‘I did it. I said it!’
“I love you.”
After he finished saying those words, Reinhild clenched both his fists tightly under the table.
The human emotion called “love,” which he had only ever understood in his head until now, had finally spilled out of his mouth.
That vague, uncertain feeling that he had not been sure of until just a moment ago became firm the moment he spoke it aloud.
A Demon King is not supposed to say “I love you” to a human, but so what?
Soon he would not be a Demon King anymore anyway.
And Xion had already become half not-human.
‘What kind of reaction will Xion show?’
Will he be happy?
Will he say he loves me too?
Filled with expectation, Reinhild waited for Xion’s answer.
According to the countless books he had read where humans confess their love, there are usually two big reactions you can expect in a situation like this.
They are happy. Or they cry.
When humans cry, it is usually when they are sad or feeling bad, but in this one case, tears often carried a positive meaning.
He could not understand it at all, but they said that was “love.”
“Rein.”
“Yeah.”
Xion opened his mouth.
Reinhild leaned his body toward Xion, eyes shining, wanting to hear Xion’s reply even one second sooner.
Will he laugh? Will he cry? Even if crying is supposed to be a positive sign, he still hoped Xion would smile.
“Are you all right now with your fear of heights?”
“Hmm?”
He had not expected to be asked that.
But just because it was different from what he had hoped for did not mean he could just leave Xion, who was waiting for an answer, hanging.
After a brief moment of thought, Reinhild nodded.
“I am fine. When I jumped down the secret passage in the Demon King’s castle, it was not that scary. I did not really have the presence of mind to be scared, but still…”
Reinhild smiled brightly at Xion, who had caught him when he was falling toward him.
“Because Xion caught me. Uwah!”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Reinhild was suddenly lifted up.
Just a moment ago he had been sitting in a chair at the table, but when he came to his senses, he was pressed tightly in Xion’s arms.
‘So this is why he asked that!’
Thump.
Xion set Reinhild down on the soft bed and leaned his body over him.
“Xio— mmph—”
Just as he had expected, Xion’s lips cut off Reinhild’s words.
Reinhild reflexively grabbed Xion’s shoulders.
Maybe because Xion had climbed on top of him, that added weight made it harder than usual to push him away.
Of course, whether or not he tried, Xion was not the sort who would be pushed off so easily.
“Ha…”
Reinhild, who still ended up short of breath every time they kissed, could not bear it and let out a breath.
Xion did not miss that opening and slipped his tongue between Reinhild’s lips.
“Hh, ngh… uh…”
Along with Xion’s tongue, a hot rush of heat pushed its way into his mouth.
Reinhild, who was especially weak to warmth, went limp like a snow Demon King he had made with such effort drooping and melting away in the sunlight.
Before, whenever he kissed Xion, his head would just spin so much he could not tell what was happening.
But now he could clearly feel every little movement Xion made.
Xion’s tongue brushing past his teeth.
The soft, slick thing sweeping over his palate and then pressing down firmly on his tongue.
And each time, the tickling sensation he felt in his chest was incomparably clearer than before.
“Mm…”
In the end, Reinhild could not endure the tongue that was pushing in so deep it felt like it would block his throat, and he shut his mouth.
Because of that, he ended up unintentionally biting Xion’s tongue.
Just a little.
Maybe Xion realized Reinhild had been having a hard time from what he’d done just before, because with a rather blatant smack, his lips parted from Reinhild’s.
“Puh…”
Reinhild, as if he had been waiting for it, let out the breath he had been holding back.
Thump, thump, thump— his heart felt like it was beating three times faster than usual.
Reinhild put a hand over his chest as if to calm his pounding heart.
“Rein.”
Xion’s gentle voice mixed with the sound of his heartbeat, booming loudly in his ears.
“Reinhild.”
The way Xion spoke his name and softly kissed his cheek felt like he was asking for permission—asking if it was okay to keep going.
‘If he keeps doing that, my heart is going to keep pounding… Ah. Hearts are supposed to keep beating anyway.’
Thinking of it that way, it seemed like it might be all right…
After a short moment of thought, Reinhild tilted his head slightly toward Xion.
To bring his own lips to Xion’s lips that were kissing his cheek.
Smooch.
He had no time to even savor the brief kiss before his breath caught again.
With a thick, sticky kiss that felt like it might suck out his very soul, Reinhild clutched Xion’s back tightly.
He felt like if he let his mind go, he might get swallowed whole.
‘Human books are all nonsense.’
Even while he was struggling to breathe through his nose, that thought drifted through his head.
In the books, there had never been a human who reacted like this just because someone said “I love you.”
Humans really could not be trusted.
“Rein.”
“Xi…”
“I love you.”
“Uh, ugh…”
“I love you too.”
Xion would say one word and rub their lips together, say another and entwine their tongues, say another and lightly bite Reinhild’s lips again and again.
“Ugh, ngh. Xion. Wait a… mm…”
Now he understood.
The words “I love you” were more fatal than the words “Die.”
‘I can’t… The words “I love you” need to be sealed away for the next ten years.’
Thinking something that would have made Xion gasp in shock if he had heard it, Reinhild let his body go limp.
He tried to catch his breath, but Xion bit and sucked his slightly parted lips, giving him no chance to rest.
“Huu…”
Even without seeing it directly, he could tell his lips were swollen.
Maybe the last time his lips had swelled up, it had not been an insect bite at all but Xion’s doing.
“Xion, you are heavy.”
After finishing the kisses, Xion rested his head on Reinhild’s shoulder and let his weight sink down, and Reinhild sank deep into the bed.
From the solid weight bearing down on him, Reinhild twisted his body trying to slip out from under Xion.
All that did, though, was press their already close bodies even more tightly together.
“It is stifling.”
When Reinhild patted his back in protest, Xion wrapped one arm around his back.
Nothing changed about Xion being on top of him or their bodies pressed together so tightly that air could barely pass between them, but with just that small gesture, the feeling of being crushed disappeared.
Reinhild, finding that strange, wrapped his arms around Xion’s back.
“Rein.”
“Yeah.”
“I want to hear you say you love me one more time.”
“Uh…”
No. Those words were supposed to be sealed away for ten years.
He could not just casually break a resolution he had made less than ten minutes into being (no longer) the Demon King.
When Reinhild hesitated, Xion bit lightly at the tip of his chin like he was throwing a tantrum.
It did not hurt, but it tickled again, and Reinhild flinched.
‘If I do not say I love him, does that mean I will not get to hear those words from Xion either?’
That was bad. He did not want that.
Reinhild, buried in Xion’s arms, plunged into serious thought.
A moment ago, he had been too out of it to properly hear Xion say he loved him.
If he sealed away those words now and let the moment pass, it would be a clear loss for him.
‘That will not do.’
After coming up with a ridiculous excuse, Reinhild decided to lift the seal.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Rein.”
Hearing the words he wanted, Reinhild broke into a bright smile.
“Is your body… all right now?”
“My lips hurt. They feel swollen.”
“Not your lips. I meant the places where you were hurt.”
Without warning, Xion pressed a kiss to Reinhild’s nape.
The area around the wound, which already felt ticklish every time Xion spoke and his breath brushed over it, grew even more ticklish.
Reinhild curled in on himself. Not that that did anything when he was still in Xion’s arms.
“The bruise is still there.”
“Ah.”
Reinhild realized that the place Xion’s lips had touched was exactly where the Demon God had grabbed him.
The grip had been so strong that the marks of the Demon God’s hand had remained as a bruise that had yet to fade.
Xion had poured divine power into him several times, but the bruise only faded a little and never completely disappeared.
“It does not hurt.”
“…”
Instead of answering, Xion brought his lips once more to the dark red bruise.
“Ah…”
While his moist lips were still attached to his neck, something else touched his skin.
It was not hard to guess what that soft, wet thing was.
“Xion, your tongue…”
Before Reinhild could finish his sentence, Xion bit down on his nape like an owlbear that had just seized its prey.
“…Ah!”
Reinhild hunched his shoulders and grabbed Xion’s back so tightly his clothes wrinkled.
Was he trying to tear out his throat? Why?
Xion would never actually attack him, but you never knew. Maybe humans had a habit of biting each other’s necks when they confessed their love.
There were monsters that ate their partners after mating to replenish nutrients; maybe this was one of those moments.
‘This is bad.’
Reinhild tensed up.
Even if it was Xion, he did not want to be eaten.
Fortunately, Xion seemed satisfied with leaving teeth marks around the bruise and pulled away.
With a dazed expression, Reinhild scratched at the place he had just been bitten.
That spot felt especially hot and tingly, strangely similar to when he received divine power for healing.
‘So he was healing me.’
He had almost misunderstood.
“Are you all right, Rein?”
“It tickles.”
“But it does not hurt?”
Reinhild nodded.
His neck felt perfectly fine, to the point he had forgotten it had ever been bruised.
The place that hurt was somewhere else.
Reinhild tugged down his collar, intending to show Xion the injury.
“It is not my neck. My chest hurts.”
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