DSB 21

The physician looked at Lebel in confusion and then checked his pulse again. His pulse was unusually shallow. The physician looked at Lebel’s complexion.

His skin was naturally pale, so it wasn’t very noticeable, but it wasn’t a good complexion. Moreover, he looked weak in vitality.

“….Your Highness, what exactly have you eaten recently?”

“Hm. I don’t know the name…. There was a lot of stuff between the bread. It was fine.”

“…He says he’s only eaten bread during that time. Is there a problem somewhere?”

Seeing the physician’s serious expression, Yutis’s face also hardened.

“That…. I’ve heard about it too. They said he hasn’t moved from the room. How much do you move in a day?”

“Why are you fixating on that?”

Karon had been the same, and what was so significant about not getting out of bed? Rather, after becoming human, he had been opening his eyes due to physiological needs and even eating meals.

“There are no external injuries from the explosion, but he has severe malnutrition.”

“….What?”

Yutis scanned Lebel up and down as if he couldn’t believe it.

The Lebel he had seen was the small and emaciated one who had been called the Foolish Prince and hadn’t even received proper care.

Yutis knew that Lebel was much smaller than other imperial citizens. But people’s builds vary, and he was a dominant omega.

There were omegas like his dad, Damian, who were large in stature, but most were small and delicate, that was the characteristic.

He’s male, he had heard that the body’s functions changed starting from manifestation, leading to particularly weakening at times.

That’s why he hadn’t sensed any problem. Moreover, Lebel’s condition had improved even more compared to when Yutis had first seen him.

“Isn’t it normal?”

Lebel thought the physician had made an excessive diagnosis.

“The pulse doesn’t lie. It’s severe malnutrition.”

“But Your Highness was even more like this before….”

Yutis’ eyes widened as he realized something. He knew why Lebel had proposed marriage to him.

It meant that the environment there had been that harsh. He clenched his two fists.

“It also seems like he was congenitally weak. Is that correct?”

“Hm….”

Lebel had memories of being the Foolish Prince, but he didn’t bother remembering things that weren’t even his own memories. Moreover, they were just very trivial memories from about 20 years.

“Is it very serious?”

“Young Master, could you step out for a moment so we can talk….”

Yutis told Lebel to wait just a moment and then closed the door as he left the room. Lebel strained his ears, but he couldn’t hear anything.

“Tsk.”

The human body is inconvenient. But his strength is slowly recovering. Lebel ignited his demonic energy.

Even without Yutis’s help, he could resolve it himself. Of course, he didn’t know what expression the manager would make upon seeing the flames ignited by demonic energy.

A long while later, Yutis returned to the room. And with a considerably serious expression at that.

At the same time, he was angry. Lebel could see the demonic energy wailing sadly yet burning. What on earth had he heard to worry like that? He walked over, knelt in front of Lebel, and took his hand. Just like a criminal confessing his sins.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Because I left the castle….”

“I’m fine.”

But his expression did not relax. Was his physical condition really that serious?

“Your Highness, although we couldn’t hold a wedding ceremony, I am still Your Highness’s husband. You must tell me everything without hiding anything. Was there truly no disloyal person among the servants?”

Lebel squinted his eyes thinly and observed Yutis. He had let it slide earlier, but after hearing the physician’s words, he started worrying again.

He didn’t remember the names or faces of the servants very well, but if he misspoke even once, it could lead to that person being tracked down and cut in two, it was ruthless.

“There wasn’t.”

“Your Highness.”

“It’s true.”

Lebel patted Yutis’s shoulder with a smile. This situation didn’t feel awkward. It reminded him of his subordinates who used to nag at him like this.

As a powerful demon, Lebel often brushed off most things as insignificant.

There were times when his subordinates felt frustrated because even in moments that called for showing someone their place, he just blinked and let it go.

“We are a married couple. They must treat my wife as precious, just as I do.”

“Hmm, it seems like I’ve been treated as precious.”

You don’t look like you understand at all. Maybe I should change the subject?

“More than that, are you alright? Shouldn’t the physician be checking on your condition rather than mine? It was you who came back after fighting the demonic beasts, not me. Father will be worried too.”

“Father?” ¹

“Isn’t he your dad? That’s the proper way to refer to him, right?”

“…What were you planning to call my father²?”

“Father-in-law.”³

“…I oppose that, Your Highness.”

“What?”

“It’s the title I use when addressing Your Highness’s father.”

That’s why he had that expression. Lebel recalled the subtle look on Damian’s face. Should he change the title then?

“But that’s not important right now. You can call him whatever you like.”

“Is that so? Well, since you’ll never have to call him that, I’ll go with it.”

“Why would I never have to call him?”

“My mother abandoned me and left. I don’t even know if she’s dead or alive. That man called my father may be the emperor, but I’ve never seen him as a father. I call him Emperor, so you can call him Emperor too.”

To Lebel, his mother and father were the Demon God and the Celestial God.

To ask him to take humans as parents in their place? That’s absurd.

“He is weaker than you from the beginning. There’s no need to use honorific titles to elevate him.”

At those words that thoroughly distinguished between the emperor and himself, Yutis’s complexion darkened.

Yutis recalled their first meeting. The reason Yutis had been there that day was not by coincidence.

Did the prince called an idiot intend to marry me? I’d heard he couldn’t even express his will. Was he someone swayed by the emperor’s greed?

That’s why he wanted to see him.

Yutis didn’t want to seat an unknown person in an important position beside him, nor did he have any desire to be forced into marriage.

Moreover, Yutis had one serious problem. On the way to meet him, he caught a scent.

Drawn by the enchanting fragrance that captivated him, he forgot the reason he was going to see the Foolish Prince and just moved his feet aimlessly.

At that time, Yutis saw it.

Lebel, perched on a high window, preparing to fly freely. When he jumped down and was caught in his arms, he seemed like an angel flying toward him.

Yutis realized that the scent he had caught was coming from him.

As the distance closed, the rich, fragrant aroma made his mind go blank.

Did His Highness know that when this angel-like person, emitting a fragrant scent, spoke to him, his heart raced?

“Your Highness, I forgot to ask earlier, but in the imperial palace…”

“……?”

Lebel waited for Yutis to continue, but he remained silent.

“What was the reason you went to the main castle today? Among the demonic beasts, there are some that harm humans even after death.”

Lebel raised his eyebrow. Where did the thing he was about to say go? It seemed like something completely different…

“There are helpful ones too. I was just going to tell you that. I heard that while the husband risks his life fighting a demonic beasts, the wife should do things that benefit the territory.”

“Even so, there’s no reason to put yourself in danger…!”

“As Yutis recalled the moment again and tried to speak, Lebel interrupted him.

“I quite like this place.”

Contrary to Yutis’s thoughts, Lebel was sufficiently satisfied with his current life. Lebel was a demon who clearly understood rewards.

If he incurred a debt, he had to repay it, and if he received a favor, he had to return the same favor.

Yutis looked at Lebel with some surprise.

“…You like this place?”

“Didn’t I say so from the beginning? That I like it.”

“But Your Highness…”

“By the way, there’s something I want to ask. Why don’t you call me ‘wife’? You did earlier.”

Yutis inhaled a deep breath.

“Are you only going to call me that when others are around? Well, after all, we’re just married on paper…”

“…No!”

Lebel was startled. He could have just quietly said no, so why say it like he’s horrified?

1. 아버님 (abeonim) what a wife calls her husband’s father.
   It means “Father,” but used politely for father-in-law. ↩︎
2. His alpha father ↩︎
3. 장인어른 (jangin-eoreun) what a husband calls his wife’s father. ↩︎