Reborn as an SSS-Rank Guide in the Sentinel Academy [BL]

The second that attendant’s words hit him, Julian moved on pure panic instinct, throwing himself flat and yanking the blanket up over his head, going stiff and still like a man who’d been peacefully unconscious for hours.

’nope’ he thought. ’nope nope nope, not dealing with an Emperor five minutes after almost kissing a commander, I am ASLEEP, I have been asleep this whole time, I know nothing...’

The fox immediately dissolved into what could only be described as wheezing laughter, tails thumping against the mattress. "you absolute coward," it said, delighted, voice pitched for Julian’s ears only. "the mighty wall-keeper, slayer of a core-class Aberration, reduced to hiding under a blanket like a child avoiding bedtime."

’shut up, this is strategic’. Julian said in his mind.

"this is pathetic is what this is," the fox said, hopping up onto Julian’s blanket-covered head and settling there like a smug little hat. "wake up. WAKE UP. the Emperor of the entire nation is walking through that door right now and you’re going to greet him by pretending to be a lump."

’that’s the plan yes’

"host," the fox said, voice dropping into something gleeful, "this unit would like you to know that this is, without question, the single funniest thing you have done since transmigrating."

’I will end you I swear it’

"you can’t. I’m a strategic asset with excellent fur. now wake. up."

Julian felt the fox’s teeth sink sharp into his ear through the blanket, and he yelped before he could stop himself, sitting bolt upright with a strangled "OUCH—" that echoed embarrassingly loud through the now very silent room.

Which was, of course, exactly when the door opened.

Julian froze, blanket bunched around his waist, hair a disaster, face still flushed from both the bite and the whole almost-kiss situation five minutes earlier, staring directly at the man now standing in the doorway.

He was young. Younger than Julian expected for someone who apparently ran an entire empire, sharp features and dark hair and the kind of presence that filled up a room before he’d even said a single word. His expression was cool, composed, controlled in a way that felt less like coldness and more like something deliberately, carefully held in place.

And underneath all that control, there was something in his eyes when they landed on Julian that made every instinct Julian built over three years of survival stand straight up and start screaming.

’that’s not just cold’ Julian thought, pulse spiking. ’that’s something else. that’s...I don’t know what that is, but I don’t like it.’

Reid straightened immediately into a formal stance, one fist over his heart. "Your Majesty."

The Emperor didn’t even glance at him. His eyes stayed locked on Julian, and he walked forward slow, unhurried, the kind of walk that belonged to somebody who never once in his life had to worry about anyone telling him to wait.

He stopped directly in front of the bed.

Up close, Julian could see just how young he really was, couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Julian himself, and something about that made the whole situation feel even stranger, more unsettling somehow, like power and youth weren’t supposed to sit together this comfortably on one face.

"Julian Valerian," the Emperor said, voice quiet, even, deliberate. "the Empire’s first SSS-Rank Guide."

"that’s me," Julian said, and hated how his voice came out slightly unsteady.

The Emperor tilted his head slightly, studying him the way someone studies something they’ve already decided they want. "tell me something," he said. "which arrogant Guide refuses an offer from the Emperor himself."

Julian’s stomach dropped. ’he already knows about Jayden’s proposal. of course he does.’

"the same one who’ll refuse yours too, probably," Julian said, forcing steadiness into his voice even as every nerve in his body screamed at him to be careful, be very, very careful.

Something flickered behind the Emperor’s eyes, not anger exactly, something closer to interest, sharp and unsettling.

Then he reached out, slow and deliberate, and took hold of Julian’s chin, fingers firm, tilting his face up with a grip that wasn’t painful but left absolutely no room for Julian to pull away.

The whole room went dead silent. Reid’s hand twitched toward his weapon and stopped. The fox had gone completely still on the pillow, golden eyes wide.

"I don’t make offers twice," the Emperor said quietly, thumb brushing once along Julian’s jaw, eyes never leaving his. "so I suggest you think very carefully before you decide to refuse me the way you refused my cousin."

Julian’s breath caught. "...cousin," Julian repeated slowly.

The Emperor’s mouth curved, just barely, into something that wasn’t quite a smile.

"Jayden didn’t tell you," he said, "that I’m the one who sent him to that academy in the first place?"