# Chapter 89
Levi pondered what he could do for Ion.
But in reality, even the act of considering this made no sense. He had nothing and was being held captive by Ion. What could someone like him possibly do for Ion?
Finding no answer despite his best efforts, Levi suddenly frowned.
“If you’re trying to extract information about the Caron Empire or Raziel, I won’t answer anything.”
“I don’t expect that from you.”
Ion chuckled.
Levi was purely being used. So he probably didn’t know much, and Ion had already obtained most of the information by interrogating Chepel, so there was no reason to pressure Levi for information.
Anyway, the control in their relationship was clearly with Levi, so if he had just spoken harshly and pushed Ion away, Ion would have quietly backed off. The innocent Levi, completely unaware of these underlying dynamics, genuinely seemed to be considering if there was anything he could do.
Ion playfully caressed his chin and lightly brushed his thumb across Levi’s lips.
“For example, something like what I did when I brought Levi from Retrouva’s old castle…”
Searching his memories, Levi made a short “Ah” sound. His eyes moved around as if considering something, then he glanced down slightly. He looked at the yellow flower he was habitually holding in his hand, then suddenly put it in his mouth.
While Ion was watching Levi eat the flower head and thinking ‘That’s not it,’ about to add something more—
Levi’s lips abruptly moved toward Ion. As their warm, soft lips met and sweet saliva was felt through the gap, Ion finally realized what was happening.
“…!”
Though it was what he had wished for, Ion couldn’t help but be surprised, his eyes wide open, not expecting such an uninhibited approach. Moreover, Levi naturally parted his lips, extended his tongue, and entered Ion’s mouth on his own.
In that moment when his mind had completely stopped, just like his stiffened body, and he couldn’t think of anything, he felt something other than a tongue in his mouth.
The small tongue gently pushed that foreign object into Ion’s mouth and then withdrew without hesitation. His lips, which had become so sensitive that he could feel exactly where and how much of the other’s saliva had transferred, moved slightly as if regretful.
Levi, with an impassive expression, casually wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and pushed against Ion’s chest. Ion’s hesitant body retreated helplessly.
“Is that enough?”
Levi’s voice, emotionless both before and after the kiss, shook Ion’s mind.
Levi passed by Ion, casually dropping the headless flower stem on the ground as he walked. As he strolled while gazing at the pond water that was so clear it was almost blinding, he realized that even though he was walking ahead, he didn’t feel Ion following behind.
Levi instinctively gauged the distance between himself and Ion. For Levi, who could see the entire Black Forest as if it were in the palm of his hand, he was confident he could lose Ion and escape if they were just a step or two further apart. Surely the Grand Duke must know this, yet he seemed strangely defenseless, almost to the point of feebleness.
Shortly after entering the Black Forest alone with Ion, Levi had asked a question out of curiosity.
“Why don’t you put restraints on me? What if I run away?”
“Are you going to run? If that’s the case, let’s hold hands.”
“No. I won’t run.”
Of course he wouldn’t run when there might be information he was seeking within the Black Forest.
“You don’t have to answer so directly…”
Ion pretended to be sulky, but soon smiled and said he trusted Levi. Levi was actually confused by Ion’s trust, which seemed to completely disregard the possibility that he might lie. After all, he was still just an enemy commander captured as a prisoner.
Perhaps because of the memory that came to mind, he didn’t even think about escaping.
Levi stopped walking and looked back.
Ion, unable to move from the spot where they had kissed, was holding onto a thorn tree with one hand while covering his mouth with the other.
Seeing Ion’s trembling back, Levi became quite serious, wondering if he had misunderstood what Ion wanted. He had substituted a flower since he couldn’t immediately find a sleeping drug, but was that wrong? If not, all Ion had done to him at that time was just pin him down by pressing his arm.
As Levi was considering whether he should throw Ion down in the grass and mount him, he was startled to see Ion turning around while muttering something.
Not only his previously white face but also his ears had turned completely red. His legs were wobbling too, as if something had gone seriously wrong. Though he couldn’t catch everything Ion was muttering, he seemed to be repeatedly saying things like “Levi initiated it first…”
Watching Ion’s trembling pupils, Levi asked as if he didn’t understand.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No! No, who could say you did anything wrong…”
Seeing Ion rambling incoherently with just a few words, Levi unconsciously touched his own lips with his fingertips.
‘This must not be what he wanted.’
He swallowed words that would have made Ion shake his head countless times if he had heard them.
The two were able to move properly again around the time Ion chewed the flower in his mouth and whispered, “Next time, let me prepare myself mentally.”
❖ ❖ ❖
When Levi reached the mansion late at night, he was startled by the man who suddenly appeared as soon as the main gate opened.
“Levi!”
Though not someone from his memory, the man showed an intensely emotional reaction, similar to what Ion had shown when Levi once tried to assassinate him.
Eyes wide open and pupils trembling with overwhelming emotion. Lips busy repeatedly calling his name like a spell. The aura of intense emotions persistently pursuing him.
The reaction of this unfamiliar stranger made Levi take a step back.
Seeing Levi’s tension, Ion quickly stepped forward protectively.
“Stop approaching and back off a bit. You’re scaring him.”
“Would you back off if you were me? Levi is right in front of me.”
Though thinking it made sense, Ion still glared at Hest. While doing so, he naturally reached behind him to grab Levi’s hand.
“He might look like that, but he’s not a bad person.”
“Sometimes you make compliments sound like insults.”
“It was an insult.”
“Oh really?”
Hiding behind Ion’s back and observing the two people who seemed so comfortable with each other, Levi felt the atmosphere becoming somehow more relaxed. When he was with Ion, he kept having strange, fuzzy feelings, but now he felt extremely peaceful.
Ion, after semi-forcefully pushing the bickering Hest into the reception room, took Levi to the guest bedroom.
The neat bedroom, unchanged from when they had left in the morning, was filled with the floral scent that the yellow flowers from the Black Forest had released. Levi deeply inhaled that fragrance, then his gaze fell on the black chain and shackle still tied to the bed post.
“Are you going to tie me up again?”
Realizing what Levi was looking at, Ion made an audible “Hmm” sound.
“What should we do?”
“It’s your decision, isn’t it?”
Ion pretended to think about it, then flashed a smile and lifted Levi in his arms.
“Let’s take a bath together first and think about it later.”
“Together?”
“I’ve been out too. I want to wash up, but there’s only one bathroom, so we have to bathe together. Besides, I need to keep watching you to make sure you don’t run away.”
With a face that suggested he was stating the obvious, Ion proudly carried Levi out the door again.
After giving a few instructions to the servants outside, he headed to the bathroom. Strangely, he thought Levi seemed unusually docile. The Levi from before would have been on edge, insisting on walking by himself.
Thinking that Levi’s wariness toward him had eased considerably, Ion looked down at him, hiding his overwhelming emotions.
“Levi?”
Levi was staring at something behind Ion, as if distracted. Following his gaze, Ion saw Chepel standing at the end of the opposite corridor. Meeting their eyes, Chepel bowed respectfully as usual.
“What’s wrong?”
Even though Chepel wasn’t doing anything in particular, just quietly watching as if trying not to disturb the two, Levi kept sending him a persistent gaze. Then, belatedly realizing he was being carried by Ion, he pushed him away forcefully.
“I’ll walk on my own.”
With a regretful face, Ion bitterly smiled and firmly grabbed Levi’s hand instead. When Levi frowned and tried to pull his hand away, Ion asked if he preferred the shackles, to which Levi shook his head vigorously.
Desperately swallowing the word “cute” that filled his mouth, Ion didn’t let go of Levi’s hand until they reached the bathroom with its massive bathtub.
‘That’s strange.’
Still repeatedly recalling Chepel’s appearance in his mind, Levi couldn’t shake off the unsettling feeling.
‘Why does Chepel smell like me?’
Until they had left the mansion, Chepel had only faintly emitted the aura of the dead, like the immortal soldiers. But now, for some reason, he smelled like Levi himself.
As if he had been drenched in Levi’s blood.
