# Chapter 123
After the Emperor’s announcement that surprised many people.
The imperial faction nobles who rushed to Tis each raised their voices. With the war over, they continuously urged that he should take an empress and produce an heir immediately. There were even wails about how the legitimacy of succession should be granted to a proper heir, not given to the bloodline of a deposed princess.
But Tis blamed his own body before Grand Duke Verdit.
“Unfortunately, I know my body well.”
Tis had nearly been poisoned several times when he was young, solely because he had the right of imperial succession. Fortunately, there was no problem with his health, but due to the poison absorbed during his growth period, some of his bodily functions no longer worked properly.
As a result, Tis had never properly experienced sexual desire and had no interest in such matters, so he never intended to take an empress.
Tis didn’t reveal this to the imperial faction nobles, using the coup within the empire and the continental war as excuses to continually delay appointing an empress. If he had disclosed the truth to them early on, the current tense opposition between the imperial faction and the grand duke faction wouldn’t have been possible. The entire imperial household would have been devoured by the grand duke faction long ago.
The Delos Empire was a nation that prioritized and revered the “legitimacy” of the imperial family above all else.
Only those with imperial blood could sit on the imperial throne.
After Tis’s coup, the only remaining imperial family members were the Emperor himself and Grand Duke Ion Verdit.
Naturally, either a successor with Tis’s bloodline would ascend to the throne, or the young Grand Duke Verdit, his nephew, would become the future emperor.
Especially since Grand Duke Verdit was known as a holy one with the “Hand of Life,” who, according to imperial historical records, was said to enjoy more than twice the lifespan of an ordinary human. This made sense given their self-healing ability significantly slowed aging and made them immune to illness.
Tis had seemed to mark Grand Duke Verdit as his successor from the beginning, rather than producing an heir. It appeared that was why he made Verdit his ally and killed all the other imperial family members during the coup.
To the confused imperial faction, Tis showed a reassuring smile.
He said that while it was true that Grand Duke Verdit had become the heir to the throne, the emperor would only change when his own lifespan reached its limit. He added that since Ion was younger than him and lived more than twice as long as an average person, it would be sufficient for him to become emperor at that time.
But the imperial faction couldn’t feel at ease.
If Grand Duke Verdit were to take a partner and have a child with imperial blood, that alone would make the grand duke faction’s influence grow immensely, reaching the sky. They might even dare to threaten Tis out of their desire to see their lord become emperor as soon as possible.
“That’s not for you to worry about. There will be no heir for Grand Duke Verdit until after I die.”
“How can you guarantee that?! According to rumors, Grand Duke Verdit already has someone to marry!”
Seeing the imperial faction’s unrelenting momentum, Tis replied with an indifferent expression.
“You will see for yourselves who this partner is, and Grand Duke Verdit has even made a contract with me, pledging on ‘imperial blood.’ If you wish, I can let you verify the contract with your own eyes right here.”
As if he had anticipated this, Tis took out a golden scroll he had prepared in advance. The hesitant ministers were only able to check the contract after receiving Tis’s permission once more.
The contract was filled with complex content. To summarize it simply, it was as follows:
[Grand Duke Ion Verdit swears not to take a female partner until he ascends to the throne after the current Emperor passes away naturally. Furthermore, until then, no child with any woman will be recognized as a member of the imperial family.]
Ion had no intention of taking anyone other than the man named “Levi” as his partner no matter what happened, and Tis knew this well, but an absolute contract was still necessary for situations like this.
‘This “blood” means little to me and Ion, but nothing works better on the imperial faction.’
As Tis expected, the imperial faction ministers showed relief only after thoroughly checking the contract. According to the contract, Ion could only take a female partner after Tis’s death, so until then, the grand duke faction couldn’t hold real power and shake things up recklessly.
Tis smirked as he watched the imperial faction ministers relaxing.
❖ ❖ ❖
On a day when a cool breeze was blowing.
A clear, refreshing birdsong as cool as the breeze woke Ion from his deep sleep.
“Mmm…”
“Are you awake?”
Ion, who had almost fallen back into a pleasant sleep, opened his eyes with a contented smile at the voice near his ear.
A soft light that had been caressing his eyelids while he slept filled his vision. Through it, thin, slender black hair slowly approached his face.
Something as soft and warm as the hair touched his lips. Between the inexpertly rubbing skin, something moist and different licked his lips.
When he briefly laughed because the touch only ticklishly licked without entering even though he parted his lips, Levi pulled away with a slightly furrowed brow.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because I like it.”
Ion, who was looking up at Levi adoringly, raised his upper body and pressed his lips against Levi’s again. As if showing him how to do it, he gently rubbed their lips together and slipped his tongue inside, which Levi accepted as if it were only natural.
After a kiss that was not short, Ion separated his lips and looked affectionately at Levi’s slightly flushed face while massaging his legs.
“I must have fallen asleep. Are your legs not sore?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Though his expression suggested it was nothing, his legs might go numb by the time he stood up. Knowing that Levi had not yet fully adapted to a human body, Ion took off the glove on his left hand and caressed Levi’s legs.
A faint light enveloped Levi’s legs before disappearing, and only then did Ion’s face show relief. He could feel Levi staring at his glove.
“Your glove is worn out. You should replace it with a new one.”
True to Levi’s words, the glove that wrapped Ion’s left hand like a seal was quite old. It had such obvious signs of wear that passing servants kept offering to make new gloves for him, but in reality, it was a great treasure to Ion.
“It’s fine. I’ll use this one for my entire life.”
Ion didn’t want to part with the small etlun leather glove that Levi had prepared for him when he was a child. That’s why he had modified it by mixing in other fabrics so it could be worn even after he became an adult, and he wore it every day.
Having removed his glove, Ion grabbed Levi’s hand with his bare hand and stood up together with him.
“I think I hear birdsong from the pond area. Shall we go see?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Levi answered immediately, as if he had been waiting.
Perhaps Levi had wanted to move toward the birdsong for some time but couldn’t budge because he was looking after someone lying on his thigh.
Walking toward the pond with Levi, Ion looked around with a fresh perspective.
The Black Forest, which once had only dense and ominous thorn trees that barely allowed light to enter, now displayed such a variety of colors that the name “black” seemed inappropriate.
The barren soil was filled with fresh grass and colorful flowers, and the thorn trees that had once been mere black skeletons were now covered with vibrant green leaves.
Around the time the pond water changed and vitality began to spread throughout the forest.
The thorn tree trunks that had covered the sky like a tent began to move slightly. After a considerable time, when the thorn tree trunks stopped moving, there was now enough space for warm sunlight to sufficiently shine down on the entire forest.
Now no one could call this forest by any negative names. The barren, dry land had transformed into such a vibrant, beautiful sight.
Just like Levi before him.
“Ion, look there.”
Reaching the pond, Levi pointed with his black fingertip to a place where his favorite yellow flowers were in full bloom. There, the tiny source of the pleasant birdsong was tilting its head and looking at them.
Levi’s footsteps became extremely careful. Yet he still refused to let go of Ion’s white hand that had removed its glove.
Levi’s black hand cautiously approached the small bird as he crouched down. The bird didn’t seem afraid of the pitch-black hand approaching it and just kept tilting its head this way and that while watching it.
Just as the fingertip was about to touch the bird.
The twitching black hand stopped, unable to approach further. Levi’s eyes trembled slightly, and faint fear flowed from them.
Ion, who had been quietly observing Levi’s eyes, carefully crouched down as if imitating him. Then he gently gripped Levi’s black wrist.
The black hand, stretched out by Ion’s guidance, eventually touched the docile small bird that showed no intention of fleeing.
“It’s all right.”
Ion, who had noticed the slight trembling from the black hand, whispered soothingly to Levi.
“Look.”
Following Ion’s words, Levi’s gaze fixed on the small bird.
The small bird, looking down at the black fingertip touching its body, hopped slightly as if taking tiny steps. Its adorable two feet grasped Levi’s index finger and settled on it.
The small bird’s round, black eyes remained clear.
“It’s still alive.”
Only then did Levi realize that he had been frozen, not even breathing properly.
The small bird, cutely moving its beak on top of Levi’s black finger, met Levi’s eyes. As if pleased by this, a small smile appeared at the corners of Levi’s mouth.
Before long, the small bird flew up vigorously, following the clear sound of another bird echoing in the high sky. Levi couldn’t take his eyes off the sky even after the bird was no longer visible.
Ion, who had captured everything in his eyes—Levi’s gaze, Levi’s actions, even the emotions appearing on Levi’s face—picked a yellow flower blooming on the ground. He put it in his mouth and pressed his lips together as if giving a kiss, and Levi habitually accepted the flower. Only then did his attention, which had been focused on the small bird, turn to Ion.
Ion raised Levi’s black hand, which was looking at him with a flushed face. Ion, who was leaving ticklish kisses on each delicate black finger, spoke in a sweet voice.
“Now these fingertips don’t kill anything. There’s nothing to fear.”
“Yes…”
Levi knew this well intellectually. But the sensation engraved in his instincts couldn’t be completely washed away yet, so fear would sometimes arise uncontrollably like now.
Each time, Ion would kiss and caress Levi’s hand as if it were precious, comforting him. Thanks to this, Levi now seemed to show signs of significant improvement.
Ion firmly held Levi’s black hand with his own white left hand as they sat side by side, gazing at the pond visible ahead.
The pond that had once been filled with black water was now gone.
Like the forest had changed, the pond was now filled with clear, transparent water, and in the middle of it lay a familiar black bead.
Levi, looking at the clear water Ion had changed, asked him.
“When my lifespan ends, will you place your bead next to that one?”
“Of course.”
Ion had once heard from Levi how his golden bead could reveal its original form.
Cremation.
He had said that if the body was burned, leaving nothing behind, a golden bead would remain along with white ashes. Although cremation was not common in the Delos Empire and could have felt somewhat uncomfortable, Ion maintained a nonchalant expression, saying it was a surprisingly simple method.
Despite living longer than ordinary humans, Ion intended to close his eyes in accordance with Levi’s lifespan. Not only that, but he also planned to ask Hest’s descendants to place the golden bead that would remain in his white ashes together with the black bead in that pond.
“Tell me our story again.”
Levi gazed at Ion with eyes as clear as the pond. Ion let out a small laugh at Levi’s appearance, which was like a child asking for a fairy tale to be read.
“Which part would you like to hear today?”
“Hmm.”
Levi rolled his eyes cutely once and then smiled slightly.
“I like the story of when we did laundry together for the first time, and I also like the story of when you washed potatoes.”
“Then I’ll tell you both.”
Ion smiled kindly and began to speak of a day from the past when this forest was still completely black. Levi listened attentively, perking up his ears as if not wanting to miss any part of the story.
Levi, who had not been able to directly absorb Raziel’s black fragment, could not recover his memories of the days spent with young Ion in this black forest.
But it didn’t matter.
Even though it was a past that only Ion remembered, Levi could always feel his heart flutter at their stories told through Ion’s mouth. For Levi, it was quite enjoyable to fill in his memories one by one, creating new recollections each time he heard them.
As Levi listened to Ion’s voice, which was as pleasant as the birdsong by the clear pond, his gaze suddenly fell on a thorn tree trunk.
<Don’t forget me.>
<—Iellin—>
The alias of Claudia, which he had given her himself, derived from Ion’s name, was visible.
And her poignant message as she had to secretly hide the black fragment while placing his core in the pond.
Perhaps Claudia had held a small hope.
Since Levi couldn’t tear his eyes away from the newborn Ion, maybe she hoped that by writing an alias derived from that name, he might not forget her—a sliver of expectation.
‘Now I won’t forget you. Thank you.’
Levi was sincerely grateful to Claudia, who had made him human as promised. And for bringing Ion to meet him.
Levi’s gaze, which had been reminiscing about Claudia, turned to Ion, who was filling in his past memories. A warm, human light settled in his black eyes.
Levi tightly gripped Ion’s white hand, which was interlocked with his black hand.
Now, where these fingertips touched, instead of “death,” there was Ion… his “life.” Thinking like this made his heart flutter again and his heart beat painfully. It felt as if the warm heat that started in his heart was spreading pleasantly throughout his body.
“Levi?”
Ion, who belatedly felt Levi’s gaze, looked at him in return.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Have you fallen for me all over again?”
“Yes.”
It was just a joke, but Levi nodded seriously, which was incredibly perplexing for Ion.
Ion anxiously ran a hand over his slightly reddened face.
“Ah… don’t do that. I hate it because you’ll get scratches on your body if we do it outside.”
“You hate it?”
Levi tilted his head like the small bird earlier and lifted his interlocked hand. Ion’s hand, naturally raised along with it, was rubbed against Levi’s cheek as he calmly said,
“I don’t know what it is, but I like everything Ion does.”
“…”
Ion’s face heated up instantly at this unexpected seduction, which began with an innocent face.
Immediately after, Ion picked up Levi and headed toward the small tent where they had stayed together in the past. Even then, Levi didn’t seem to understand what Ion intended to do.
Levi, being carried upside down, couldn’t take his eyes off the beautiful pond that looked as if sunlight had been ground into powder and sprinkled over it, and the yellow flowers blooming around it.
The brilliant light powder and sweetness of the yellow flowers that filled his vision felt as if they would never be erased.
<Where Fingertips Touch (End)> The End
I need moore 🙁