What Solen saw when he woke up was the sky—the clear white-blue sky he rarely saw this close—right above him, as sunlight poured into his eyes. He squinted, covering them with his arm.
Could it be he was dreaming? Or was it heaven? But it was impossible, the God hate demon, he would go to hell instead.
"Is it too bright for you, Sol? I can control the sunlight so it won't disturb your sleep."
Hearing that, Solen jolted upright in bed. He looked around and spotted someone he knew too well, sitting by the bookcase in the corner of the room.
His golden eyes were focused on a book, silver hair falling over part of his face.
But Solen didn't need to see him clearly to know who he was.
It was Caelum.
"Where the hell am I?! And why is there a choker on me?!"
Solen shouted, his hands instinctively reaching for his neck, where a black choker clung tightly, suffocating to wear.
He also found that most of the circular room was made of transparent glass, stretching up into a dome that covered the sky.
Even the left wall was made of the same glass—structured like a bee's honeycomb, translucent and glimmering.
"That's an artifact to seal your magic," Caelum said with a smile. "Isn't it cute on you? You don't like the color or the style? I can change it for you."
Solen only frowned in response, he was so frustrated he tugged at the choker forcefully, but it wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried.
He couldn't feel his mana either, he tried to stretch his hand and chant, but nothing came out...
He was trapped here with no power at all and no one would ever search for him.
Solen's face turned pale as the realization hit him like a brick.
Caelum who looking at him so stressed out just laughed and shook his head, "It's unbreakable."
"And this is my sanctuary," he continued, standing up and approaching him.
Solen instinctively scooted back on the bed to maintain distance.
"I call it Solum—Solen and Caelum combined. Good, isn't it?" he said with a smile as he reached out and grabbed his omega wrist tightly.
"What are you doing, my love? Why don't you come closer?" he asked, his voice dripping with honeyed sweetness.
"You... You're insane! Let me the hell out of here!" Solen shouted, struggling to push his hand away.
But Caelum only pulled him closer instead, capturing him in a firm embrace.
"Why are you always trying to run away from me?" Caelum asked, his voice low, filled with sadness and anger.
"Back then too... you left me alone after we slept together. Aren't you too cold to me?"
His voice softened even more as he leaned on his neck and inhaled Solen's omega pheromones—the warm, musky scent of white amber, laced with jasmine and sandalwood.
A comforting scent. A scent Caelum had longed for, calling his name on lonely nights, in endless searching.
Right now, the same person was in front of him. Helpless like a kitten with no power and no home to come back. He just has him and he would make sure he only needs him for the rest of his life.
Solen flushed, his body instinctively wanting to respond to his alpha—but he resisted. He would rather die than be embraced by his enemy. With all his strength, he pushed Caelum away.
"All of it was a mistake! It was out of my control!" Solen snapped, glaring at Caelum.
Caelum simply tilted his head, smiling slyly.
"But the fact that your body yearns for me... isn't that enough proof your heart wants me too?"
Then Caelum knelt and grabbed Solen's ankle, pressing a kiss to it so softly that his omega instincts trembled in confusion and helplessness. His golden eyes looked sharply up at him.
"I won't do anything against your will. I only want you to stay by my side..." he whispered, his lips traveling up Solen's leg and thigh, gently nibbling, leaving red marks against sun-kissed skin.
Sometimes he licked him softly, the cool wet sensation making Solen shiver. It was uncomfortable, humiliating—yet somehow, he didn't entirely hate it.
When Caelum's mouth reached the sensitive inner thigh, Solen groaned, grabbing at his silver hair.
"S-Stop..." his voice trembled, fighting against the rising heat inside him. He didn't want to make the same mistake again.
Caelum stopped then, leaning closer until their faces were only inches apart. He could feel his breath against his lips.
"See? I won't do anything you don't like."
"Then let go of me," Solen muttered, covering his face to avoid looking at him.
"That's the one thing I won't give you," Caelum said, his voice turning colder. "Why do you want to run away from me so badly?"
"You don't want to be with me... not even a little?"
The question hit Solen's heart like a dagger, burning painfully. He wanted to say, It's not what I meant—but no words came out.
Especially when Caelum looked at him with such eyes, the eyes that looked like he could break at any moment and any time.
Caelum sighed and turned his back to him, staring at the floor where Solen couldn't see his expression. After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"I have some business to take care of. Stay here and be a good boy," he said, smiling faintly before teleporting away—leaving Solen alone in the vast, glass-domed room, with only his own racing heart for company.
***
"So, Hero, what explanation do you have for your grave mistake?"
The King asked—Gideon, the powerful ruler who claimed the throne after a bloody fight against his brothers.
Even with his hair turned gray and wrinkles around his blue eyes, he still radiated the aura of a seasoned knight, making anyone who saw him instinctively back down.
But not Caelum.
"I take care of him, did I not, Your Majesty?"
Caelum asked, his expression unbelievably calm, even in the middle of this important court meeting where every finger was pointed at him in blame.
"Hah! What arrogance!" the king spat. "You deceived not only me, but the entire kingdom—and shamelessly accepted the rewards! Such disgrace!"
Caelum only gave him a crooked smile. "Your Majesty, if you're only here to blame me, may I take my leave?"
At those words, the court members gasped, some even cursing him for his rudeness toward the king. But Gideon didn't seem bothered by it.
Instead, he asked the real question, the one that weighed on everyone's mind:
"This time—you have truly defeated him, haven't you?"