Thomas turned on the bed, putting his head on the big man’s chest who smiled at him.

  “Having trouble sleeping ?”

  “As much as usual.”

  “If it’s not a nightmare, it’s already an improvement.”

  Bael gently stroked Thomas’ hair, holding him tightly in a loving embrace.

  “Are you sure everything is alright ? You lost weight again.”

  Thomas looked at the king. His eyes were half open, probably still feeling sleepy, but fighting the drowsiness to make sure Thomas was alright. It was like that every night. Everyday, in fact. Bael always put Thomas before himself, leaving state meetings as soon as the slim man needed him. It was worrying, since he was a king and needed to rule an entire kingdom, but it also felt so good that Thomas ended up lowering his defenses very quickly. Now that they had exchanged a kiss and confessed their feelings, they were officially dating and Bael never missed an occasion to make it known by calling Thomas ‘my man’ in front of other people. It was stupid but so cute.

  Thoma sighed.

  “I can’t eat or sleep when you are not with me.”

  “Am I not here right now ?”

  “No, I’m in a different dimension. It’s so hard, you know. I miss you a lot and that circution thing feels like torture.”

  The king kissed Thomas’ forehead.

  “When you are done and you come back to Hell, I’ll make sure to make you forget about all of that. We should have our wedding too.”

  “Wedding ?”

  “Yeah, don’t you remember ? You accepted my proposal.”

  Bael pointed to a big picture in a golden frame pced near their bed. It depicted the king on one knee in front of a smiling Thomas. Seeing himself look so happy was unfamiliar to the slim man, it felt unreal. However, strangely, it made perfect sense at this moment.

  “Yes, we should get married soon. I guess I will be your concubine, then ?”

  The king pouted like a child, holding Thomas tightly.

  “What do you mean ? I follow you around like a dog, it’s me that should be your concubine !”

  Thomas ughed and kissed Bael on the lips.

  “The king and the Shaman, it will be hard to decide who is the concubine in this situation.”

  They both ughed and hugged some more, then suddenly Thomas opened his eyes and found himself on the manor’s roof. He had gone over here to avoid the servants, and might have fallen asleep for a second. The dream he just had felt so sweet that the reality felt even more grim. He had spent a few weeks working on his magic and now he had approximately the same control than the twins had when they had gone to repair the artifact. He was able to store a small amount of luggage inside his flow, was able to control his change of appearance, and could somehow control his demonic specialty, examining his surroundings to know if people were close to him, and if they were allies or enemies. It was a huge gain for him, but he still didn’t feel ready to tackle the second artifact.

  “Mister Shaman ? Where are you ?”

  Thomas looked below him, and spotted Simon in the garden. The commander was walking around, looking for him. Thomas sighed and shook his head to chase away the lingering feelings of his dream. It wasn’t the time for fantasies, he needed to focus.

  He jumped off the roof, using his demonic power to deploy his wings, flying towards the garden and nding silently behind the knight.

  “I am here.”

  Simon jumped in surprise and turned around with an embarrassed smile.

  “I see you have mastered the silencing magic. I don’t know if I have much to teach you anymore.”

  “Don't say that, I’m still subpar in combat.”

  Above the knight’s head, a pinkish hologram was twinkling.

  [Affection : 64%]

  It had appeared after repairing the first artifact, like unlocking a new feature for successfully finishing a quest. Thomas thought that it would also appear above the twin’s head, but it wasn’t so, which meant that Tari and Tira were probably maxed out since the beginning.

  Without looking the commander in the eye, Thomas walked past him, towards the training area. Simon ran behind him, and handed him a sword. But the Shaman ignored him, pink light sprouting from his fingertips as a sword appeared in his hand.

  “Oh, I see you have finished studying smithing !”

  Simon looked surprised and a bit proud. As with his clothes creation, Thomas had worked hard to be able to create weapons. It was guaranteed to be useful in this crazy game.

  “Don’t fret about it. Get ready.”

  Thomas took a fighting stance, changing his clothes into thigh sports clothes that still covered the integrality of his body. Simon nodded and prepared himself too, taking out his own sword.

  “I’m coming !”

  With a leap forward, the knight extended his arm to pierce Thomas’ chest. The slim man dodged easily and turned on his feet, unching an attack towards Simon’s neck. The commander lowered his body to avoid the hit and threw a kick towards Thomas’ legs. Usually he would have easily blocked, but somehow the Shaman missed his timing and fell backward in the sand. Immediately, Simon’s brows furrowed in worry.

  “I’m so sorry ! Are you okay ?”

  “It’s nothing. Let’s start again.”

  Thomas got up and faltered a bit, but eventually took a fighting stance again. Upon closer inspection, he looked even worse than usual, his eyes had sunk in their orbits and you could see his cheekbones.

  “Are you out of flow ? Mister Shaman…”

  “Thomas.”

  “...Thomas, you smell like death.”

  The slim man untied his hair.

  “I still have a bit left.”

  To be accurate, Thomas had barely enough flow to stay alive. All his studying and tests of his magic had ended up depleting it, and if he did nothing he had at most a week left. But he had trouble caring about it, since his emotions were mostly gone after his first experience with the artifact.

  Simon bit his lips, thinking for a bit, then he put his sword back in his sheath with a resigned look.

  “We need to do a circution.”

  Thomas shook his head.

  “There is no need.”

  However the commander raised his voice.

  “Stop it ! If it isn’t for you, think of the others ! If you are gone and you can’t repair the artifacts, what will happen to us ? This whole world will be doomed ! Stop acting like you are the only one in a dire situation !”

  Thomas looked at Simon who had suddenly calmed down and was reddening with shame.

  ‘Why should I care ? You are only characters in a game anyway.’

  But the knight’s words were true. He needed to think about the others. Mostly about Bael.

  ‘This dream felt like a good omen. Getting married never even crossed my mind but it sounds good to me. If he doesn’t hate me when I come back, maybe we should get married. Either I kill myself or I gain a husband, both don’t sound that bad.’

  Zoning out, he suddenly came back to reality and saw the worried face of Simon.

  “Okay, let’s do a circution.”

  Without waiting for an answer, Thomas made his sword disappear and walked towards the mansion, followed by Simon who seemed to have rexed a bit. They passed the main hall under the curious eyes of the servants and climbed the stairs leading to the second floor. Instead of heading to his room, Thomas headed to the guest room Simon occupied everytime he was coming over. It made the knight tilt his head in confusion.

  “Why here ? Won’t you feel more at ease in your own room ?”

  The Shaman closed the door.

  “I would rather erase what we are about to do from my memory, staying in a bed that will remind me of it would be torture.”

  Simon reddened. His round face seemed squished for a moment, as he was clenching his jaw.

  “Do you hate it that much ? I mean, I know you already had a lover, but there is no reason to get so worked up over it, it’s not as if you are doing it on purpose…”

  Thomas shrugged.

  “If you were my first time, maybe I would have liked it.”

  “What does it mean ? Did you have bad experiences ?”

  Simon’s eyes widened as he suddenly understood the subtext in Thomas’ sentence.

  “Wait… Have you been assaulted ?”

  “Shut up.”

  Without getting closer, Thomas waved his hand and the commander was thrown on the bed.

  “Quickly get ready. You’re the one who doesn't want me to die, remember ? So hurry up.”

  The knight obeyed and started to lower his pants, shooting worried gres towards the Shaman, who had turned his head to look at the wall.

  “I understand that you have suffered a lot, and I’m truly sorry for you, but… You know… Even I will start to get hurt if you treat me like this.”

  “Bold talk for someone who likes it.”

  Indeed, when he was thrown on the bed by Thomas’ magic, the affection gauge over the knight’s head had gone up by 3%. He might act like a goody two shoes, but Simon sure was nasty.

  The commander reddened even more and started to touch himself, slipping a hand between his thighs. Maybe to hide the sound, he continued to talk as his breath was getting shorter.

  “Can you tell me a bit more about you ?”

  Thomas was grateful, because he couldn’t stand the sound of Simon getting rowdy by himself, it made his stomach churn. So, with an emotionless voice, he started to narrate his life.

  “Everything started when a girl turned three years old…”

  AmbreaTaddy