Editor: SleepyMango123
Proofreader: Lore
“Ah-!!!”
Garlan, who had just relaxed his tense nerves, was caught in surprise and howled with fright.
If it weren’t for his wrist being grabbed by the other party causing him to not be able to stand up, his whole body would have jolted.
When he turned to look and met those golden-red eyes, Garlan sighed in relief.
It was truly scary and terrifying.
Garlan was about to breathe a sigh of relief but when he thought about it, he felt something was wrong and raised his vigilance again.
Just now, he was holding a dagger and had a look of indecisiveness… Did this person see everything? He couldn’t guess what I was going to do, could he?!
“…What are you doing?”
The boy’s original voice, which was quite hoarse due to his adolescent period, became even huskier. The voice was cold and it made one feel uncomfortable.
Garlan had a guilty conscience and his heart became erratic upon hearing that voice.
“No…I didn’t do anything…I-I helped you pick your things up…”
As Garlan stammered halfway through his words, Heimos rudely interrupted him.
“I’m asking you, why did you hit yourself?”
The boy heaved violently and asked.
As he was disorientated just now, he suddenly heard two consecutive noises. First was the crisp sound of metal falling and then there was the sound of a slap.
When he opened his eyes, he happened to see Garlan hitting himself, as if he were having some sort of a convulsion.
He stared at the bright red fingerprints on the child’s face, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.
“This…that…”
Garlan choked. An idea suddenly came to his mind.
“I-I’m here to apologise. Erm, didn’t I accidentally hit you yesterday?” He whispered, “Look, I’ve also slapped myself… so don’t be angry with me, okay?”
As Garlan coaxed, he reached out and touched Heimos’ face, where he had been hit last time.
Heimos pursed his lips and said nothing.
The child kneeling next to him had teary bright golden eyes and stared at him. His shadow reflected in his eyes, the reddish fingerprints were still printed on his snow-white cheeks, and his little soft hands caressed his face.
The little appearance that looked at him and coaxed him, even with his hard-hearted heart, he couldn’t help but feel it soften.
The boy rolled his eyes.
“I know what you’re planning.”
“Ah…huh?”
Garlan panicked.
I only had that idea in my heart for a moment. I really didn’t plan to do anything to you-
Just when Garlan was so flustered, he heard Heimos continue to speak.
He turned his face away, didn’t look at Garlan, and said in a blunt tone.
“When you go out with that face, everyone will think that I did something to you. Isn’t this what you were plotting?”
Garlan, “…”
In the midst of heavy panting.
“No, they won’t. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it clearly,” He said quickly, “When they see how sick you are, they’ll know you weren’t able to do anything rough to me, right? Ah, that’s right.”
He nervously patronised. He almost forgot that the guy in front of him was still ill, and he had to go and call someone over.
“Wait, I’ll go get someone now.”
After saying that, he was about to get up but was stopped. Heimos didn’t let go, but tightened his fingers abruptly and clenched his wrist tighter, making Garlan almost shout in pain.
“No…” The burning face of the young boy couldn’t even say a complete sentence. He took a few breaths before uttering the next words, “…Need!”
The first survival rule in the slums was to never let others see your weaknesses. It was equivalent to exposing one’s fragile throat to others, and then being bitten by them when they had the opportunity.
The weak would not receive the slightest mercy, which only made people more contemptuous.
This had become the survival criterion of Heimos. Even after he returned to his family, in front of his biological parents, he would never show the slightest fragility.
Now, when he thought of his weak appearance being seen by this child, he felt a little irritable.
“Why? You’re sick.”
“Nag…gy!” His mind was dizzy, and his vision began to blur. Heimos tightened his lips, his expression was stubborn, and he clasped Garlan’s wrist tightly.
“No need… Just… No need!”
As he was delirious, he didn’t know how to control his power and pressed harder.
“I know! I know-let go!”
Garlan, whose mouth was twitching in pain, desperately tried to break free of Heimos’s fingers as he felt that his wrist was about to break.
“I won’t call anyone. Just let go!”
Upon hearing what Garlan said, still in a daze, Heimos let go of him. Garlan looked at him. Good Heavens!
His wrist turned blue-purple all around, as if a bracelet were placed there. If Heimos didn’t know the severity and gripped tighter, I’m afraid my wrist would really break.
He moved his body back a bit cautiously, in case Heimos grabbed him again, then whispered,
“If I don’t call someone, I can’t put you in bed by myself.”
“Don’t need… your concern,” Heimos spoke disjointedly, “You… go back to your room…”
He continued while wheezing.
Even as he was lying on the ground, he was dizzy. The scenery in front of him started to distort. His body felt like there was a fire ignited in his body, burning through his blood.
“…You… Go back!”
He could barely squeeze a few words out from his throat.
The boy, who was driven out by him, seemed to be bewildered for a while, got up, and quickly ran out.
Even though it was he who had told the other party to leave, seeing the child’s back disappear through the door, Heimos didn’t know why, but his heart felt a little empty.
He took a deep breath, drove away the feeling of loss in his heart, and closed his eyes. He then gritted his teeth hard and forcefully tried to lift his body from the ground. However, he was too weak. He managed to just raise his head a little, then dropped back down in the next second.
He laid on the ground with his back to the sky, feeling as if his whole body was empty. He didn’t have any strength left, and his whole body was scalding hot, on the brink of unconsciousness.
The beam of moonlight fell on his burning face as he laid on the ground, looking at the white crescent moon in the dark night sky in a daze.
He seemed to have returned back to the past. At that time, he was lying alone in the garbage pit, it was empty and silent all around him. Only the crescent moon in the dark night sky accompanied him.
…He slowly closed his eyes.
…
Pitter Patter.
There was an oncoming sound that kept coming closer.
The boy opened his eyes. The face of the child he thought had left, appeared in his sight again, and a small hand stretched out to touch his forehead.
A cold object covered his forehead, and the slightest coolness penetrated into the hot skin, alleviating the heat.
Garlan put a damp cloth on his forehead and touched his cheek again. The fingers were soft and cold, providing a very comfortable feeling. When the little hand left, Heimos felt a subtle sense of desolation in his heart.
He raised his eyes to Garlan.
The child knelt beside him, looking at him with open eyes.
On the small face which was the size of a palm, his eyes were big and bright.
It was obvious that those golden eyes were in the dark night, but they were bright like a pair of small golden suns. It was shining in the darkness, and for some reason it was difficult to look away.. Even the bright moon in the night sky became part of the background to those glowing eyes.
…
Garlan lowered his head and took out a small white medicine jar from his waist.
Fortunately, when he sneaked over, he wasn’t sure if Heimos had any medicine with him, so he simply brought the ointment that the doctor had specially instructed the maids to apply on him every day.
Garlan wasn’t sure what was going on with Heimos. He refused to let him call someone, and he really couldn’t leave him alone. If he were to really burn to death due to his high fever, it was the same as killing him himself.
He didn’t want to carry this pot1.
Garlan rubbed his hands. A while back, he ran outside to find a stream to wash his hands. He conveniently tore a piece of cloth from his clothes, got it wet, and brought it back.
If my hands were not clean, how could I apply the medicine for the patient? It would be bad if bacteria got into the wound.
He thought as he put the ointment on Heimos’ scars.
Unexpectedly, in this life, the day he personally helped his mortal enemy to apply medicine had finally arrived.
Ai, I hope that good intentions can be rewarded. If Heimos thinks that I somehow helped him today, he can let me off the hook in the future.
With such broken thoughts in his heart, Garlan, who was dedicated to helping Heimos with the ointment, did not notice that the young boy lying on the ground, opened his eyes for some time. The boy quietly looked at him for a while, and then closed his eyes again.
After he finished applying the medicine, the bottle filled with medicine was almost empty. Garlan also became very tired.
He wiped the sweat oozing from his forehead and looked up at Heimos. The young boy lay quietly on the ground, his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep.
He reached for the wet cloth resting on Heimos’ forehead. The cloth wasn’t cold anymore and became warm. He put his hand on Heimos’ forehead for a while and felt that it didn’t seem to be as hot as before, and his face wasn’t as flushed.
The boy had his eyes closed, his slender eyelashes dropped, and a slight shadow fell on his honey-coloured cheeks. Garlan looked at this familiar yet a little unfamiliar face, without the coldness and evil in his memories and with a little underage childishness. At this moment, it seemed very peaceful.
Garlan thought. He was really possessed just now.
The boy in front of him was only twelve or thirteen years old and was just a child.
Even Heimos, who would be called the ‘devil’ in the future, never used any despicable means to take advantage of him when fighting for the throne. Even as Heimos killed him, it was always after uprightly defeating him.
And here I was actually wanting to kill a sick kid…
If I really did that, wouldn’t I be more vicious than the so-called ‘devil’?
…
Forget it, don’t think too much.
Anyway, I’ve decided not to fight for the throne in this life.
Shaking his head vigorously and throwing out the messy thoughts in his mind, Garlan got up. He ran to the bed, took the thin blanket on the bed, and then covered Heimos.
He knelt next to him, stretched out his hand, and patted the covered blanket, as if he was patting a child. After he was done, his face showed satisfaction.
“I’ve helped you. So, you’ll have to repay me in the future.”
The repayment is simple, just don’t kill me.
After Garlan said to the sleeping boy in a low voice, he looked at the sky and realised it was almost midnight. He quickly got up and ran away.
However, just as Garlan was sneaking out, he didn’t notice the eyes of the teenager he thought was asleep, was slightly opened.
The shadows of the slender eyelashes fell into the gaps in Heimos’ opened eyes, making it difficult to see the way he looked at the child’s back at the moment.
It wasn’t until Garlan’s back disappeared under the night sky that Heimos slowly sat up, and the blanket covering him slid off him.
His body was still a little feverish, but the places where the medicine had been rubbed were cold, and the pain had alleviated a bit.
Heimos lowered his eyes, his thoughts unknown.
After a while, he raised his hand and pressed it against his forehead.
There seemed to be a little warmth lingering from the little fair hand.
The author has something to say:
Garlan: In any case, I’ve saved you once, can you agree to a request?
Heimos: …Speak and I’ll consider.
Garlan: Don’t kill me!
Heimos:???
Editor: SleepyMango123
Proofreader: Lore
“Ah-!!!”
Garlan, who had just relaxed his tense nerves, was caught in surprise and howled with fright.
If it weren’t for his wrist being grabbed by the other party causing him to not be able to stand up, his whole body would have jolted.
When he turned to look and met those golden-red eyes, Garlan sighed in relief.
It was truly scary and terrifying.
Garlan was about to breathe a sigh of relief but when he thought about it, he felt something was wrong and raised his vigilance again.
Just now, he was holding a dagger and had a look of indecisiveness… Did this person see everything? He couldn’t guess what I was going to do, could he?!
“…What are you doing?”
The boy’s original voice, which was quite hoarse due to his adolescent period, became even huskier. The voice was cold and it made one feel uncomfortable.
Garlan had a guilty conscience and his heart became erratic upon hearing that voice.
“No…I didn’t do anything…I-I helped you pick your things up…”
As Garlan stammered halfway through his words, Heimos rudely interrupted him.
“I’m asking you, why did you hit yourself?”
The boy heaved violently and asked.
As he was disorientated just now, he suddenly heard two consecutive noises. First was the crisp sound of metal falling and then there was the sound of a slap.
When he opened his eyes, he happened to see Garlan hitting himself, as if he were having some sort of a convulsion.
He stared at the bright red fingerprints on the child’s face, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.
“This…that…”
Garlan choked. An idea suddenly came to his mind.
“I-I’m here to apologise. Erm, didn’t I accidentally hit you yesterday?” He whispered, “Look, I’ve also slapped myself… so don’t be angry with me, okay?”
As Garlan coaxed, he reached out and touched Heimos’ face, where he had been hit last time.
Heimos pursed his lips and said nothing.
The child kneeling next to him had teary bright golden eyes and stared at him. His shadow reflected in his eyes, the reddish fingerprints were still printed on his snow-white cheeks, and his little soft hands caressed his face.
The little appearance that looked at him and coaxed him, even with his hard-hearted heart, he couldn’t help but feel it soften.
The boy rolled his eyes.
“I know what you’re planning.”
“Ah…huh?”
Garlan panicked.
I only had that idea in my heart for a moment. I really didn’t plan to do anything to you-
Just when Garlan was so flustered, he heard Heimos continue to speak.
He turned his face away, didn’t look at Garlan, and said in a blunt tone.
“When you go out with that face, everyone will think that I did something to you. Isn’t this what you were plotting?”
Garlan, “…”
In the midst of heavy panting.
“No, they won’t. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it clearly,” He said quickly, “When they see how sick you are, they’ll know you weren’t able to do anything rough to me, right? Ah, that’s right.”
He nervously patronised. He almost forgot that the guy in front of him was still ill, and he had to go and call someone over.
“Wait, I’ll go get someone now.”
After saying that, he was about to get up but was stopped. Heimos didn’t let go, but tightened his fingers abruptly and clenched his wrist tighter, making Garlan almost shout in pain.
“No…” The burning face of the young boy couldn’t even say a complete sentence. He took a few breaths before uttering the next words, “…Need!”
The first survival rule in the slums was to never let others see your weaknesses. It was equivalent to exposing one’s fragile throat to others, and then being bitten by them when they had the opportunity.
The weak would not receive the slightest mercy, which only made people more contemptuous.
This had become the survival criterion of Heimos. Even after he returned to his family, in front of his biological parents, he would never show the slightest fragility.
Now, when he thought of his weak appearance being seen by this child, he felt a little irritable.
“Why? You’re sick.”
“Nag…gy!” His mind was dizzy, and his vision began to blur. Heimos tightened his lips, his expression was stubborn, and he clasped Garlan’s wrist tightly.
“No need… Just… No need!”
As he was delirious, he didn’t know how to control his power and pressed harder.
“I know! I know-let go!”
Garlan, whose mouth was twitching in pain, desperately tried to break free of Heimos’s fingers as he felt that his wrist was about to break.
“I won’t call anyone. Just let go!”
Upon hearing what Garlan said, still in a daze, Heimos let go of him. Garlan looked at him. Good Heavens!
His wrist turned blue-purple all around, as if a bracelet were placed there. If Heimos didn’t know the severity and gripped tighter, I’m afraid my wrist would really break.
He moved his body back a bit cautiously, in case Heimos grabbed him again, then whispered,
“If I don’t call someone, I can’t put you in bed by myself.”
“Don’t need… your concern,” Heimos spoke disjointedly, “You… go back to your room…”
He continued while wheezing.
Even as he was lying on the ground, he was dizzy. The scenery in front of him started to distort. His body felt like there was a fire ignited in his body, burning through his blood.
“…You… Go back!”
He could barely squeeze a few words out from his throat.
The boy, who was driven out by him, seemed to be bewildered for a while, got up, and quickly ran out.
Even though it was he who had told the other party to leave, seeing the child’s back disappear through the door, Heimos didn’t know why, but his heart felt a little empty.
He took a deep breath, drove away the feeling of loss in his heart, and closed his eyes. He then gritted his teeth hard and forcefully tried to lift his body from the ground. However, he was too weak. He managed to just raise his head a little, then dropped back down in the next second.
He laid on the ground with his back to the sky, feeling as if his whole body was empty. He didn’t have any strength left, and his whole body was scalding hot, on the brink of unconsciousness.
The beam of moonlight fell on his burning face as he laid on the ground, looking at the white crescent moon in the dark night sky in a daze.
He seemed to have returned back to the past. At that time, he was lying alone in the garbage pit, it was empty and silent all around him. Only the crescent moon in the dark night sky accompanied him.
…He slowly closed his eyes.
…
Pitter Patter.
There was an oncoming sound that kept coming closer.
The boy opened his eyes. The face of the child he thought had left, appeared in his sight again, and a small hand stretched out to touch his forehead.
A cold object covered his forehead, and the slightest coolness penetrated into the hot skin, alleviating the heat.
Garlan put a damp cloth on his forehead and touched his cheek again. The fingers were soft and cold, providing a very comfortable feeling. When the little hand left, Heimos felt a subtle sense of desolation in his heart.
He raised his eyes to Garlan.
The child knelt beside him, looking at him with open eyes.
On the small face which was the size of a palm, his eyes were big and bright.
It was obvious that those golden eyes were in the dark night, but they were bright like a pair of small golden suns. It was shining in the darkness, and for some reason it was difficult to look away.. Even the bright moon in the night sky became part of the background to those glowing eyes.
…
Garlan lowered his head and took out a small white medicine jar from his waist.
Fortunately, when he sneaked over, he wasn’t sure if Heimos had any medicine with him, so he simply brought the ointment that the doctor had specially instructed the maids to apply on him every day.
Garlan wasn’t sure what was going on with Heimos. He refused to let him call someone, and he really couldn’t leave him alone. If he were to really burn to death due to his high fever, it was the same as killing him himself.
He didn’t want to carry this pot1.
Garlan rubbed his hands. A while back, he ran outside to find a stream to wash his hands. He conveniently tore a piece of cloth from his clothes, got it wet, and brought it back.
If my hands were not clean, how could I apply the medicine for the patient? It would be bad if bacteria got into the wound.
He thought as he put the ointment on Heimos’ scars.
Unexpectedly, in this life, the day he personally helped his mortal enemy to apply medicine had finally arrived.
Ai, I hope that good intentions can be rewarded. If Heimos thinks that I somehow helped him today, he can let me off the hook in the future.
With such broken thoughts in his heart, Garlan, who was dedicated to helping Heimos with the ointment, did not notice that the young boy lying on the ground, opened his eyes for some time. The boy quietly looked at him for a while, and then closed his eyes again.
After he finished applying the medicine, the bottle filled with medicine was almost empty. Garlan also became very tired.
He wiped the sweat oozing from his forehead and looked up at Heimos. The young boy lay quietly on the ground, his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep.
He reached for the wet cloth resting on Heimos’ forehead. The cloth wasn’t cold anymore and became warm. He put his hand on Heimos’ forehead for a while and felt that it didn’t seem to be as hot as before, and his face wasn’t as flushed.
The boy had his eyes closed, his slender eyelashes dropped, and a slight shadow fell on his honey-coloured cheeks. Garlan looked at this familiar yet a little unfamiliar face, without the coldness and evil in his memories and with a little underage childishness. At this moment, it seemed very peaceful.
Garlan thought. He was really possessed just now.
The boy in front of him was only twelve or thirteen years old and was just a child.
Even Heimos, who would be called the ‘devil’ in the future, never used any despicable means to take advantage of him when fighting for the throne. Even as Heimos killed him, it was always after uprightly defeating him.
And here I was actually wanting to kill a sick kid…
If I really did that, wouldn’t I be more vicious than the so-called ‘devil’?
…
Forget it, don’t think too much.
Anyway, I’ve decided not to fight for the throne in this life.
Shaking his head vigorously and throwing out the messy thoughts in his mind, Garlan got up. He ran to the bed, took the thin blanket on the bed, and then covered Heimos.
He knelt next to him, stretched out his hand, and patted the covered blanket, as if he was patting a child. After he was done, his face showed satisfaction.
“I’ve helped you. So, you’ll have to repay me in the future.”
The repayment is simple, just don’t kill me.
After Garlan said to the sleeping boy in a low voice, he looked at the sky and realised it was almost midnight. He quickly got up and ran away.
However, just as Garlan was sneaking out, he didn’t notice the eyes of the teenager he thought was asleep, was slightly opened.
The shadows of the slender eyelashes fell into the gaps in Heimos’ opened eyes, making it difficult to see the way he looked at the child’s back at the moment.
It wasn’t until Garlan’s back disappeared under the night sky that Heimos slowly sat up, and the blanket covering him slid off him.
His body was still a little feverish, but the places where the medicine had been rubbed were cold, and the pain had alleviated a bit.
Heimos lowered his eyes, his thoughts unknown.
After a while, he raised his hand and pressed it against his forehead.
There seemed to be a little warmth lingering from the little fair hand.
The author has something to say:
Garlan: In any case, I’ve saved you once, can you agree to a request?
Heimos: …Speak and I’ll consider.
Garlan: Don’t kill me!
Heimos:???
