Chapter 9

9. If It Were Me, I Wouldn't Treat You Like This

So, the upcoming summit was with the desert nation.

The order was probably to infiltrate and find out about the Nix Empire's situation.

The person who gave that order was probably his half-brother?

His younger brother, with the outstanding talent to contract with a Spirit King, must have been a threat.

'They probably wanted him to get caught infiltrating and die here, but too bad. I have to save this kid.'

The water bowl was filled with blood. Since he couldn't use something so unhygienic, I immediately threw it away and flicked my finger.

"New water."

Then, the water bowl filled with clean, shimmering water. It was the spirit's help.

I put a handkerchief in it, wrung it out, and started by wiping off the blood clots.

I didn't expect to be in this situation, but I was glad I had taken the handkerchief Derek had given me earlier.

After wiping around the wound, a breeze blew in from somewhere. Seeing the medicinal herbs the wind had brought, I quickly sorted out what was usable and what wasn't.

"Hey. This is a poisonous herb? Are you trying to kill this kid?"

The boy, who had been wary and on edge, had already lost consciousness.

'Good.'

Before this kid woke up and caused another commotion, I hurried to move my hands.

I splinted the fractured bones and bandaged the areas where blood was still seeping out. In the process, I unintentionally realized that the boy's body had countless scars.

Seeing the skin around his shoulder blades and spine, which should have been smooth like the sand dunes of the desert, was a mess, I frowned.

'At this point, he's practically a combat slave.'

No, even combat slaves aren't treated like this at this age.

It was common knowledge that adult slaves were more expensive than young ones. So, slave traders didn't bother sending those who hadn't fully grown to the battlefield.

But this boy, just because he was born with threatening abilities, must have had to fight from a very young age.

And it seemed he hadn't even received proper treatment.

"Hey, Water. Aren't the descendants of the Sun God not supposed to get hurt easily? I heard they heal quickly if they get proper treatment."

As if it didn't want to answer my call, the water droplets moved around erratically. At that, I raised an eyebrow and pointed at the boy.

"You're not going to heal this?"

The threat worked easily.

The obedient water droplets formed letters in the air.

[ My contractor has never received treatment. ]

It wasn't a difficult sentence to understand, but I couldn't accept it, so I had to read it several times.

What kind of treatment was he receiving that this precious bloodline couldn't even get treatment?

I sullenly applied the medicine thickly on the scars. I knew it was useless since they were already old scars, but I did it anyway because I felt sorry for this kid who had been driven to death, driven, and driven, and finally ended up here.

"If it were me, I wouldn't treat you like this. I cherish what's mine."

I muttered quietly, crushed a medicinal herb with anesthetic effects, extracted the juice, and applied it to the severe wounds. It was fortunate that he had fainted since I had to stitch up the big wounds.

Soon, after taking a short, deep breath, I skillfully moved my hands.

Because I had a warlike personality and liked to fight, I often had to stitch up my own wounds. It was a bit awkward at first, but after doing this for about 200 years, I could suture without thinking.

'But that's only when it's my original body…'

Right now, it requires quite a bit of concentration.

Finally, after finishing treating the last wound, I stretched, rotating my stiff shoulders.

I don't know how much time has passed outside. Everyone must be worried.

"……Ah, but what about the coat?"

It was already covered in blood, so I couldn't wear it out again.

And the bigger problem was my dress.

I looked around at my messed-up appearance and made a troubled expression.

Derek and Mrs. Bertolt were going to faint, and I had no excuse.

'What should I do?'

I was tired, so I just sat down, and water droplets bubbled up and circled around me.

"Ah, are you trying to help? Thank you."

The spirit's skill was indeed amazing. From the sleeves to the fluffy fur trim on the hem of the skirt, it was instantly clean.

Relieved, I lay down on my back.

It wasn't a behavior befitting an Empress, but that's how I used to live.

It's not bad to live as I used to when there's no one watching, right?

Saving a dying human made me incredibly tired.

"Wake me up in a bit, I'm going to sleep for an hour…."

Spirits are quite convenient.

If it were possible, I would like to contract with a Spirit King too, but there's no way a demon could do that.

I was just rambling on with pointless thoughts, then I curled up and patted the boy's shoulder.

So many things had happened that I was falling asleep.

* * *

'My body feels lighter.'

How much time had passed? The boy, Meriem, who opened his eyes wide, first checked his physical condition.

His fingers moved normally, and his thighs felt strong.

Judging that he could stand up, he slowly raised his upper body.

There was still pain, but it was minimal.

Other people would have to rest for a month to recover from such a severe injury, but the boy's recovery ability was remarkable. In addition, his pain threshold was lower than others, so there was no reason why he couldn't move.

Water droplets quickly gathered around the boy. It was sent by the Spirit King he had contracted with.

"I'm fine."

The boy, Meriem, didn't smile. He didn't even know how to smile.

Instead, he reached out his hand to the water droplets. It was to stroke them.

"Hmm…."

But then, someone else's voice, which shouldn't have been heard in this space, rang in his ears.

If the water droplets hadn't blocked him at that moment, he would have mistaken her for an intruder and killed her.

“…You healed me?”

Thanks to the spirit's explanation, he withdrew his murderous intent, but he didn't let down his guard and suspicion.

In the first place, there was no way an ordinary person could enter the Spirit King's subspace.

"……."

But somehow. After staring at the sleeping face for a long time, Meriem felt like he was being foolish.

The woman was fragile.

He could feel the carotid artery throbbing. The blood flow was slow, and the heartbeat was barely audible. As if it would disappear at any moment.

White skin like snow that would melt quickly if exposed to a little sunlight, slender wrists. Even her small frame.

She was a woman who seemed incapable of harming him, let alone taking care of herself.

Meriem frowned for no reason because he felt that her dark blonde hair was dazzling.

'A strange woman.'

Come to think of it, this fur coat wasn't his.

It was true that she had laid him down here and treated his wounds. And then she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.

Meriem, who made a slow but clear judgment, stood up from the fur coat. According to his will, the water droplets cleaned the coat, and then Meriem carefully picked up the woman.

She was so light that he felt like she would fly away at any moment, so Meriem had to put strength into his arms for no reason.

"Did this woman kiss my forehead?"

After laying the woman down on the coat with the bloodstains removed, Meriem suddenly asked that question. She had said something strange about the price for treating him being a goodnight kiss.

But the water droplets scattered and dispersed. Meaning 'no.'

'So, it wasn't a lie that she would treat me first.'

Unexpected.

Meriem had never seen a person who didn't lie.

He didn't have to go far to see that this mission was also like that.

The man who plopped down next to the woman stroked his chest, where only a red line remained from the now almost healed wound, and gritted his teeth.

All of this happened to him because of his half-brother.

His mission was to infiltrate the Nix Empire's Imperial Palace ahead of the summit and obtain top-secret information about the Empress.

In the desert nation, the Emperor's orders were absolute, and there was no such thing as disobeying them. To show loyalty, he had to take on and solve the five tasks given by the Emperor.

The more noble the family, the safer the mission they were assigned, but Meriem, who had no backing because his mother was not present, was only given dangerous tasks.

Still, Meriem didn't complain.

He knew very well how wary his half-brother, the Emperor, was of him.

He was a burden.

Killing him would be too wasteful because of the asset that was the Spirit King, but keeping him close was dangerous, so he was a being they wanted to send somewhere far away and hope he would die on his own.

Meriem had desperately survived even when he was sent to a volcanic zone across the border or had to visit a snowfield.

No one welcomed him when he returned, but even so, Meriem had to return to the desert nation.

Because there was no other place to call home.

Of course, even that was about to disappear because of the sudden <Revelation>…….

Meriem, who washed his face roughly, tried to erase the useless emotions from his mind.

If he killed his emotions, killed them, and killed them again, he would eventually not feel anything. Surely that day would come.

He repeated to himself as if making a pledge, and then recalled the person who had left this wound on him.

'That guy was a monster.'

All the preliminary information about Nix given to Meriem was false. Even the map of the Imperial Palace was fake.

He had never believed it in the first place, but thanks to that, he was caught by the Emperor while wandering around the Imperial Palace. Even though he had been as careful as possible to suppress his presence, the guy swung his sword at him without hesitation.

The Emperor, who looked surprised when he blocked the first attack, soon poured out an enormous amount of Divinity and launched a rapid attack.

He saved his life with his excellent physical abilities and reflexes, but he was so badly injured that he could not return to the desert, so the Spirit King created a barrier to protect him.

'That was already three days ago.'

He was cruel and didn't hesitate to take lives. There was no vitality to be found in his dark, dead eyes.

'If we had fought in the desert, we would have been evenly matched.'

As expected, his power weakens a lot when he leaves his home country.

Meriem, who repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist, stared blankly at the woman who was sleeping soundly.

Her carefree face strangely gave him a sense of stability.

Even though he knew that hell was waiting for him as soon as he stepped out of this space, was it because he was with someone who, for the first time in his life, didn't want him to die?

For Meriem, who had never heard the words 'it's okay to live,' it was a kind of great shock that someone had treated and saved him.

"Is a goodnight kiss just kissing someone on the forehead?"

When he asked in a low voice, worried that she might wake up, the water droplets burst into clear laughter all at once. Meriem pretended to be angry at the laughter that was full of teasing and growled fiercely.

"Don't laugh. I've never done it or received it."

Just imagining it made his whole body ticklish. His nape was burning, and he felt like he wanted to run away somewhere right away.

He couldn't understand why he had to put his lips on someone, but a deal was a deal.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips lightly on the woman's smooth forehead.

He couldn't breathe.