Chapter 67

Asad, seemingly not trusting even having the medicine in Kinaine's hands, took it back. He then immediately went downstairs and woke up the sleeping Ramu.

"Dr-dragon...! Oops!"

The moment Ramu opened her eyes and saw his face, she seemed so startled that her sleepiness instantly vanished. As Ramu hurriedly covered her mouth and watched his reaction, Asad tossed her the pouch.

"Little one, make medicine with this. You can make it quickly, right?"

"B-but we don't have any tools here to brew medicine..."

"What? You don't even have that? What do you have here?"

Having apparently forgotten that he was the one who had assigned them to this abandoned palace with nothing in it, Asad needlessly scolded her.

"Then go to the main palace, use my name, and tell them to make the medicine within an hour."

"Y-yes!"

As he watched Ramu running away hurriedly, Asad tilted his head.

But why isn't he following and what is he doing?

Wondering this, he returned to the room, but Kinaine was nowhere to be seen. Asad's expression instantly hardened.

The human had disappeared.

The moment he realized this fact, his breath caught as if someone was strangling him.

Asad covered his mouth with one hand and bent halfway at the waist, breathing roughly.

"Hah..."

It was the same symptoms as when he had opened his eyes on the bed.

Thump thump, the sound of his pulse pounding echoed in his ears like a drum. He could feel cold sweat running down his entire body.

Why am I like this?

Just then, a faint metallic smell caught his nose.

Asad, who had been staggering, suddenly started running as if nothing had happened.

"Nine!"

The place he ran to at lightning speed was in front of the bathroom on the second floor. He roughly grabbed the bathroom doorknob with trembling hands. Crack! Unable to withstand the force, the door half-broke and fell to the floor.

Inside the bathroom, black eyes widened in surprise at the sudden situation looked at Asad.

"Lord Asad?"

"Haah..."

Asad let out a long breath. Only then did his racing pulse and stopped breath return to normal.

Looking at the human who was staring at him questioningly, Asad rubbed his face with dry hands.

What... is this really?

Asad had always been in poor condition when waking up, so he had thought today was just worse than usual. Though, of course, this contradicted the fact that he had woken up better rested than he had been recently.

However, now that he had returned to normal, he realized that wasn't it. Asad's expression hardened as he realized his condition was truly abnormal. It didn't seem likely that a powerless human could have done anything to him...

'Could this be a sign that the madness is beginning?'

Just then, a cold hand touched Asad's cheek.

"Are you alright?"

Before he could withdraw his hand in surprise after reaching out first, Asad grabbed Kinaine's wrist. Humans naturally had lower body temperature, but now it seemed particularly low. But more concerning than that was...

"Blood smell."

"...What?"

"I smell blood. From you."

Come to think of it, his clothes were different from earlier too. What reason would he have to change clothes again when he had just washed and changed? Asad temporarily forgot about his own abnormal symptoms and examined the human's appearance.

"Ah... when you went downstairs earlier, I bit my tongue when I was about to call you."

"What? Are you stupid?"

Last time he had gotten a nosebleed from bumping into something alone. Though he had thought him sharp-witted, seeing him repeat such foolish acts made him seem quite unreliable.

Asad clicked his tongue disapprovingly and stood askew. As he regained his composure, his dissatisfaction gradually rose.

"But if you bit your tongue, that's that, why are you here? And I clearly told you earlier to tell me when you go somewhere."

"I never agreed to do that."

"What?"

"Reporting every time I go somewhere is a bit... don't you think? I have my privacy too."

"Oh really? Try saying more."

Asad growled.

Seeing the dragon almost at the point of explosion, Kinaine finally closed his mouth.

He had deliberately provoked the dragon to divert his attention elsewhere, but the effect had been too good.

"I said say more."

"No, I was wrong. Please forgive me."

"Huh?"

Though Asad's eyes narrowed in disbelief at the quick apology, Kinaine was actually focused on checking whether the bloody water had completely drained down the drain.

"What are you looking at?"

Asad turned around to check where Kinaine was looking, but there was nothing there.

Meeting Asad's suspicious gaze, Kinaine answered calmly.

"There was a bug. A really big bug."

"A bug? ...A place where things that should be here aren't, and things that shouldn't be here are. Anyway, follow me. If you disappear without a word again this time, know that I'll really kill you."

Asad snapped irritably and grabbed Kinaine by the nape of his neck, dragging him out of the bathroom.

A moment later, Ramu entered the room with the medicinal decoction. Her return was faster than expected, likely due to the dragon's threats being effective.

"Put it there and go."

"Yes."

After Ramu left, the medicinal decoction placed on the only small table soon floated up into the air and settled in Asad's hand.

"Here, drink."

Kinaine received the bowl Asad handed him.

Looking at the medicine made his stomach churn. It wasn't just because of the bitter scent. Having just emptied his stomach and vomited blood, his throat still felt raw.

The medicine received from the scaled tribe had been an extraordinary treasure. After all, it had healed all those external wounds at once. But even that amazing medicine couldn't restore a body damaged by black magic.

When Kinaine just stared blankly at the medicine, Asad immediately sneered.

"What, don't want to drink..."

But his words didn't finish.

Gulp gulp. Kinaine drank the medicine in one go and put the empty bowl down on the table.

"I've finished drinking."

To drink in one go medicine that was bitter just from the smell. Though he hadn't drunk it himself, Asad's expression wrinkled as if his tongue felt bitter anyway.

"Now then I'll..."

As Kinaine tried to get up, Asad grabbed his arm and made him sit back down.

"Where are you going? I haven't checked yet."

"..."

"Open your mouth."

Kinaine obediently opened his mouth. Asad inserted his fingers to check under his tongue and the roof of his mouth.

'He said he bit his tongue but there's no wound.'

It was a bit strange, but he didn't dwell on it. He was more concerned about the warm sensation enveloping his fingers.

It wasn't as unpleasant as he had expected. Strangely, even with his fingers being wet with another's saliva, he didn't find it disgusting.

Well, they had done even dirtier things.

Suddenly, memories of past events flashed through Asad's mind. His gaze briefly went down before returning to its original position. Fortunately, the human seemed not to have noticed what changes had occurred in Asad's lower regions, only blinking questioningly.

"Hmm..."

His fingers, which had paused momentarily, began moving again.

Surely there was nothing more to check? Though Kinaine expressed doubt with his eyes, Asad ignored it. His golden eyes, probing the bright red interior of the mouth, began to take on an increasingly murky light.

"Did you really swallow it all? I'm not sure."

"What do you..."

"I need to check more thoroughly."

Withdrawing his fingers, Asad immediately lowered his head and kissed him deeply.

However, the kiss didn't last long. Kinaine immediately turned his head to the side to avoid it.

"What?"

"Lord Asad. I've been thinking, we shouldn't do this anymore."

This incident had made him realize clearly. Being just an ordinary human, he couldn't confidently act nonchalant while mixing bodies with his lover.

And above all...

"These things should be done with your bride, not with me."

He felt that continuing to mix bodies with Asad while pretending not to know was wrong to the mate he would eventually have.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something."

Asad, who had been listening to Kinaine's words with his head tilted askew, smirked.

He grabbed Kinaine's chin with one hand and made him look at him.

"The bride's role is to bear my child, that's all. They have no right to interfere in what I do. Of course, I'll do the same for them."

"What do you..."

"What, did you think I would actually fall in love with my bride?"

His red lips wore a sardonic smile.

"As long as they can bear children, I don't care who becomes my bride. Everyone thought male omegas were my preference because I wanted one as my bride, but I just chose males because they seemed sturdy and likely to bear children well. Actually, I don't care whether they're female or male, long-haired or short-haired, tall or short."

Asad added.

"Ah, but you're not possible. You should know that much by now without me saying it?"

It was as he said. Having heard countless times that he wouldn't take a human as his bride, there was nothing surprising about it. However... to think Asad considered his bride such a being.

Of course, in aristocratic society, there were many who thought like Asad, but he had hoped he wouldn't be like that. There must have been a reason why other dragons cherished their mates.

"Is it clear now?"

"Ah."

The force on his chin interrupted his thoughts. Asad's face had somehow come close.

"Then can we continue now?"