Chapter 142

The words had bypassed his mind before coming out.

Only after speaking did Asad realize that he had been harboring this thought in his heart all along.

Would it have been better if he had seen him living well? If it had been a sight that made him understand that it was worth turning his back on the things Asad had promised to give him.

But since that wasn't the case, Asad had no choice but to look for another reason. That because of the time he had been cruel, even with the offer of all those things, Nine had come to dislike being by his side.

From the moment they first met until now, Asad had always hurt Nine. Whether physically or emotionally. Back then, he thought it was fine. What problem could there be in playing roughly with a toy, even breaking it? Especially if it was a human.

Certainly, there had been no problem with that at the time.

The problem came later.

At first, he had treated him as a stress-relief toy that could break at any time. But at some point, it was no longer fun to play by breaking that toy.

Because kissing was more fun. Because holding him while sleeping was more enjoyable. Because seeing his faintly smiling face, hearing his small laughter became more pleasant...

He came to think that he wanted to keep seeing him.

Since he was a dragon and could obtain whatever he wanted, he naturally thought he could have Nine too.

'He said he liked me. That he liked me.'

That's why he had let his guard down. Because he thought that just as everyone wanted him, the human would naturally feel the same.

But that was merely an illusion. By the time he thought it might be the opposite, it was already too late.

Asad had hated humans until now because they had treated him badly in the past. If he felt that way, why wouldn't Nine? No matter how he thought about it, the only reason Nine would leave the dragon palace, forsaking gold, silver, and a comfortable life, even risking his hidden identity being exposed, was that.

"......"

Asad bit his lip tightly. He felt a burning sensation as if the hot energy rising from deep in his chest had reached his eyeballs.

It was different from the signs of turning into a magical beast. But if it wasn't demonic energy, why and from where did this sensation he was feeling originate?

With that question in mind, he snatched the bandage that was still floating in the air.

"Ugh."

While wrapping the bandage around the foot, a soft groan was heard. Asad quickly raised his head and saw Kinaine struggling to lift his eyelids.

Asad dropped the bandage he was holding and hurriedly approached Kinaine.

"Hm......"

Black eyes, wet with moisture, were wandering in the empty air. The sound coming from lips that had been bitten so many times they were wounded was half labored breathing and half groaning.

He had seen some people crying or suffering in his life. But he had never seen someone suffering without properly making a sound, like this human.

Fearing that blood would flow again from the bitten lips, Asad pressed his thumb firmly against them to discourage it.

"Don't bite."

He deliberately spoke in a gentle tone. But despite such efforts, Asad's voice didn't seem to reach the human.

"Nine?"

There was no particular response even when his name was called. As expected, his consciousness had not yet awakened, unlike his body.

The black eyes were submerged in deep darkness. In the darkness where nothing could be seen, he was completely alone. The sight of him groaning and swallowing pain alone seemed to say that no one could help him, that only he could bear this pain.

'Neither painkillers nor healing magic work.'

As the doctor had said, if his senses had disappeared to the point where he didn't notice his foot getting into this state, feeling pain itself didn't make sense. Not knowing where it hurt made it difficult to come up with a solution.

Eventually, Asad reached out to put him back to sleep.

"Huh?"

But at the same time, his wrist was grabbed and twisted.

With both wrists seized, Asad was pushed down. Asad didn't resist the force pinning him down.

"...It's the first time someone has pinned me down."

Asad muttered. But his voice didn't seem to reach the human who was sitting on his upper body.

"Don't... touch."

The human was panting at a distance where their noses would almost touch if he raised his head slightly. Muscles stiffened with tension were visible.

Despite the trembling voice, the face looking down at Asad was expressionless. If he hadn't been watching him groaning in pain just moments ago, he might have mistaken the wrinkles between his brows as merely due to tension. But to Asad's eyes, knowing the whole situation, it looked like an injured beast desperately trying to hide its wounds.

The sound of a rapidly beating heart could be heard. Asad knew he was frightened.

"Nine. Can you hear me?"

"......"

The black eyes were still hazy, as if covered in fog.

So he doesn't recognize me after all.

Asad was secretly relieved. If he had known it was him and still rejected him like this... he might have wanted to tamper with his mind.

He only needed to erase a very small portion of his memories. Then he could forget all the unpleasant times with him and start anew.

If the other hadn't been human, and thus if there hadn't been a high possibility of permanent disability from tampering with his mind, he would have done it without hesitation.

Isn't it okay to forget bad and painful memories? Just as he had done.

Asad's gaze briefly touched the silver ring on his ring finger before falling away.

That would come later.

'First, this.'

Asad, who was about to put Kinaine back to sleep with magic, paused the next moment.

Kinaine had suddenly buried his face in the nape of Asad's neck.

"Why suddenly... Ah."

First it was his finger, and now he was nibbling on his nape. It was precisely around where the pheromone gland was located. It didn't hurt at all, but...

"It's a bit troublesome if you bite there."

Even if well-controlled, pheromones would inevitably leak out when the pheromone gland was stimulated.

Though he usually managed his pheromones so well that one would think he was a beta, Kinaine was a recessive omega. A dominant alpha's pheromones would act excessively on Kinaine's current physical state.

Asad tried to detach Kinaine, but Kinaine instead embraced him, trying not to be separated.

Since it was the first time Kinaine had clung to him to this extent, Asad felt strange. Strange enough that he couldn't detach him despite knowing it was unusual behavior.

'Why is he doing this?'

The question was quickly answered. Kinaine was hastily inhaling Asad's pheromones that had leaked out due to the stimulation of his pheromone gland.

Realizing the situation, Asad finally placed his hand on the back of Kinaine's head and pulled him back slightly.

"Wait."

"Ugh......"

Asad checked Kinaine's condition.

A dreamy energy was swirling in the eyes that had been full of anxiety and pain just moments ago. A faint flush had risen to his cheeks, which had been pale.

His unstable breathing and rapidly beating heart were more normal than before.

"......"

Asad realized. That Kinaine was using his pheromones like a painkiller.

As Asad had thought, a dominant alpha's pheromones acted too excessively on a recessive omega, making them forget things like pain.

The clever human seemed to have figured out the usefulness of the alpha in front of him in that brief moment, even in his delirious state.

"Let go......"

As Asad remained dazed at the unexpected situation, the corners of Kinaine's mouth drooped. Asad's body flinched as the black eyes became moist.

"It hurts......"

It was a whisper so small that an ordinary person couldn't hear it. Someone else might not have heard it, but in Asad's ears, it rang as loudly as thunder.

Because Kinaine had said he was in pain for the first time, Asad had no choice but to let him chew on his nape again.

'...I suppose it's better than him biting his own lips.'

No matter how hard Kinaine clenched his jaw and bit, it would only leave slight teeth marks on Asad's body, so it was more reasonable.

The problem was that he also had thoughts that weren't reasonable at all. That even if his body were as soft as a human's and his neck got a hole with blood flowing freely, he would have just let it be. Yet he wasn't such a foolish dragon.

"...I have many things to ask you. But the priority of the question I wanted to ask most just now has changed."

Asad muttered while releasing enough pheromones to overflow Kinaine.

"Did you cast black magic on me too?"

"......"

"If not, I can't explain why I've become so strange."

Unless he was under some black magic, why would he be stroking the head of a human who was randomly chewing on his neck, as if he were doing a good job?

When he thought the human would dislike him, all sorts of bad thoughts had come to mind, but now that he was clinging to him as if he needed him, he felt like he might even forgive humans who sassed him in front of him.

"Since when did you cast it? From the beginning, I suppose?"

"......"

"Somehow, I could only see you strangely."

Of course, Asad knew that he wasn't really under black magic. Yet the reason he was spouting such useless words was that he needed a means to divert his attention elsewhere right now.

Because Kinaine, responding to Asad's pheromones, had naturally begun to release his own pheromones.

The fresh grassy scent touching the tip of his nose tormented Asad for the first time.

Since realizing he was a dragon, had there ever been a moment when he had to endure this much?

Asad, patting the back of Kinaine who had fallen into a comfortable sleep, murmured like a sigh.

"What have you really done to me......"