Keith looked up at Ian with a bewildered expression.

"What are you doing?"

"You told me to."

After making the request himself, he was acting as though Ian were the unreasonable one.

"I meant for you to step on my shoulder!"

"...?!"

I was the crazy one?

Ian was stunned.

No, but hadn't this bastard gotten excited after being stepped on?

"Then what was that just now?!"

"That was... unavoidable."

"You get excited against your will?"

Keith tried to defend himself calmly.

"If Ian touches me, how could I possibly not be pleased?"

Doesn't this bastard say that every time he's cornered?

"You were excited!"

"That is true, but..."

"Then why did you want me to step on your shoulder?!"

"It's not that I wanted to be stepped on! It simply seemed like you were having trouble spreading your legs, so I thought offering my shoulder might help!"

Keith's face flushed bright red.

Ian shut his mouth.

After blurting everything out, the conversation was unbearably embarrassing.

And in the end, Keith's request had been for Ian's sake.

Biting his lip, Ian placed one bare foot on Keith's shoulder.

Holding the heel of Ian's boot, Keith made it easy for him to slip off his shoe simply by pulling his foot free.

That alone spread his legs apart.

He was exposing himself with his own hands.

His face burned.

Desperate to escape the situation somehow, Ian opened his mouth without thinking.

"Hurry up..."

"Yes."

Keith's tongue slipped deeper with ease.

His hair brushed against places that absolutely should not have been ticklish, and Ian closed his eyes again.

There was no way he could endure this with a clear mind.

"Mmh... ah..."

A moan escaped with his breath.

Each time something warm and wet licked at him, he could feel himself gradually opening. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

His body shouldn't have been capable of softening like this on its own.

Yet somehow it was.

Every slow press of Keith's tongue felt so good that he couldn't help tightening around it.

Ian was already painfully hard.

"Does it feel good?"

Normally, after an argument, the awkwardness between people should disappear.

But that wasn't what happened.

Instead, the atmosphere remained strangely warm and ticklish.

Ian shook his head with his eyes still closed.

"...Be quiet..."

"Yes."

The amusement in Keith's voice struck him directly in the lower abdomen.

That alone made Ian feel as though he could climax.

He was absurdly aroused.

He had already confirmed through their earlier contact that Keith was struggling to restrain himself as well, yet he couldn't understand why the man remained so patient.

The next moment, Keith took him into his mouth again.

The simple effort to make him feel good was unbearably sweet and frustrating.

While continuing to pleasure him, Keith repeatedly glanced up to watch Ian's expression.

As though soothing Ian was the only thing that mattered.

A dull ache spread through Ian's chest.

It didn't hurt.

But it refused to leave his mind.

The feeling of someone caring about him was strange.

Every time their eyes met, it became harder to bear.

The air was warm, yet his body trembled as though from cold.

And someone was there, holding him together.

It felt as precarious and desperate as making love on the edge of a cliff.

Ian didn't want to think about anything.

At least not right now.

"Why aren't you doing anything?"

Yet he couldn't stop thinking about Keith.

He didn't want to only receive.

Ian hated feeling indebted to anyone.

"Serving you is my happiness."

"Just... do it."

He didn't want to go through this alone.

If he was going to cross that line, then—

Before Ian could even process his own thoughts, unmistakable joy lit up Keith's handsome face.

"Thank you for this grace."

He whispered it with °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° complete sincerity.

Something thick entered the enclosed space between them.

Ian threw his head back.

"...!"

Ian is strong.

Keith's faith was absolute.

His body might be frail, but his heart was harder than steel.

A leader capable of carrying the weight of hundreds of thousands.

A seeker willing to risk his life for what was right.

An agent acting in place of God's will.

Together with him, Keith had crossed scenes worthy of myth more times than he could count.

Ian was not an ordinary person.

The first day that changed Keith's life had been the day he lost his family and was rescued by the Holy Knights.

But the day his life was truly saved was the day he met Ian for the second time.

A person trapped in despair could not escape by their own strength.

Keith was someone who gave hope to others, yet he had often suffered from terrible helplessness.

Ian was different.

He held on to hope.

He made decisions.

And he inspired everyone around him to follow.

The reason people in this dungeon still smile is because of their absolute faith in Ian.

How could such a man not be a Messenger of God?

Not just Keith.

Anyone who knew Ian would have judged him the same way.

A person whose greatness could be felt simply by standing beside him.

Keith had wanted to comfort Ian.

Yet Ian had never needed his comfort.

Ian remained strong.

Ian continued to grant him grace.

At least, that was what Keith had believed.

Until he saw the elf collapse before his eyes.

God had never granted Keith any prophecy, so he could not see the future.

But Ian's insight seemed to have witnessed something.

All Keith could see was Ian's pale face and lifeless eyes.

Eyes that had always shone with certainty and determination now wandered without focus.

Watching him tremble hurt Keith.

Ian needed comfort.

Keith's judgment was wrong.

A weak, frightened leader should have been someone he despised.

But isn't true courage born not from the absence of fear...

...but from facing fear and confronting it?

Ian was capable of that.

No.

Keith simply wanted Ian to stop trembling.

He wanted his embrace to warm him.

If this warmth could provide even a little comfort, he wanted nothing more.

But is it permissible to feel this way toward the person I follow?

His reason repeated the same question as before.

Keith was not a fool.

In truth, he had known the answer for a long time.

The knight the Vatican was proud of.

The Commander of the Holy Knights knew loyalty.

He remembered forcing down suspicion and doubt, bowing his head and obeying another's words without question.

That was the loyalty the Pope desired.

The loyalty Keith had been taught.

"You can ask."

Ian was different.

He was...

Special.

So special that Keith could no longer define him.

"Ah...!"

Ian's arms wrapped around Keith's back.

His nails dug into flesh.

Even that sensation felt intoxicating.

"Do you like this?"

"No, no..."

"Deeper..."

"Ah...!"

"..."

Keith swallowed a groan of his own.

Every time Ian clung to him and made those strained sounds, everything around him tightened.

Even pretending to remain composed had reached its limit.

"It feels good..."

"Mmh..."

"May I move a little more?"

"Mm... yes..."

"It feels too good..."

Holding Ian tightly in his arms, Keith pushed deeper.

Deeper still.

The person he longed for was in his embrace.

Leaning against a wall without even a proper bed.

Clinging to him as though Keith were the only person in the world he could rely on.

The pleasure in Keith's heart surpassed anything physical.

Drunk on bliss, he lowered a bucket into the deepest well of his soul.

"I love you..."

"Ah... mm!"

"I love you."

The feelings he had desperately suppressed finally rose to the surface.

Keith froze.

But Ian was every bit as overwhelmed as he was.

His thoughts were far less profound.

It's so huge I feel like I can't breathe.

Isn't this too big?

Should something like this even fit inside a human body?

How did I manage it before?

More importantly, what kind of courage possessed me to agree to this in the first place?

But a man had his pride.

He couldn't exactly tell Keith to stop now.

More importantly...

Sweating lightly, completely absorbed in what he was doing, Keith looked up and met his eyes.

Then he smiled.

The moment Ian saw that boyish smile, every complaint vanished.

Ah... damn it.

Isn't this a bad idea?

This bastard is pointing a deadly weapon at me, and somehow I'm thinking it's fine?

No. No, there's a reason.

A major battle was approaching.

They couldn't leave the progress of a key combat asset's curse untouched.

Naturally, it had to be reduced to zero percent.

Stop talking nonsense.

Ian gave up.

He simply...

Wanted this.