By Zephyria 
Aska would toss and turn, inevitably waking me up. Then I’d find a comfortable position and fall back asleep, only to be awakened again by Aska’s movements.
Considering how many times I woke up, I felt okay, but my body wasn’t fully recovered.
I groggily sat up, barely able to open my eyes, and let out a deep breath. Aska, who had been sleeping like the dead beside me, mumbled.
“What?”
“Go…”
“Go where? Where to?”
Was he sleep-talking? I reached out and brushed the hair off his face, and Aska squinted at me with a deeply furrowed brow.
“What…”
“Where are you going? What are you dreaming about?”
I muttered to myself, and Aska sighed.
“Go eat something soon…”
Was he dreaming about food? I tilted my head and got out of bed. My legs weren’t as wobbly as yesterday, but I still felt weak.
Honestly, I thought I’d feel better after sleeping, but I guess I was being too optimistic.
I opened the closed window and saw the still-dim sky.
“How long did I sleep?”
I didn’t even know when I fell asleep, so I had no idea what time it was.
I felt sticky from sleeping without washing, but thankfully, there was no blood on me. If I had been covered in blood, even getting to the castle would have been a struggle.
“Let’s go soon.”
“Right away?”
“I want to wash up quickly.”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
I felt a bit empty, but my stomach still hurt more. My esophagus was also stinging, like it had been injured when I vomited blood.
I looked at Aska, who was still wriggling around in bed, not wanting to get up, and asked, “Does that just dull the pain? It doesn’t heal wounds or anything, does it?”
“What? Licking? I don’t know exactly.”
I didn’t even say the direct words, but he understood perfectly. If it had a healing effect, I would have tried eating it again, but if it only relieved the pain, there was no reason to.
“But it seems to heal a little faster…”
“How did you figure that out?”
I asked because it didn’t seem like he knew from the beginning.
“I just noticed that you didn’t hurt as much when I drank your blood after a certain point. And last time, it took days for a knife wound to heal, but then, after a while, it would heal in a day or two?”
I hadn’t paid much attention to the wounds, but listening to Aska, it seemed like that might be the case. Still, it wasn’t certain, so I should probably experiment later.
“If it heals faster, can I just drink it directly instead of using a syringe from now on?”
Aska, who had been rolling around, jumped up. I couldn’t help but frown at his words.
“You want me to cut myself again? Why?”
“I don’t like eating it with a syringe. It’s a little cold even if I take it out and eat it right away…”
“Cold? The blood?”
“Anyway, it’s better to eat it right away. If it heals faster, it’s okay, right? It won’t hurt if I lick it.”
That was true, but I wondered if we really had to do that when there was an easier way. Just because he didn’t want to eat it cold… Thinking that far, I suddenly remembered the cold, hardened meat.
I wouldn’t want to eat that either.
“Let’s think about that again when we get back.”
“Or I’ll secretly eat it while you’re sleeping.”
“I don’t like that.”
“Why? You wouldn’t even know it hurt.”
I put the robe on Aska and pulled up the hood. I carefully put on his gloves, and now I was going to put on mine, but I kept running out of breath. Was this really a big deal?
Just putting on some clothes, was it really this hard? Was I going to get better? I would get better, right?
As I struggled to put on my clothes, Aska seemed to notice that something was wrong with me.
“Why? Does it hurt again? Do you feel like you’re going to vomit blood?”
I shook my head and put on the hood.
“It’s all because you keep not eating anything.”
He said the same thing as yesterday. I took Aska’s hand and left the room, asking, “Why do you keep saying that?”
“Isn’t eating with me all you eat?”
His tone was clearly accusatory. I didn’t want any trouble, so I lied without hesitation.
“No, I go out and eat more separately.”
Then Aska reached out and took off my hood. Then he asked again.
“That’s not all you eat?”
I tried to put the hood back on, but Aska wouldn’t let go of my hand. Through the gap in the hood covering my head, Aska glared at me with bloodshot eyes like daggers.
“Why are you suddenly making a fuss about eating?”
“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“I’m not lying.”
“You are lying, you damn liar. I can always tell when you lie because you make that annoying face with your eyes.”
I brushed off Aska’s hand and put the hood back on.
“Why have you been swearing so much since yesterday? I told you not to swear, didn’t I?”
“I’ll swear too since you’re lying.”
“Don’t say such nonsense.”
Aska and I bickered non-stop as we walked down the street.
When we got near the castle, I told Aska to go in first through the place we had used to get out. Until yesterday, I had hesitated because I thought Aska might suddenly disappear again, but today, strangely, I didn’t have that worry.
“When are you coming?”
“I’ll go in right away. Don’t get caught by anyone.”
“I know that.”
After saying that, Aska stood there for a moment, looking at me, then turned away. I took my eyes off Aska as he walked away and headed towards the main gate of the castle.
The guard, who had been wary of my appearance at first, panicked and bowed when I took off my hood. I was actually too tired to even stand properly, so I didn’t even properly acknowledge his greeting and went inside.
I had to walk for ages to get to Talim. I seriously considered calling for a carriage, and finally arrived at my destination, letting out a sigh of relief.
If I had walked any further, I might have collapsed from exhaustion.
“Lord Kyle.”
As soon as I went inside, Asella, whose eyes were dark from not getting enough sleep all night, approached me.
“I’m going to wash up right away, so get everything ready and prepare some food. And call a physician too.”
“Perhaps…”
“Later.”
I cut her off at the start because she looked like she had a mountain of questions to ask. At my words, Asella bowed her head without asking any further. I was about to go to my room when something came to mind, and I opened my mouth.
“I think a slave trader snuck in during the festival yesterday, so look into it. There was a commotion, so they’ve probably already been caught, but still.”
“Understood. Where should I have the water prepared for washing?”
I paused at those words. Aska had to wash too, so there was that place and the room where I would wash separately… But could Aska wash alone? He’d probably just wet himself and come out again. But I couldn’t ask anyone else to do it.
After thinking for a moment, I reluctantly told her to prepare it in both rooms together. And I finally arrived at my room after a single night.
“Haa…”
I didn’t even have the strength to get to the bed or sofa, so I collapsed onto the floor. Aska, who had already arrived, ran to me.
“Does it hurt again?”
“I’m so tired…”
As I was speaking, Aska lifted me up. I was flustered and speechless, but I remembered something similar happening at the banquet, and I just relaxed my body.
On the way to the innermost bedroom, I heard a knock. It seemed like they had already come to prepare the water for washing. The servants, who knew that bathing services were not usually provided in this room, quickly prepared everything and left.
“I’m going to wash up, so you wash up too. Don’t just wet yourself, lather up properly. I’ll come and check later.”
“You’re going to wash up? Where?”
“In another room.”
“Why? Can’t we just wash together? I have something to say…”
Aska hesitated, trailing off at the end of his sentence.
“No. I’m too tired to move right now. You can say what you want to say later after washing up, or say it now.”
I said firmly, and Aska tilted his head.
“Then can’t I wash you?”
This was an unexpected statement. Aska, of all people, would give me a bath? I imagined it, but I couldn’t picture it at all.
“You’re just going to splash water on me, aren’t you?”
I asked, narrowing my eyes, and Aska frowned.
“No, I just washed like that because it’s annoying and I don’t like it, but I know how to wash properly.”
“I’m worried…”
I said honestly, and Aska grabbed my sleeve and pulled.
“I’ll lather you up properly and wash you clean.”
“…”
He seemed almost desperate. It seemed like it was related to what he wanted to say, so I asked.
“What do you want to say? Is it because of that?”
Come to think of it, it was strange that he had carried me without me even asking, even though he hadn’t said anything. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared if I was lying on the floor or not.
I didn’t know what kind of terrible thing he was going to say. I was getting scared, so I asked again.
“What do you want to say?”
“My blood…”
Aska, who had been looking at me with his mouth tightly shut, hesitated and mumbled softly.
“Blood? Do you want blood now?”
“No, you can give me blood later.”
“Then?”
“I hate the syringe…”
“…”
His expression was so pitiful that he looked like he was saying he didn’t want to die.