Back at Nyxâs house,
Nyx sat in the dining hall while Nightfire set out the food.
Nightfire placed the last dish and stepped back, but Nyx hadnât lifted a single utensil. Instead of her usual eating, she sat very still, gaze fixed on the wall.
"Is something wrong, Master?" Nightfire asked curiously.
Nyxâs face remained calm when she spoke. "Tell me... do you... Love my husband too?"
Nightfire flinched and was horrified. For a second, she worried, âShe saw us,â but then...
Why would Nightfire need to care?
Itâs a job.
If Nightfire lost, who would care?
She had an Emperor behind her...
âCome to think of it... We didnât need to work anymore! Hahahaâ Nightfire wickedly grinned... she was going to use her belovedâs money and look at every peasant like below her ~
âI am not sure thatâs a good thing,â Ashara commented.
Hmph!
She shrugged and raised her chest as she said with pride... or so she thought,
"I... I... I..." The word broke three times on her tongue.
Nyx watched her calmly, saying nothing, giving Nightfire nothing to push against.
The quiet made Nightfireâs cheeks burn hotter.
How hard could it be to say it?
How hard could one truth be?
Come on... Say it!!
Her throat worked. She lowered her head, fingers curling against her skirt, and said, shy and small,
"Y-Yeah."
âTsk uselessâ Ashara commented again.
"I see," Nyx murmured.
She hummed once and looked down at the food again. The bowls still steamed, but she didnât eat.
Aether stepped into the dining room with a hurried expression, "Sorry for the delay," he said, letting out a breath and finding a smile.
"I was dealing with some pests."
He stopped mid-step... Nightfire had gone pink to the ears and ducked behind her plate, sneaking a look at him with wide eyes before hiding again.
What happened to her?
He looked to Nightfire. She didnât blink this time; she stared back, then forced her voice steady. "Youâre late. Letâs eat."
Aether blinked.
âDid she wait for me?â He thought.
Seriously?
That had never happened before. Nightfire was always punctual to her own clock; if it wasnât the time, she didnât eat. If it was, she ate.
Yet she had waited.
Aether smirked inwardly as he sat beside Nyx and began to eat slowly. Nothing much happened... no small talk, no probing questionsâjust the quiet rhythm of utensils and munching.
Soon after, Nyx rose without a word and led him to the bedroom.
As usual, he assumed they would go through the usual baby-making, emotionless sex... That was what he expected, butâ
"Hmm? What are you doing?" he asked, startled.
Nyx didnât answer. She simply slid her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. She listened to his heartbeat for a long moment and then spoke, soft and even.
"Do you... love Nightfire?"
Aether didnât hesitate. "Yes." He paused, then added with the same calm honesty, "Not only her. There are other women in my life too."
"...hmm." Nyx hummed, her expression unreadable as ever... no flinch or jealousy.
Aether, despite the lack of affection points, felt something shift.
A thread, thin but real, tugged him a little closer to the sealed door of her heart.
Nyx tilted her head up, bringing her face to his until their mouths were a breath apart.
"Can you teach me love?"
Aether blinked, caught off guard by the bluntness. The question surprised him... why now?
But the answer didnât matter.
This was a door he had wanted to open for a long time, and it had finally creaked.
His hand slid to her hip, fingers closing over the curve, drawing her closer.
"Love is something that makes you feel new things."
"Like?" Nyx asked, head still tilted.
Aether searched for words that wouldnât sound like cliches,
"Like... a tingling in your chest when the person you love is close.
Like wanting to listen when they speak... even if theyâre just babbling about nothingâbecause the sound is enough. It makes you want to stay."
"Like this?" she asked in the same indifferent tone.
Aether smiled gently. "Do you feel good listening to me?"
"I donât know. But I want to know."
Aether nodded and went on.
"Love also makes you feel safe.... protected." He wrapped his arms around her and held her more firmly,
"And sometimes it annoys you.
Sometimes it makes you jealous.
It makes you worry.
It hurts your heart in ways you havenât felt before, because suddenly someone else matters that much." He brushed her hair back behind her ear with careful fingers.
"Have you ever felt that?"
Nyx studied his face for several seconds, eyes searching his features as if the answer might be written there instead of inside her. "I donât know."
[+200 AP]
Aether smiled on the inside at the little win but let a shadow pass over his expression. "I see."
"Then?" Nyx asked, wanting more, as if love could be completed like a lesson.
"Itâs not something you can understand by listening," Aether said.
"You have to feel it. Still... there is one part people say out loud." He took her hand and spoke it clearly, not as a ritual, but as a promise.
"No matter what happens... better or worse, rich or poor, sickness or healthâthey stay together until death parts them."
Nyx blinked again and hummed, quieter than before. "I see. So thatâs love." She sounded as if she had received a gift and didnât yet know how to unwrap it.
She rolled from his chest to his side, then faced him again. "Make love to me," she said, and for the first time her voice carried a shyness.
"Oh?" Aether tipped his head, âOh... Oh...OH!!â
"Making love? I thought we were making babies, right?"
Nyx tilted her head back at him. "Arenât they the same?"
"They can be." Aetherâs smile turned softer. "But this is the first time you asked for love."
Nyx stared at him, blank at first, "I... I... I want to do it for you today," she said.
"Is it wrong?"
"Of course not." Aether leaned in and pressed a slow kiss to her forehead, letting it linger.
"But then we do it my way. Are you fine with that?"
Nyx nodded. "Today is yours."
Her body trembledâbarely, but enough for him to feel itâwhile she raised her hand to the back of his neck and pulled him down to her mouth. Her lips parted on his.
"Hmm~"
Showing him, he could do anything.