Translator: Nox
(25) The Golden Lion's Treasure and Contaminated Water (9)
'Is this also a dream?'
Roxana thought vaguely.
'Yes, this must be a dream.'
If it weren't a dream, there was no way Floyd and she would be entangled on the same bed. There was no way he, who got angry just by looking at Roxana, would hold her so affectionately and firmly.
Roxana slowly blinked her eyes and examined his face. His skin was flawless, and his features were perfectly placed.
'Like a sculpture.'
She had heard that many women were after the Monarch of Torkan.
-"What's so great about that bastard… Just because he can handle a few monsters, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is drooling over him. Vulgar things."
She remembered Lucas Pelur's grumbling with a grimace when the topic of Torkan came up. At that time, Roxana thought that the women aiming for the Monarch of Torkan simply wanted a strong protector, but looking at this face, she didn't think that was the only reason they wanted this man.
Silently closing his eyes, the evaluation that he was the jewel of the southern country was not an exaggeration. A precious black pearl. Obsidian. Black diamond. Something like that.
Roxana didn't even realize that she had the mental capacity to evaluate a man's face as she admired his face. Then, a sigh-like breath escaped from his lips and touched hers, startling her.
She thought it was a dream, but the breath touching her lips was very vivid.
'Wasn't it a dream?'
The moment she realized that, her body tensed up. As if sensing the subtle movement, he abruptly opened his eyes.
Gray eyes very close. Roxana held her breath and stared at his eyes, like a sky covered in dark clouds.
His eyelids slowly blinked. After closing and opening his eyes a couple of times, he slowly moved his pupils this time. A piercingly intense gaze thoroughly scanned Roxana's face before stopping at her eyes.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Ah……."
It was the first time she had been held in a man's arms on a bed, and the first time she had fallen asleep and woken up in his arms. She didn't know how to react in this unfamiliar situation.
Roxana made a short sound like a sigh, like a moan, and closed her mouth. He stared at her for a moment, then chuckled and got out of bed. Fortunately, he was properly dressed.
Standing next to the bed and running his hands through his hair, he looked like a tiger stretching.
"Thanks to you, Princess, I also slept in a soft bed for the first time in a while."
So, why? Why did you and I sleep in the same bed?
She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but she was too embarrassed to open her mouth. While she was moving her lips, he picked up a water bottle from the bedside table and drank it straight down.
Roxana looked up at him in dismay as he drank water from the bottle without any decorum. Sensing her gaze, Floyd, with an expression of 'Oops!', took the bottle away from his mouth and asked.
"Do you want to drink?"
Roxana sat up and shook her head slightly. Floyd nodded lightly and drank water again. She watched his Adam's apple move, then realized that she was watching him too intently and averted her gaze.
Only then did the desolate scenery of this place come into view.
A room without curtains or a sofa. A desolate room that seemed to be made to imprison someone. The walls had traces of burns, and the steel chair had no cushions. The only soft thing in this room was the blanket covering the bed.
"Where is this……?"
"It's my room. My bedroom."
"Your Highness's bedroom?"
Roxana was shocked. She had woken up here with him, but she had never imagined that this would be his bedroom.
"Yes. Isn't it nice?"
"Ah……."
Seeing Roxana speechless, he smiled.
"Usually, even that blanket isn't here, but thanks to you, Princess, I slept with a blanket."
"Thanks to me? Your Highness can cover yourself with a blanket whenever you want if you order it."
"I could, I guess. As long as it doesn't burn. I'm so grateful that at least the clothes I'm wearing aren't burned."
Listening to his words, which seemed to mock his situation, Roxana recalled being engulfed in the fire that suddenly spread on the merchant ship.
"Does it catch fire? From your body?"
"Yes. Do you know something?"
Roxana closed her mouth and lowered her gaze.
"It's a strange thing. There's a crazy being inside me, and it's constantly going crazy, which is a big headache. Especially whenever I get angry, an uncontrollable flame rages and sometimes causes terrible damage to the people around me."
He emptied the water in the bottle, put the bottle down, and sat down on the end of the bed with a thud.
"But strangely, when you're next to me, Princess, that guy is quiet."
"……."
"What is this? And what are you, Princess?"
"……."
"Yesterday, you collapsed in the treatment room, Princess. You were emitting cold air from your body to the point where frost formed on my clothes. Just like I spew flames. I felt cold for the first time in a very long time."
She didn't know that had happened. The fact that the Spirits of Water and Undine were worried that Roxana might die must have been because of that problem.
"I held you and came here to try to do something, but flames formed in my hands. I couldn't do anything because I was afraid that you would be harmed by these flames, but do you know what happened?"
She didn't know, but she could guess.
"This crazy flame flowed into your body as if it was trying to save you. I even heard the voice of the crazy being who hadn't spoken to me since the first time we met. I had to save you, so I held you and lay down, and then I fell asleep, but well. That's not an important issue."
He leaned forward, bringing his face close to Roxana's.
"What the hell is this? Do you know what this crazy being inside me is?"
In the old days, she would never have said it. Her mother had said that she had to hide this ability and their existence. Because if it became known that she had such abilities, assassins sent by the Great Temple would target her life.
But now, it didn't matter. Even if this ability was known to the Great Temple and assassins targeted her life, it didn't matter.
"It's not a crazy being. You're not cursed either, Your Highness."
"Then what is it, exactly?"
"Spirit."
"Pardon?"
"It's a Spirit, that's what it is."
Floyd's thick eyebrows twitched. He seemed to be wondering whether to laugh, be dumbfounded, or get angry at her for uttering the name of a wicked being.
Roxana lowered her eyes and calmly explained.
"It was the Spirits of Water who helped me treat the patients. And the being inside you must be a Spirit of Fire. I don't know how a Spirit could have been in your body for so long, but that's probably it."
"Spirit."
Floyd uttered the name of a long-forgotten being with an unpleasant expression. It was so absurd that it felt unreal even though he had said it.
"A Spirit."
"Yes."
"Spirits exist."
"They exist."
"Not a demon."
"Not a demon."
Floyd tapped his thigh with his index finger and fell into thought.
In the very old days, when the temple and the empire joined hands to massacre Spirit Users, the existence of Spirits was defined as demons that seduced people. Demons that seemed to help humans, seducing them to leave the embrace of God. Demons that created Rifts.
Of course, there were still those who believed in and worshiped Spirits somewhere, but at least no one openly believed in Spirits.
"Spirit."
Floyd said the unfamiliar name again, which he couldn't believe, and then stared at Roxana, who was still looking down.
"Are you sure? That this is a Spirit?"
Roxana raised her eyes. She hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
"Would it be okay if I touched you for a moment, Your Highness?"
When Floyd nodded, she reached out her hand. Her palm touched Floyd's chest. Floyd stared at her hand moving on his chest as if playing an instrument.
He felt a strange sensation, a tickling in his chest.
"I can't hear anything."
Roxana, who had taken her hand away, said. Her brow was slightly furrowed as if she was in trouble, and Floyd couldn't take his eyes off her because her appearance was so refreshing.
"They're usually chattering so much that it's annoying."
"Spirits chatter?"
"Yes. You said you heard a voice too, Your Highness."
"I did. Twice in my life. No matter what the hell I did… excuse me. No matter what I did, this guy never answered me."
When he first guessed that there was a Spirit of Fire inside Floyd, he thought that he might also be a Spirit User. But the Spirits chattered.
-That man is not a Spirit User, Lotty.
-That man is just a toy. A pitiful guy.
-Poor guy. Of all people…….
The Spirits gave information, but it wasn't accurate information.
'A toy. Whose, exactly?'
But even the talkative Spirits didn't answer that question.
Roxana hesitated about whether to tell Floyd the information she had just heard, but then stopped. She didn't think this man would want to hear that he was someone's 'toy'.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I don't know much either."
"You don't have to be sorry. Whatever it is, nothing will change from now on. However, it's better not to let it be known here and there that you use the power of Spirits, Princess. The captain of the royal guard are trustworthy guys, so let's just tell them."
"Yes, do as you wish, Your Highness."
Floyd twitched his eyebrows at the self-deprecating answer. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and shook his head before getting up.
"Let's go back to Lily Palace and rest now, Princess. This place will be uncomfortable."
"Yes."
"I'll be away from the Grand Duke's mansion for a while because of the subjugation. Tell the Chamberlain if you need anything."
Roxana abruptly raised her head.
"Are you going on a subjugation?"
"I have to catch the monster that is contaminating the water. It's a fast and clever guy, so it might take some time."
"Then please take me with you."
