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“Henituse… I do not particularly like that name.”
Cale, who had been peacefully eating a cookie, stopped mid-bite and slowly shifted his gaze toward the mountain of documents occupying most of the desk.
Somewhere behind those terrifying stacks sat Alver Crossman, though only fragments of blond hair and the occasional glimpse of blue eyes were actually visible through the paperwork.
Cale stared at him silently for a moment.
“Have you finally lost your mind, Your High—”
“Hyung.”
The correction came immediately.
Cale raised a brow before letting out a long sigh, already feeling a headache forming.
“Hyung, I think you might need a nap.”
Silence filled the room for a brief moment before Alver suddenly rose from his chair, both hands slamming onto the desk with slightly more force than necessary.
The sharp sound immediately drew Cale’s attention.
Alver slowly lifted his gaze, his eyes locking directly onto Cale, whose relaxed posture instinctively stiffened.
“How about you join me?”
“What kind of non—”
Cale didn’t get the chance to finish.
Alver moved forward without hesitation, striding around the desk in only a few long steps before stopping directly in front of the sofa. Then he placed both arms against the backrest on either side of Cale, trapping him in place.
Cale immediately leaned back.
The dark circles beneath Alver’s eyes were worse than Cale had ever seen before.
Normally, the Crown Prince maintained a flawless appearance regardless of how exhausted he truly was. Whether he had slept for three hours or not at all, Alver always looked composed.
Today, however, was clearly different.
This man had finally reached his limit, and apparently, the first thing to collapse under the pressure was his common sense.
Alver’s gaze slowly wandered across Cale’s face, lingering far longer than necessary as if carefully examining every small reaction. Yet the more he looked, the more dissatisfied he seemed to become because despite the overwhelming invasion of personal space, Cale’s expression remained mostly unchanged.
Nothing remotely close to the reaction Alver had clearly been hoping for.
That realization only deepened the frustration hidden in the Crown Prince’s eyes.
“You are far too oblivious for your own good,” Alver muttered quietly.
Cale frowned.
“How much have you slept?”
Cale asked the question with complete seriousness, genuinely convinced that sleep deprivation had finally destroyed whatever remained of Alver’s rational thinking.
Unfortunately, the Crown Prince ignored him entirely.
“For the ball, I personally prepared a matching outfit for you,” Alver began, his voice calm despite the faint irritation hidden beneath it. “I asked you for a dance twice, and throughout the entire evening I kept giving you subtle touches.”
As he listed each point one after another, Cale’s expression gradually turned blank.
Because somehow—
None of that had sounded strange to him until now.
Alver stared as though waiting for something, likely hoping Cale would finally understand the point he was trying so desperately to make.
However, Cale’s expression only deepened into confusion rather than clarity.
The Crown Prince let out a long, defeated groan and then, without any warning or regard for dignity, he let his entire body collapse forward onto Cale, making the sofa dip under their combined weight.
“…You’re heavy.”
“Do I need to spell it out?”
Cale attempted to push Alver away but failed completely. If Raon were here, he would have commented on how weak Cale was.
“You're not planning to fall asleep on top of me, are you?”
“Marry me.”
“Huh?”
Cale blinked several times as he tried to look at the elf's face buried in the crook of his neck. Each breath that brushed against his skin tickled him, slowly driving him crazy.
His entire face had turned red while heat rushed to his face.
At this point, Alver had to be able to feel it.
“You're talking nonsense.”
Another groan echoed out.
“I am serious.”
The crown prince pushed himself up and looked into Cale's eyes.
The first thing he saw was Cale's flushed face. A soft smirk appeared on Alver's lips, it was a smile Cale had never seen before.
“Heh.”
“What the fuck?”
The words escaped Cale's mouth immediately.
“Marry me, Cale.”
Alver repeated himself, his fingertips brushing against Cale's cheek. It was the same gesture he had used during the ball, just as gentle as before, yet it felt completely different to Cale now.
“Hyung, I…”
“Yes?”
The smile on the elf's face softened, and for a moment Cale thought he had never seen such an expression on Alver before.
No, that wasn't right.
He had seen it before. More than once.
Now that he thought about it, Alver had looked at him with that same gentle expression countless times. Whether during their private conversations, while discussing troublesome matters, or when Cale had gotten himself involved in yet another dangerous situation, Alver's gaze had often softened like this.
“That would make me the Crown Princess and future Empress.”
Roan had yet to become an empire, but it was obvious that would change in the future. More importantly, such titles did not come with the slacker life Cale wanted.
However, Alver merely chuckled at Cale's remark. His fingers played with a strand of Cale's crimson hair before he lifted it to his lips and pressed a kiss against it.
“I don't mind if my Empress takes naps on the throne.”
Cale tried to ignore the heat rising to his face.
“Sounds uncomfortable.”
Another chuckle escaped Alver's mouth. He tilted his head slightly, his eyes curving into crescent moons.
Right now, Alver looked ridiculously handsome.
Not that he wasn't handsome normally.
Fuck. Cale had always been a sucker for good-looking faces, but this was becoming too much.
“They're surprisingly comfortable. Want to try it out?”
Cale would have loved to take a nap—especially right now. Preferably alone, in his bed, buried under his blanket, and completely forgetting this entire madness.
Was this what Alver always felt whenever Cale showed up with new trouble? Was this some kind of payback?
Cale frowned and shoved a hand toward Alver’s face in a desperate attempt to block out that infuriatingly beautiful smile.
Instead, Alver caught his wrist.
Then, before Cale could react, he brought Cale’s palm to his lips and pressed small kisses against it.
“Wha?!”
Even then, Cale didn't pull away.
Instead, his eyes met Alver’s again—those eyes filled with such obvious adoration that it made Cale feel like he was going insane. He let out a low groan before finally speaking.
“Dating is fine.”
Those words were enough to make Alver beam with happiness. At that moment, Cale genuinely thought the crown prince was shining brighter than the Sun Goddess herself.
“Shall we take our nap, then?”
Alver’s question was answered with a nod.
—
“Human! Are you alright? You’ve been gone for so long!”
Raon burst into the Crown Prince’s bedroom. He had already checked the office, but finding it empty only made the black dragon more anxious.
If his human wasn’t lazing on the sofa eating cookies, then something must have definitely happened!
What he found instead made him freeze midair.
Cale was asleep in the prince’s bed and Alver was right next to him.
The two of them were curled up together under the blanket, with Cale almost completely buried beneath it.
Meanwhile, the elf was half hanging off the bed, his back already dangerously close to the edge as if he might fall at any moment.
“Oh my…”
Ron stepped inside as well, having followed the little dragon. His eyes glinted dangerously as they landed on the scene before him.
“Someone is being quite bold.”
A faint smile appeared on his face, calm and gentle on the surface, yet far from harmless.
It seemed he would have to skin a certain squirrel’s fur off.
Winter was approaching, after all. His young master would need a new hat to protect him from the cold.