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15: anastacius, the jealous man

15: anastacius, the jealous man
Alt. Title: in your dreams

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Nereus wondered what he should be doing.

These days, Anastacius... seemed to be seducing him, whether in private or in public. That man would shamelessly hold his hands, ignoring the stunned gazes shot their way. He would whisper right next to his ears, blowing teasing breaths every now and then.

Sometimes, Anastacius scratched his palm in a light manner, and this little action tickled Nereus' heart. On one hand, he wanted to pick up that man like a bride and bring him home. On the other hand, he still felt reluctant to show any actions laced with affection. It still felt wrong, to be affectionate with Anastacius when Nereus had yet to forget his first love.

So, he pondered what he should do, to reciprocate even a little bit of Anastacius' like, just to let that man know he appreciated such gestures.

When he asked his son to teach him to cook something simple, Calyx rejected him without hesitation.

Right.

Even if it was just boiling water, he might burn their house down by accident.

There he was, sunk on the couch as he tried to think of something for Anastacius. Although that man never said what previous identity he held, Nereus certainly knew what it was the second Claude and his company dropped by for a visit. In this age, there were few humans who could utilize mana, and one of them was the famous, well, rather infamous royal family from the empire of Obelia.

Even to other races, their eyes were a treasure, gem like eyes that were more beautiful than its authentic counterpart.

Before escaping to the lands, even someone like Nereus who spent time in the sea heard of what happened to the Obelian Royal Family. The palace had been dyed red, as deaths occurred in the night. Of course, Nereus only heard of this because some animals who gained the ability to form complex thoughts, managed to spread that news wherever they went.

At that time, it was a firebird, only in its teenage years, that happened to tell Nereus when he broke through the surface of the sea to watch the sunrise.

Of course, Nereus, who lacked entertainment, listened attentively as the firebird told him the story in a rather exaggerating way. The bird would flap its wings when the story gets exciting, lying on the rock it landed to express distress, and it would even hold its wings together when mimicking the act of begging for forgiveness.

At that time, Nereus treated it as entertainment. After all, who would have thought he would actually meet the characters in the story?

Loud, heavy knocks on the front door pulled Nereus out of daze.

Whoever was outside, it was neither the children nor Anastacius. All three of them barely knocked, and would come right in without hesitation. Pulling the door open, there stood a young man in his late teens, dressed in Mieta's local clothes, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Nereus' presence stunned the young man. His face turned red, then blue, before becoming pale. His colorful expressions amused Nereus who asked, "You must be?" He never recalled meeting this young man before. Besides, though he goes out of the house now, he barely shows his face in public.

"Um," the young man stammered, instantly growing red once more. "Is, Is Lady Cordelia at home?"

Nereus froze, eyes that had been looking past the young man shifted back to him again, "Why are you looking for Little Lia?" A sense of alarm rang in Nereus' mind. The more he looked at the young man, the more he wanted to throw this child into the deepest depths of the ocean.