CH 40

It was around a week after Roa’s first visit that Yi-Gyeol was able to walk around without a cane. He still couldn’t stand or walk for a long time, but he was now able to move around freely in the bedroom.

It wasn’t the only thing that improved. His skeleton-like physique, which looks like a person who had suffered a famine, can now be described as simply skinny. Even his slender cheeks are now moderately plump and have a good complexion.

“You have enough vitality and your health has definitely improved.”

Roa, who was examining Yi-Gyeol’s body as before, lifted his hand from his left chest and smiled.

“Is there any place you feel uncomfortable? What about the numbness you mentioned before?”

As soon as the mana test was over, Yi-Gyeol quickly wore his underwear and answered with a bright smile.

“It’s completely gone now.”

“That’s good.”

Roa stood from kneeling on the floor while facing Yi-Gyeol, and took a couple of steps back, feeling the fierce gaze toward him. Sethian, who had been watching the situation throughout the inspection, picked up the shirt Yi-Gyeol had taken off and left on the table and inserted it into his arm.

“I can do it.”

“Just put on your pants.”

Even though he could move on his own now, Sethian’s behavior of dealing with him like a child has still not disappeared. Yi-Gyeol pretended to be dissatisfied and grunted, but still put his arm in the jacket he had spread out, just as Sethian told him to. He pulled his pants on while Sethian was buttoning them up.

Roa was watching the scene while silently smiling, then quickly cleared his expression as Sethian turned around.

Then Lenox’s voice was heard outside with a knock.

“Wizard Eda-nim is here.”

Sethian’s eyes automatically directed to Roa. It was said that the wizard named Eda is the successor of the tower master. Roa briefly added that he was the one who called for him.

“I told him to prepare a refined mana stone.”

“Do we need that?”

“We cannot see the mana from his body disappearing unlike other bodies, but just in case, we’re going to periodically put some mana in once every two weeks, using refined mana.”

The corners of Sethian’s eyebrows moved disapprovingly.

“There won’t be anything wrong with his body, right?”

“Of course. On the contrary, he will feel a good sense of comfort when he accepts the mana. The refined mana stone has the most similar wavelength to the mana stone of the brooch that was used to compose his body.”

Only after hearing those words did Sethian soften the corners of his eyes and turned his gaze to Yi-Gyeol this time. Not understanding what the two of them were saying, Yi-Gyeol tilted his head and blinked. Sethian automatically stroked his hair and told the wizard to enter the door. As if waiting, the door opened immediately, and a young man in a gray robe walked in.

Eda, who courteously greeted Sethian, appeared to be of similar age in appearance to Yi-Gyeol. With a carefree face and eyebrows raised slightly, he gave a gentle smile to Yi-Gyeol, who was looking at him curiously.

Roa sent a warm gaze to Eda and opened his mouth as he looked at Yi-Gyeol.

“It’ll take about 10 minutes to receive all of the mana from the hearthstone. Joo Yi-Gyeol-nim should lie down comfortably.”

Then he politely said to Sethian.

“I have something to say to the Crown Prince for a moment. I’d like to ask you to spare some time while Eda supplies the mana.”

Sethian gave him a look that said, ‘Just do it right here if you have something to say,’ but Roa only smiled at him without saying anything. Recognizing that it was something he didn’t want Yi-Gyeol to hear, Sethian turned his gaze and looked at him. Yi-Gyeol stood up from his seat and nodded with a smile.

“Don’t mind me and go.”

Saying that, he was about to walk to the bed, but Sethian grabbed his arm and swiftly held him. Yi-Gyeol looked at Roa and Eda alternately and unrealizingly scrunched his face.

“I can walk on my own.”

“We still have to be careful.”

“It’s not even that far to the bed….”

Yi-Gyeol sourly complained but Sethian didn’t care. Perhaps he was already immune from the frequent hugs, but Yi-Gyeol remained calm and stopped making a fuss.

Sethian gently laid Yi-Gyeol on the bed and patted his disheveled hair with his hands.

“I’ll let Lenox inside, so signal him if you feel something weird. You can just scream.”

“I understand already, so go quickly. Roa-nim is waiting.”

Yi-Gyeol smiled pleasantly at the words Sethian always says all the time, waved his hand and signaled him to go. Sethian pulled the blanket up over his chest and approached Eda with cold eyes. Sethian’s pressure was felt right in front of him, and he swallowed his dry saliva nervously.

“Do only your job. Otherwise, even if you’re the successor of the tower master or whatever you are, you’ll not be safe.”

It was small enough to be heard only by himself, but the weight contained in it was as heavy and bloody as Sethian’s eyes.

Sethian swung the door open after passing Eda and ordered Lenox, who was waiting outside the door.

“Keep an eye out from the inside. If he ever tries to touch anything other than his hands using the mana supply as an excuse, drag him out of the room and cut one off.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lenox answered without hesitation, entered the room with a nonchalant face, and stood by the door. Upon hearing Sethian’s orders, Roa told Eda to be careful in case he really got amputated, and left the room.

There was a strange feeling of silence in the room where two people left and one other entered.

Eda glanced at Lenox with a slightly tense expression on his carefree face. It was not as powerful as Crown Prince Sethian, but it was still an extraordinarily intimidating sense. He had already put his hand on the sword handle on his waist as if he were going to draw his sword at any time.

In the midst of the strange tension between Lenox, who is watching, and Eda, who is being monitored, Yi-Gyeol’s eyes alone are twinkling.

“How do you supply the mana?”

Eda’s tense face softened a little as if seeing a child full of curiosity. He sat down on a chair by the bed and pulled a clean cloth bag from his robe. When he took out a blue stone the size of a fist from inside and showed it, awe could be seen in Yi-Gyeol’s eyes.

“Is this what they call a magic stone?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Eda answered with a smile and held the magic stone in one hand and Yi-Gyeol’s hand in the other. Yi-Gyeol’s hand trembled at the cold touch.

“It will take about 10 minutes.”

As Eda spoke kindly with a smiling face, the magic stone he was holding started to glow subtly. Accordingly, Yi-Gyeol’s hand that was connected to the other also glowed blue. Yi-Gyeol made a more comfortable expression compared to what he felt when Roa was examining his body.

Eda, who began supplying mana from the mana stone, continued smiling as he scrutinizingly watch Yi-Gyeol’s face.

‘As expected, he’s not a slave used for labor either.’

He didn’t realize when Crown Prince Sethian was carrying him out of the tower with that emaciated body, but now that he looks at it, he thinks he wasn’t a slave who usually did rough labor in the first place. If he worked harshly, even if there are no visible wounds, his hands are bound to be rough, but the palm he’s holding is soft and the back of it is smooth and fine.

‘Is it a sex slave?’

It would be understandable if that was the case. Crown Prince Sethian has a tendency to be obsessed with interesting things from time immemorial, so he may have needed a unique sex slave with an exotic taste that is rarely seen. In addition, not only does he not care about other people at all, but he’s also known to have done some weird things, so he might think nothing of giving life to him through sexual intercourse. It is said that the imperial family has a particularly long lifespan.

He sneered inside at Yi-Gyeol, who was staring at his hand, with that thought in mind. He doesn’t know what kind of witchcraft he used to catch the Crown Prince’s eyes and took over this bedroom, but he was just a mere plaything. Just thinking that he’s holding the hand of someone who’s having sex every night just to receive vitality and no one knows when would be thrown away makes him feel dirty.

‘In any case, what is important is that he is a soul with a living body.’

If the man in front of him fell into the hands of Prince Zair, he would be the best tool for mass-producing human bodies.

Repeated mass production will shock the soul’s spirit, but Zair will definitely not care at all. Even if his soul becomes exhausted and crumbles to the point where he loses himself completely, he will continue to be used.

And for his(Eda) own benefit too.

The thought of a time when it turned out to be like that gave him chilling ecstasy.

Contrary to his head that mocked and ridiculed Yi-Gyeol, Eda, who has a friendly smile on the outside just like his teacher, made eye contact with Yi-Gyeol as his(YG) voice came in as if to interrupt his thoughts.

“What is sir’s name?”

“It’s Eda.”

“Eda-nim….”

Yi-Gyeol rolled Eda’s name in his mouth and smiled bitterly.

“By any chance, did I do something wrong to Eda-nim?”

“Yes?”

Eda, who was ridiculing Yi-Gyeol inside his mind, stopped at Yi-Gyeol’s question at once.

“I feel like you don’t like me.”

“…How can that be? It’s the first time that we’re talking like this, so I don’t think there’s anything to hate.”

“You hated me even before you came into this room.”

The corner of Eda’s lips twitched momentarily. Yi-Gyeol’s eyes sank darkly.

“Why are you forcing yourself to smile?”

After the onset of Rostov Syndrome, as time went on, Yi-Gyeol had no choice but to be sensitive to the negative emotions of others. Moreover, the forced smile that Eda was making resembled that of Yi-Gyeol’s before, which was shown to hide his original emotion.

Eda’s smile, which seemed natural to anyone, slowly disappeared.

TL Note:

I’m very sorry for this super late release~! TL got reported and I’m not sure if it’s related to DMCA so I decided to stop releasing for a few weeks to test the waters… So far, I think it’s good since we haven’t heard anything, or else I’ll have to go private.ㅠㅠ That’s why you guys have to join the group to be updated! Let’s see if we can go back to normal release~.