Chapter 50
My arm was trembling as it moved to put the cookie into my mouth. Seeing this, Uthias laughed brightly and sat right next to me, resting his arm on the sofa as he looked at me.
“Hmmm, usually everyone falls for me quickly. You, Kael, are a bit difficult.”
Forced by my moving arm, I ended up shoving the cookie into my mouth. Stammering in anger, I shouted loudly:
“Shhh! Just open the door!”
But he only chuckled.
“When things don’t go smoothly, it’s better to use the power of literature, don’t you think?”
He scratched his head and pulled a book from his pocket dimension. Its cover was flashy, titled “101 Ways to Captivate a Lady’s Heart”. A shiny ribbon across it read:
“Secrets of Romance Revealed by Sir Kelomil, who dated 5,000 women!”
No way… he’s reading this book and acting like this?
“Hmmm, first, start with a chance encounter. Second, show off your wealth. Third, a man with confidence is a real man… fourth, prepare rare, delicious desserts as a gift. Tricky. Usually, people liked me just because I showed up and smiled, so I didn’t need a book like this.”
His words echoed in my ears:
Chance encounter… show off wealth… show confidence… dessert… as a gift?
Thinking of Uthias, who had demanded a hundred gold per hour just for visiting the VIP room for a headache, and the rabbit-shaped cookie in front of me, I shivered.
He really is following the book to the letter…
But he acted as if nothing was wrong, flipping through the book with a troubled look, then spoke again:
“How about this? Fifth: a kiss should be passionate.”
Uthias’s eyes narrowed as he read.
A kiss? What is he talking about?
Smiling faintly, he slammed the book shut and slowly rose to approach me.
“W-wait! Stop! This is… illegal!”
“Hmmm, but Kael’s body seems fine.”
As soon as he said that, my cursed arm staggered closer to Uthias on its own.
“No… stop!”
Uthias’s face was coming closer.
Someone help!
At that moment—BANG! A deafening crash rang out, and the large door that wouldn’t open collapsed.
“Uthias.”
Through the dust, a deep voice came. Footsteps approached from the broken doorway—it was Lloyd. Seeing Uthias beside me, his expression stiffened.
“Hahaha, the Viscount of Helderios, I see. I thought a hero of justice had arrived.”
Uthias gave an awkward smile and glanced at me in embarrassment.
“Well, the kiss will have to wait because of this intruder. But you can look forward to it, Kael.”
A purple magical circle appeared beneath Uthias, glowing brightly.
He quickly shook his clothes and winked at me with his left eye.
Whoosh! A red arrow of light shot down and struck the magic circle at his feet.
“Huh…?”
The circle’s glow faded and disappeared. Uthias clapped, impressed.
“Wow! Has Viscount Lloyd learned the Null Magic like Davien? That’s incredible progress!”
But Lloyd glared at Uthias as if he wanted to kill him. The murderous intent made the skin tingle. Even with anti-magic runes, the intensity alone would have hurt a normal person.
Uthias, however, stood casually, showing no concern.
“Don’t come any closer to Kael. Consider this a warning.”
“Hahaha, that’s my choice.”
Smiling, Uthias reached for me, and electricity crackled from his hands. I shut my eyes in surprise, but felt no pain.
“Ugh…”
Peeking open, I saw electricity flowing around Lloyd, who groaned softly.
“Who in their right mind provokes someone next to an anti-magic user?”
Uthias shrugged. Lloyd staggered.
“Lloyd!”
I quickly cast a healing spell.
“Recovery!”
My healing wand glowed, and Lloyd recovered rapidly.
“Wow… this…”
Uthias’s eyes widened in surprise.
Then Lloyd vanished from my view, reappearing in front of Uthias and kicked him squarely in the stomach.
Boom!
Uthias flew backward, hitting the wall.
“Guhk!”
He slid down the wall, coughing blood.
“So, you want to fight, huh?”
Uthias grinned wickedly, blood on his lips. At that moment, Davien appeared from the collapsed wall, surrounded by a blazing red aura of fury.
“Today, I’ll crush you with my own hands.”
Seeing Davien, Uthias’s expression went pale.
“Hahaha, cough… with a healer and now Davien too, I’m at a disadvantage. Don’t you know no one can handle this?”
Uthias spat more blood and continued:
“I just wanted to capture Kael’s heart… but everyone’s too harsh.”
He exaggeratedly wiped his eyes, then—POOF!—disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
“Cough, cough.”
“Damn it! He ran!”
Davien ground his teeth, still coughing.
Through the smoke, Lloyd approached me, expression serious.
“You okay, Kael?”
Had my Recovery worked?
When he came close, I looked up at him.
“…!”
Lloyd’s face moved close to mine. His warm hand gently cupped my cheek, and I smelled the refreshing mint scent from him. Then his soft lips pressed against mine.
“Gah… ah, I just remembered something I had to do!”
A startled Davien coughed awkwardly and left. The room was in ruins, smoke swirling around, leaving only Lloyd and me.
Lloyd slowly pulled back, his face bright red. His violet eyes darted away, embarrassed.
“I-I didn’t mean to…”
His whole face, even ears, was flushed, muttering incoherently.
‘Ah, right. He’s a virgin, isn’t he.’
He’d been focused on ducal duties, always showing a strong front, but now I realized—he was innocent. Naive enough to think babies appear the day after sleeping with a woman.
A proper noble heir, yet completely clueless about sex and a virgin who’s never met a woman.
Seeing his embarrassed face, my heart softened. I stood on tiptoe and grabbed his collar. Lloyd flinched, looking at me. My target was, of course, those soft, moist lips from before.
‘Lloyd, that was a peck. This… is an adult kiss.’
When I slightly opened my eyes, his violet eyes widened in shock. I closed my eyes again, smiling inside.
Uthias—sorry, but I despise perverted maniacs who lock someone in a room for a forced kiss. Innocent, genuine men are my type.
From that day on, working at the Imperial Healer Headquarters became exhausting.
Why? Uthias had gotten so angry that he refused to pay even a single coin, informing the head. And on top of that, despite smashing the VIP room, Davien demanded compensation for the mental damages caused by Uthias.
He even destroyed the head’s office.
The head got so angry he started yelling at Davien. Only after the royal guard intervened did things calm down. Because of all this, I became firmly marked by the head.
So all the perks I enjoyed on my first day vanished. The wide, soft chair, the desk, the office with a great view—all taken by someone else. My office became a small, old room tucked in a corner.
And the head piled all the hard work on me. Between difficult patients and the head’s constant attitude, each day was exhausting.
Lucy Hiller suggested telling Davien or Lloyd, but recalling how the head had threatened Davien, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Previously, the destroyed VIP room and Davien smashing the head’s office meant they couldn’t exactly complain. But this time, if the head confronted him, he’d be in serious trouble. Better to let things flow chaotically—it was mentally easier.
Whenever my head ached from overwork, I thought of the Apostle.
The first person in this world to ask how I was and care about my work like it was their own. Someone who said, if I was struggling, I could always come back.
And now, someone I could no longer see.
Before leaving for Dorkan, after a sixteen-hour shift, I was exhausted, and the Apostle brought me a gift.
‘Feeling down today… maybe I’ll visit the Apostle after work.’
At the end of the day, I greeted my senior healer and left the headquarters. Far away, I saw someone waiting for me—Inyoung.
“Lloyd!”
“Kael.”
He often waited in front of the headquarters when our shifts matched, of course with his flashy, large carriage.
“I’m going to visit the Apostle today. Want to come with me?”
“Sure.”
I nodded and climbed into the carriage with him.
