* * *

Lowell slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was someone’s broad chest.

Still groggy from sleep, he instinctively reached out, his hand grazing the firm surface.

Even in his hazy state, he couldn’t help but give it a few experimental squeezes before his gaze drifted up to the familiar black hair.

He gently stroked it, the way he would with a lover.

‘But there’s no way he’d have a chest like this. Besides, we’ve been broken up for ages.’

As his senses returned, Lowell glanced around, piecing together his surroundings.

Once his vision cleared, the situation began to make sense.

“Oh… Don’t tell me I slept with Felix.”

His body ached all over, and his voice was hoarse.

He recalled how Felix’s relentless persistence last night had driven him to cry out repeatedly.

Fragmented memories of the previous night began to surface, making Lowell clutch his throbbing head.

But it didn’t take long for him to shake off his despair.

‘What’s done is done.’

Lowell decided to chalk last night up to an unavoidable force of nature.

His first heat had been far more intense and dangerous than he’d ever imagined.

He concluded that Felix, too, likely had no way to resist an Omega who had thrown himself at him.

In fact, considering Felix’s reputation as a cold-hearted demon lord, Lowell figured it was praiseworthy that Felix hadn’t outright rejected him.

“Well, he is ridiculously handsome.”

Felix’s striking features made Lowell feel a pang of guilt for even briefly reminiscing about his ex.

As he continued stroking Felix’s hair, the man pulled Lowell closer into his embrace.

Lowell didn’t resist the gesture and accepted it with a warm smile.

‘It’s funny how even someone this big can look cute.’

Lowell mused that Felix’s age—only twenty-two—probably contributed to his youthful charm.

‘Seven years younger… I guess it’s not weird to see him as a younger brother.’

Lowell ignored the fact that comparing someone he’d just spent the night with to a little brother was anything but appropriate.

This was just the beginning of the challenges Felix would face because of him.

Last night’s events were merely the first button in a long chain, and he wasn’t sure it had been fastened correctly.

‘I don’t know if this is the right start, but we’ll see.’

Lowell knew he had to stop Felix from becoming the demon lord and find a way to live a peaceful life himself.

But the latter seemed increasingly out of reach.

‘Oh well. I’ll figure it out.’

Lowell’s optimism bordered on carefree.

The sunlight grew stronger, streaming into the room.

Felix’s eyes, which had seemed perpetually closed, slowly opened, revealing obsidian-like irises glimmering in the morning light.

“Good morning, Felix.”

Felix alternated between staring at the naked Lowell in his arms and his own unclothed body, disbelief flashing across his face.

Suddenly, he bolted upright, nearly knocking Lowell off the bed.

Lowell barely managed to catch himself, avoiding a fall.

Felix, realizing how close Lowell had come to getting hurt, turned pale.

“For someone I just spent the night with, pushing me away the moment you wake up is a bit much, don’t you think?”

Lowell teased, propping his chin on his hand.

His playful tone carried a subtle intention to ease Felix’s unease.

Unaware of Lowell’s consideration, Felix simply stared at the scattered clothes on the floor, his mouth agape.

“What kind of trickery is this?”

Felix’s voice turned cold, a stark contrast to the gentle tone he’d used to soothe Lowell the night before.

It was like he had become a completely different person.

“What did you do to me?”

Instead of calling out his outdated prejudice that Omegas and Alphas should wake up feeling completely at ease with each other after sharing a bed, Lowell merely smiled.

“I saved you, Your Grace. I made sure you didn’t fall victim to the drugged drink intended for you. In fact, I even drank it myself to convince you it was safe. Don’t you remember?”

Lowell’s casual tone was far from what one would typically use with a duke, but Felix, long accustomed to mistreatment, didn’t seem to care.

Something else was clearly bothering him.

“How did you know the drink was spiked unless you were the one who tampered with it?”

Felix’s suspicion sounded plausible.

‘If I were in his shoes, I’d probably suspect the same thing.’

But that didn’t mean his argument was airtight.

“What would I possibly gain from doing something like that?”

“There’s no shortage of people who would love to exploit my weaknesses. You must be someone’s pawn.”

Felix frowned deeply, his voice rising in frustration.

He seemed desperate to deny the fleeting attraction he’d felt toward Lowell, lashing out as a way to suppress it.

“So, what’s the outcome now?”

“What?”

Lowell, pondering how best to handle such a guarded and suspicious person, decided to speak carefully.

‘Building trust comes first.’

And he knew logic would work better than emotional appeals with someone like Felix.

“I drank the drug in your place. And instead of leaving me to suffer through the heat alone, you stayed and spent the night with me.”

Lowell paused, watching Felix’s expression shift.

He didn’t miss the faint trace of self-reproach in Felix’s eyes.

‘Is he beating himself up over this? It’s like he’s blaming himself for failing to stop this from happening.’

Before Felix could spiral further into negativity, Lowell intervened.

“I’m not blaming or resenting you, so don’t make that face. It’s a waste of such a handsome face.”

“My face is always like this.”

Felix’s curt response was met with a warm laugh from Lowell.

“It wasn’t last night. You were gentle and kind.”

The mention of the previous night made Felix clam up once more.

‘This is bad. I’m starting to enjoy teasing him.’

Lowell knew others might see Felix’s stern demeanor as intimidating, but to him, it was endearing.

Understanding Felix’s troubled past, Lowell couldn’t bring himself to judge him too harshly.

“Anyway, we both gave in to the pull of pheromones, so there’s nothing to worry about now, is there?”

“Nothing to worry about?” Felix’s voice carried an edge of incredulity.

“Of course. The drug didn’t cause any major commotion, and no one got hurt. That’s a pretty good outcome, wouldn’t you say?”

Lowell added while slipping on his shirt, which was nearly torn apart at the buttons.

“Rumors about the two of us might spread a little… but it’s not like we’re the first people to share a bed under unusual circumstances. If you’re worried, you can just lie and say you were too unwell from the drug for anything to happen. In the end, there’s nothing here that anyone could use against you.”

Lowell’s reasoning was flawless, at least on the surface.

Nothing that could harm Felix had actually occurred yet.

Even so, Felix’s expression remained stony, showing no signs of easing.

“Is this kind of thing truly nothing to you?”

Felix’s voice was cold, devoid of any inflection.

It was sharp enough to send chills down one’s spine.

Lowell, having never been with anyone other than his lover, couldn’t dismiss the gravity of what had happened either.

However, compared to the absurdity of being reincarnated into a book he’d been reading, last night’s events didn’t seem like something worth panicking over.

Felix frowned deeply at Lowell’s brief silence, apparently interpreting it in his own way.

“How utterly shameless.”

The sharp reproach fell like a whip.

Felix’s movements were harsh as he continued putting on his clothes, frustration evident in his every gesture.

Lowell, watching Felix’s stormy demeanor, suddenly let out a quiet hum.

“Was it your first time?”

Felix froze mid-motion.

Sometimes, silence could speak louder than words.

* * *