The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

Chapter 1024: Non-Negotiable

For some reason, even the soft hum of the central units seemed to quiet at the muttering of a certain blonde.

Kyle paused.

Not that he didn’t want that answer, but more like he simply hadn’t expected to hear that.

But then, coupled with his throbbing heart, his expression softened.

He reached out and took Ollie’s hand.

"...?"

Their fingers brushed, and a quiet warmth passed between them. Slowly, the towering adjutant guided that delicate hand upward until it rested against his chest.

Right where his spiritual core should be.

"Right... here," Kyle murmured.

They looked at each other.

The blonde’s face was already burning, the blush spreading without restraint. It really should have been the height of romance, a moment of high tension that felt like it should’ve been frozen in time.

But then—

Ollie’s face suddenly morphed into something extremely serious.

"How?" he asked, suddenly serious. "How do I sign here today?"

The blonde absolutely meant it.

He was genuinely serious about what he just asked.

Because what if his Kyle woke up tomorrow and decided that this was just a limited-time offer?

That couldn’t possibly be allowed, right?

As such, the suddenly serious star demanded to know the logistics right away.

Meanwhile, the adjutant looked at his mop like he was seeing him for the first time today.

Then, for a moment, Kyle wondered what he was ever going to do with this one.

But more than that, he felt something else.

Something warm.

Something certain.

He tilted his head, making up his mind, and pulled Ollie’s hand away from his chest—though he continued to hold it reverently.

Then, to Ollie Mylor’s complete shock—

Kyle went down on one knee.

There was no hesitation.

No awkwardness.

It simply felt natural.

Like it had always been leading to this.

He lifted Ollie’s hand and pressed a respectful kiss against it, like a knight greeting the one he had chosen.

Then his other hand moved, quietly using his space button as a small box appeared. Kyle gently released Ollie’s hand, just enough to open it.

And held it up for his little star to see.

It was a ring.

No.

Not just any ring, but the tangible proof of his commitment, dreams, and plea.

It was everything he hoped and wanted for in their future.

Provided his beloved would have him...

"Please be my world... Will you marry me?"

"!!!"

There was no mistaking the sincerity in his eyes.

For someone like Kyle Nox, who was always composed and certain, the way he sounded now was different. There was hope in it. Something almost like a quiet prayer.

The moment landed intensely.

So intensely that Ollie, who had been standing just fine a second ago, suddenly dropped.

"!"

Practically melting right on the floor.

He fell back on his butt, and a worried Kyle, whose expression had tightened in concern, immediately lunged to catch him.

"Ollie—"

But the blonde had already raised a shaky hand, pointing a trembling finger at him.

"Y-you!" Ollie gasped, fanning his face with his remaining appendage. "You didn’t have to do it so well! And you didn’t have to be so handsome!"

Kyle blinked.

"You could’ve done it looking moderately good, and I-I would’ve been able to survive it!"

"...?"

What?

"Now look at me!" Ollie went on, clutching his chest dramatically as if his life depended on it. "I’m so weak that y-you have to put the ring on me!"

He thrust out his hand, trembling more than before, yet somehow holding on to a complete, unwavering determination.

"!"

"!!!"

Kyle stared at him, initially stuck processing the development of events.

For a moment, when his mop had fallen, his thoughts had gone somewhere much, much worse.

But after hearing and carefully processing it, a smirk slowly formed on his lips as he realized what his person just said.

Meanwhile, Ollie’s eyes had been squeezed shut in embarrassment, but when he opened them, he saw Kyle looking at him with a relieved smile.

"...What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

The much taller man let out a breath.

"This," he said, lifting the box slightly, "is what I picked up at home."

Then, surprisingly, he continued while reaching for something else.

"As you probably already know, this is one of the Nox family heirlooms," he explained. "It would allow us to establish a life contract."

Ollie blinked in both understanding and confusion.

"I was going to ask you to hold onto it," Kyle continued. "So that when you’re ready to be permanently tied to me, we could wear it together."

He lifted a chain.

"That’s why I brought this too. So you could wear it anytime, but without the pressure of deciding about something so serious right when you’re asked."

"I thought it would help you feel more secure..."

His voice lowered.

"But at the same time, you’d have a concrete reminder that the goal was always to end up together. For a lifetime."

Kyle exhaled.

Then gave a short scoff at himself.

"But who was I kidding?" he muttered. "That short moment before you told me to put it on you... I thought I was going to die."

He put a hand over his face in resignation, covering his eyes.

Ollie, meanwhile, had leaned forward.

Curious.

The blonde took the opportunity and reached out to touch the ring, turning it lightly between his fingers while his man spoke about his earlier realization.

"Really..." Kyle shook his head again. "Between the two of us, I think I’m really the one in need of this."

Because that silence had been unbearable.

Honestly, Kyle Nox’s heart had hammered at the thoughts that plagued his mind.

Ollie refusing.

Ollie keeping the ring but never wearing it.

Ollie staying just out of reach, like a star that could be seen but never held.

His terminal would’ve shown how short that moment of silence actually was, but in his mind, he’d already suffered several medical emergencies imagining the probability of Ollie saying no.

And wow. Just the thought he’d conjured was apparently worse than getting shot.

"..."

Kyle realized the mop hadn’t said a word since he’d finished his confession.

Concerned, he finally removed the hand covering his eyes, only to be met with a surprise.

Ollie had his tongue out, looking both intensely serious and mischievous.

"?"

Suddenly, more concerned than earlier, Kyle’s gaze dropped only to see an empty ring box.

But before he could react, he saw it clearly.

His little star had actually taken the ring for himself and, remembering his good brother’s explanation on how these things worked, had already split it into two as Kyle reflected on himself.

He’d slipped one onto his own finger before Kyle could even process what was happening.

By the time Kyle caught him in the act, Ollie was already sliding the second ring onto Kyle’s finger—it just wasn’t all the way in yet.

But it was close.

Very close.

Caught red-handed and looking like he was up to no good, the brilliant star decided to just go for it and face the scolding later.

He pushed the ring home.

"!!!"

Instantly, an array of symbols and glyphs erupted, swirling around both of them.

Kyle was seriously dumbfounded as the golden glyphs crawled from his finger toward his chest, engulfing the entire room in a blinding radiance.

When the light finally died down, Ollie looked innocently at Kyle as if he hadn’t just bypassed every traditional protocol.

He had guilt written all over his lips, but his forehead practically screamed: "innocent." They sat there on the floor, staring at each other in the silence. Then, as if he’d finally gone insane, Kyle just lost it. He laughed until he was completely out of breath.

"!!!"

Ollie Mylor, the known troublemaker who’d just bypassed ceremonies and loving words alike, pouted to the side while attempting to justify himself. "You were taking too long..." He couldn’t quite look at Kyle directly as he said it. "And you were saying useless things like using a chain..."

Kyle listened to the grumbling before dropping forward, falling onto the mop with a soft "Ooof!" They both ended up sprawled on the floor with Kyle’s head resting on his mop’s chest.

"Yes," Kyle murmured against him. "Sorry about that. I was taking too long and thinking about unnecessary things."

"Y-yes, you did!" Ollie stammered. "What if you do too much thinking and in your cost-benefit analysis you realize I’m a bad deal? Too much thinking isn’t too good, you know..."

The embarrassing complaint laid bare his vulnerability; he, too, had been scared of losing Kyle.

The newly tied-up adjutant’s shoulders were still shaking with leftover laughter as he hugged his little star’s slender waist. Kyle looked up, his face still trying to contain his amusement. But unbeknownst to Kyle, he looked so bright and sunny from the good news that Ollie stopped mid-breath. Looking at him, Ollie realized that between the two of them, maybe Kyle was the actual star.

With a smile so bright it transfixed the blonde, Kyle said, "Never. You’ll always be my non-negotiable."

The smile reached Kyle’s eyes, and there, sprawled on the floor with only the night as their witness, Ollie responded dazedly, "Ah. I love you too."

In his ears, what his boyfriend said sounded exactly like a confession of love.

Kyle heard the response and just broke down. He really would never be able to win against his little star.

Even here, his wife would always be the first to win.