Chapter 79
It was late at night. As Sethian was struggling to gauge the time due to his dulled sense of it, he heard the sound of someone fighting outside the door. Listening closely, it seemed that the soldiers guarding the solitary cell were being attacked by someone.
Sethian, who had been listening intently, frowned and took a couple of steps back.
‘I haven’t given any orders yet.’
He didn’t know who was causing the commotion, but it didn’t seem to be anyone following his orders.
As he quietly stared at the cell door, the commotion outside quickly died down. Soon after, he heard the sound of a key being inserted and turned in the lock.
Instead of the familiar servant who was the only one allowed to enter and exit this room, two knights in black armor came in. At a glance, they looked so much like members of Canael that one might believe it, dressed in black armor, masks, and gloves.
“Did Zair send you?” Sethian asked calmly, immediately recognizing them as Zair’s knights. His gaze, however, was fixed on the blood-stained swords they were holding and the bodies of the guards visible beyond the door.
As the knights approached silently, Sethian narrowed his eyes.
“There’s no need for my head just yet.”
Although he was imprisoned as a suspect in the murder of the First Prince, he was still the Crown Prince, and if he were to be killed here, it would cause a great uproar in the imperial palace. Moreover, since no verdict had been reached, it could appear as if the culprit of the First Prince’s murder had also eliminated the Crown Prince. This would be troublesome for Zair, who was trying to frame Sethian as the culprit and remove him cleanly.
‘Zair wouldn’t give up on Joo Yi-Gyeol so soon either.’
For Zair to become Joo Yi-Gyeol’s master, he would need to strip Sethian of his Crown Prince title as soon as he ascended to the throne. That was the best method, and ignoring it to try to eliminate Sethian now would be an incredibly stupid choice.
Fortunately, Zair wasn’t as stupid as Sethian thought.
“You don’t need to worry. We’re not here to take Your Highness’s life,” one of the black-armored knights said respectfully. However, contrary to his words, he was holding up his blood-stained sword threateningly.
“We just need some of your blood, so please cooperate.”
“Blood?”
Sethian’s expression contorted suddenly as he questioned the knight’s urgent words.
Zair’s knights, who had suddenly barged in, killing the guards outside and entering the solitary cell. The urgency in their voices. And what they wanted was his blood.
There was only one conclusion.
An overwhelming pressure emanated from Sethian’s body. The two knights hesitated, showing wariness in their eyes at the pressure from the unarmed Crown Prince.
Sethian rolled up his sleeve and showed his arm to them demonstratively.
“What are you doing? Cut quickly.”
When he offered his arm so readily, it was rather the knights who seemed taken aback.
“After you’ve cut and obtained the blood, you’ll have to answer me clearly. What condition is Joo Yi-Gyeol in?”
As Sethian spoke in a low voice filled with anger, one of the knights swallowed hard. Nevertheless, he raised his sword without hesitation.
* * *
It was past midnight, in the early hours of the morning, when Joo Yi-Gyeol opened his eyes.
Having completely lost consciousness and then awakened, Joo Yi-Gyeol stared blankly at the familiar yet clearly different ceiling from what he had been seeing.
‘Still in Zair’s bedroom…’
It was frustrating that he was still in Zair’s bedroom, even though it felt like he had slept for a long time. If it had been Sethian’s bedroom, he would have known roughly what time it was just by looking at the moon’s appearance and position outside the window, but in this unfamiliar bedroom, even that was difficult.
“How long have I been asleep…?”
“You were unconscious for nearly 14 hours.”
Startled by the voice that came from the opposite direction of his gaze, which he thought was empty, Joo Yi-Gyeol turned his head. But somehow, his movement felt stiff.
At the end of his gaze was Zair, sitting in a chair beside the bed. His face, flickering in the soft candlelight, looked quite serious.
“Even though you had life energy left, your breathing stopped. Fortunately, after supplying life energy, your breath returned.”
Listening to Zair’s words, Joo Yi-Gyeol realized then that he had lost consciousness and collapsed. And that it was due to a lack of life energy.
‘Supplying life energy…?’
Could Sethian have come and gone? He was supposed to be unable to leave the solitary cell.
Joo Yi-Gyeol felt his heart, which had been beating slowly, suddenly thump a little harder.
“Did Seth come and go?”
He inadvertently called Sethian by his nickname, but disregarding that, he asked again.
“When did he come and go?”
His words sped up a bit due to urgency and joy. Zair looked down at Joo Yi-Gyeol silently for a moment before answering coldly.
“He can’t take a single step out of the solitary cell.”
“Then how…?”
As Joo Yi-Gyeol’s expression quickly turned gloomy, Zair pulled up one corner of his mouth in a sinister smile. This stimulated Joo Yi-Gyeol’s heart once more, in a bad way.
“We cut him and brought his blood as an emergency measure. I know you dislike blood, but there was no other choice.”
“…!”
Joo Yi-Gyeol tried to bolt upright in shock. But he could only twitch, unable to muster the strength to get up. It was like the first few days after he had come to Sethian’s side.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s face turned pale as he struggled to raise his upper body in an awkward position.
“C-cut? Seth…? B-but…”
“Why? Isn’t he a master who no longer has anything to do with you?”
Zair’s hand touched Joo Yi-Gyeol’s cold cheek.
“I haven’t killed him yet. If he dies now, I won’t be able to supply you with life energy until I become Emperor.”
Joo Yi-Gyeol lowered his eyes, which were trembling with confusion. Come to think of it, he thought he could smell a slightly fishy scent in his mouth.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s hand, resting on the bed sheet, clenched weakly into a fist.
“How… badly is he hurt?”
“Not enough to die immediately.”
Zair answered promptly, bringing his face closer to examine Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had lowered his head. His eyes were shining quite fiercely.
“Why? Are you worried about him?”
“Of course.”
Joo Yi-Gyeol raised his head, showing a bitter smile with a calm face, as if relieved.
“My life depends on it. I… want to live for a long time.”
Zair, who had been quietly looking at Joo Yi-Gyeol, smiled at his words and covered Joo Yi-Gyeol’s pale hand on the sheet with his own.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll live for a very long time and stay by your side.”
Zair, who had spoken kindly, helped Joo Yi-Gyeol, who was smiling back at him, lie down again and then stood up.
“Now that I’ve seen you open your eyes, I can finally get some sleep too.”
As Zair pressed his eyes with his hand, looking tired, Joo Yi-Gyeol asked in surprise.
“Have you been by my side all this time?”
“You suddenly stopped breathing and lost consciousness. How could I focus on work?”
In reality, Zair had only been sitting in the chair by Joo Yi-Gyeol’s side for a few minutes, but he deliberately lied to make Joo Yi-Gyeol feel guilty and increase his favorability towards him. As expected, Joo Yi-Gyeol looked apologetic and didn’t know what to do.
“I’ve wasted your precious time… I’m sorry.”
“If you’re sorry…”
Zair, who had taken off his jacket, slowly climbed onto the bed and got under the covers, embracing Joo Yi-Gyeol. He gently patted Joo Yi-Gyeol’s back, who was flustered by the close contact.
“Let’s sleep together like this for a bit longer. I feel like I might collapse too after not sleeping for two days.”
“…Okay.”
Joo Yi-Gyeol answered with his eyes lowered and snuggled into Zair’s embrace. Zair closed his tired eyes, thinking that Joo Yi-Gyeol was quite cute like this.
The ‘human-like body’ that he could feel vividly just by embracing, and the warmth flowing from it, made Zair feel good. He wondered if this was why Sethian kept Joo Yi-Gyeol in his bedroom every day. It was a different feeling from the souls that were blindly loyal to him.
‘Tomorrow, I should go check on Sethian’s condition, since he obediently gave his blood.’
He had heard that Sethian was deliberately fasting, so after three days, wouldn’t his stubbornness have weakened a bit?
Thinking this, Zair soon fell into a deep sleep.
About 30 minutes after Zair’s hand stopped patting Joo Yi-Gyeol’s back and his breathing became even.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had been breathing evenly as if asleep, slowly opened his eyes. He glared at Zair with eyes filled with a light close to killing intent, then silently reached his hand under the pillow. Knowing that Zair, though not as much as Sethian, was also a person who had trained for a long time, he moved very slowly and carefully, fearing that Zair might wake up.
After escaping from Zair’s body using the sleeping drug he had hidden under the pillow, Yi-Gyeol visually confirmed once more that Zair was asleep before immediately leaving the bedroom. He flew towards the stone tower where Sethian would be, at a much faster speed than usual.
‘How badly is he hurt? Is he alright?’
Flying quickly with an anxious heart, Joo Yi-Gyeol soon reached the stone tower.
—Seth! Seth…!
Calling urgently for Seth, forgetting that it was dawn, Joo Yi-Gyeol felt as if his breath had stopped even in his soul state.
Inside the solitary cell, there was only roughly splattered blood scattered about, but the person who had been staying in that room was nowhere to be found. Through the wide-open door, the cold corpses of the guards who had been guarding the solitary cell were visible.
Sethian, who had been listening intently, frowned and took a couple of steps back.
‘I haven’t given any orders yet.’
He didn’t know who was causing the commotion, but it didn’t seem to be anyone following his orders.
As he quietly stared at the cell door, the commotion outside quickly died down. Soon after, he heard the sound of a key being inserted and turned in the lock.
Instead of the familiar servant who was the only one allowed to enter and exit this room, two knights in black armor came in. At a glance, they looked so much like members of Canael that one might believe it, dressed in black armor, masks, and gloves.
“Did Zair send you?” Sethian asked calmly, immediately recognizing them as Zair’s knights. His gaze, however, was fixed on the blood-stained swords they were holding and the bodies of the guards visible beyond the door.
As the knights approached silently, Sethian narrowed his eyes.
“There’s no need for my head just yet.”
Although he was imprisoned as a suspect in the murder of the First Prince, he was still the Crown Prince, and if he were to be killed here, it would cause a great uproar in the imperial palace. Moreover, since no verdict had been reached, it could appear as if the culprit of the First Prince’s murder had also eliminated the Crown Prince. This would be troublesome for Zair, who was trying to frame Sethian as the culprit and remove him cleanly.
‘Zair wouldn’t give up on Joo Yi-Gyeol so soon either.’
For Zair to become Joo Yi-Gyeol’s master, he would need to strip Sethian of his Crown Prince title as soon as he ascended to the throne. That was the best method, and ignoring it to try to eliminate Sethian now would be an incredibly stupid choice.
Fortunately, Zair wasn’t as stupid as Sethian thought.
“You don’t need to worry. We’re not here to take Your Highness’s life,” one of the black-armored knights said respectfully. However, contrary to his words, he was holding up his blood-stained sword threateningly.
“We just need some of your blood, so please cooperate.”
“Blood?”
Sethian’s expression contorted suddenly as he questioned the knight’s urgent words.
Zair’s knights, who had suddenly barged in, killing the guards outside and entering the solitary cell. The urgency in their voices. And what they wanted was his blood.
There was only one conclusion.
An overwhelming pressure emanated from Sethian’s body. The two knights hesitated, showing wariness in their eyes at the pressure from the unarmed Crown Prince.
Sethian rolled up his sleeve and showed his arm to them demonstratively.
“What are you doing? Cut quickly.”
When he offered his arm so readily, it was rather the knights who seemed taken aback.
“After you’ve cut and obtained the blood, you’ll have to answer me clearly. What condition is Joo Yi-Gyeol in?”
As Sethian spoke in a low voice filled with anger, one of the knights swallowed hard. Nevertheless, he raised his sword without hesitation.
* * *
It was past midnight, in the early hours of the morning, when Joo Yi-Gyeol opened his eyes.
Having completely lost consciousness and then awakened, Joo Yi-Gyeol stared blankly at the familiar yet clearly different ceiling from what he had been seeing.
‘Still in Zair’s bedroom…’
It was frustrating that he was still in Zair’s bedroom, even though it felt like he had slept for a long time. If it had been Sethian’s bedroom, he would have known roughly what time it was just by looking at the moon’s appearance and position outside the window, but in this unfamiliar bedroom, even that was difficult.
“How long have I been asleep…?”
“You were unconscious for nearly 14 hours.”
Startled by the voice that came from the opposite direction of his gaze, which he thought was empty, Joo Yi-Gyeol turned his head. But somehow, his movement felt stiff.
At the end of his gaze was Zair, sitting in a chair beside the bed. His face, flickering in the soft candlelight, looked quite serious.
“Even though you had life energy left, your breathing stopped. Fortunately, after supplying life energy, your breath returned.”
Listening to Zair’s words, Joo Yi-Gyeol realized then that he had lost consciousness and collapsed. And that it was due to a lack of life energy.
‘Supplying life energy…?’
Could Sethian have come and gone? He was supposed to be unable to leave the solitary cell.
Joo Yi-Gyeol felt his heart, which had been beating slowly, suddenly thump a little harder.
“Did Seth come and go?”
He inadvertently called Sethian by his nickname, but disregarding that, he asked again.
“When did he come and go?”
His words sped up a bit due to urgency and joy. Zair looked down at Joo Yi-Gyeol silently for a moment before answering coldly.
“He can’t take a single step out of the solitary cell.”
“Then how…?”
As Joo Yi-Gyeol’s expression quickly turned gloomy, Zair pulled up one corner of his mouth in a sinister smile. This stimulated Joo Yi-Gyeol’s heart once more, in a bad way.
“We cut him and brought his blood as an emergency measure. I know you dislike blood, but there was no other choice.”
“…!”
Joo Yi-Gyeol tried to bolt upright in shock. But he could only twitch, unable to muster the strength to get up. It was like the first few days after he had come to Sethian’s side.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s face turned pale as he struggled to raise his upper body in an awkward position.
“C-cut? Seth…? B-but…”
“Why? Isn’t he a master who no longer has anything to do with you?”
Zair’s hand touched Joo Yi-Gyeol’s cold cheek.
“I haven’t killed him yet. If he dies now, I won’t be able to supply you with life energy until I become Emperor.”
Joo Yi-Gyeol lowered his eyes, which were trembling with confusion. Come to think of it, he thought he could smell a slightly fishy scent in his mouth.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s hand, resting on the bed sheet, clenched weakly into a fist.
“How… badly is he hurt?”
“Not enough to die immediately.”
Zair answered promptly, bringing his face closer to examine Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had lowered his head. His eyes were shining quite fiercely.
“Why? Are you worried about him?”
“Of course.”
Joo Yi-Gyeol raised his head, showing a bitter smile with a calm face, as if relieved.
“My life depends on it. I… want to live for a long time.”
Zair, who had been quietly looking at Joo Yi-Gyeol, smiled at his words and covered Joo Yi-Gyeol’s pale hand on the sheet with his own.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll live for a very long time and stay by your side.”
Zair, who had spoken kindly, helped Joo Yi-Gyeol, who was smiling back at him, lie down again and then stood up.
“Now that I’ve seen you open your eyes, I can finally get some sleep too.”
As Zair pressed his eyes with his hand, looking tired, Joo Yi-Gyeol asked in surprise.
“Have you been by my side all this time?”
“You suddenly stopped breathing and lost consciousness. How could I focus on work?”
In reality, Zair had only been sitting in the chair by Joo Yi-Gyeol’s side for a few minutes, but he deliberately lied to make Joo Yi-Gyeol feel guilty and increase his favorability towards him. As expected, Joo Yi-Gyeol looked apologetic and didn’t know what to do.
“I’ve wasted your precious time… I’m sorry.”
“If you’re sorry…”
Zair, who had taken off his jacket, slowly climbed onto the bed and got under the covers, embracing Joo Yi-Gyeol. He gently patted Joo Yi-Gyeol’s back, who was flustered by the close contact.
“Let’s sleep together like this for a bit longer. I feel like I might collapse too after not sleeping for two days.”
“…Okay.”
Joo Yi-Gyeol answered with his eyes lowered and snuggled into Zair’s embrace. Zair closed his tired eyes, thinking that Joo Yi-Gyeol was quite cute like this.
The ‘human-like body’ that he could feel vividly just by embracing, and the warmth flowing from it, made Zair feel good. He wondered if this was why Sethian kept Joo Yi-Gyeol in his bedroom every day. It was a different feeling from the souls that were blindly loyal to him.
‘Tomorrow, I should go check on Sethian’s condition, since he obediently gave his blood.’
He had heard that Sethian was deliberately fasting, so after three days, wouldn’t his stubbornness have weakened a bit?
Thinking this, Zair soon fell into a deep sleep.
About 30 minutes after Zair’s hand stopped patting Joo Yi-Gyeol’s back and his breathing became even.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had been breathing evenly as if asleep, slowly opened his eyes. He glared at Zair with eyes filled with a light close to killing intent, then silently reached his hand under the pillow. Knowing that Zair, though not as much as Sethian, was also a person who had trained for a long time, he moved very slowly and carefully, fearing that Zair might wake up.
After escaping from Zair’s body using the sleeping drug he had hidden under the pillow, Yi-Gyeol visually confirmed once more that Zair was asleep before immediately leaving the bedroom. He flew towards the stone tower where Sethian would be, at a much faster speed than usual.
‘How badly is he hurt? Is he alright?’
Flying quickly with an anxious heart, Joo Yi-Gyeol soon reached the stone tower.
—Seth! Seth…!
Calling urgently for Seth, forgetting that it was dawn, Joo Yi-Gyeol felt as if his breath had stopped even in his soul state.
Inside the solitary cell, there was only roughly splattered blood scattered about, but the person who had been staying in that room was nowhere to be found. Through the wide-open door, the cold corpses of the guards who had been guarding the solitary cell were visible.
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