"..."
Yunho's face went pink. He had meant for his "pillow" services to be a one-time deal, but it seemed like he would have to go back in business.
Yunho sighed.
"Fine."
The Grand Duke turned around and looked back at Yunho, beckoning him to follow.
"Let's go to my room. I don't think you'll want me sleeping in your bed," the man said.
Yunho agreed, but it still felt weird being led to the Duke's bedroom at night. He would just have to be happy that no one was there to witness.
They eventually reached the Duke's bedroom, and Dorian opened the door. Yunho looked around the room. It was more plain than Yunho expected, but the room was bigger than Yunho's own, though the Duke didn't do anything with the extra space. His room was only furnished with a bed and a cabinet.
Yunho was still looking around when the Duke plopped himself down onto the bed.
The man looked up at Yunho, who was still standing an arm's length away, and patted the spot next to him.
A certain dream replayed in Yunho's mind.
"..."
Yunho couldn't help but feel like this scene was a bit strange, but nevertheless, he walked over and sat down on the bed beside the Grand Duke, placing his shoes on the floor.
Before Yunho could say anything, the Grand Duke inched his body closer and placed his head in Yunho's lap.
Yunho could feel the weight sinking into his thighs. Even through his clothes, he could feel the strands of Dorian's hair.
As soon as his head hit Yunho's lap, the Duke took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Yunho's attention was drawn to the man's face.
"I haven't really thought about it until now, but people in this world really are too perfect," Yunho mentally remarked.
Though extra characters did have more ordinary looks, the main and supporting cast all had visuals that could rival even the most beautiful celebrities in Yunho's original world.
He remembered how shocked he was when he saw his reflection in the mirror for the first time after transmigrating. He couldn't believe that the beautiful boy staring back at him was himself.
"Well... I guess it wasn't actually me. I'm not actually me," Yunho thought.
He bit his lip. Yunho didn't like thinking about his identity. He still felt so lost. He was an imposter and was reminded of it every time someone called him by that name: Iris.
Yunho wanted to distract himself. He moved his fingers to brush some of Dorian's hair off his eyelids. The man was still, only his chest rising and falling steadily.
Yunho leaned in closer, studying Dorian's face.
"Really perfect," Yunho remarked in a whisper.
"You like my face that much?"
Yunho almost jumped in surprise, but Dorian's head kept him down.
"You're awake?!" Yunho whisper-shouted.
"Were you hoping I wasn't?" Dorian asked with a laugh.
Yunho didn't even bother with answering that fake question. He moved his hands back to his side. The fragile atmosphere had been broken.
Dorian chuckled.
"You can keep touching me. I don't mind. Your touch is soft."
Yunho was about to reply when he felt Dorian's hand reach up and pat his thigh.
"In fact, these are pretty soft, too."
Yunho's face went red. It seemed like sleep deprivation also invigorated the Duke's teasing behavior.
"You sure are getting bolder..."
Yunho nudged the Duke's hand off him.
"Are you really not going to sleep?" Yunho questioned.
"Feel free to fall asleep first; I just want to rest my eyes," Dorian replied, shutting his eyes again.
The room was plunged into silence once again, leaving Yunho alone with his thoughts. A curiosity stabbed at his brain, and finally, it broke out and escaped his mouth.
"With the Bahitan forces, what happened?" He asked.
Yunho had been curious the entire time. Though the safety of everyone on the team was relieving, the sheer tiredness on all of their faces told a more complicated story.
Dorian reopened his eyes and gazed up at Yunho. His face looked like he was recalling an annoying memory.
"The Bahitan forces were indeed camping in the forest. Since we didn't venture in further, they weren't very aggressive with their attacks. Neither were we. It was a lot of back and forth, but I don't believe any blood was spilled. The Bahitans began retreating relatively early when they realized that we really weren't going further in," Dorian recalled.
The news didn't sound bad, yet Dorian's face didn't look pleased at all.
Yunho raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't a retreat ideal in that scenario?" He asked.
Dorian sighed.
"Yes, but I don't think the retreat is going to give me much reprise. I left a scout in the surrounding area once the Bahitans retreated, and they returned with news that the group we faced off with seems to be on the move again, just in a different direction. It's likely that they're trying to commune with more of their forces and create a larger attack."
"Regarding the additional details, I'll tell you tomorrow night. I'll be needing your other services then anyway. Even at a quick pace, the Bahitan forces would still take a few days to come near. Especially since they'll need some time to recuperate, we still have time to prepare," Dorian continued.
Yunho nodded. He tried to keep his face calm, but his heart beat hard in his chest. The Bahitan attack patterns now differed from the novel, but the strategies were still the same.
That meant that there was a good chance that the movement that the scout saw was actually the setup for the misdirection scheme that happened in the novel, where the base was left vulnerable after all the forces had to be drawn out to respond to a Bahitan attack.
Yunho could already feel a headache coming on.
"Why couldn't I have been transmigrated as an extra character with no lines?" Yunho inwardly cried out.
Dorian closed his eyes again, and the room returned to its previous tranquility.
Yunho was once again alone with his thoughts. But thankfully he had other things to ponder besides the nature of his existence. Like the upcoming Bahitan attack. Or the spy who he still didn't have a lead on.
All fun stuff.
But before Yunho could go down a mental rabbit hole, the silence was broken again, this time by the Duke.
"Iris? Can you... sing like you did last time?" Dorian asked hesitantly.
Though Yunho was initially surprised at the request, he also found the tune soothing and was bored anyway, so he began singing the lullaby.
The melody filled the room, and before long, the room went quiet again as both men fell asleep.
---
Yunho blinked his eyes open. His mind was still foggy from sleep, so it took a moment for him to recollect everything from the day before.
His memory cleared up, and Yunho could remember that he had fallen asleep in the Duke's room. He sat up and looked around. It was indeed the Grand Duke's room, though the Grand Duke was no longer anywhere to be found.
"He probably had something to attend to."
There was no reason for him to stay any longer, so Yunho stood up and quickly located his shoes, slipping them on.
It would be easiest to use the bathhouse near the Duke's room to freshen up, but that bathhouse was also the one for the Crown Prince. And Yunho didn't feel like bumping into that man and potentially causing the Prince to misunderstand things between the Duke and him again.
"I'll just walk back to my room and use the building 4 bathroom," Yunho mumbled to himself.
He quietly snuck out of the Duke's room and started his walk back to his own room.
"I don't think anyone saw me leave..." Yunho thought, yawning.
Yunho wished he could casually leave the Grand Duke's room, but having seen the crazy interpretations the Crown Prince could cook up, Yunho didn't want to risk it with other people's imaginations.
He eventually made it back to Building 4 and freshened up. Yunho had fallen asleep while wearing the clothes he'd been wearing all day, so he was happy to finally change into something else.
Yunho finished his morning routine and walked back to his room; he had a task to do.
---
Hours had passed, and Yunho was sitting crisscrossed on his floor, staring at the paper in front of him.
A few black spots stained the floor from the quill and ink dish that were currently resting on the sheet.
On the paper was a quick sketch of a map. The map had a few labeled elements and flow lines showing movement.
Though Yunho wasn't the most confident in his creation, he had made a rough map of the Bahitan fake-out attack strategy that appeared in the novel.
Yunho looked over the drawing. In the novel, a small group of Bahitan forces appeared in one direction, luring the Lucivian forces there. But there was actually another larger group of Bahitan forces approaching from the opposite direction, so the Duke had no choice but to communicate with the base to deploy more people to protect that side. That was when the base was left vulnerable.
Yunho rubbed his temples and sighed.
"I'll just wait for more details before I make a definite plan. I've changed so much already that who knows if Bahit will even use this strategy?"
*Knock Knock*
Yunho whipped his head toward the door. It wasn't even close to nighttime yet, so Yunho didn't think it was the Duke. But besides Dorian, he wasn't expecting anyone.
"Iris, it's me, Drelle!"
Yunho got up and opened the door. Drelle was standing in the doorway with a smile.
"Oh, hello. Did you need something?" Yunho asked.
Drelle shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's just that... all the knights-in-training have a full day off from training today. The commanders told us to get some rest. Usually, I'd volunteer at the canteen to pass some time, but the other knights-in-training have decided to have a game night at the training field. Well, more like a game afternoon. But still..." Drelle said, rambling.
Yunho nodded as he listened, but he couldn't quite figure out how he was related to anything Drelle was saying.
Drelle seemed to notice the confused look in Yunho's eyes and sighed.
"It's not an exclusive event, and everyone was encouraged to invite more people. It's happening right after the last mealtime. So... are you free then?" Drelle finally asked.
"A game night?" Yunho thought.
From the time after the last mealtime to when the Duke would most likely come to speak with him, he didn't have anything to do. A game night did sound more fun than just waiting around.
Yunho looked up at Drelle and nodded.
"I should be able to make it."
"So, it's a plan? I'll see you there!" Drelle said.
Suddenly, Drelle pulled Yunho in for a side hug. It was quick but still caught Yunho off guard, causing him to slightly jump.
"Oh, are you not a hugging type of person? I'm so sorry. I just got excited," Drelle quickly said, pulling away.
Yunho shook his head.
"It's okay. I was just a little surprised, that's all."
Drelle nodded.
"Well, I should get going now. Again, I'm sorry if I startled you."
With that, Drelle turned away, waving goodbye. Yunho waved back and shut the door.
"Hm, I guess he's a physical touch type of person."
He remembered how Drelle grabbed his wrist before to look at the bracelet Irene gave him, an action that also gave him a start.
"He could do it less suddenly, though..."
It didn't matter too much to Yunho, so he returned his attention to the piece of parchment lying on his floor and the ink blots splattered around a small space around it.
"Let me clean this up first."
---
Drelle walked out of building 4, letting the breeze ruffle his hair.
The sky was still bright, and the sun shone brightly on everything below.
He paused for a moment and turned his head to take another glimpse at building 4, which was now far behind him.
Returning his gaze forward, he looked down at his hands, running his thumb over the fading scars on his fingers.
Drelle chuckled to himself and, wordlessly, continued on his walk.
---
End of Chapter 40