Little Pink Starfish

Ishar found it even harder to continue speaking, partly because he was worried that Veloan might be deeply shocked.

As if sensing this hesitation, Veloan simply looked at him with a gentle gaze, as if to say he could wait forever.

Encouraged by that, Ishar steadied his trembling heart and continued.

“There’s something I need to tell you… about your bloodline.”

“My bloodline, sire?”

Ishar nodded and looked directly at Veloan.

Veloan’s eyes narrowed slightly, seemingly surprised by the resolute expression on Ishar’s face.

‘Even now, he’s so lovable.’

His partner’s face, radiant like sunlight streaming in, made Ishar’s heart race.

Resisting the strong urge to kiss him, Ishar finally voiced the matter that had troubled him for months.

“Yes. There’s something I must say about your bloodline… Do you remember what I said when we first met?”

“Yes, I remember.”

Veloan blinked his round eyes as if to say, “And then?” — and that innocent, clear pair of crimson eyes only made Ishar hesitate further.

How could he say something so heartless to someone with eyes so pure and untainted? In the end, Ishar looked away.

Then, he finally said what he had rehearsed countless times in dreams and in his heart.

“You and I… are not blood-related.”

“…Pardon?”

“There is not a single drop of shared blood between us.”

He’d said it. He couldn’t muster the courage to see Veloan’s reaction, so he simply lowered his head and gripped Veloan’s hands tightly in both of his own.

The hand Ishar held was trembling slightly. No—upon closer attention, it was Ishar’s own hand that was shaking as he held Veloan’s.

“Veloan, listen to me. You are indeed the biological son of Karsha—Bezerne I’s son and my brother. But you and I share no blood. Do you understand what that means?”

His mouth was dry. Like someone abandoned naked in the desert, he couldn’t raise his head, and every attempt to speak scraped against a parched tongue.

‘I have to say it. Before Veloan becomes my empress, he needs to know this clearly—so he won’t suffer needlessly later.’

With only that thought keeping him going, Ishar continued his cruel words without daring to look at the expression of the man who must already be shocked and hurt.

“Karsha was a mage skilled in psychic magic. He manipulated the minds of the royal family and central nobility to infiltrate the imperial bloodline. In other words, he wasn’t truly of royal descent. Which means you and I are complete strangers by blood.”

Though worried Veloan might become twisted from the shock, Ishar showed no sign of it.

He had to remain composed so that if Veloan lashed out or blamed him for revealing such a fact, he could accept it all calmly.

“Haha…”

Ishar’s heart sank like a crashing drumbeat at Veloan’s hollow laugh.

‘I knew it!’

He’s definitely been shaken. As Veloan laughed and ran a hand across his face, Ishar raised his head and quickly spoke.

“I didn’t say this to demean your lineage or belittle you. I just wanted you to know that even if we marry, it wouldn’t be considered incest.”

Naturally, his tone became persuasive. As Veloan lowered his hand, Ishar finally saw his face clearly—and let out a sigh of relief.

‘Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like he’s too shocked. …Wait, is he angry?’

Why? Ishar widened his eyes. Though Veloan wore a neutral expression devoid of even a dry smile, the growing heat in his crimson eyes burned more intensely than even when they were in bed.

“…!”

Just as Ishar, startled and confused, instinctively tried to escape—based on past experiences—

The arm around his shoulders dropped to hook around his waist. Ishar gave a little jolt, his hips shifting slightly, as Veloan pulled him close.

“…Are you angry?”

“You spent four whole months worrying about just that?”

“What do you mean ‘just’—this is not something trivial—”

“And here I was… I almost did something unnecessary without even knowing. Ishar, next time, please—just tell me right away instead of worrying alone. Please.”

“…What misunderstanding could’ve made you say something like that—no, never mind. I’m sorry, Veloan. You’re right. My silence clearly made you anxious.”

Honestly, when Veloan said “I almost did something unnecessary,” it would be a lie to say Ishar didn’t feel a jolt of fear. But seeing Veloan’s disheveled expression stirred his heart and left a tight ache in his chest.

He felt like a terrible person for making such a lovely partner so uneasy. Whatever Veloan might have done in response—he would’ve deserved it.

“Would you let me go for a moment?”

“You want to move away from me?”

“No. I want to hold you properly.”

The arm around his waist loosened easily. Ishar stood up, placed one knee between Veloan’s legs, and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

Veloan nestled his face against Ishar’s chest and reached around to grab his backside.

“…That was not what I meant to do.”

He said he wanted to hug him—not offer his rear to be groped.

“I told you we wouldn’t be physically intimate for a while—nh…”

There may have been no one nearby, and the location might have been impossible to see from a distance, but Veloan’s touch was still far too bold. His hand slipped inside Ishar’s clothes and gripped bare skin.

Soon, the fingers that had reached his buttocks slipped, ever so naturally, into the secret crevice between them.

“You said you wouldn’t be intimate with me.”

“…!”

“Seeing you bite down hard on my fingers like that and eat as if it’s delicious… it almost feels like a lie, Ishar.”

In an instant, the number of fingers increased to three. Even though they had hardly been intimate in the past two weeks, Ishar’s entrance accepted Veloan’s fingers with ease.

As he gently curled his fingertips and began moving in and out of the entrance, a slick, wet sound broke the silence with a squelch.

Veloan smiled. But his eyes, fixed on Ishar’s face, remained devoid of warmth.

“It’s already loosened inside. Did you take care of that yourself? Or was it someone else?”

“Hnngh…!”

As the fingers pressed in deep and rubbed against his prostate, the heat Ishar had been holding back surged up all at once, spreading through his body.

“Did you keep it a secret from me and let some other guy have this instead? Though judging by the feel of it, it doesn’t seem like anyone finished inside.”

“T-that’s… not possible, ngh, no way…”

As Veloan’s hand persistently rubbed and pressed exactly where Ishar felt it most, his body—well-acquainted with pleasure—craved even greater stimulation.

Curling his upper body, Ishar tried to stifle the moans escaping him. In the midst of it, he recalled the merciless way Veloan had once pushed him to his limits, and his toes curled involuntarily.

His mouth was dry. The desire he had barely managed to suppress while loosening himself with oil now reared its head high, pleading for Veloan.

Pleading to be filled by him. To share breath with him.

Veloan watched Ishar’s face as if savoring it—flushed deeper with each passing moment, lips bitten in restraint.

He was the only one unaware of how alluring he looked—flushed, biting only his lower lip, holding back pleasure under my gaze.

Veloan felt a violent urge to pin this lovely being down in the grass and thrust himself in right then and there.

But when he looked into those violet eyes, filled deeply with longing and affection for him, he couldn’t bring himself to act purely on desire. Ishar was never someone he could just use at his whim.

How could he treat someone who deserved to be cherished every day—adored beyond measure—with violence? That’s why Veloan feigned composure.

“So, you touched yourself while thinking of me? Slipped your own fingers in here… stirred yourself up the way I do when I take you… all while imagining me?”

Just as Ishar was about to answer, Veloan pressed firmly against his prostate with the tip of his finger. At the rush of sensation, Ishar trembled sweetly, feeling the front of his pants dampen.

That burst of stimulation nearly made Ishar’s legs give out. Gasping for breath, he leaned his full weight against Veloan. Veloan welcomed the body of his lover without hesitation.

“Mm… ngh…”

The other hand, which had been idle, now slid up under Ishar’s shirt. Finding a hardened nipple beneath the fabric, Veloan caught it between his fingers and twisted.

A sharp jolt of pain shot through him, but his body registered it as pleasure, making his strength melt away as a breathless gasp slipped through his parted lips.

“Answer me.”

Each time the fingers stirring his inner walls moved, wet sounds echoed softly, and the strength in his knees gave way—making him want to collapse again and again.

But unlike before, the pleasure Ishar longed for was no longer given. As if demanding his full attention, the hand teasing his nipple grew rougher, while the fingers below slowed to an agonizing crawl.

He was being deliberately tormented. Ishar knew full well what Veloan was doing, but the tingling sensation rising from his lower abdomen made him moan softly as he clutched at Veloan’s firm shoulders.

“Veloan… Veloan…”

Like this, he couldn’t reach climax—no, fingers alone would never be enough. Ishar bit his lower lip, gazing down at Veloan with a pleading look. In response, Veloan leaned in, gently licked the lips glistening with saliva, and whispered sweetly:

“If you answer me, I’ll give you what you want. So please, be honest with me, Ishar.”

The fingers that had been moving inside him slipped out with a suddenness that left a hollow ache. A soft sigh escaped his lips at the emptiness. The hand that had been tormenting his chest also withdrew as if nothing had happened, instead shifting to support Ishar’s now-weak body.

With his body flushed and trembling, Ishar no longer had the strength to be angry at such slyness. All he could do was surrender, his overheated body pleading wordlessly as he confessed the truth.

“I just… I wanted to comfort you if my words hurt you too much. That’s why I did it myself… really…”

“And with what? How did you do it?”