How to be the Villain When Every Character Likes Me

8 - A First Kiss and a First Love

It was like being suspended in the clouds, touching the serenity of the sky. The softness of his lips put Liam in a hazy stupor, and the feeling of the most temporary hold of his heart sent his own beating out of his chest.

Rewan's tense body became limp as he responded to the shock of the kiss. His mind was overwhelmed with adrenaline and confusion as his eyes shot frantically around the face in front of him. Small, white sparks escaped the tips of his fingers as he lost control over the emotions rampaging through his body. Wisps of mana blew through his lips, entering the other's, sending waves of magical energy through Liam like lightning.

The knight felt his muscles twitch and his mana pool filled to the brim, spilling out. Small breezes of gentle wind blew through the room, rushing through his tousled chestnut hair.

A tingle of desire prompted Liam to shift ever closer to the frozen youth, pushing his tentative kiss deeper. A small trickle of courage entered his beating heart, bringing him resolve. Gazing hazily at Rewan, he gently licked the other's lips, sending a shiver down his spine as he felt the warmth of the other in greater depth.

The small yet shocking stimulation brought agitation into his mind, like a hamster squeaking futilely in a vain attempt to bring his awareness back. Quivers of mana ran down the veins of his arms, incited by the unstable emotions crashing through him, shooting into his palm and infusing itself into the floor of the effortlessly stock-still room.

The earth quaked in reply, the tiles of the floor cracking, revealing mounds of hard rock that swiftly rose from the depths of the palace, creating a fence around Rewan and pushing Liam's flushed body away.

Rewan hastily lifted his hands peeled to the floor and quickly tamed the agitated flow of mana rushing through his palms. He gasped for air, his lashes fluttering as he blankly gaped at the white ceiling.

He felt the heaviness of the utter quiet in the room press him down. He coughed, trying to dispel the blood rushing to his head and stuttered, "s-so that's what you... you meant, by taking responsibility..." His voice grew progressively more quiet as the memories of the kiss flashed through his mind again. The sound of Liam's chestnut hair swaying with his movements was the only response he got.

"I– I'm going. This time, really, don't follow me!" he yelled, pushing a wave of mana out of his chest and breaking the stone around him with its force. His legs were weak as he shot up out of his helpless position and ran out with all his might.

Liam sat, stunned, his figure unmoving in the empty supply room. That tantalizing feeling strayed in his mind, clinging onto his lips even when they parted. The frantic yet stupefied expression of the black-haired youth, who was so confident just a moment ago, made his heart jump again and again. His hands, which were encircling the other, trembled as he brought them close to his chest.

N-now, he thought, his blood rushing through his body like a tidal wave, now he really has to take responsibility!

----

When Liam was first assigned to him, he was fresh out of the royal knights' training. As the son of the current king's prized knight, he never strayed away from his parents' chosen path. Just like his father, he quickly qualified to be one of the royal knights.

It was well known that royal knights weren't really the key part of a royal's protection. They had to attend noble events, parades, excessively adorned traditional ceremonies, and other socializing events. So, royal knights were expected to, at the very least, clean up well before people even began to consider their swordsmanship skills.

He went through the royal knight's training for years. It had grown tiring, going through the same knightley, chivalrous etiquette and practicing those flashy swordsmanship styles just to "seem more fit for royalty." At the end of the program, he expected to enter society the way all the others did: get summoned to the ceremonial knighting ceremony, be granted one of those gold-plaited swords, and become assigned to one of the princes or princesses.

But the day of the knighting, he was woken up by three prompt knocks on his and his elder brother's door. Seven sharp, five hours before the ceremony started. He was summoned to the King's hall.

There, he laid eyes on a black-haired youth, standing right next to the King's sacred throne.

He had long since heard of that man—the mage who carried two elements. The duke's prodigal son, Rewan Alsar.

But he never knew the young mage would be so beautiful.

Shining amethyst eyes, slightly upturned. A sharp yet slightly haggard face that seemed to radiate with curiosity. Long-drawn eyebrows, painted on clear, ivory skin. But perhaps the most standout feature was his countenance. The way he stood, the way he gazed, the way he smiled... this feeling you got from him, it was as if he was from another world.

Someone so excellent and unique that it was like he was floating over the clouds, untouched by this place's influence and limits.

Someone you couldn't help but be drawn to, if you so much as caught a glimpse of him.

That day, the King knighted him himself—creating a lifelong honor and obligation of becoming the primary shield of Rewan Alsar, the boy from a different world.

It was, at first, a bit perturbing to follow with his face and his body concealed, contrasting greatly with his previous upbringing as, essentially, a trophy knight. But he soon came to enjoy it. He felt the passion of the prodigal mage as he went, everyday, to the library. He watched in wonder as the teenager, who was supposed to be learning basic techniques at most, zoomed through the basic Fire spells, learning them so quickly that he felt there truly must be natural talent embedded in every inch of him. Then, after he went through all the basic techniques of the Fire, he pivoted and swept through beginner Earth spells as fast as he did the other, shocking Liam, who forgot the seemingly already prodigal mage had another element.

That day, Rewan's expectant and deadpan eyes watched, amused, as he reached his arms out with a disimpassioned quality. The warmth that instantly pervaded his suit as the black-haired mage's arms unsteadily encircled him. The impish yet tantalizingly pure teasing as he used some unidentified magic to play with not only his body, but his heart.

The feeling of falling as an invisible force pulled Liam down wasn't the greatest shock that day.

The greatest shock that day was how his amused admiration could so quickly turn into infatuation after just one taste of intimacy with the black-haired youth.

But as soon as Liam reached out and indulged in a feeling he had never felt before, the youth so quickly retracted his sly pretense, showing a flustered, awkward smile as he hastily retreated like a kitten in a small box.

Tantalus's fruit, just out of reach, teasing someone with something that is unobtainable yet making the yearning all the more.

Liam, dazed, slowly rose from the supply closet's floors that were run through by Rewan's unintentional burst of Earth magic. Jagged rock shot through the empty areas, pushing into the iron of the drawer and creating thick dents in its pillars.

Liam couldn't help but let out a smitten twinkle as he surveyed the crushed and ruptured room. His cheeks, just returned to their usual hue, flared once again, blooming into a vivid, tomato-red blush.

I think... I might be in love.