TER𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

LXlV

.𖥔 ݁ ˖₊˚✩.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ᰔᩚ.ᰔᩚ ⭑. ݁ ˖₊˚✩.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑
God’s Test (2)

“And what would that be? You are going to whip Viola’s maid, hold the Kingdom of Koronis responsible and eventually expel her, right?”

Lustian ruffled his hair. He was more concerned about Viola getting expelled because of this than the wound on his face. He touched his bloody face and let out a bitter laugh.

“I’m going to the Lake of God, I’ll recuperate there. Kyle, your job is to make sure news of what happened doesn’t leak out.”

“Must you really go this far? Do you want to protect her that badly?”

“Didn’t I tell you this was a test? This is just part of the test. The test God has given me… How obsessed I am over her… I kind of like it. This excitement and pleasure… It’s thrilling. It makes me feel alive.”

“Your Highness….”

Kyle was genuinely worried about the crown prince. The Lustian he knew was a cold-hearted man, but right now he had hopelessly fallen in love.

“Send a message to the temple, tell them to bring a healing stone. Ack….”

Lustian suddenly grabbed his chest, then made an expression of pain. The seizures that had stopped for some time had resumed.

The thing he needed right now was Viola, but Lustian ran towards the lake instead of the imperial villa. Kyle looked at the figure that was getting further away, confused as to how to support him from now on.

Kyle felt someone approaching him. He turned around to see Ivan standing there. The man let out his peculiar laugh.

“Tsk, tsk… even though you knew this would end up like this in the end….”

♛

This was the first seizure since he had been intimate with Viola. With a splash, Lustian dove into the Lake of God. After a while in the water, it felt freezing cold. The wound on his cheek was throbbing.

Viola, who had been worked up and had attacked him a while ago, came to Lustian’s mind. The angry and aggressive girl had been extremely fast. It was a hidden skill that was incomparable with the one she had shown when they’re sparring last time. That was how deep her hatred for him was, the leader of the Blood Army.

Wasn’t it expected? It’s no use regretting now… especially I would have had to use force to have her if I hadn’t concealed my identity…

It would have been horrible to spend the first night with someone who hated him.

Lying on the water, Lustian looked towards the dawn sky then touched his throbbing cheek.

“If it’s only this, I’m fine with it.”

Lustian had deliberately let himself get hurt. He thought, wouldn’t she feel better after hurting him, so he hadn’t defended himself. He knew her quick attack was aimed at his face but hadn’t defended nonetheless.

After a while, the heart-wrenching pain faded, he floated around for a while longer then came ashore. A small bug hovered around him when he came out of the water. This small insect was not something of this world but something that protected the Lake of God.

The Judith flowers blooming around the lake turned to look at him. The hundreds of thousands of flowers extended their necks towards him. Lustian picked the nearest flower, crushed it, and smeared it on the cut on his cheek. Surprisingly, the flower slowly permeated into Lustian’s skin and the wound vanished. It had a remarkable healing effect. The bleeding stopped, the pain disappeared, and the deep cut healed.

He headed for the temple where several people were waiting for him. He laid on the stone bed they had prepared for him. They placed a healing stone on his forehead and chanted a spell.

♛

After the treatment, Lustian returned to the crown prince’s palace where Kyle was waiting for him.  The first thing he did was look at his master’s wounds.

“I’m glad it’s only this. It still left a scar though… .”

He had healed himself with a Judith flower and a healing stone but it still had left a scar. It didn’t heal completely. His skin was so clean so even the smallest scar caught one’s eye. Lustian ruffled his black hair and consciously covered his cheek and forehead. Fortunately, the scar was only from his forehead to part of his left cheek, so he could hide it with his hair.

“You can’t see it if I do this,” Lustian reasoned.

“Still, it’s not perfect.”

“If one is a knight one is bound to have these kinds of scars. If the empress sees this and is shocked, tell her that it’s from a hunting accident.”

“That’s… why I brought the perfect person for this.”

The office door opened and he saw a familiar face. Lustian looked at Kyle and let out an amused smile. It was Rosha.

Kyle sighed. “This… is definitely not for her sake. It’s all for you. I called her because I didn’t want you to feel bad every time you saw the scar.”