CH 38

Sethian took off his cloak and wrapped it around Yi-Gyeol’s shoulder, then stood with his back as if he was covering him with his own body. Feeling extremely uncomfortable, he glared coldly at Roa. Noticing that his hand was on the handle of the sword at his waist, Roa urgently explained the situation.

“I, I just checked if there are any issues with the flow of mana.”

Sethian still didn’t erase his frosty glare and looked back at Yi-Gyeol over his shoulder. Seeing the innocent, puzzled eyes and the naked body roughly covered by the cloak, the surrounding air immediately froze. The hand holding the handle of the sword tightened. Still, he couldn’t shed blood in front of Yi-Gyeol, so he didn’t draw his sword.

‘That’ll be brutal.’

Roa swallowed his dry saliva and smiled awkwardly. Even so, Yi-Gyeol, who was obscured by Sethian, became even more interesting in his eyes.

This was clearly Sethian’s misunderstanding, but in fact, usually whatever it was, if he didn’t like anything due to his character, Sethian would have ruthlessly unsheathed his sword by now. Unlike in the Magic Tower, he could not use magic in the Imperial Castle, so he would not be able to defend properly and would have been cut somewhere or gotten seriously injured, but Sethian did not pull his sword contrary to his momentum. That’s because of the innocent man behind him.

‘I thought it was strange that he exhorted the Crown Prince position, which he didn’t even have in mind, just to create a body, but now….’

He thought deeply and quickly erased some of his thoughts. Even if no one else knows, it is a hypothesis that cannot be established with Crown Prince ‘Cold-as-Ice’ Sethian. Maybe it’s simply because he’s someone who can satisfy his momentary interest. He also clearly stated that the reason he used the golden magic was because of his ‘interest in the soul’.

Roa, who had been thinking all kinds of things by himself in the ice-like thin air, heard a rustling sound that seemed to break the silence. Sethian also heard the sound and tried to turn around, but was abruptly grasped by something.

“Stay still. I’ll just wear some clothes.”

Before they knew it, Yi-Gyeol, who was only wearing his underwear, had already put the cloak that Sethian wrapped on him on the table and was now clasping his back. As Yi-Gyeol slightly lowered his eyes and chewed his lips in embarrassment, Sethian could no longer move and could only stand still.

It was not only after getting shielded by Sethian and putting on clothes one by one that Yi-Gyeol, who now has a more at ease expression on his face, sticks his head out of Sethian’s body. And just in time, his eyes met with Roa who was confronting Sethian in nervousness.

“Thanks for taking a look at me.”

He said politely and bowed his head and Roa also quickly bowed.

“It’s nothing. As I said before, there is no need to worry too much about the numbness in your body as you can just take enough vitality.”

At the kind words, Yi-Gyeol asked cautiously.

“By any chance… Is it okay to go for a light walk?”

He hadn’t been stuck in the room for as long as he used to in the past, but looking outside on a fine sunny day, he thought he wanted to go out even for a while. Although he had to have a cane, he couldn’t help but feel greedy because he was now able to walk on his own two feet. Seeing himself that way, his heart was pounding and he wanted to go out quickly, which made him feel even more impatient.

Roa looked at Sethian’s expression and smiled softly.

“If you can walk without a cane, a little bit will be fine. However, you must not overdo it, so you should never go alone.”

“Thank you.”

Yi-Gyeol smiled brightly and was delighted. Seeing this, Roa’s face automatically put on a warm smile. Sethian, who was so dissatisfied with something, once again covered Yi-Gyeol’s face with his body and sharply opened his eyes.

“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with him?”

“Yes. I’ll come back to check again in a week, but he’s in good shape for now.”

Upon hearing Roa’s confirmation, Sethian gestured to the door with his chin as if he already had done his job and should be gone. After receiving the silent order, Roa politely bowed with an awkward smile and headed toward the door.

“Please get back safely.”

Yi-Gyeol stuck his head out of Sethian’s body again and greeted him in a friendly manner. Roa, who had put his hand on the doorknob, couldn’t just leave and turned around and smiled pleasantly at him once more. Then, thinking that he was a very cute young man, he walked out the door regretfully.

When the door opened and closed, and only the two of them remained, Sethian finally faced Yi-Gyeol. With Yi-Gyeol looking at him with a smile as if he was excited, the displeasure that had been filling Sethian up until just now seemed to have been completely washed away. 

“When will I be able to walk without a cane?”

His voice was a little giddy, and he was a tone higher than usual. Every time he catches each small change in Yi-Gyeol, he feels better for some reason.

Sethian grabbed Yi-Gyeol’s hand, who was about to hang his cloak back on his shoulder, took it, and put it on the back of the empty chair.

“As soon as you have enough vitality and can eat more than you do now.”

“Umm…, But I’m already eating a lot….”

It was far from enough compared to the amount Sethian eats, but Yi-Gyeol always said he was full without even eating much. However, he can’t make him thoughtlessly overeat, so he made him eat five meals a day instead. Thanks to that, he seems to have gained a little weight recently, but he still looks thin to Sethian.

“Let’s increase the amount of food a little bit more.”

“It’s plenty enough already…. If you keep doing this, my belly will stick out like an old man.”

Sethian imagined Yi-Gyeol with a protruding belly, grinned and carried him.

“That doesn’t sound bad either.”

“What do you mean it’s not bad. Of course, it is.”

“If it was you, I think it would be worth looking at even if your stomach was sticking out.”

“Aren’t you saying that just because it’s not your body?”

Sethian, who walked with a pouting Yi-Gyeol, gently laid him down on the bed.

“In any case, if it is you, you are free to leave your body, so you don’t really have to insist on going out for a walk, right?”

“There’s a difference between walking around with only your soul and walking on your own feet.”

Yi-Gyeol looked excited once again.

“I thought I would never be able to walk on my own two feet again. I hope I get healthy soon so that I can walk and run.”

Sethian looked down at his beaming smile and patted his head involuntarily. Yi-Gyeol’s smile deepened with the mellow warmth and pleasant strokes.

Every time he sees Yi-Gyeol, and every time he does something, he strokes his hair. Whenever he pets him like a small animal that is hungry for affection, he leans on him as soon as he strokes him and reveals on his face that he is in a good mood. Sethian liked each and every reaction of Yi-Gyeol, and he wanted to see it over and over again.

He just belatedly realized why his habit was formed, and it is both fascinating and ticklish inside at the same time. Immediately after that, he felt like sharing his vitality with him for some reason.

Thinking that far, Sethian’s gentle face suddenly hardened a little.

“Come to think of it, numbness? Why didn’t I know that?”

“Oh, that….”

Yi-Gyeol avoided his gaze with a troubled expression on his face. Sethian always moved and carried him and let him walk very little when they were together, so his body didn’t really feel numb. It was something that he sometimes felt when he moved alone, and he couldn’t say it easily because he thought it would annoy Sethian if he told him.

Waiting for Yi-Gyeol’s mouth to open, Sethian spoke firmly as if he had read his thoughts.

“If you really don’t want to bother me, don’t hide anything that happens to your body. What would bother me more is if things get bigger.”

Whether it was an immediate effect of what he said, Yi-Gyeol quickly lowered his eyes and apologized in a small voice.

“…Sorry.”

He speaks well without hesitation normally, but in this case, his face rapidly darkens and his voice crawls like a person who has taken on all the sins of the world. Sethian didn’t like it, but he didn’t intend to criticize or admonish him. Rather than changing the human being Joo Yi-Gyeol, he thought it would be more comfortable to just get rid of the things that would have made him react like this.

Sethian looked at Yi-Gyeol’s downcast eyes, grabbed his chin, and lifted it slightly.

“What about now?”

“The numbness? It’s fine right now….”

“It won’t be okay if you move more afterward. Open your mouth.”

As soon as the words were said, Yi-Gyeol showed a bewildered look and grabbed Sethian’s wrist – which was holding his chin – with both hands.

“Again? We’ve just done it before you left.”

Before going to do his business, he had already given him vitality through a very deep kiss as usual. It’s only been a little over an hour if you look at the time, but it was dumbfounding to hear that he wanted to give him vitality again.

Sethian also thought that he was giving him vitality too often, but the eccentric thing is, the more he looked at Yi-Gyeol, the more he paid attention, the more he wanted to kiss him. With the way things are, he thought that his lifespan was shortening too quickly, but Sethian was a person who wasn’t particularly concerned about such things. Only the living present matters.

“That person said that the condition will only disappear when you get enough vitality, so I am just trying to do that.”

“What? Wai…!”

Not even listening to Yi-Gyeol’s words, Sethian lowered his lips as if he was in a hurry. Soon, Yi-Gyeol’s rigid body relaxed.

Suddenly, the sound of a bird flapping its wings outside the window was heard. Nobody knows since when, but a crow sitting silently on a tree outside the window flapped its large wings and flew away somewhere.

♛