DSB 23

Lebel looked at the white flaky meat crumbling under his utensils.

He couldn’t see any bones. Wasn’t it just like eating meat? Wanting to finish the meal quickly, Lebel picked up a piece of the white flesh with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. The problem was that a bone was hidden inside.

His tongue felt a painful prick. Frozen in stinging pain without even chewing, he realized: as a human, he was experiencing all sorts of pains. Yutis, about to hand over the plate of deboned fish flesh, spotted Lebel frozen with his mouth agape blankly.

“…Your Highness?”

Looking at the grilled fish plate, he saw a small piece of flesh missing.

“…Did you swallow a bone?!”

Lebel shook his head vigorously. He hadn’t swallowed it,,the thorn had pricked his tender flesh. So this is a bone. Instinctively feeling a problem, Yutis hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief.

“Spit it out.”

Lebel spat the flesh onto the handkerchief without hesitation. Yutis ordered Mahan to clean it up, then looked at Lebel with a worried expression.

“I was thoughtless. I thought you might not have seen fish before, so I asked for it grilled as is… Next time, I’ll give you fish with no sharp bones or ones where they haven’t been removed. It didn’t get stuck, did it?”

“Hmm…”

It hurt where it pricked, but it wasn’t bleeding.

“Can I see inside your mouth?”

Inside my mouth? Lebel casually opened his mouth while looking at Yutis. When Yutis saw Lebel’s bright red tongue twitching, his breath seemed to stop for a moment. Strangely, his throat felt parched.

“Ah?”

As if asking if there was a problem, Lebel made a sound, bringing Yutis back to reality. He examined inside carefully. A clean mouth, devoid of any odor, was revealed. And there were small, white, pointed fangs protruding.

“Fangs…”

“Hm? Fangs?”

Lebel closed his mouth and ran his tongue over the spot where the fangs were. They really were fangs. Did he have them before ?The fangs were very small but sharp. When Lebel was a demon, he had fangs.

Was his body gradually changing as it adapted to demonic energy? A change in appearance was proof of being tainted by demonic energy. He hoped his stamina would improve too. Would his skin toughen up?

He recalled Yutis freaking out last time over a paper cut. Lebel glanced at Yutis. His gaze still seemed fixed near his lips, not moving away from his mouth.

“Do you want to touch it?”

“…….!”

Yutis flinched.

“You can touch it.”

Karon had wanted to touch it too. In return, Lebel had petted Karon’s true form wildly. But letting his husband touch his fangs should be fine.

Lebel tilted his head back to show more clearly and opened his mouth. Yutis swallowed his saliva. His throat kept feeling dry. Just like Lebel said, he wanted to touch those gleaming white fangs. But not with his fingers, with his tongue.

Yutis clenched his fist tightly. Every time Lebel chewed something beside him, his gaze kept drifting to those pomegranate-red lips.

And seeing the bright red tongue inside made him want to touch it, to kiss him. To slip his tongue in and gently brush the fangs with it. Pretending to treat him preciously while harboring such lewd thoughts inside. Yutis bit his tongue. It seemed his rut was really coming. Even though he took medicine every day before meeting him.

One reason Yutis returned quickly was to prepare for his rut. Thinking of that, being near the dominant omega Lebel wasn’t good. But he wanted to spend even a little more time with him.

They had become a married couple, but because of the expedition, he couldn’t stay by his side. When his rut starts, he would be isolated.

Even though he was right next to him, wanting to spend time together, he wouldn’t be able to. In his longing to see him, he could lose reason and become a beast that pounces on him.

So he planned to spend as much time as possible with him before his rut arrived. But he had miscalculated.

He wanted to be together longer and longer. That greed was enough to make him think of wanting to be together even during rut.

However, Yutis steeled his resolve. The fragile Lebel absolutely couldn’t handle his rut.

Yutis’s arm slowly rose, but soon he clenched his fist and pulled it back to his knee.

“It’s fine.”

“…Alright? Then never mind.”

Lebel closed his mouth. Yutis exhaled. At that moment, the fragrance he had smelled around him intensified.

It was a fresh yet cozy scent, but when inhaled through the mouth, it tasted slightly bitter.

Did he spray perfume?

He had seen that during baths, scented oils were added so the fragrance emanated from the body.

I like it.

“Wife, right now…….ugh!”

Yutis was pinching his nose ascif he had smelled something unbearable. Lebel tilted his head, not understanding Yutis’s reaction.

“Mahan, the medicine… bring the medicine.”

“I-I’ll bring it.”

Mahan looked at Yutis in alarm and ran out.

Lebel, clueless, looked at Mahan who had left the room and at Yutis, who had turned his head away to avoid looking at him.

Medicine in this situation?

“Are you hurting?”

“…You don’t feel anything?”

“Feel what?”

“No, nothing.”

Lebel furrowed his brow.

It seems there’s something only you two know that I don’t, and you’re not planning to tell me. You’re hiding something, but I don’t know what.

Yutis caught his breath and, once calmed, lowered his hand.

Then, as if hit by unbearable hunger, he devoured the food in front of him at a rapid pace without losing his dignity.

The way the food vanished in the blink of an eye was something he had seen yesterday and the day before, but today it seemed hurried.

“I brought it.”

When Mahan returned and handed something to Yutis, it was a small pill-like thing that gave off a strange smell.

Yutis swallowed it without hesitation. Lebel watched all of it quietly. And then, his share of the medicine was offered to Lebel too.

“…….”

Lebel looked at the decoction offered in front of him with cooled eyes. Mahan saw that gaze but didn’t back down.

“Can’t you give me a pill too?”

“It’s said the directly decocted herbal medicine is more effective.”

Yutis, who had already swallowed the medicine, said to Lebel.

Lebel clicked his tongue and swallowed the bitter medicine.

As the bitter taste spread in his mouth as soon as it touched his tongue, his expression naturally distorted.

“You drank it well.”

Yutis smiled toward him and extended his hand.

“For digestion, shall we walk?”

Lebel frowned. A walk again. Does he only feel satisfied if he walks every day?

“If your body is not good, rest. You just took medicine too. Since I’m a patient too, I should rest in the room.”

“You take medicine because you don’t move. And I, it’s not because I’m sick. It’s to not get sick.”

What’s the difference? Lebel looked at Yutis.

He took medicine, but from his body condition, he absolutely didn’t look sick.

“You’re not sick, right?”

“Thanks for worrying. I’m not sick.”

Since he says so….

“I’m not sick either.”

“It’s because your body got used to it. And today, there are people to introduce.”

Lebel let out a small sigh and nodded. The man in front, who was only kind to him, didn’t yield on health matters.

In the meantime, something strange caught Lebel’s eye.

The demonic energy dwelling in Yutis’s body was rippling. Moreover, it was larger than when he first saw him. Lebel knew the demonic energy was growing day by day.

It had grown to the point where the human body couldn’t handle it, giving off a chilling energy. He looks fine on the outside, but inside seems not okay.

He said he’s not sick, but he looks more serious than him. Lebel’s eyes narrowed.

‎

‎

Lebel went out with Yutis.

He did light walks looking around the castle interior, but going outside was rare.

“Aren’t you cold?”

Lebel silently pointed to the cloak. The cloak Mahan prepared was large enough to cover Lebel’s body and warm. And the one who bought and brought it was Yutis.

“Is it warm?”

“Yes. It’s warm.”

“I prepared the smallest size, but it’s a bit big.”

The clothes prepared hurriedly were all ready-made. It couldn’t help being big for Lebel, who was slender compared to northern people.

“Next time, go to the shop with me and get custom-made. You haven’t toured the territory yet? It’s not as much as the capital, but it’s worth seeing.”

“Yes?”

“When the cold subsides a bit, let’s plan. I hope my wife gets attached to this place quickly. This place is much better for you than the imperial capital.”

“I know even without you saying it.”

I know it’s incomparably better without comparison.

“So, who are the people to introduce today?”

“I’ll introduce my colleagues.”

“Colleagues?”

“You can think of them as knights. Colleagues who subjugate demonic beasts with me.”