Heat radiated intensely from Hadel’s body, making it extremely difficult for others to carry him to the room.

After laying Hadel on the bed and wrapping his entire body in ice packs, we could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The knight who helped carry Hadel wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed, “I never expected the monsters to gather like this. It was the worst situation of the year.”

“If Your Highness hadn’t been here, it would have been dangerous.”

From what I heard from the knight’s story, it seemed that as soon as Hadel and the knights went out of the castle, they encountered the monsters head-on. To melt the monsters’ ice, Hadel summoned a larger flame than usual.

The problem was that after that, Hadel’s flames, which had started to burn, didn’t go out.

“But if this fever continues like this…”

“It might be better to evacuate the castle with the possibility of a mana burst.”

Mana burst.

At the mention of this terrifying term, I bristled.

‘Is it such a serious situation?’

Mana bursts were not common. Yet now, they were discussing it regarding Hadel.

Of course, if it was a mana burst, it would be right to evacuate the castle. What is a castle anyway? It might not even extinguish even if we burned down the entire northern region.

But…

‘Is it too much to leave Hadel alone in the castle, considering that he saved my life thanks to him being here?’

Their words sounded too heartless to me.

‘Hadel was carried to the castle not to mention the situation where he was locked up to suppress the mana burst.’

When a mana burst started, he would lose his sanity, and he wouldn’t be able to open the locked door. He would just keep burning the castle until his heart stopped.

‘What’s that? It’s like the whole castle is a prison.’

A prison made of giant stones.

Because I was also a fire attribute, the current situation didn’t feel like someone else’s problem to me.

“I will stay by His Highness’s side.”

The one who unexpectedly showed determination in this situation was the servant I had always found annoying. I looked at the servant with a surprised expression and crawled into Hadel’s room before the door closed.

‘Hadel.’

Hadel’s body was emitting so much heat that it seemed to ripple around the bed. If he had really had a mana burst, the fire would have ignited, so right now, it meant that Hadel was controlling it himself.

But there was something strange.

‘Shouldn’t he be more comfortable after releasing mana? Why does he keep having a fever?’

If the problem was mana overproduction, after summoning a flame to confront the monsters and melting their ice, Hadel’s body should have been more comfortable than usual. However, Hadel was emitting even more mana than usual.

‘He looks in pain. It’s like his heart doesn’t belong to Hadel…’

I jumped and approached Hadel. Then, I crouched down beside his neck and sat down. I wanted to absorb as much mana as I could to relieve Hadel’s pain.

“…Kkyukkyu?”

When I got closer, Hadel seemed to sense my presence and opened his eyes slightly. My chest hurt as I looked into his blurry red eyes.

“Kkyu.”

“It’s okay. You’re always… Ugh.”

Hadel, who was trying to pet me out of habit, groaned and closed his eyes tightly again. I looked at him with a pitiful expression as cold sweat dripped from his body.

‘It’s not even an injury, and he’s in pain because of mana overproduction. Does this make sense?’

“Kkyuu.”

Feeling sorry for Hadel, who was moaning alone, tears welled up in my eyes. The only thing I could do for him was to stay by his side, so I stuck to his body even more.

‘Wait a minute. Could it be that if I absorb the overproduced mana, Hadel will be okay?’

After all, it’s a loss leader anyway. I licked Hadel’s cheek.

Flick.

“Ugh, it’s hot.”
A terrifyingly intense heat, as if a tongue touched my cheek, surged into my body. However, for someone who had confined even more flames in their body than this, it wasn’t tormenting. After a while of licking my cheek, I stared at Hadel with a blank expression.

‘Is this not enough?’

Lick. Lick.

I licked a bit more, but Hadel’s condition didn’t improve noticeably. Still, his slightly relaxed expression indicated that absorbing mana was having some effect.

‘Finally made up my mind, huh? Let’s try a more intimate approach!’

Knowing that it had an effect, how could I not try? Even if it meant facing someone who might have a mana burst soon.

‘Ugh.’

I may end up looking like I died and came back to life, having gone through everything, but I haven’t even had my first kiss!

‘No, this isn’t a kiss; it’s CPR.’

No one calls mouth-to-mouth resuscitation a kiss. It’s in that context.

Even if I understood it rationally, it still took a lot of courage to bring my lips to Hadel’s. I took a few deep breaths.

‘I’m an animal. I’m an animal… No, I am literally an animal. What’s wrong with pets occasionally sharing a kiss with their owners?’

I closed my eyes tightly and pressed my lips against his. Contrary to the long preparation time, the kiss ended in an instant.

Smack.

And I opened my eyes quickly.

‘Huh?’