long moan.

His entire body curled inward.

Even the inner walls clenching around Philius tightened further.

He reached climax without even managing to finish.

His loosened brown eyes, though unfocused, were still fixed on Philius.

“I can’t hold back anymore either.”

The hoarse words slipped out on their own.

Philius released himself deep inside the body that was gripping him—squeezing him far more fiercely than Jay ever could with his hands.

Thicker than before, his semen spread fully within Jay.

****

It was only when the sky began to glow faintly blue that Philius was finally able to let Jay go.

Beneath that dim light, Jay blinked slowly, his entire body painted in reddish and bluish bruises.

He looked utterly spent.

And that sight inevitably filled Philius with satisfaction.

The selfish instincts of an Alpha had clearly always resided within him, though he had never realized it before meeting Jay.

When Philius brushed back the gray hair scattered across the sheets, Jay let out a deep sigh.

“That’s unfair.”

His voice was rough from all the moaning, making his brows furrow even deeper.

The contrast between Philius, who still appeared to have stamina to spare, and himself, lying there unable to move even a finger, felt stark.

“Shall I wash you?”

Seeing Philius smile even at his complaint, Jay finally let out a small snort of laughter and nodded.

Philius lifted his sweat-soaked, sticky body without hesitation.

With effortless strength, he scooped up the limp form and carried him without faltering.

Jay abandoned his intent to complain and instead rested his head against Philius’s chest.

There were a few scratches and bite marks on Philius’s body as well, left by nails and teeth.

Far fewer than the lip marks covering Jay’s entire body—few enough to count at a glance—but they were there.

Staring absentmindedly out the window where bluish light filtered in, Jay laughed softly again.

For the time being, there was no one who would dare disturb them, even if they remained shut inside the bedroom.

Philius’s wealth and enterprises were by no means small—Westel’s crystal mines and wheat fields, Norverten’s jewelers and synthetic diamonds, watches, the newly opened bank, properties scattered not only across Henia but in other countries as well.

Unlike other nobles who entrusted their businesses entirely to others and merely received the results, Philius personally oversaw his affairs.

Even so, he could afford a few days of leisure.

After all, he had cleared the mountain of documents that piled up daily before their wedding precisely for this reason.

Jay, who had stood beside him as both advisor and secretary reviewing those papers, erased the numbers rising in his mind.

Gently lowering Jay into the bathtub, Philius began filling it with water at exactly the temperature Jay liked best.

Soon, he stepped in behind him, supporting him so that his body would not slip.

The gradually rising warm water seemed to loosen the muscles that had stiffened from clinging to Philius.

Enjoying the sensation of water flowing between his toes, Jay wiggled his feet like a child.

Even the tops of his feet bore Philius’s lip marks.

It was the kind of mischief that left behind a faint, strange guilt—like a child after doing things he should neither do nor even be able to do.

But the feeling lasted only a moment.

They had just finished their wedding ceremony and were newlyweds.

And here, they were entirely alone.

“Mm….”

When Philius carefully poured warm water over his shoulders, a soft moan escaped him.

Jay let his body go slack and leaned against his chest.

“I’ll wash you.”

The words vibrated gently against him.

“Mm….”

The moment he answered in a drifting voice, hands thick with lather began to rub along his body.

It was still a rather astonishing sight for Jay.

If Philius had been clumsy, it would have only tickled.

But the firm way he scrubbed, even between his fingers, felt almost practiced.

Though he had experienced it several times already, he still could not shake the thought that this bath was far too luxurious.

To have the Duke of Westel personally attend to him—something the nobles who had stared intently at the platform where the queen stood during the wedding could never imagine.

He had no intention of boasting about what only the two of them knew.

The banquet without a host had surely ended long ago, yet the chatter would not have diminished.

Those who had seen him in person would add their own conjectures to the truth.

Jay could tell without even hearing it.

Malicious rumors would circulate louder than any kind words.

He was an easy target for gossip.

He had never believed those proud nobles would accept him into their circle so easily.

He had never expected it in the first place.

They would feign ignorance before him out of regard for Philius, but among themselves, he would undoubtedly be an amusing topic.

So what if they did?

Jay let his body relax further as Philius guided him.

Even in a world where the caste system had nominally vanished, so-called high society remained closed off.

Here, where distinctions were far stricter, there was no need to even say it aloud.

Even if a day came when Betas could live far more freely than now, his existence would still feel alien.

He would be accepted neither as a perfect Beta nor as a perfect Omega.

Still, it did not matter, Jay thought.

He did not need to belong to any particular class.

He had gained a fence that would never crumble.

“Does anything hurt in particular?”

“The inside of my arm feels tight.”

Philius began massaging the place Jay indicated.

Lip marks were scattered there as well.

From those traces, Jay felt a sense of belonging that seemed only natural.

When he thought about it, it felt strangely peculiar.

That he, who had once been desperate for recognition from his family and the world, now felt such deep stability.

Philius was on his side.

Jay knew that fact with certainty.

And he, in turn, was on Philius’s side.

No matter what happened.

“Do you like the watch?”

At Jay’s question, Philius’s hands paused briefly.

A sound close to a sigh escaped him, but Jay did not repeat himself more casually.

“…I like it.

So much that I’m afraid I might break it.”

At the answer from a man who had likely never once been told to handle his belongings carefully, Jay laughed again.

The pair of watches rested inside a cabinet, away from the steam.

Just as he was now carefully washing Jay, though Jay had not moved a single finger, it had been Philius who thoughtfully stored the watches as well.

Jay knew he treasured them because they were wedding gifts Jay had crafted himself.

Until now, Philius had been pleased with every accessory Jay made.

But that would not always be the case.

Someday, as a craftsman, he might produce a failed piece.

Philius possessed a discerning eye.

There might come a moment when he hesitated, unsure what to say upon seeing something Jay offered him.

It was not a future he wished to see.

He imagined he would feel disappointed in himself if such a moment ever arrived.

And yet, he was not anxious.

For Jay, it was a remarkably unfamiliar sensation—not fearing the future.

He calmly accepted that there could be a day he failed as a craftsman.

Even then, it would not mean that everything about him was denied.

Only now did Jay feel he might finally be able to fully acknowledge himself.

Sometimes he hesitated foolishly.

Sometimes he became blindly reckless.

He had truly come to accept that not every moment could be perfect.

Because there had been someone who quietly waited for him, even when he stood still, even when he retreated entirely.

Perhaps it was also because, even if he could not always satisfy Philius’s discerning eye, he was confident he could captivate the eyes of the other nobles every time.

Resting against Philius’s chest, Jay lifted his head to look up at him.

“Why?”

Philius met his gaze as though he had been waiting, searching his face for any sign of discomfort.

The hand massaging his arm gentled.

There was no one left who dared to oppress him or handle him at will.

The pitiable boy was now, in anyone’s eyes, a strong Alpha.

“I’m sleepy.

Can I sleep like this?”

At the childlike complaint, blue eyes curved softly.

It was clear he liked the relaxed tone and the way Jay had completely leaned into him.

“As much as you want.

Jay, as you wish.”

The way the man softened endlessly toward him was the source of his relief.

Jay closed his eyes at once.

A soft brush of lips grazed over his shut eyelids.

Saying he was sleepy had not been mere petulance.

As if Philius’s brief kiss were a signal, drowsiness poured over him.

The movement of Philius washing him caused the water filling the bathtub to ripple gently.

Even that motion seemed to help him sink into sleep.

The despair he once felt when falling into the deep blue lake in his dreams was still vivid.

But Jay did not hesitate to close his eyes.

He was not afraid to see that blue lake again in his dreams.

Rather, he looked forward to it. Because in that dream, Philius would be there with him.