CHAPTER 225: FOR I HAVE FOUND MY HOME

Dominic shot a cold sideways glance at Louis, whose opened his round eyes wide as though the drunken haze had been completely burned out of them.

Without waiting for a reply, Dominic turned on his heel and strode out of the tavern.

He shouldn’t have come to such a place in the first place. All he ever did was make people tense and afraid.

As he walked down the quiet street toward the knights’ barracks, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind him. When he turning around, he saw Louis running toward him, his face twisted with worry.

Dominic stopped his walk and waited in silence.

Louis stumbled to a halt and flailing awkwardly.

"Uh, hey, don’t feel bad about that, alright? Anyone would sound like that if they weren’t used to singing!"

Was that supposed to be comfort?

"I see," Dominic said simply, turning back toward the road. That was all that needed to be said.

Louis could go back to the tavern now. The matter was finished.

But the red-haired knight hurried forward again and stepping right in front of Dominic. His large body blocked the road, forcing Dominic to stop.

Louis avoided Dominic’s cold gaze clumsily while fidgeting as he spoke.

"I—I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to make you look bad or anything. I just... I didn’t think it’d turn out like that. I just thought maybe, you know..."

His face went from red to pale and back again with sweat dripping down his temples.

The corner of his mouth twitched as he stumbled over his words, looking every bit as nervous as a child caught doing something wrong.

Dominic watched him coolly thinking to himself what a hopelessly softhearted man he was.

Everyone else stayed far away from Dominic, fearing that even speaking to him might bring bad luck. Yet this fool came to him on his own accord.

Still, Dominic had to admit the man’s intentions were probably good. He had likely only wanted to help Dominic, who had long been isolated from the rest of the unit, to blend in just a little better. It was unnecessary trouble, but still, it was kindness.

In time, Louis naturally became the one who connected Dominic with the other knights.

Before long, it felt natural to see him nearby.

Of course, there were only a handful of people, like the healer Sayu who could even speak normally with Dominic at all.

When Dominic was twenty one, he won the annual martial arts tournament for the second year in a row and was promoted to captain of the Second Division.

He appointed Louis as his vice-captain.

Well, "appointed" might be too formal a word, there hadn’t been anyone else willing to take the job, so Louis had simply filled the role by default. Eventually, everyone just assumed he was the official second-in-command. Even Dominic sometimes forgot the man was only a stand-in.

That was, until Shiao Yi appeared.

Ah... Dominic thought quietly. He was truly grateful that Shiao Yi had come into his life.

As Dominic sat lost in memories of the past, Shiao Yi began to recite a poem for him.

It was a love poem said to have been composed by a whale people who lived in a world made only of the sea.

Shiao Yi spoke it in a language called Intercosmo.

Intercosmo was a strange and beautiful language. It wasn’t quite like ordinary speech, but it was more like music.

There were no vowels or consonants. The words were formed from combinations of pitch and rhythm.

In that language, one could hold an entire conversation through the sound of an instrument.

The whale people’s love song, carried by Shiao Yi’s clear, pure voice, was so enchanting.

It flowed into Dominic’s ears like a soft current wrapping around his heart with gentle warmth.

He looked up at the night sky, wondering if somewhere among those countless stars, there might be whale people like the ones in the poem, singing to their distant lovers across the endless sea.

Perhaps, he thought, they had found one another and were living in happiness now.

For the first time, Dominic looked at the stars not as cold, distant lights, but as possible worlds—places where life might exist, where hearts might long and love as his did.

It was a revelation so moving it almost hurt.

And from one of those boundless stars had come Shiao Yi, the boy who come from another world who now lay beside him.

Thinking of that miracle, Dominic felt his chest tighten with awe and gratitude, almost to the point of trembling.

Shiao Yi began teaching him the whale people’s love song and the two of them softly sang together.

The melody was gentle, flowing like calm waves on a still ocean.

The yearning in the whale people’s heart seeped into Dominic’s chest, resonating deeply with his own emotions.

"For I have found my ocean, my home"

"My home," Dominic echoed in his own language while his gaze never leaving Shiao Yi’s.

"I have found my home," Shiao Yi whispered in reply.

Dominic could no longer hold back the affection swelling inside him.

It overflowed like a flood drowning out reason and restraint alike.

Shiao Yi’s arms came up to wrap around Dominic’s neck and neither of them could say who moved first.

Their lips met—softly at first, then with growing hunger.

The kiss deepened quickly, becoming fierce, consuming.

A kiss alone was not enough.

Dominic shifted, pressing forward, his body lowering over Shiao Yi’s slender frame until they were both lying on the blanket beneath them.

His hands moved with urgent desire, tracing the shape of Shiao Yi’s body even as their mouths continued to meet.

"W-wait—Dominic! Dominic!" Shiao Yi gasped, pulling his lips away with a flustered cry.

"This is—outside! We’re outdoors!"

Dominic’s eyes darkened with heat as he replied in a low voice, "It’s fine. There’s no one here."

He began unbuttoning Shiao Yi’s light jacket.

The weather was warm this season and the thin layers came away easily beneath his fingers.