CH 23

-…How did you find out?

Sethian heard a voice this time.

He felt his stuffy chest and nerves that were lying on edge for the last few days finally soften. Still, for some reason, he didn’t feel good.

“Why didn’t you call me as soon as you got here?”

The strange presence that stopped in front of him obviously had no intention of calling him. It just stared at him, and if he hadn’t noticed, it would have disappeared without saying a word.

-It just turned out that way….

It was a moderately bright and pleasant voice as usual. However, Sethian noticed the subtle tremors mixed in it.

-You were taking a shower when I got here, uhm, and it’s also embarrassing….

He doesn’t think that’s the case, but he can’t properly figure it out because he doesn’t have a body. If he was really in front of him, he would have caught it without missing a single thing.

The angle of the eyebrows, the movement of the pupils, the trembling of the eyes, the heat on the cheeks, the shape of the lips, the voice that flows through them.

Putting all together, he would have been able to figure out what state he was in.

However, the only information he can get now is the voice he hears inside his head and his faint presence.

‘How frustrating.’

He has felt it occasionally before, but it’s especially frustrating today.

-Oh, right, quickly finish taking your bath. You’re going to catch a cold if you stay like this for a long time.

You are the sickly patient here, who are you worried about?

“Then you stay with me.”

-Huh?

He stretched out his hand towards the empty space. He wanted to touch the faintly lumped air, but his hands couldn’t catch anything.

He lowered his hand, which could only trace his presence, and approached the edge of the bath where he could lean on his back. He took a seat there first, sat down, and gestured towards the motionless presence.

“Come here.”

He could feel the signs of Yi-Gyeol approaching. Then it really stopped as if it had settled next to him.

“Did something happen?”

-Oh…, Uhm…. I came a little late, right?

Again, there was trembling in his voice. If they had been face to face, he thought he would have had a bitter smile while avoiding his gaze.

-Nothing special really happened….

“Roughly calculating, you’re approximately 38 hours late.”

Sethian ran his wet hands across his hair.

“You can’t have been awake in your world for that long, and even if you’re asleep, it has a very big difference from your usual sleep time.”

-….

Yi-Gyeol didn’t say anything. So it was even more frustrating. No matter how much he looks at it, it’s clear that something happened. He is even trying to press down his usually chattering voice. He doesn’t seem to know that it worries people even more.

‘Worry?’

Sethian’s forehead slightly wrinkled by the word that unrealizingly came to mind.

‘Him?’

It was ridiculous. He doesn’t know if it’s because other people have been worrying about him all his life, but he has never worried about anyone before. He was a person who always thought that having such useless sentiment was a waste of emotions and nerves.

But such a person as himself is worried about Yi-Gyeol.

As soon as he thought that, his mood turned sour again. It was extremely unpleasant that the other person could unilaterally block their connection.

Sethian believes that all of these feelings were due to losing control over others for the first time in his life.

‘I have to tie him up.’

If he doesn’t want to feel this way again.

He had a sense of possessiveness that astonished even himself. Even the throne, which he was not so interested in even until just now, seemed that he could aim at it with extreme enthusiasm.

‘But before that….’

He has to know what happened to Yi-Gyeol and what he’s thinking.

Sethian turned his gaze to look at the faint presence beside him. At first glance, it felt as if it had disappeared without a sound.

“Do you not want to tell me?”

-….

It was certain there was something going on. It’s the first time he’s seen Yi-Gyeol as quiet as he is now.

“If there’s anything you want to say, just say it.”

Sethian waited patiently for him to speak. However, only the sound of water dripping from somewhere could be heard, and Yi-Gyeol’s voice was not heard at all.

It was only after a long time that Yi-Gyeol, who had not said anything, finally made a sound.

-I’m so glad I met you when I first came here.

Sethian felt something strange as he brooded over Yi-Gyeol’s words in his head.

-You can hear my voice, you listen to my stories, and you even attentively treat me like a friend…. Thank you. Even though I can’t do anything for you…!

“Joo Yi-Gyeol.”

Sethian cut off Yi-Gyeol’s words in a low voice.

“What in the world are you doing right now?”

A harsh voice came out. It’s been a long time since he has been this emotional.

-…I just want to say thank you….

“If my guess for the reason of the greeting is correct, I don’t intend to accept it.”

-Seth….

Yi-Gyeol’s trembling voice was heard.

-I think it’s going to be hard to come and go like this moving forward.

“Why?”

You were fine coming up until now. You even came every day.

-I just feel…so tired….

Sethian could feel Yi-Gyeol crying at his blurring words.

-I tried to hold on, but it was so hard that I don’t think I can do it anymore.

Now, without even thinking of hiding it, Yi-Gyeol spoke in a weary voice. For some reason, the more he continued, the more Sethian felt his insides hurt and irritated.

-I’m useless and incompetent….

“Why are you useless?”

He felt something hot running down his throat.

“You’ve helped me a lot of times.”

-No, it’s only you…, I was only helpful to you.

Sethian felt that if things continue as it is, Yi-Gyeol would disappear just like this. Yi-Gyeol thinks that no one needs him, but it was different for Sethian. For Sethian, he was a special kind of interest and subject of study, and he was also the only person who helped him without asking anything in return. And like now, he was a person from another world who could unconsciously touch his various emotions.

‘I won’t let you disappear just like this.’

After realizing that Yi-Gyeol had come to say goodbye, Sethian had no intention of letting him just go.

“Then can’t you just keep on helping me? Was that being useless to you?”

-….

“I’m disappointed.”

He saw Yi-Gyeol’s presence, who had stopped talking, shake slightly. Still, it seems to have caused quite as much confusion as he intended.

Sethian rose from his seat. A strong muscular body with the heat of the bath was clearly exposed.

“If you really want to say goodbye, come back next time. I won’t accept it right now.”

Leaving those words behind, Sethian tried to leave the bathroom.

-Seth….

Yi-Gyeol called to him in a trembling voice but Sethian didn’t look back on purpose.

-I’m sorry. Are you…angry?

He sounded much more frightened than usual. Still, Sethian did not let him off the hook.

“Come back, Joo Yi-Gyeol. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Leaving those words, Sethian left Yi-Gyeol alone in the bath.

⋆♚⋆♛⋆♚⋆

After changing into new clothes, Sethian went outside and ordered Lenox to follow him.

“I’ll stop by the owner of the tower before we depart. Get ready.”

“But if you do that, you won’t have enough time to get to the Duke’s estate.”

“I’ll go on horseback too. It would be much faster than riding a carriage.”

“Yes, then I’ll pass it that way.”

Hearing Lenox’s answer, Sethian, who moved his feet, exuded a much more dangerous atmosphere than when he entered the bath.

‘How dare you decide to die on your own?’

He knew what kind of disease Yi-Gyeol was suffering from and how neglected he was in his home like a useless piece of garbage. He doesn’t know if something happened in the meantime, but his self-esteem, which was already low, has hit rock bottom. Not only that, but seeing him come all the way here and say goodbye like that, it seems he was thinking of doing something extreme.

‘There’s no way I’ll let you.’

Even though Sethian knew that he was not acting like his usual calm and cold self right now, he did not bother to adjust it. If he returns to his calm state, he thought he would lose Yi-Gyeol as he calculated this and that.

‘I need to put him on a collar first.’

After that, he’ll extract the maximum interest and stimulation he can get from him. But for now, he had to get the initiative and hold the leash.

Sethian looked out the window in the hallway and looked at the tall stone tower. He remembered Roa’s face, the owner of the magic tower on top of it.

‘It seems you’ve won.’

Sethian’s eyes were disapproving, but he was stepping into the tower before long.

♛