Shadows of Pale Sunlight

Ch 18: Aphrodite

Xhael locked the big white door behind him and sighed heavily. Although, Susan's nagging was valid, but it was tiring. He glanced around until he spotted the emperor at his bed. Snuggled in the middle of his blankets and pillows. It is very uncommon for Alpha's to make a nest, Xhael wasn't sure whether the emperor does not know that or he had learned Omega's makes nest and so he started copying them when he finds out it's more securing and comfortable being that way— it wasn't exactly a nest, since nest requires the Omega's or their mate's clothes in it, as long as it has their own or their partners pheromones in it, it's safe, but it is the very same thing, since the blankets do exactly smells like the emperor without him knowing, the blankets smells.

Anyhow, he found it adorable. Xhael stepped near the emperor's bed and sat, the comfortableness of the sheets clinging to him. He leaned onto the emperor's face, and softly wakes the emperor up.

"My Lord, let’s get you into something fresh. This one’s all dusty and dirty, hmm?"

The emperor's eyes stirred slowly, and he frowned, grumbling from his sleep and murmuring, "later", Xhael chuckled at this.

Xhael took a deep breath, letting the emperor’s scent fill his senses. The blankets were thick with the heavy, lingering smell of deep sleep pheromones, almost like the fabric itself was soaked in them. It was that kind of scent that clung to the skin, warm and comforting, like the emperor had spent countless hours lost in dreams, far away from the waking world.

But there was something else too, just beneath the surface. A faint trace of pre-rut pheromones, subtle but unmistakable. It was like the calm before a storm, a quiet tension that hinted at what was coming. Xhael could feel the difference in the scent, how it shifted depending on the emperor’s mood. Mostly, it was that deep, sleepy scent, like he’d been resting for years. But every now and then, there was that edge of something more primal, something that made Xhael’s pulse quicken, even if the emperor himself seemed unaware of it. It was fascinating how the smell told a story, a silent language that only someone like him could understand.

Xhael smirked as he leaned in closer, his voice playful yet teasing. "My Lord, if ya don’t change out of those dusty clothes, yer pretty clean and comfortable blankets—those ones that smell just like ya—might get all dirty. And if that happens, I might just have to remove them... Can’t have ya sleeping in filth, now can we?"

The emperor's eyes stirred again, but this time urgently, he blinked slowly or— fastly multiple times while frowning. His white iris too bleary from just waking up, his pupils aren't that much noticeable, but Xhael saw how it was dilated from sleep.

When the emperor's blurry vision saw a pair of ocean blue and russet eyes, he followed through them, he stared at the man and his view started focusing and clearing. He lifted his arms and Xhael curiously hums. Until he felt a sharp tug at his hair. His head was pulled down to the blankets and the emperor let out a sound at his throat that sounds like a whine and grumble. And Xhael chuckled apologetically.

ζ

Xhael looked through the emperor's clothes and he couldn't find a proper one for sleeping, like a robe or anything more comfortable and thin. All he has in his cabinets are Hanbok and all these emperor clothing stuffs. Xhael sighs and stepped outside the room. Giving the emperor more time to sleep again as he gets lost on his way to the laundry room or the room where his clothes were changed.

As he was walking at the hallway trying to find the place, he came across a guard in a white jinyiwei and a heuklip, walking at the opposite direction. As he got nearer, he noticed the man looks familiar, and he realized, it was the guard from who apologized to the emperor for the others faults and asks for his punishment. Xhael smiled and stopped on front of the man, he's way more sturdier and a bit taller than him, and those piercing eyes that cut through his, everything about the man is manly, but leaving that aside. Xhael asked the direction to a the certain place he wants to go, and gave the reason of the emperor in need of change of clothes. And the man led the way.