The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1215: Different Kinds of Sleepless

Now, as if the universe had decided suffering loved company, it fortunately wasn’t just the Imperial Crown Prince who’d had a particularly trying night after initially thinking the day was finally over.

There was also Kyle Nox, who somehow remained awake long after his little star had fallen asleep.

Granted, unlike his boss, Kyle’s sleepless night had come about for an entirely different reason, but it had still been more than enough to leave him looking thoroughly zombified that fine morning.

Yes, he’d spent a good portion of the night trying to keep two brothers from imploding while patiently answering increasingly outrageous hypothetical questions, ranging from obscure illnesses to what exactly he planned to do if Ollie somehow failed to survive until the third day of the examination.

Thankfully, things became much easier after Kyle reminded his little star that they were, technically speaking, already bound together, so there really wasn’t any scenario where he’d simply go off and marry someone else if anything happened.

With the understanding that they’d end up dead together, and with far more emphasis placed on the "together" than the "dead," that particular crisis had officially passed.

Unfortunately, Owen had then been kind enough to remind them about another predicament.

Their other siblings were still waiting to talk to them later.

Right.

There was that rather important matter of introducing themselves as a married couple to the rest of the Mylors and hoping they wouldn’t get beaten to death over the admittedly grave oversight.

The plan had originally been to wait until his mop finished the exam so he wouldn’t have too much on his mind at once. Kyle was especially grateful that the suggestion had come from the other Mylor siblings themselves, which had eased both of their worries considerably. Unfortunately, everything that happened with the Aeruns had nearly made them forget about it altogether.

Now that Owen had reminded them, however, it was impossible to ignore.

Kyle ended up spending the remainder of the night mentally rehearsing what he was going to say, repeating the same opening lines over and over until they practically became a mantra. He was probably only fortunate that his wife no longer had the stamina to keep worrying alongside him, leaving the poor man alone with nothing but the ceiling and his increasingly unhelpful thoughts.

But compared to everyone else, Kyle probably had the least scandalous reason for looking exhausted.

He simply couldn’t admit how frazzled he actually was unless he wanted three people panicking during the same call. Besides, there really wasn’t any use avoiding the inevitable, so instead of frightening himself even more, he figured it was best to take everything in stride.

At the very least, his predicament made sense.

His older brother’s, however, was another matter entirely. Killian looked so much worse that one would’ve thought he was the one being marched into an interrogation or worse, the one taking the exam.

__

The Empire’s youngest Chief of Staff had arrived later than the cadets, only to quietly take his seat wearing an expression that somehow looked both profoundly perplexed and thoroughly constipated.

To make matters even stranger, his face only seemed to darken as the minutes passed, his gaze remaining fixed on another table across the room.

The atmosphere there couldn’t have been more different from theirs.

The people gathered around it were chatting happily, breaking into laughter over something Princess Kira had just said, while the three men at their own table looked as though they were quietly fermenting.

Now, looking toward loud noises wasn’t exactly unusual.

What mattered was that the young official cared absolutely nothing about whatever conversation was taking place over there.

His attention was entirely occupied by one particularly enthusiastic participant.

Killian could’ve sworn that one infuriating redhead looked completely unbothered, acting as though the universe was still perfectly balanced after everything he’d shamelessly done that very morning.

Well, what exactly had happened to leave him wearing an expression like that while somehow sporting skin so supple he practically glimmered whenever the light caught him?

Yes, the look on his face and the way he actually appeared were hilariously inconsistent.

Despite having what should’ve been a rather trying night, Killian had somehow shown up looking as though he’d just come back from a luxurious spa retreat.

But oddly enough, the more people complimented him on what they assumed had been an excellent night’s sleep, the more conflicted he became.

He could still clearly remember what a certain someone had said about wanting to do things that would leave him with good memories or benefit him so he’d actually want to do them again.

"..."

Then he remembered waking up that morning feeling refreshed enough that he could probably finish two full rounds of training without much trouble.

And yet that dubiously pleasant feeling only lasted all of three seconds.

The moment he realized he was alone in bed, his heart had practically dropped.

Yet somehow, what sent him into an even greater panic was realizing that his heart had dropped in the first place when, objectively speaking, there shouldn’t have been anything unusual about waking up alone.

After all, he’d done exactly that almost every morning of his life without giving it a second thought. Yet now, waking up to an empty bed somehow felt... wrong.

Apparently, "almost" had become a very important qualifier now that it was starting to look as though he’d already been thoroughly conditioned.

Fortunately, that brief existential crisis didn’t last very long.

Just as Killian was beginning to question observable changes, something delicious drifted into the room.

His nose twitched.

Following the scent toward the counter, he found a neatly prepared breakfast waiting for him.

Now, he’d only just woken up and had never been one to prepare breakfast for himself. At best, if time permitted, he’d grab something from the communal kitchen, so finding a meal already waiting inside his own cabin...

There was really only one possible explanation, and his thoroughly uncooperative heart immediately began beating much faster than it had any right to.