CHAPTER 59: FIRST STEPS AND FUMBLING HEARTS

Was Shiao Yi disappointed? Maybe he thought he was too inexperienced.

But honestly, Dominic didn’t enjoyed it at all. The heavily made-up woman clinging to him and moaning had only made him feel uncomfortable and disgusted.

"A man’s body isn’t the same as a woman’s. Just—think about it, okay? Imagine putting a man’s thing inside your body? You get it, right?"

Dominic glanced down at his groin.

It felt rude, but what stood there... honestly looked kind of cute.

"You just thought it was small, didn’t you?! You totally did! L-look, bodies are just made differently, alright? That’s not my fault! And stop staring! Don’t stare like that!"

Shiao Yi blushed deep red and quickly tried to cover himself with his hands, but Dominic reached out his hand, grabbed his wrist, and gently pulled his hand away.

He wanted to see more.

"L-look... putting it into a man’s body suddenly like that—it’s going to hurt, even with my size. But yours is, well... bigger, right? Honestly, it’s scary. I mean, not in a bad way! It’s kind of impressive, really! I’m even a bit jealous. But still, like this, it’s not going to go in."

Dominic felt a wave of hopelessness.

He had finally thought he could become one with Shiao Yi.

"Aah—no! Don’t make that face! I’m not saying I don’t want to do it! I do. I really do. It’s just that... we need to prepare first."

"Preparation? There’s something we need to prepare?"

"Yeah. Do you have any kind of oil or something to help with... you know, lubrication? That would really help."

When Dominic looked over at the candle, Shiao Yi quickly raised his voice in a panic.

"Not candle oil! That stuff’s bad for the skin. It’ll probably make it swell or itch or something."

How stupid. He only knew that much. There was no way he would ever use such poor-quality oil on Shiao Yi’s important parts.

If only he had asked someone more knowledgeable about this sort of thing.

But whenever he tried to get close to people, they’d just avoid his eyes and walk away.

He never got the chance to ask anyone about something so delicate.

For a moment, the face of Aaron popped into his mind—but he shook it off immediately.

Just imagining that man even thinking about Shiao Yi made Dominic’s blood boil.

What was happening now?

The intimate, sensual mood they had just moments ago was fading away.

It had been so sweet, so tender before.

Dominic sighed and covered his face with one hand.

This was all because he hadn’t studied or learned enough.

Disappointed in himself, he lowered his head, feeling utterly useless.

...

When Louis returned to his office, he couldn’t stop grinning to himself.

Shiao Yi had come back safe and sound—that alone was a huge relief.

He had seriously feared that Captain Dominic would remain in a walking zombie-like state for the rest of his life.

Since Shiao Yi appeared, the captain had changed.

Okay, sure, he was still pretty creepy—actually, really creepy—but as long as Shiao Yi was around, that too would probably get better.

The Iron Knight was finally becoming human.

By now, Shiao Yi and the captain were probably...

He started to imagine something a bit inappropriate and quickly waved the thought away with his hand.

Right now, work—he needed to focus on work!

For the captain’s sake too, he had to give it his all!

There was no time to be daydreaming or thinking about anything else! Seriously!

Why were there always so many documents to write?

Maybe he should steal Lyon back from Misija one more time.

Grumbling about the unfairness of life, Louis spread the paperwork across his desk and got ready to focus.

Just then, the door slammed open with a loud bang.

"Can you open the door quietly!?"

Louis shot a glare toward the door as he barked, only to see Aaron burst in, his silver hair a mess as he rushed in.

"Is it true?! Is it true that Shiao Yi—Shiao Yi came back?! Really? Really?!"

"It’s true. But he’s got pretty bad burns and other injuries, so the captain’s taking care of him in his room right now."

"Ohhh, thank goodness!"

Aaron smiled brightly with relief, and for a moment, it looked like true, honest happiness.

Louis felt like he was seeing something rare.

Was Aaron... actually becoming a better person?

"With this, I can finally get him to teach me the formulas! Ahhh! Sulfuric acid! Hydrochloric acid! So many experiments await me! What a glorious future I have!"

But when Louis watched Aaron gazing up at the ceiling, lost in bliss all by himself, he realized—

Yeah, no. People don’t change that easily after all.

Leaving Aaron to his solo celebration, Louis returned to his paperwork. He was busy, after all.

But then—thud—two hands suddenly slapped down on the desk right in front of him.

—Huh? Was he going to help with the paperwork?

Not a chance.

Louis looked up and saw Aaron who is wearing an indecent, teasing grin like he was hiding something wicked.

"So that means... Captain Dominic is alone in a room with Shiao Yi, right?"

—Ignore it. Ignore it. The only option was to ignore this kind of thing.

"I wonder if Captain Dominic will be okay. I’m really worried about him."

—Worried? About what, exactly?

"He probably doesn’t have any experience, right? He’s so uptight, and no one ever gets close to him."

"W-What? What are you trying to say?"

Louis couldn’t help but ask.

"I mean... will he even be able to do it properly? Well, if Shiao Yi ends up giving up on him, then I can finally make my move on him without holding back... Oops! That was close. I’d get killed by the captain for that. Ah, right—this is a little something from me. Be sure to give it to Captain Dominic, okay?"

Aaron casually reached into the pocket of his black robe and pulled out a small glass bottle, setting it down on the desk with a light clink.

"W-What is this?"