Like A King | bl | WMMAP | ✓

C10: Bitter

C10: Bitter

The magician's lips opened and then closed. Several emotions flashed through his eyes and then, he asked, "Do you really wish for this one to calm down?"

"Yes," Ijekiel said with emphasis.

Forehead furrowed in distaste, the cold air emitted by Idris slowly receded, the ice around his feet melted, and the scaled wings on his back dissolved into a flurry of snowflakes. The situation at the garden finally calmed down.

Everyone watched with bathed breaths as Idris' eyes returned back into ordinary red eyes, the feature of the royal family no longer seen on his figure.

"Ijekiel, are you certain you did not get hurt?"

"I'm sure."

Idris, with many hesitations, turned his attention back to Claude with a frown on his lips. "This one shall not make trouble on behalf of this child's wishes. Be glad he is friends with the princess, emperor. If not, your puny empire would have ceased to exist today."

Holding Ijekiel close, Idris snapped his fingers and they disappeared in a flurry of snowflakes. With his disappearance, there was one thought crossing through everyone's mind.

That magician... had jeweled eyes.

.

.

When Ijekiel opened his eyes, the first thing that greeted him was a forest filled with life. It seemed as if all the leaves danced and trembled when Idris and he landed.

His attention, however, turned towards the fact that Idris held him in arms as if he were a delicate little thing. Recalling what happened not even five minutes ago, Ijekiel glanced up but a pair of red eyes staring right at him startled the youth.

"I-Idris..!"

"You're spacing out," the magician gritted his teeth, that flash of anxiousness on his face was something Ijekiel had never seen before. "Are you certain you're not hurt? No, no, this one will just bring you to my spring. All sorts of injuries will be healed if you take a soak there."

"I really am alright, Idris!"

The youth grabbed the magician's face, forcing the other to look at him. "See?" A smile graced Ijekiel's face. "I'm alright, aren't I? Just calm down and let me take a look at you. You're the one who's hurt, Idris."

The magician paused, his embrace around the youth loosening. Grabbing Idris by the shoulders, Ijekiel made him sit down on the grass. No words escaped the magician, as if everything he wanted to say was swallowed back down.

Ijekiel already decided to check how hurt Idris was but the fact that the magician had a pair of scaled wings still stunned him. When the ball of mana came towards him, it had all been too fast. He only realized the wings protecting him when the dust settled down earlier.

Extending his hand out, the tips of his fingers brushed against the freezing scales that glistened under the sunlight. Each one was cold to the touch, just like how Idris' skin felt. Although there was no blood, there was a huge burn spot on the right wing and when Ijekiel reached the outermost part of it, Idris hissed.

The youth snatched his hand back in panic.

Worry painted his features as he crouched down beside the magician, taking careful measure not to touch the wings any further. "You mentioned a spring earlier, right? Tell me where it is." Without waiting for him to speak, Ijekiel wrapped an arm around Idris' waist and supported him up to his feet.

"It's fifty steps right of us."

It didn't take them long to reach the spring Idris mentioned. Despite not having a nearby volcano, there really was a spring— a hot spring to be more exact.