“Haa……”

Edan’s eyes, looking down at me from above, gleamed irregularly as he breathed heavily.

“Ma, master…… ump!”

There was no time to be flustered. No chance to ask him to move aside.

Edan stared at me with unfocused, trembling eyes and bent down to devour my lips.

“Wa, wait…… just…… mmph!”

Edan pressed his body against mine frantically. His thick, solid chest pressed tightly against mine, pulled close by the strength of his arms around my neck and waist.

Under the merciless weight pressing down on me, I felt like a small herbivore being devoured by a massive wild beast.

Between soft yet chapped lips, the tangy taste of blood and hot breath rapidly overlapped.

At some point, regardless of my will, I was enveloped by the feeling that Edan was absorbing me.

It was an eerie and strange sensation I had never felt before.

A strange feeling, as if all the blood in my body was being sucked out, yet an inexplicably pleasant sensation seemed to pass through every cell.

A bizarre feeling that I might die if this continued, yet the sensation in my body itself was giving rise to tremendous pleasure.

‘This is crazy…..’

I instinctively realized.

The healing through physical contact didn’t just give pleasure to those with abilities.

The Saint candidates must have felt similar pleasure too. In the end, not even realizing they were dying.

I tried to stop the manifested healing power, but it wouldn’t stop at will.

I randomly hit and pounded Edan’s shoulders and arms to try to push him off.

Of course, it had no effect on Edan, and as time passed, I felt suffocated and my mind grew hazy.

Edan’s lips gradually moved down to my neck, and in that moment I gasped for the breath I had been holding. And I reached out randomly, groping the floor.

The book that had fallen to the floor earlier was definitely nearby. Please, where is it. Let me grab it!

“Please……”

While I was searching for the book, Edan’s face was descending past my neck towards my collarbone.

As Edan’s pain subsided, my breathing grew rougher and my strength drained away.

‘I really feel like I’m going to faint now!’

Just as my vision was starting to blur, my groping hand finally grasped the book.

Without hesitation, I drove the corner of the book into Edan’s head.

Thwack! Thud!

Edan flinched and stopped moving when hit once, but just to be sure, I hit him twice.

Edan collapsed on top of me as if all strength had left his body.

At the same time, I stopped the healing power I had been manifesting, and Edan’s momentum that had been forcibly absorbing my power also faded.

The light filling the library disappeared, and the surrounding air quickly returned to normal.

“Haa, haa.”

And whether the timing should be called good or exquisite, I’m not sure.

Just then, Ruben emerged from the portal holding a vial of potion.

“What is this……”

Ruben froze at the sight of us.

Pinned under the unconscious Edan, barely able to poke my head out over his shoulder and breathing heavily, I requested to Ruben in a voice as tiny as an ant’s bottom:

“He’s, he’s heavy…… Sir Ruben, please save me.”

Though dumbfounded, Ruben turned Edan’s body to free me.

Rescued, I gasped for breath with my whole body flushed red, while Ruben first checked Edan’s condition. Then he looked back and forth between me and Edan.

“What on earth…… How did…… No, what is this…?”

He seemed to want to say something about this situation but couldn’t find the right words.

It was because Edan had his eyes closed with an extremely peaceful expression, like a child.

I finally calmed my breathing and threw the book I had been tightly gripping far across the floor.

“I think the medicine’s effects have just kicked in.”

“It…… seems so.”

But doubt lingered in Ruben’s eyes as he agreed with my words.

His gaze turned to the dented corner of the book.

“But why is the book in that state?”

“Maybe because I just threw it too hard?”

Even I thought it was a blatant excuse.

I couldn’t exactly say I had struck Edan on the back of the head with all my might, enough to dent the book’s corner.

This man is a knight with such strong loyalty that he’d offer his own face to the whip in Edan’s place.

“But why were you underneath the Duke?”

Ruben methodically sorted through this suspicious situation.

Once again, I had to rack my brain to come up with a lie.

“After you left, the master coughed up blood. I approached to support him, but when I tried to lay him down…”

“……”

“It, it’s true. He seemed about to collapse from weakness, so I tried to catch him and ended up pinned.”

“But this is strange. The medicine has never taken effect this quickly before.”

What? I don’t know about that either. Wasn’t it given because it’s supposed to be effective?

I turned the question back on Ruben instead. This time it was an honest question.

“Does it usually take longer?”

Ruben tilted his head, searching his memories.

“Even in severe cases when he’s taken up to five vials at once, it’s never subsided this quickly.”

“…… How long does it usually take?”

“At the fastest, half a day, and up to two days when it’s slow.”

“……”

I have no words. Damn. At this rate, did the Emperor really send a counterfeit Saint’s potion?

The Imperial family must know about Edan suffering from the side effects of his ability.

If they really cared, they wouldn’t have pretended to be generous by bestowing a potion in the first place.

But if they truly thought of Edan, they shouldn’t have given him the position of Northern Duke when he’s hated by Killian. After all, the unbreakable wall of the Northern Mountains is where monsters appear most frequently.

They have no intention of shielding him from Killian’s hatred, but they can’t not use Edan either, so they curry favor with this half-baked potion? If you’re going to help, do it properly. This is why the kid is going crazy!

“Anyway…… It’s fortunate the medicine was effective. Right?”

“Indeed.”

Ruben slowly nodded at my words. Then he approached Edan and checked his condition again.

“Um…… How is he? Is he alright?”

I asked out of genuine concern. Did I hit him too hard?

It was the first time in my life I had struck someone’s head that forcefully.

The usual Edan wouldn’t have even blinked at something like that, but today he was clearly not in good condition.

“He seems to be asleep.”

Thank goodness. As I let out a sigh of relief, Ruben asked me:

“Are you alright?”

“Me?”

“Yes. The Duke’s muscles must have been quite heavy.”

“Ah. If you mean that, I’m fine……”

Yeah. I wasn’t fine.

“Morning porridge!”

In the middle of speaking, I collapsed from the sensation of my head spinning.

Whether it was because my healing power was stolen by Edan, or because my body was exhausted from struggling while pinned, I couldn’t tell the exact reason.

I was just extremely tired.

Like when I fainted after being in a state of extreme tension last time I went to the North.

‘But Ruben, why back to morning porridge? You definitely called my name properly earlier……’

With Ruben’s face visible through my blurry vision as the last thing I saw, I closed my eyelids and drifted off.

I really hate this.

In my dream, Edan appeared wearing a wolf mask, saying he was going to eat me.

‘No! Save me!’

I was constantly being chased across a vast plain with nowhere to hide, when my savior Jenald appeared before me.

‘Jenald! Help me! The wolf is trying to eat me!’

But for some reason, the ever-kind Jenald just looked at me coldly.

‘Why did you do it?’

‘What are you talking about? Jenald, this isn’t the time! The wolf is…!’

‘Latieana. Why did you do it?’

‘Wh-what?’

‘How could you kiss another man?’

Jenald’s face, shocked with disappointment.

‘Huh? Th-that……’

It wasn’t my will! And that wasn’t a kiss or anything. It was something that happened unavoidably.

‘I’m sorry, Jenald. No! Don’t leave!’

It really couldn’t be helped!

I tried to follow Jenald as he turned away, to grab him, but I tripped on a rock and fell.

Then the ground turned black and created a huge hole, and I was sucked into it, falling endlessly until I opened my eyes.

“Aaaagh!”

I shot up in bed.

As usual, warm sunlight was streaming through the curtains.

This is really unfair. Why do I have to bear the guilt? Why do I have to have nightmares after helping someone?

Guilt towards Jenald washed over me.

Honestly, Edan’s kiss yesterday felt good. In that situation, that is. Truly absurdly.

But I know. It wasn’t my will, but a sensation that arose instinctively while transmitting healing power.

No matter how much I might think in my head that skinship with Edan is disgusting and irritating and unpleasant, my body would have felt good.

Of course…… since I wanted to help Edan, I didn’t think it was that disgusting or unpleasant, but.

It wasn’t an action taken out of desire for Edan’s body to the extent that I should feel guilty towards Jenald.

“I’m thirsty……”

Perhaps from overusing my healing power, the inside of my mouth stung as if burning.

As I grabbed my throat and frowned, a cup of water appeared before my eyes as if by magic.

“Drink.”

“Ah, thank y… Huh?”

I quickly turned my head towards the sound.

Edan was standing next to the bed holding a cup of water.

“Master?”

As I looked up at him with wide eyes, Edan held out the cup a little further.

“Here.”

“……Yes. Thank you.”

What’s this? Why does he seem so kind? Could it be he remembers what happened last night?

I rolled my eyes as I poured the water into my mouth. As the pleasantly cool water flowed down my throat, Edan sat down on the edge of the bed. Then he took my empty cup and placed it neatly on the bedside table.

“Are you awake now?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re not good at waking up, you know.”

“……”

What is this, really? It’s not just my imagination, he’s being kind to an uncomfortable degree.

Why is he being so scary?