DSB 20

“Cough, cough! Young Madam, are you okay?!”

I thought he was nearby, but to come this fast.

Lebel raised his head and stared at Yutis.

“Are you injured?!”

Yutis, who shouted with an agitated voice, scanned Lebel overall with worried eyes. Touching his face was bonus.

“I’m fine.”

However, Yutis wasn’t reassured. Lebel looked at the man coughing while spewing black smoke.

Shouldn’t he look after that human not protected from the explosion aftermath?

But Yutis, as if only seeing Lebel, checked his condition more closely and sighed in relief after confirming no injury.

Yutis got up and looked ahead. The place his eyes were directed was the administrator. He gasped and lowered his head.

“Why did you bring out something dangerous? Do you know you put Your Highness in danger with your action?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s my negligence.”

“If it weren’t for me, Your Highness would have….!”

Lebel was a bit surprised. He thought he’d worry about the injured human, but he’s scolding him.

“Why are ‎you angry? If he’s safe, that’s it.”

Lebel got up calmly, brushing his clothes. He even approached the demonic beast’s head.

Yutis panicked.

“Don’t go close!”

“Young Master’s words are co-correct! If it spews fire again….”

“It’s fine.”

The spirit-remnant, scared of Lebel’s demonic energy, squeezed the last power for survival.

Since the spirit-remnant disappeared, there’s no more danger.

“These eyes. They are fire magic stone.

“Pardon?”

“Simply put, it can be used for fire. Of course, aptitude must match.”

A demon tempered with a demonic beast. Even in the Demon Realm, precious magic stones are beautifully processed and used as the demonic beast’s eyes.

“Understood, so come here.”

Yutis pulled Lebel directly with his hand.

It was a dead demonic beast’s head, but since he saw it spew fire, he didn’t lower his guard. Yutis nodded to the administrator to clear it immediately.

The administrator shoved the head into the box right away and closed it.

“What brought you to the main castle….Your Highness, that attire?”

“What? Ah….”

The coat seems to have fallen from the explosion aftermath. The pajamas he was wearing were fully exposed. Yutis’s eyes widened into triangles.

“There’s no suitable clothes, so.”

“…No clothes, you say? The pajamas look ready-made too.”

“Yes? I wear whatever is given, so I don’t know.”

Yutis bit his lips.

He wanted him, who left the imperial capital, to stay comfortably in the castle. He wanted him to feel precious treatment and consider this place his home.

Yutis’s eyes burned brightly.

At that moment, someone came running upon hearing the explosion sound. Iol was holding a glass of cold water, Damian ran as soon as he heard the noise from below.

“Yutis?”

“What happened?”

Damian swallowed saliva seeing Yutis spewing pheromones unconsciously. He barely managed to suppress the pheromones, but they were slowly seeping out, tinged with anger.

There were times when his emotions got tangled and his pheromones went out of control, and now was exactly that.

Damian was used to it so he only flinched slightly, but it would be different for Lebel in his embrace.

There was another who sensed Yutis’s pheromones. Iol shouted to him.

“Young Master Yutis! Your pheromones are leaking! It’s not good for Your Highness either!”

Yutis took a deep breath and looked at Lebel. Lebel blinked calmly, but his ears were open, so he heard the word pheromones.

Pheromones are scents emitted by alpha ‎and omegas, he heard.

Lebel looked up at Yutis. He seems to have emitted a scent strong enough for everyone to feel, but he doesn’t know what pheromones are. If there’s a difference, the always-felt body scent became particularly strong?

When they first met, he didn’t know exactly what scent came from Yutis, but after coming to the North, he knew.

This place, the North’s cozy yet fresh grass scent. That scent swirled around Yutis.

“…I’ll take Your Highness with me.”

Lebel felt his body floating, it was because Yutis suddenly hugged him.

Strength went into Yutis’s hand holding Lebel’s arm, and Lebel’s body was buried into Yutis’s embrace.

“Young Master Yutis, Madam Damian….”

“I know. I had no intention of threatening Your Highness.”

“…Fine. It’s true that it became dangerous because of me. Yutis, you must be tired from the expedition, rest. Send the physician immediately.”

Lebel remained in Yutis’s embrace and headed to the annex where he was living. Upon arriving at the castle, Mahan appeared panting.

“Young Master Yutis, welcome back. I was waiting. Your Highness is…….Eh?”

Mahan was about to say where Lebel was upon seeing Yutis’s appearance, but seeing Lebel waving his hand while hugged in his embrace, his eyes widened round.

“Mahan. Take it. Doesn’t it suit you?”

Yutis held out the outer garment that Lebel was wearing, as if he were about to tear it off. Mahan showed a flustered expression but accepted it.

“When the physician arrives, guide him to His Highness’s room…. No, to my wife’s room.”

As Yutis carried Lebel and walked away, gazes filled with surprise and curiosity followed them. Only after arriving at the room did Yutis finally set Lebel down.

“…Your Highness, please tell me honestly. Did nothing happen while I was away?”

It was a question, but his tone made it sound he was convinced of something.

“What kind of thing?”

“Weren’t the servants’ attitudes disloyal?”

“Not really.”

“Really?”

“I lived reasonably well. They didn’t interfere in a bothersome manner.

Yutis’s brow did not relax after hearing Lebel’s words.

It was because the phrase “they didn’t interfere in a bothersome manner” did not sit well with him. He had also heard some things on the way back.

There had been comments questioning why Lebel had come with him, but there were also remarks as if they were seeing Lebel for the first time.

The problem was that more than one or two people had said those things.

“How did you spend your time while I was away?”

“I slept. Ate when hungry. Occasionally looked out the window. Ah, that man I saw just now….Mahan? I talked with him too. I enjoyed baths too.”

Lebel said it as if it were nothing special. Because he had been sleeping all day without even washing, there had been a time when Mahan had forcibly woken him up and pushed his back toward the bathroom.

At first it was annoying, but soaking in the tub steaming hot felt good.

It was as if he could understand a demon who had once bathed in lava.

Yutis scanned Lebel’s expression closely. He was expressionless, but he discovered the corner of Lebel’s mouth slightly up.

It seemed like the situation wasn’t as serious as he had thought.

Yutis saw that Lebel’s expression had softened when he murmured a certain word.

“…Did you like the bath?”

“Yes. It was reasonably good. Much warmer than the bed. I even slept there, but it’s a pity the water cooled.”

“You liked it because it was warm….”

Yutis fiddled with Lebel’s fingertips, which had turned red in the meantime.

To think they hadn’t even provided a proper set of clothes to someone who caught the cold so easily.

He didn’t think that Iol or Damian had mistreated him out of wariness toward him. There must have been a misunderstanding, but he intended to thoroughly investigate this incident.

That’s why he hadn’t wanted to leave.

While escorting the carriage, Yutis had stayed by Lebel’s side. That’s when he realized it. He didn’t make demands with his own mouth.

If it was something trivial, he tended to endure the inconvenience and let it pass. That’s why he should have noticed it in advance.

“How was the food?”

“Food is just food. I ate enough to fill my stomach adequately.”

“What do you mainly like? Now that I’ll be staying here with you too, let’s have breakfast together tomorrow. I’ll tell the head chef to prepare the food that Your Highness likes.”

“Hm? I ate bread. I don’t know about other things. Ah, what I ate today was delicious. What was its name again?”

“…What did you say?”

Yutis’s face stiffened rigidly. At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and the physician entered.

Yutis made up his mind to find out for sure later and stepped aside. He needed to check his condition first.

“Um, the butler hurriedly told me to come to the annex….”

“Examine my wife. I protected him, but he almost got caught in the explosion.”

“Yes?! Surely that explosion sound from earlier….”

“Quickly.”

“Ah, yes, I understand!”

The physician jumped in surprise and hurriedly examined Lebel’s bare skin. An explosion could have caused burns.

“There are no injuries.”

“I’m worried. So, please give him a check-up. It will be over quickly.”

The physician’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Yutis, who was pleading beside Lebel.

Because of Iol’s urgent message, he had naturally assumed it was sent due to Yutis’s rut, but it was a completely different issue.

And Lebel’s physical condition was seriously problematic for an entirely different reason.