Noah looked at the loner wolf’s drooping ears and tail and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Something urgent popped up?” He guessed. Otherwise, why would Levi suddenly change his mind after coming out of a call with Astar daddy?

The ‘ate a loss’ Astar Levi nodded his head weakly, “Mn. Extremely pressing. Has to be handled ASAP. I’m afraid I won’t be getting much rest tonight.” Then, seeing his baby’s concerned little face, he added, “Don’t worry. It’s only this one time. I’ll manage without soothing tonight, and you can soothe me to sleep tomorrow.”

Blackie, ‘…Only this one time? ಠಿ_ಠ So you are saying that you intend to sleep WITHOUT my host only this ONE time?? ಠ_ಠ

‘…Host, how are you not picking up on this?!’ щ（ﾟДﾟщ）

Seeing Levi’s determination despite the dejection, Noah didn’t wish to delay Levi from his urgent matter any longer. Though his heart ached for the other, what Levi needed right now were not empty words of encouragement and concern but– “Can I help?” –actual help.

Levi was about to refuse, telling his baby that this was something only he could do, but midway through, he changed his mind, and his ‘no’ changed into a nod, “Mn.”

Noah’s distressed look turned into expectation. If he could help shoulder some of Levi’s burden, that would be great! He might be feeling tired from the long day, but he wasn’t THAT tired. He still had some juice leftover in him that could be put to good use! And what better use than to help out this future husband of his?

Blackie, (・―・) ‘…So you are saying you still have juice left in you that should be fully squeezed out by your hubby because that’s the best use for it?’

Noah suddenly heard his system crazily cackling within his head, nearly making him flinch. Was it just him, or did his system’s laughter sometimes sound rather… indecent?

In any case, tsk! He was in the middle of something here, yet his system just had to randomly interrupt with his nonsense! (ꐦ °Д°)

Blackie, (ಡ艸ಡ) “Don’t mind me. By all means, please go ahead and put your juice to good use!”

Noah ignored the other’s nonsense with practiced ease. Instead, he expectantly waited for Levi to explain what he needed help with. The other didn’t keep him in suspense for long. He locked eyes with Noah, and with a somber demeanor of a warrior heading for the most dangerous of battlefields, he pointed to… his own cheek.

Uncomprehending Noah, “…?” ( •᷄⌓•᷅ )

“A kiss would make me feel better,” the grim-faced Levi stated as a matter of fact.

Noah, “… … … …

“Goodnight.” Noah decisively turned his back to this shameless rogue and speed-walked it out of there with a fiery red face.

Levi wistfully stared at his baby’s delectable neon pink ears peeking out of the fluffy hair as the other ran away, and his mouth twitched several times. ‘Ah… it was worth a shot…’ ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Once Noah turned a corner, Levi closed his bedroom doors with a tsk, followed by a sigh. He really wanted to cuddle with his baby tonight! Alas… there was nothing he could do about it…

Eh? Wasn’t Levi 100% confident that not even the apocalypse could prevent him from sleeping with his baby tonight? So, what kind of “more important than the end of the world” matter could make him decisively abandon his previous plans?

Well…

It all started earlier today with the cunning Cordia daddy. Cordia daddy was, after all, a city lord that was used to dealing with all sorts of different problems. And different people. Who might be the mentioned problems.

Anyway, how would Cordia daddy be unable to tell that this shameless son-in-law of his was only pretending to be obedient on the surface? Of course, Cordia daddy knew very well that his current tactic was far from sufficient! He might be able to keep this rogue of a son-in-law from eating his baby son’s tofu during the day, but who knows what he’d do tonight behind closed doors? He could prevent the wolf from sneaking into his son’s bedroom at night, but he couldn’t prevent his sheep of a son from entering the wolf’s den himself!

Ah, it was really hard to keep this little sheep from getting eaten when the sheep was working for the other team, cluelessly sending himself to the wolf on a silver platter!!! (◞‸ლ)

Thus, after considering his options, Cordia daddy settled on what he perceived to be the best course of action – he called Levi’s mother to get her to control her son. (≖‿≖)

The ball was now in Astar mommy’s court, but how would she, as a mother who knew her son well, not recognize the difficulty of the task she had been assigned? Not only was this headache-inducing task arduous and thankless, but it was also something she definitely did not want to get herself involved in!

And thus, Astar mommy, as a wise first lady of Astarea, also quickly deduced the best course of action.

And thus, this hot potato was, of course, flung to her husband to handle. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

The henpecked husband, the city lord of Astarea and Levi’s father, sadly had no one else he could pass this hot potato to. Because he, too, knew his son well. And there was simply no one else capable enough to wrestle with his son and emerge victorious! Ai, once his son decided on something, he was a mule that couldn't be reasoned with! That was an S-ranked Enforcer, ah!

Usually, Astar daddy would just let his son have his way; however, as this task was something entrusted to him by his darling wife, it had to be taken seriously and done without fail!

Otherwise, he’d risk sleeping on the couch tonight…

Hence, Astar daddy silently brooded for a while, going over the full 36 stratagems one by one. After evaluating all of his options, he picked up his communicator and gave his son a call.

“Father,” Levi nodded solemnly through the light screen.

“Son,” Astar daddy nodded back with an equal amount of somberness.

One father and one son eyed each other in silence for a moment – Levi assessing the purpose of this call, while Astar daddy was assessing his son’s attitude. Astar daddy remembered his wife telling him that their son was smitten with the Cordia boy, and looking at his son’s poorly disguised impatience, that indeed seemed to be the case. His son had gone into a room to take the call in private, and he was now simply itching to end it as soon as possible so he could go back to cuddling his darling!

Like father, like son. Astar daddy nodded his head and settled on one of his many plans that he thought had the highest chance of success and the best outcome for everyone involved.

Astar daddy’s tightly pressed lips relaxed, and his usual low and cold voice emerged in between, “Have you made sufficient preparations for the wedding night?”

Levi’s tall form stiffened, “…?”

Noticing his son’s nearly tangible confusion, Astar daddy elaborated, “Have you prepared the right equipment? Do you have experience sleeping with a man? Do you know what to do? How to please your darling properly? Mn?”

Levi, “… … … …”

Astar daddy squinted his eyes, scanning up and down the shades of enlightenment that colored his son’s face, and then nodded in satisfaction. “Time is tight. Study hard.”

And with that, he hung up.

At that moment, the eavesdropping Blackie stood dumbfounded, and then he couldn’t help but take off his virtual hat in respect for this great lord! Astar daddy’s efficiency was really off the charts! He knew exactly where to hit to make his enemies kneel! His reputation as a famous general was not undeserved! No wonder his city was flourishing, and his enemies were hiding with their tails between their legs!

Levi, too, stood there dumbfounded. By gods, his old man was right! How could he have overlooked something of such great importance?! Sure, he knew the basics and had even prepared condoms and lube, but his understanding of the intricacies was still lacking! He needed to study this craft in detail for his baby’s sake!

What if he didn’t do it right and his baby refused to sleep with him again?! Or even worse, what if he ended up injuring his precious?!

He had even naively bought the highest-rated brand of condoms and lube without bothering to investigate it in detail! What if there were more suitable alternatives out there? His baby deserved nothing less than the best!

In fact, what if there were some tools he didn’t know about that could be used to enhance the experience for his baby, yet he, in his arrogance and illusion of knowledge, missed learning about it?!

Suddenly, Noah, who had been patiently waiting outside for Levi to finish his call, felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

- Author Note -

My day has not gone well today. The stuffy feeling inside my chest made me restless. I just couldn’t enjoy anything, not even things I usually enjoy, such as games. I also felt listless and didn’t feel like doing anything.

In the middle of the day, I just felt so drained I put my entire to-do list on hold and holed up in my bedroom, trying to just fall asleep and get this day over with. I thought, “I don’t care whether I wake up in the middle of the night. Sleep makes everything better. I’m a person that is happy by default. When I wake up, I’ll be as good as new.”

But then, as I laid in bed, trying to fall asleep, I kept thinking about you guys. Whenever life gets me down, I start to think about you, my wonderful readers, and suddenly life seems sunny again. Knowing that there are many people out there that like me and my work, and that might, at this very moment, be waiting for me to publish a new chapter… it gives me the strength to get my laptop out and start writing!

Upon recalling that today I am supposed to release a chapter, I don’t feel the pressure of a deadline or an obligation. But a sudden motivation, feeling like I can do it. Like I can make a difference to someone else who might also be having a shitty day! (•̀‸•́)و

I might not be able to see it, but surely, there will be at least one person out there whose eyes will light up when they see a new chapter notification and whose mouth will curve into a smile as their eyes fly over the words I’ve written.

And if there is at least one person, then all of it is worth it.

And so, thinking that, suddenly, my worn-down spirit received an injection of energy, and this gloomy and stuffy feeling inside of my chest started to feel insignificant and irrelevant, like specks of dust blown away by the breeze. And thus, I managed to forget myself and my life for a while and pump out this chapter.

Now, after finishing it, I feel like I’ve done my part today, and now I can finally rest in peace.

(Not that kind of RIP! I am not leaving a suicide note or anything. XD)

On another note, Happy Easter, everyone! Here is an extra-long chapter for you to enjoy and I hope your weekend has been fantastic, and you’ve spent it in harmony with your loved ones – and most importantly – in harmony with great, tasty food. Ψ(✧﹃✧)Ψ

P.S. This chapter was supposed to be out yesterday but there was a problem with my publisher's platform so it couldn't get published. It did get published in other places though.