The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]-Chapter 464: Pitiful

Maybe Ollie should’ve known.

Maybe he should’ve recognized the signs—the glint in Luca’s eyes, the way he bounced on his toes with excitement, the kind of radiant smile that should’ve come with a disclaimer.

Because the brighter that smile was?

The darker his future became.

And as his brother, he really, really should’ve known better.

But he didn’t.

And by the time the realization dawned, it was already far too late to escape.

Not even bringing up his newly-discovered existential crisis—the possibility of someday needing to have a child to fulfill his half of a life-altering contract—could save him. Not even a heart-to-heart about the Nox Family Succession List could buy him time.

Luca had already made a plan.

No—a schedule.

A beautifully color-coded, terrifyingly detailed, spiritually-infused training schedule.

It all started innocently enough. Luca, eyes practically glowing, had clasped Ollie’s hands with both of his and said, "Don’t worry, brother. I’ll help you figure it out. I’m sure we can find a method that works for you."

And for a moment, Ollie believed him.

The enthusiasm in Luca’s face, the energy in his voice, the trust in his words—it had all felt so reassuring. So possible.

So misleading.

Because what he didn’t know—what he should have known—was that each excited bounce Luca took was not a sign of encouragement.

It was a countdown.

A cheerful, smiling countdown to doom.

And the zero mark came as soon as classes ended for the day.

There was no gentle start. No easing into it. No "let’s plan for next week when you’re rested."

No.

It began immediately.

Luca handed him a set of customized tools, calibrated to Ollie’s new energy readings, and practically sparkled as he waved him to the training hall back in his dungeon space.

There were diagrams.

Instructional manuals.

And a holoboard that already had his name on it.

And in the center of the room?

A floating crystal sphere glowing ominously with layered spiritual matrices.

Ollie stared at it, then at Luca, then back at the sphere.

"...Brother?"

"Yes?" Luca beamed, already setting up the interface for readings.

"Are you sure I won’t explode?"

Luca tilted his head thoughtfully. "Pretty sure, brother! I’ve tested it before!"

Ollie let out a wheeze.

And so it began. The first official session of ’Spiritual Manipulation & Material Resonance: A Beginner’s Personal Descent into Academic Torment’

Thankfully, the first session only lasted three hours in dungeon space time.

And not because it was scheduled to end there.

No—it ended because salvation arrived in the form of a familiar figure: Kyle.

To Ollie, it was like witnessing divine intervention.

For one sacred, glowing second, he forgot he had spent most of the day hiding from said savior. The relief was that profound.

Luca blinked in surprise. "Kyle? Why are you here?"

Kyle, ever calm, replied with a simple, "It’s dinnertime."

Those golden eyes widened. "Dinner? Oh no, I forgot!"

Kyle nodded. "You both missed your proper meals earlier. The duchess got worried."

Luca panicked, immediately turning to Ollie. "Brother, I’m so sorry! I got too excited!"

"It’s okay, brother," mumbled the wilted mop weakly, still recovering from the spiritual headache of the training this demonic tutor had concocted.

Luca looked really apologetic, and the two who were watching him knew that he was likely concerned about their schedule and Ollie’s progress. They were about to reassure him when he suddenly brightened and said, "Then we can just continue later!"

"!!!"

"!!!"

Ollie felt like he had to mentally prepare his will.

But Kyle, praise be to his adjutant instincts, intervened.

"Actually, it might be better to do a more extensive study after the exams."

The surprised tutor blinked. "After?"

"Yes," Kyle said. "Ollie might accidentally display his newly learned spiritual methods during the exams, which might attract unnecessary attention before we’re all ready. Also—"

He looked at them both evenly. "You might want to try the mock exam I prepared."

Both brothers blinked. "Mock exam?!"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. I’ve done this since we were younger, mostly for Jax—he usually needs divine intervention to pass. However, while he relies on luck, I believe we can enhance that luck with actual knowledge, so it doesn’t appear that he’s an ungrateful brat who didn’t work hard enough. What if his luck ran out because he relied too much on it?"

Luca lit up. "Wow! That’s amazing! I was worried I wouldn’t know how to check what I’ve learned. I’ve only been inscribing things into memory during class."

Ollie, already exhausted and mentally fried, looked up at Kyle with watery eyes.

And the blue-haired giant, with a sigh so soft it almost didn’t exist, came closer and picked him up.

Ollie didn’t even resist.

It had been a long day.

And tonight, being carried back for dinner felt like the only correct choice he’d made all week.

Luca said he’d go to the kitchen first to see if they needed help for dinner, but before Ollie could stop him, he’d already vanished—teleporting out in haste after realizing he’d missed his usual tasks.

Which left Ollie alone with Kyle.

The blonde immediately tensed, bracing himself for what he was sure would be a storm of hard questions.

But Kyle didn’t interrogate him.

Instead, he asked, "Are you tired?"

Ollie blinked. "Huh?"

"Are you tired?" Kyle repeated calmly, "And are you finally in the mood to eat?"

The blonde, who had completely given himself away by his hair antenna tilting sideways, stared at Kyle, stunned and momentarily speechless by the unexpected gentleness in his voice.

"...Yeah," he admitted. "Yes to both."

They walked a bit, and when Ollie realized that Kyle wasn’t going to prod more, the blonde who probably needed an outlet offered to talk.

He sighed, deflating slightly. "I regretted biting off more than I could chew. But I didn’t want to disappoint my brother. He really worked hard on the tutoring plan, and I wanted to learn. I want to be useful too."

Kyle nodded. "I see. That’s admirable." Then, after a beat, added, "But being useful also requires you to be alive."

Ollie pouted. It wasn’t like he was trying to die young.

"You don’t understand. You’re good at everything. Even the people around you have to be good at everything so you’d match," he complained.

Kyle walked steadily forward, then raised a brow as it was rare to hear something like this from this little ball of sunshine. "Hmm, you think so? Because I’m nowhere near succeeding with my current endeavor."

Ollie blew bubbles with his lips. "Hmph. What endeavor are you talking about?"

"A life-changing one. And if what you’re claiming was true, and I was really good at everything," Kyle said casually, "then wouldn’t you already be mine by now?"

Ollie nearly choked.

"!!!"

Whaaaa?!

His cheeks flushed so red it could rival emergency lights, and he gave Kyle a light smack on his back, his arms losing strength to hang on after hearing such a thing. "Y-You can’t just say things like that!"

Kyle, expression unchanging, replied, "I know, I’m sorry, sometimes I just can’t help it. So, don’t listen to me all the time. That was my selfishness talking. You don’t have to rush anything just because I look pitiful."

Pitiful???

"Who’s pitiful?!" Ollie snapped back. "How could you be pitiful?! You’ve got an entire list waiting for you!"

"...List?"

"Yes! An entire list of sweethearts!!!"

Now fully animated, cheeks puffed and eyes sharp, Ollie stared at him furiously.

Kyle, taken aback, simply blinked, and this time he actually stopped walking.

Then something unspoken flickered behind his eyes as they momentarily stared at each other, him in surprise and Ollie in full-blown accusation.

He thought: I’m doomed.

Because he found even this—especially this—angry, blushing version of Ollie...absolutely adorable.

And at this point, he might really be too far gone.

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