"Yes, my lord." The servants were back on their feet, though with pain-filled expressions as they worked the food platter.
They reached the bed and dropped the table they'd been carrying. With their heads bowed and their backs facing the door, they walked backward.
The tiger king then finally took his eyes off the servants and placed them on Aries. He smiled, and suddenly, he dragged him by the leg.
Aries was instantly shocked as his body was pulled out of his little hideout. He suddenly felt openly seen and scrambled to cover his exposed area with his hand.
He squirmed in embarrassment, his cheeks red and his lips pressed together as the tiger king raked his eyes over his body, his gaze hot on his skin.
The tiger king said, "Did you dress yourself up nicely for me?"
'Is he stupid? Wasn't he the one who asked it be made?' The words vibrated over Aries' skin. They gave him goosebumps; his eyes squeezed shut as his hands folded into fists beside him. Shame crawled all over him. Him? Dress for him, a beastlord? For what exactly?
Sure, he had problems getting a man in his world, but he didn't think it was bad enough to extend to the beastworld where he would be doing this much—going as far as wanting to seduce one.
'Fuck!' The shame made Aries grit his teeth in annoyance. Now the beastlord was just using him as an excuse for his own wants and requests.
Aries' eyes were still tightly shut when he felt the tiger king's hand hover over his face. He flinched hard, but he couldn't move far; a hand held his waist firmly in place, and Aries was suddenly pulled closer to the tiger king. His eyes snapped open, straight into the tiger king's face.
Time seemed to stop as Aries stared, fixated. He had never noticed it properly before, but—
"Your eyes are beautiful…"
"What did you say?" the tiger king asked, as though the compliment had caught him completely off guard.
Aries became aware of what had slipped from his mouth and he blushed lightly, his hand reaching up to scratch the back of his neck.
He cleared his throat and said, "Beastman—I mean, tiger king—I said your eyes are beautiful."
"They're this beautiful shade of brown with a touch of black… pure. The exact tiger color."
The rest he kept to himself. For someone from the modern world, seeing a humanoid figure with tiger-colored eyes was surprising. That brownish-milkish-black definitely captivated Aries.
"My name is Ravien."
The tiger king's voice sounded rich, almost velvety in Aries' ears, dragging his attention away from his eyes.
In his mind, he wondered why the supposedly tyrant king was telling him his name like something straight out of a romance novel.
Aries was still dazed when Ravien's hand brought his face forward again, forcing their eyes to meet.
"Come. Let's eat."
He moved away from Aries and focused on the meal before them.
"Huh?" Aries blinked. "No breeding again?"
At his words, Ravien turned back, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Are you that eager?"
His hand reached toward Aries and Aries quickly moved backward, but Ravien followed and caught him by the waist.
"Do you want me to turn you over now and get the ritual done?"
Aries smiled slightly at the teasing. "Not funny…"
He cautiously removed the tiger king's hand from his waist and moved to sit at the edge of the bed, directly facing the platter of food.
"I'm okay with eating first."
But when his eyes landed on the food, Aries almost gagged. He scanned the platter desperately for something that could be considered edible, and finally found it.
The water.
Perhaps.
The food before him looked unpalatable, unsavory, punishing and frustrating. The meat looked as though it had been dipped in coal and taken straight out. The other piece was raw.
He looked to the king and asked, "Are we going to be cooking this ourselves?"
Ravien gave Aries a weird look, then glanced at the meal. Instead of speaking, he did something shocking, he picked up the raw meat and brought it to his mouth.
Aries' eyes widened as the tiger king took a huge bite, chewed, swallowed, and only then said, "No. I eat my meals raw. I figured you might not want to, since you aren't a beast, so I had it tempered on fire for you."
"Oh… I see…" Aries nodded slowly.
His eyes returned to the unappealing meal. He picked up the drumstick with his hands. As expected of beastmen, especially wide-bodied ones, they likely ate domesticated animals that held no intelligence like theirs.
Aries brought the meat to his nose and almost gagged again. It was too charred, like a burnt offering. He opened his mouth and forced a tiny bite and chewing was almost impossible.
He felt like he could land a lead movie role faster than he could chew and swallow that meat.
It was hard, as if it had only been kissed by fire and yanked out. It was bland.
Unable to help himself, Aries spat the content out.
Ravien, meanwhile, was chewing happily, lips smacking.
"What?" he asked at Aries' reaction. "You don't like the food?"
"Why is it so bland? And how exactly was it cooked?"
But none of that made sense to the tiger king, and so Aries ended up eating nothing that night. His stomach grumbled as Ravien called the servants back and had them clear the table after he rinsed his hands.
Then he turned to Aries.
Aries' heart thumped hard.
It was finally time, right?
He breathed in and out, preparing himself for whatever the tiger king would do—all while keeping his own plan in mind.
Suddenly, Ravien's hand cupped his waist and dragged him closer. Aries looked up, their eyes meeting, and he smiled at those familiar shades of brown and black.
"Yes… this is the right time."
Aries exhaled softly, then reached down to Ravien's wrists. One by one, he lifted the tiger king's arms off his waist, easing himself free before pushing them gently apart. Only then did he rise from the bed.
Ravien's eyes followed him.
Aries stepped closer again, so close that he slid back between those parted arms and lowered himself onto the king's lap