Chapter 32: The face of an angel
He awoke from what felt like a deep slumber and was taken aback to find someone else had taken over his bed, a sight he never expected.
All he saw was a sea of black sticking out from under his covers, and Hael immediately knew who it belonged to. What he couldn't understand was why.
Just what happened last night? How did the King end up falling asleep in his room? Hael's mind was a whirlwind of confusion.
He tried to wrack his brain, and small images of last night came to mind. They had been chatting the night away, talking about this and that, and the King, feeling tired, couldn't bother leaving, so he told him he was going to spend the night in his chambers.
But that wasn't what surprised Hael; what surprised him was that Ceremus was lying relatively comfortably in his arms, and it didn't look like he had any intentions of letting go. Hael could tell by the lack of light outside that it was around five AM when he'd get up and meditate. Unfortunately for him, with Ceremus glued to his body, he would be unable to move without waking the King up.
Hael could only lay there and watch Ceremus sleep.
His face, usually in a permanent scowl, was now relaxed, and he slept so peacefully that Hael momentarily forgot himself. He couldn't help but wonder what had brought Ceremus to this state of tranquility, and why he was the cause of it.
He felt compelled to touch his soft-looking skin but held himself back, realizing how rude it would be to touch someone without their permission. Instead, he studied his face and was captivated by how beautiful the King was. His straight brows, long and narrow nose, strong cheekbones, and perfectly shaped lips—everything about him was lovely. It took Hael a good ten minutes to search for a single imperfection, a minuscule flaw, but he came up empty.
He couldn't understand how such an ideal being could exist, lying beside him. The white-haired man seemed oblivious that he, too, could be considered a flawless being.