The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1207: No Proper Walls

And yet, despite having thoughts conflicted enough to make it seem like he was carefully weighing every possible outcome, Killian’s hands had already reached for the doorknob, and his feet had already stepped back to let that suspicious guy inside.

Had Killian known that the twins’ ability actually dredged up regrets, he probably would’ve found this whole situation ten times more suspicious. Because if there was anyone who lived life with the singular goal of leaving as few regrets behind as possible, it was Jackson ’do-first-think-later’ Taylor.

Even then, could Killian honestly say he still wouldn’t have stepped aside and let him in?

"..."

"..."

__

Now, having Isabelle around had been strangely reassuring, and if he was being honest with himself, he’d forgotten all about his reservations the moment the little Queen Bee launched herself at his face like they hadn’t seen each other in years.

Killian, who was embarrassingly easy to defeat whenever his own spawn was involved, knew he ultimately held the lowest rank in this family. In the end, all he could do was sigh and let the tiny bee fuss over him to her heart’s content.

It was admittedly a pleasant but unfortunately short moment.

Like, short as hell.

Because it didn’t even feel like a few minutes before Isabelle’s royal entourage arrived to escort their Queen back to the hive.

Now Killian found himself standing at the doorway, quietly waving goodbye to the little girl who apparently had an entire kingdom waiting for her. Ordinarily, that would’ve been fine and dandy.

The only problem was that standing right beside him in this farewell was an even more emotional Jax, who looked as though they were sending their daughter off to another planet instead of a newly built hive so close to his cabin that it might as well have been a treehouse in the family compound.

The catch was that the eldest Nox made the unfortunate mistake of looking to the side. From that moment on, an awkward silence settled between them.

Well... at least from Killian’s perspective.

Jax, meanwhile, appeared perfectly at ease.

Regardless of how differently they were taking the situation, the two simply stood there looking at each other while Killian desperately searched for somethingto say. Meanwhile, the redhead spent every passing second making it painfully obvious that his gaze had drifted straight to Killian’s lips.

That definitely wasn’t helping the young official’s state of mind, considering the things that had transpired earlier.

Deciding it would be much safer to steer the conversation toward something that actually made sense, Killian turned on his heel, walked farther into the cabin, and pointed toward one of the storage cabinets.

"There are more pillows in there," he said, gesturing toward it. "In case you need another one."

Another stretch of silence followed before the cabin owner exhaled and said,

"Would you like something to drink? Or perhaps something to eat?"

The visiting redhead shook his head almost immediately.

"I’m good. I already showered and brushed my teeth before coming here."

"...I see."

Well. There went that distraction.

With no beverage to prepare, no snack to fetch, and no other excuse left to keep himself occupied, Killian found his carefully planned detour cut embarrassingly short.

After saying that, he made a strategic retreat toward the bedroom.

Or rather, toward the area pretending to be one.

Much like the life he’d always lived, there were no proper walls separating it from the rest of the cabin. Work and rest simply occupied the same space, with furniture serving as the only real divider. Until today, the youngest Chief of Staff had always considered it reasonably spacious, even if it was still smaller than the home office he’d built for himself and nowhere near the size of any of the actual properties he owned.

Tonight, however, it suddenly felt much smaller than he remembered.

What exactly was he supposed to do now?

Killian promptly busied himself adjusting things that didn’t actually need adjusting while desperately thinking of what to say next, if only so he wouldn’t have to hear the sound of his own pulse and perhaps faint from it.

As flustered as he was, this was no way to treat someone who had come to his home. He could already imagine what his mother would say if she ever found out he’d forgotten even the most basic courtesy. She certainly hadn’t raised him like this.

Besides, walking from one end of the cabin to the other didn’t create much distance when the entire place had, regrettably, been designed around an open layout. Even if he retreated as far as he possibly could, all it accomplished was stretching the awkward silence between them.

The only consolation was that, with his back turned, he couldn’t tell what Jax was doing.

The young official cleared his throat.

"What about the other children?" he asked, trying very hard to sound casual. "The plants. You were in the middle of hardening the tomatoes, weren’t you? Did you manage to get them inside on time?"

Behind him, Killian heard the cabinet door close, and he could’ve sworn that even such a quiet sound echoed through his ears like a detonation.

A moment later came the unmistakable sound of footsteps.

They were getting closer.

He unconsciously swallowed and immediately felt absurdly ridiculous for doing so. Was this even the right reaction for someone like him to be having?!

The atmosphere inside the cabin made one thing painfully obvious.

He had become hyper-aware of Jax’s presence.

Not too long ago, any such thoughts would’ve never even crossed his mind. Had Jax shown up announcing he was sleeping over, Killian would’ve simply rolled his eyes, let him in, and quietly wondered whether the redhead had done something stupid again and was hiding from the consequences. He probably wouldn’t have even pried, preferring to preserve his own plausible deniability.

And yet now... he was standing there quietly panicking inside his own cabin because the very same man he normally wouldn’t have thought twice about was suddenly sharing the same air as him.

Bah!

Thankfully, before he could spiral and think about the things he had already single-handedly decided on earlier, a response to his question finally came.

"Yes!" Jax answered brightly. "It took a little longer than expected because we ran into a small delay, but everything worked out. The others have all been checked on, watered, and entertained with a short song. Mom also insists on babying them, so they’re growing much bigger now."

Killian didn’t even need to look over to know Jax was probably genuinely delighted that he’d remembered to ask about them. After all, the redhead had never been stingy with his emotions, always expressing them with a sincerity that bordered on recklessness.

"Hm. That’s good, then. If the bees are up for it, you could even have them handle the pollination so you won’t have to do it manua—"

The unmistakable sound of something padded hitting the floor made Killian stop mid-sentence.

He turned around, only to blink at the sight before him as his brain slowly caught up with what he was seeing.

"What," he asked slowly, "exactly do you think you’re doing?"