[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke-Chapter 195: What If I Kissed Those Eyes?

Soft.

That was the first thing Xion felt when he came to his senses.

No chirping from the system. No voices. Just... softness.

Something warm cocooned his body, and for a moment, he thought he might still be dreaming.

He tried to move, but his eyelashes felt glued shut. Even with effort, he couldn’t lift a hand.

His mana was still dangerously low, enough to keep him weak for days, though not enough to kill him.

He would need a few days to recover or maybe even weeks.

Still, that wasn’t the most pressing concern right now.

With the system’s pain-dampening shield finally faded, the ache had returned. A slow, dull throb had started to pulse through every inch of him. Even his knuckles hurt.

Then came the faint sound of fabric rustling. Soon a gentle pressure settled on his head.

The scent of herbs filled the air, mingling with something faintly metallic... blood, maybe?

Xion wasn’t sure what he sensed was real, but he did not bother with it. In the next moment, his senses latched onto something else entirely.

A woody fragrance, rich like cedar, laced with a subtle sweetness.

His curled black lashes trembled as he forced his eyes open.

He blinked once, then again, trying to clear the woozy blur clouding his vision.

"Awake?"

The voice was familiar to his ears by now. It was deep and composed tinged with a softness it rarely carried.

Xion’s sluggish gaze lifted, and the first thing he registered was red. A bright crimson robe, hanging loose around broad shoulders, doing little to hide the body beneath.

But what caught his attention wasn’t the exposed skin.

It was the scar.

A thin, pale line had been carved across Darius’s chest.

That mark had been his doing. His desperation to purge the cursed mana, to save the very man now leaning over him with such calm grace.

Suddenly, guilt twisted low in his chest.

He had marred something so beautiful.

His gaze dragged upward, slowly, as if afraid to look, afraid of what he might find in those familiar eyes.

But the Archduke’s face was calm. Only those pale green eyes, like polished jade, looked back at him with an obvious smile.

Just for a moment, Xion wondered what would happen if he leaned in?

What if he kissed those eyes? Would they blink in surprise? Or would they narrow in disgust?

Before he could drown further in that dangerous spiral, a gentle pressure brought him back to his senses.

Long fingers gently combed lightly through his raven black hair, smoothing back damp strands stuck to his forehead.

Then a soft cloth dabbed carefully at the sweat on his skin.

Xion flinched slightly. Not from pain, but from the tenderness.

"Pain?" Darius asked again.

It was only then Xion realized his body had tensed unconsciously.

As if responding to the word alone, the ache spiked sharply in his temple.

A strained groan escaped his lips. His brow furrowed.

"...A little," he murmured.

A breathy gasp tore from his lips, his knuckles clenched on the bedsheet underneath.

The pain had intensified as if his body had finally decided to make him pay for the consequences he’d delayed with the help of the system.

"You call that a little?" Darius’s voice was laced with exasperation.

He knew that pain. He’d experienced it himself.

Mana at the brink of collapse was equivalent to the sensation of one’s entire being threatening to unravel. It was the kind of agony that left even a grown man crying.

So, how could he not be angry when this stupid healer almost lost his own life while trying to save him?

Just as he was about to scold him Xion’s weak voice beat him to it.

"Are you fine? How is your mana? Is there any mana rejection?"

Darius stared at him for a heartbeat, then flicked his forehead with all the force of a lazy breeze.

Although the strength was barely enough to slap a mosquito, His Grace was indeed punishing Xion for not taking his own life seriously.

"You should worry about yourself, you silly..." Darius sighed while tapping Xion’s forehead again.

"Do you even realize you’ve been asleep for almost two days?"

Xion winced. Not from the tap, but from the lingering ache and offered a faint nod. He’d suspected as much, though not quite that long.

He had a hunch that he might end up sleeping for a day at most.

His original plan had been simple. Stabilize his grace, let Allen take over, and sneak back to his lab.

With the archduke in such critical condition, he doubted anyone would notice if he disappeared for a few minutes or even hours.

At least, that was what he thought but his consciousness had decided it was the perfect time to ditch him mid-treatment

Now, here he was. Lying in Darius’s bed, no less.

That fact alone was enough to make Xion’s heart flutter with something between disbelief and mild panic.

If that was not enough, the man himself had apparently chosen to sleep beside him. The mattress dipped with a new weight.

Not that Xion could call it sleeping exactly. It was more like Darius had simply been lying there... watching over him.

The woody aroma overwhelmed him even more than ever. It filled his senses, wrapping around him like the warmth of the blankets that covered them both.

They were close. Too close.

If Xion so much as leaned forward a few inches, his nose might brush against Darius’s.

’System, can you numb the pain?’

[Sure.]

A simple reply before all the aches vanished, leaving behind the lethargy.

Honestly, Xion didn’t want to move at all. And yet he shifted, his body turning to the side until he was staring at his grace.

He was being audacious; he knew it already.

"Your Grace... have you ever liked someone?"

The question came out of the blue, even for Xion who had blurted it out. But it was already too late to take it back, and suddenly he was anxious.

Am I not overstepping my boundaries a bit too much?

However, Xion did not know that his seemingly casual question was going to change the form of their relationship.