The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

It was admittedly an unusual situation, but there was one undeniable advantage to not being able to see what was happening.

Completely oblivious to the spectacle unfolding around him, Killian unknowingly bypassed the tense, almost painful awkward silence that settled over the restroom.

The Aerun twins were momentarily caught completely off guard, their carefully crafted expressions slipping into brief masks of genuine bewilderment. Owen stood rooted to the spot, his gaze darting between the invisible spiritual barrier, the royal twins, and the unexpected sight by the doorway, utterly unsure of what he was supposed to do next.

Meanwhile...

Killian couldn’t see a damn thing.

His back was pressed flush against Jax’s chest, his balance completely pulled backward. One of the redhead’s large arms was wrapped securely around his torso, holding him firmly in place, while the other hand rested over his eyes. Killian had already tried prying himself free, but the hold hadn’t budged in the slightest.

Behind the darkness of Jax’s palm, all he could hear was the steady rhythm of quiet breathing.

What everyone else saw, however, was something entirely different.

The redhead still wore the same easygoing smile he always did.

Only beneath that relaxed demeanor, every instinct he possessed had quietly gone on high alert.

See, the instant Cyrion stumbled forward, something in the twins’ reflections had set off every alarm in his body. He couldn’t have explained what he’d seen even if someone asked him to.

He only knew one thing.

Danger.

So he had moved first, securing Killian the best way he possibly could.

But to everyone watching, it didn’t resemble an instinctive act of protection in the slightest; instead, it looked unmistakably like possessiveness.

There was simply something about the way Jax held him that made the entire scene impossible to interpret in an innocent way. Killian remained tucked comfortably against the redhead’s frame with an ease that suggested this wasn’t the first time the two had found themselves in such proximity.

It was the sort of effortless familiarity that suddenly blurred the lines in their eyes, made all the more questionable by those broad hands that refused to yield even an inch.

Frankly, the rather scandalous scene would have been more than enough to keep a very particular corner of Star Net supplied with material from morning until night.

Unfortunately, the ones witnessing the scene weren’t exactly the sort to gratefully gush over it.

Rather...

They were probably the two people who hated it the most.

The Luxastra twins’ eyes flashed with unmistakable anger.

They had spent so much time trying to draw Killian toward them, only for someone else to step into the very space they believed should’ve been theirs.

For the briefest moment, the carefully practiced smiles on their faces almost slipped.

Fortunately for them, years of training won out.

Cyrion quickly regained his footing the moment the spiritual barrier disappeared. He smoothed out his expression, adopting the appearance of the wronged party as though they were the ones who had been treated discourteously.

”What... what is the meaning of this?” Cyrion asked, his voice trembling with carefully measured hurt. ”Lord Killian, who might this gentleman be? How could you permit someone to behave in such an uncouth manner before us? We merely wished to greet you.”

Beside him, Lyrian’s gaze settled on the redhead.

Jackson Taylor.

One of DG’s members. Not just some schmuck they could ignore.

Tsk.

Before Killian could even attempt to speak, Jax smiled pleasantly and inclined his head.

”My apologies, Your Highnesses,” he said politely. ”I hope you’ll forgive my rudeness.”

His voice carried the proper respect one would expect when addressing royalty, yet there was an easygoing warmth to it that made it sound almost conversational.

”I simply thought the two of you would understand.”

The twins frowned ever so slightly.

”The Chief of Staff’s eyes can be surprisingly sensitive sometimes,” Jax continued earnestly. ”The two of Your Highnesses looked especially radiant today, so I figured it’d be kinder to let his eyes adjust first.”

Neither prince knew quite how to respond. The redhead looked so genuinely earnest that, for the first time that day, they found themselves completely thrown off.

”And...” Jax continued, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile, ”he also looks really good today.”

He nodded to himself as though that explained everything.

”I figured if he suddenly saw himself in a mirror, he might get startled. And since he’s still recovering, that probably wouldn’t be very good for him, right?”

Looking thoroughly satisfied with his own reasoning, Jax gave another solemn nod.

”So I thought it’d be safer to ease him into it.”

The restroom fell completely silent.

The explanation was delivered with such genuine conviction that neither twin could immediately determine whether they’d just been complimented, mocked, or both at once.

But before they could even gather their thoughts, the unfortunate spectators had no choice but to watch Jax lean down toward the Empire’s elusive Chief of Staff.

From where Owen and the twins stood, it looked exactly as though Jax had lowered his head to press a lingering kiss against the side of Killian Nox’s neck.

”?!”

The truth, however, couldn’t have been more different. Then again, depending on who was asked, it could be for better or for worse.

Keeping his lips hidden from every nearby reflective surface, Jax spoke in the quietest of whispers. Practically imbuing his words with spiritual energy to protect them.

”I can let you go,” he murmured. ”But whatever happens... promise you won’t look directly into their eyes, okay?”

His breath brushed lightly against the shell of Killian’s ear.

The eldest Nox stiffened.

A sharp shiver raced down his spine before he could suppress it, his breath catching somewhere deep in his chest. They were already standing far closer than either propriety—or his increasingly fragile composure—could reasonably endure, and with Jax speaking so softly beside his ear, every word seemed to resonate straight through him.

For one dangerously irrational moment, Killian wondered if this guy was actually jealous.

Did the twins actually bother him that much?

The thought and resulting questions, he couldn’t help but form struck him harder than they had any right to.

Jax’s arm around his waist tightened ever so slightly, closing what little imaginary distance still remained between them. It wasn’t forceful.

If anything, it came off as reassuring to him, which somehow made it infinitely worse.

Heat rushed up Killian’s neck so quickly that he didn’t think he’d survive being seen.

Dammit.

If that rascal so much as lowered his hand and that infuriatingly sturdy forearm currently hiding most of his face, the entire restroom would immediately witness one of the Empire’s most composed officials combusting on the spot.

Acting entirely on instinct—and with considerably more panic than the time he’d accidentally exposed the Imperial Monarchs’ identity—Killian hurriedly reached up and placed his own hand over Jax’s.

Rather than pulling it away, he pressed it more firmly over his own eyes, hiding himself as completely as he possibly could.

It was a futile hope that if he couldn’t see them, then they shouldn’t be able to see him.

”...”

”...”

Just then, as if pitied by the heavens, a loud, echoing horn reverberated through the walls, the official signal that the examination would begin in mere minutes.

”!!!”