Chapter 1272: His Male Lead

"Oh."

Ollie’s eyes widened, and one would think they hadn’t seen each other in over a year with how taken the blonde was by such a serendipitous moment.

But how could he not be fascinated when Kyle had turned to look at him at the exact same moment!

To think they weren’t even standing right beside each other!

Then, while maintaining eye contact, Kyle lifted one hand toward his mouth and used his teeth to tug off his special training glove, his nose scrunching just slightly from the effort.

The supposedly discharged mop, whose two eyes had suddenly decided to work particularly well, could only stare.

What the heck?!

Excuse me?!

Why did that look so good?!

For a brief moment, the exhausted blonde completely forgot whatever complaints he’d been preparing.

Because somehow, despite being sweaty, exhausted, and standing in the middle of the suddenly empty reception room of the bridge, his husband looked like he’d just stepped straight out of some romance novel where fateful encounters happened and the male lead still managed to look this good!

Conveniently, with his already overwhelmed mind and increasingly selective memory, Ollie completely forgot that in those kinds of encounters, there was usually another person involved.

And that person tended to look like they’d overslept, stumbled out of bed, and somehow forgotten that combs existed on that particular day of all days.

Which, unfortunately, might’ve been a little closer to Ollie’s current situation than he would’ve liked to admit.

Well, no matter!

He was already married to this one.

So really, Ollie supposed he should probably burn this particular image of Kyle looking so very unhusband-like straight into his brain before returning to his regularly scheduled venting.

Unexpectedly, before he could begin what was likely going to be an hour’s worth of grievances, his male lead spoke first.

"You did well."

"Well, ah..."

The mop wasn’t entirely sure about that. He’d barely made any progress toward his actual goal of gaining control and had eventually resorted to deliberately exhausting himself instead.

But rather than taking back the praise, Kyle simply continued.

"Just hold out a little longer."

"?"

Having finally pulled off the tight glove he’d deliberately worn to make his training more difficult, Kyle flexed his bare fingers before continuing.

"It won’t be perfect, but I learned a few things out there." His tired gaze remained fixed on Ollie. "If I can get better at suppressing my ability whenever I want, then I can come to you."

The blonde froze.

"...What?"

Had he heard that correctly?!

Kyle tilted his head, looking genuinely confused by the question.

"If you’re working this hard to get closer to me, shouldn’t I meet you halfway?"

"!"

"Or do you not want a hug as much as I do?"

"!!!"

Forget about simply reaching him!

Those words struck the little star in all the right places!!

Ollie’s entire face immediately contorted.

His eyes burned.

His lips trembled.

And for one dangerously emotional second, the tears were already preparing to gush straight out.

But no!

Armed with his newly discovered determination, Oliver Nox sucked those tears right back up with one sharp, violent sniffle!

He was a big boy now!

And if his husband was working that hard just so they could touch each other again, then how could Ollie possibly continue complaining?!

Worse, his brain immediately started imagining every single horrible thing that could potentially happen to Kyle while training.

What if something went wrong?!

What if he overexerted himself?!

What if he ended up turning into a random puddle?!

Gasp...!

What if his husband exploded?!

No!

He couldn’t let Kyle be the only one risking himself!

The dutiful adjutant, who’d received absolutely none of this internal monologue and could only watch his little star cycle through several increasingly concerning expressions from several feet away, finally frowned.

"Are you okay?"

Was he okay?!

Ollie sucked in a deep breath. Even now, his Kyle was worried about him.

Then, as if making up his mind, he raised both hands.

SMACK!

The blonde violently slapped his own cheeks.

"!"

Kyle stared.

Ollie stared right back, his freshly slapped cheeks stinging as he used the pain as a much-needed wake-up call.

Then, with all the determination of someone about to embark on a perilous journey across the stars, the mechanic declared, "No! I will come for you! You just wait for me!"

The second son of House Nox blinked.

His wife then proceeded to raise one hand and give him a thumbs-up.

Or at least, Ollie attempted to give him a thumbs-up.

Regrettably, the gesture proved considerably more difficult than expected when his entire body was still buried beneath absurdly thick layers of protective gear that made even moving his fingers look like an accomplishment.

Still!

The message had been delivered!

And with that, the newly determined mop spun around as dramatically as his padded outfit would allow.

"I’M GOING TO ASK MY BROTHER ABOUT THE NEXT DUNGEON!"

Then he marched away.

At least, Ollie thought he marched away.

Unbeknownst to the blonde, however, all those thick protective layers had transformed what should’ve been a smooth, determined exit into something that looked considerably closer to an overstuffed penguin slowly waddling toward freedom.

Kyle watched him go.

His lips twitched.

Then twitched again.

Eventually, the exhausted man had to press his lips together just to stop himself from smiling too obviously.

How am I supposed to stay put and keep my hands away from that?!

His little star was already unbearably cute under normal circumstances.

Now he was waddling away in some ridiculous padded outfit after dramatically declaring that he’d come for him.

What exactly was a simple man supposed to do with that?

Well, the suddenly determined sparkler didn’t need to know any of this.

He might’ve had some very serious reservations about these dungeon simulations before.

And honestly?

He probably still did.

But with a husband like that waiting for him, probably even secretly crying because they couldn’t touch each other, how could Ollie possibly refuse to make a few sacrifices?!

So by the time he finally managed to waddle his way toward his good brother, Oliver Mylor had already accepted one particularly unfortunate truth.

Bonus rewards or no bonus rewards, they were definitely going to be seeing a lot more of these dungeon simulations very soon.

Or at the very least, he was.