The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1194: Captured

Yep.

But apparently not just a "little bump" in the grand scheme of things, but more like... terribly, catastrophically wrong, alright?

The proud Aerun had already poured an absurd amount of his bloodline ability into the infuriating redhead.

His original goal had been simple. Since that fool had the audacity to insult him during their very first real meeting, Cyrion had naturally decided to make that Jackson Taylor obsess over him until everyone else faded from the man’s mind.

So when the opportunity had practically delivered itself into his lap, he’d gladly taken it.

To think that just a little mindless teasing was all it took to get that idiot to serve himself up on a silver platter.

Now, under normal circumstances, that would’ve been the end of it. After all, no one had ever slipped free after falling into the twins’ grasp.

And yet... what was this?

Cyrion hadn’t wanted to admit it at first and simply kept pouring more of his bloodline ability into the redhead. But with every passing second, he became increasingly certain that his brilliant little plan had somehow devolved into endlessly pouring his efforts into a bottomless pit.

No click.

No response.

Nothing.

Panic finally set in. Warning bells blared through the Aerun’s mind, and his head pounded from pushing himself so far after already exhausting his bloodline ability on those master mechanics. So whatever this was, it was no longer something he could afford to ignore.

But the moment Cyrion tried to pull away and retreat, the large hands cupping the back of his head tightened instead.

The positions had somehow reversed.

Rather than Jax being trapped in his gaze, it was Cyrion who’d become the one unable to pull away. And for some reason, this man seemed built to be a solid cage.

The normally graceful member of the Luxastra House needed to change his approach.

While Cyrion might’ve had to abandon his original plan of turning that Taylor heir into someone hopelessly obsessed and obedient, that hardly meant all his efforts had gone to waste.

At least, that was what he desperately told himself.

After all, he’d gone so far as to dip into his spiritual energy reserves for this.

There was simply no way Jax wouldn’t come away with at least a shred of affection for him.

Unfortunately for the Aerun, that comforting delusion shattered the very next second.

Still holding Cyrion firmly in place, Jax suddenly spoke up, clearly responding to the earlier taunt that should’ve long since disappeared beneath layers of manipulated thoughts.

"For the record," he declared proudly, "I really think he prefers someone younger!"

It wasn’t like he’d shouted it at the top of his lungs, nor was the lounge anywhere near quiet enough for such a short sentence to stand out.

Somehow, though, his voice echoed across the room anyway, as if every other sound had politely stepped aside to let that particular statement be heard in crystal-clear detail.

Naturally, the entire lounge froze.

"..."

"..."

Fists stopped midway through their swings.

Hair remained firmly clenched in outraged hands.

Even the shouting died where it stood as every head instinctively turned toward the source of those catastrophic words.

"?!"

That was the exact moment Killian arrived.

Earlier, he’d launched himself across the room, propelled entirely by jealousy he had tried to deny.

Now, after hearing words capable of stripping away what little composure he still possessed, he was driven by the desperate need to preserve whatever scraps of dignity remained.

His palm slammed over Jax’s eyes with enough force to send the redhead sprawling backward onto the floor. Killian stumbled down right beside him, breathing heavily, his hand still stubbornly covering Jax’s eyes while mortification and utter confusion fought for dominance across his own face.

Maybe he should’ve gone for his mouth instead.

On the other hand, the moment Jax’s grip disappeared, Cyrion collapsed to the ground, both hands flying straight to his face.

Blood.

His eyes were weeping blood.

"!!!"

The shock, the backlash, and the overwhelming exhaustion finally exceeded what his body could endure. Whatever composure Cyrion still possessed completely unraveled, and before anyone fully understood what had happened, the Aerun lost consciousness altogether.

Well, what he’d never realized was that he’d never been trying to beguile just one person.

Unbeknownst to him, he’d been attempting to overwhelm an entire hive.

Thousands upon thousands of bees had silently shared the burden of his bloodline ability, with Jax serving as nothing more than the bridge connecting them. Every ounce of power Cyrion forced into him had been dispersed throughout the colony until the Aerun unknowingly found himself trying to subjugate a collective consciousness his bloodline had never been meant to conquer.

In the end, it was his own ability that collapsed first.

Then again, Cyrion wasn’t the only one who suddenly looked as though he desperately needed to lie down, perhaps permanently.

After hearing Jax’s entirely contextless declaration, Killian Nox found himself thinking that passing out on the spot sounded like an exceptionally reasonable course of action.

But because he’d seen things, heard things, and experienced things that most normal people wouldn’t even think were possible, he’d unfortunately been able to keep enough of his sanity to readily berate the redhead as he screeched, "What the hell were you doing?! Staring at him?! Really?!"

The hand that had been covering Jax’s eyes moments ago was now practically squishing his face from every angle as Killian frantically checked him over, searching for even the slightest sign that something had gone wrong.

Were his eyes still clear?

Were they still focused?

Did they still look like Jax’s?

Killian had seen what those master mechanics looked like after falling under the twins’ influence.

He never wanted to see that same empty, glazed expression on the redhead.

Jax was still breathing heavily.

Yet instead of looking back at Killian, his gaze remained fixed on the unconscious Cyrion as though he were trying to confirm something.

Killian’s heart immediately dropped.

No.

Don’t tell him...

The increasingly distressed official blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Don’t you dare run over to him or I swear I’ll tear you a new one!"

Jax, who’d actually been about to point at Cyrion and proudly announce that he’d won, paused midway.

His ears twitched.

Only then did he fully register the frantic person kneeling right next to him.

The redhead blinked.

He took in Killian’s expression, the way that uniquely pretty face had practically turned into that of someone who’d spent the last hour soaking inside a barrel of vinegar, and something immediately clicked.

The words he’d been about to throw at Cyrion disappeared.

Instead, the corners of his lips slowly curled upward.

"By any chance..." Jax asked, sounding just a little too pleased with himself, "are you jealous right now?"

Oop.

Full stop.

Killian, the suddenly accused latecomer, stared blankly at the infuriatingly smug face before him.

There wasn’t a trace of emptiness in those eyes.

No vacant stare.

No glazed expression.

If anything, they looked even more alive than usual.

His eyelid twitched so violently that he genuinely thought he might black out on the spot.

Yet beneath the glaring lights of the waiting lounge, surrounded by countless witnesses who, thanks to one certain loudmouth, probably thought he was some shameless cradle robber, Killian had never felt so overwhelmingly relieved in his life.

And that relief somehow only made him even angrier.

At this rate, he’d probably need three more insurance policies just to survive this guy and his antics.

Before Jax could say another word, and before logic had the chance to wrestle control back from a certain someone’s emotions, Killian simply did what felt right. Or at the very least, what felt like the only thing that might keep him from marching straight to the medical bay after everything that had just happened.

The next thing Jax knew, the eldest Nox had grabbed him tightly by the shirt collar and yanked him forward.

Killian closed the remaining distance until only a breath separated them.

His forehead nearly rested against Jax’s as he spoke in a voice so dangerously quiet that it sent an entirely different chill down the redhead’s spine.

"You," he murmured against Jax’s lips, "better have an explanation for this."

Before Jax could utter a single word in his defense, Killian captured his lips in a fierce, abrupt kiss right there on the lounge floor.