Morning came far too quickly for Cherion’s liking. Perhaps that was what happened when one packed several years’ worth of emotional damage into a single evening.

A tense conversation with Karson, panic over a poisoned princess, confusion involving the High Priest, revelations about the original Cherion’s parents, and an exceptionally enjoyable evening with the Duke.

It had been an unusually busy day for the poor department responsible for managing his feelings.

Cherion was wide awake. He was half-sitting up, leaning his back comfortably against the wooden headboard. Beside him, Zarius was still deeply asleep, the terrifying and ruthless Duke of the North looking surprisingly peaceful in the early hours.

The man’s head rested softly on the plush pillow, but his muscled arms were wrapped securely around Cherion’s stomach. Only a single, thick velvet blanket covered their bare skin, a quiet reminder to the intense, passionate night they had just shared. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Oh, and then there were the clothes scattered across the floor, too, with a few unfortunate pieces having somehow made it all the way to the balcony door.

Yes, they were, as people would say, having sex.

It had been a truly great distraction, and immensely pleasurable, of course. Cherion’s lips curled into a faint smile as he recalled the sheer heat of the Duke’s touch. But now that the physical haze had cleared, Cherion’s mind couldn’t help but drift back to the heavy reality of the situation.

He stared blankly at the high ceiling. He was thinking about this miraculous healing power that the OG Cherion possessed, the very power he had used to pull a foreign princess back from the jaws of danger in mere minutes.

Is there something more to it?

Ugh. Cherion looked around the room, his eyes scanning the elegant bookshelves, the desk, and the wardrobe. There wasn’t even anything weird or hidden in this room. He knew this because when he first arrived in this world, before he left the capital to head toward the North with Zarius, he had already thoroughly searched every single nook, cranny, and floor of this place. It was just a regular noble bedroom filled with standard imperial luxury. There was no secret compartment, no magical inheritance artifact, and absolutely no diary.

Cherion let out a quiet sigh. Damn it. My life in this world is pretty much just a continuous bunch of "wow" moments. The OG Cherion seriously needed to write a diary, a book, a memoir, or an autobiography so I wouldn’t have to keep guessing.

"Stop thinking so much," a deep, raspy morning voice suddenly rumbled from beside his hip, the vibration sending a pleasant shiver up Cherion’s spine. "Or that beautiful little head of yours will explode before breakfast."

Cherion blinked, shifting his gaze downward. Zarius’s eyes were already wide open, staring up at him. The heavy blanket shifted slightly as Zarius tightened his grip around Cherion’s waist, pulling himself upward until his chin rested directly on Cherion’s bare stomach.

Cherion chuckled, his fingers instinctively reaching out to brush a few rogue strands of dark hair away from the Duke’s face. "Since when are you awake?"

Zarius smirks playfully, shifting his weight. "Since you started making an expression like this."

Without missing a beat, the terrifying Duke of the North pulled his lips into a massive, exaggerated pout, perfectly impersonating Cherion’s intense, overthinking scowl.

Cherion let out a genuine, breathless laugh, his chest shaking against the Duke’s face. "Oh, my little nugget, you are so cute."

Zarius froze for a fraction of a second, his sharp eyebrows shooting upward at the absurd, entirely unfitting nickname. He stared up at Cherion with a look of deadpan confusion. "Little nugget? Cherion... not that I particularly hate whatever name you choose to call me, but that word somehow gives an impression that I am... little. Small."

Cherion let out an overly dramatic gasp, his eyes boldly trailing over the Duke’s bare chest, broad shoulders, and powerful torso.

"Oh, trust me, you are absolutely nowhere near small," Cherion teased, a wicked grin tugging at his lips as his eyes wandered lower beneath the velvet blanket. "Just look at this body. And, of course... that sacred subject down there."

Zarius’s eyes darkened and Cherion didn’t give him a chance to retaliate. Laughing softly, Cherion leaned all the way down, wrapping his arms around the Duke’s neck and bringing Zarius into a deep, slow, and completely consuming morning kiss.

The lingering desire from the night before reignited like wildfire, and Cherion effortlessly shifted his weight, moving to climb directly on top of Zarius’s lap to deepen the embrace.

The heat in the room was rising rapidly, their breaths tangling together, until a sharp, loud knock suddenly shattered the silence, echoing aggressively against the heavy bedroom door.

Both of them immediately went still.

They stayed perfectly still for a few seconds, deliberately choosing to ignore the sound. Zarius’s large, warm hands slid up Cherion’s bare back, pulling him lower to resume the kiss, completely unbothered by the outside world. But the knock came again, faster, louder, and distinctly more urgent this time.

Cherion let out a heavy, frustrated groan against Zarius’s lips, reluctantly breaking the contact. "Oh, how I wish we could just pack our bags and go home to the North right now," he muttered, rolling off the Duke’s solid chest and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

He stood up, completely unbothered by his lack of clothes, ready to walk straight to the door and terrorize whoever was interrupting them. But Zarius was faster.

The Duke lunged across the mattress, grabbed the plush velvet blanket, and draped it securely around Cherion’s shoulders. He wrapped it tightly, completely covering Cherion from the neck down, before hiding his own massive, entirely bare frame directly behind Cherion’s back, using him as a shield.

Cherion rolled his eyes affectionately at the Duke’s antics, reached out, and clicked the heavy lock open. He swung the door wide.

Standing in front of the door was Marielle. Her usual sharp, impeccable posture was completely gone. Her hair was slightly disheveled, her clothes looked rushed, and her face was pale with a mixture of shock and exhaustion.

Cherion’s heart did a sudden flip. Looking at her frantic expression, he internally began to panic, instantly wishing and praying to whatever gods were listening that Marielle wasn’t about to go on a wild, destructive rampage because he had been busy doing the Duke while the palace was supposed to be in a crisis. He prepared himself to come up with a reasonable explanation.

But Marielle didn’t even look at their messy, blanket-wrapped state. Her wide eyes locked onto Cherion’s, her breath catching as she gasped out the urgent update.

"The princess is awake."