“What?”
After a silence that wasn’t exactly short, Nox finally spoke. His voice had a lightness to it, almost as if he were provoking me, which only made my irritation spike.
Nox frowned slightly. It almost seemed like he clicked his tongue. Then, after a brief sigh, he answered.
“No. It wasn’t me.”
I stared at his face, scrutinizing him. Nox looked back at me with an expressionless face, entirely unaffected, as if he felt no discomfort in his throat at all.
He wasn’t lying. Nox was not behind the Meinhardt disappearance. If he were lying, the noose around his neck wouldn’t have stayed still.
“You don’t look convinced.”
“I believe you.”
I glared at him.
“Not you, exactly. I believe in magic.”
“Same thing. My skill defines me.”
Nox spoke with arrogant confidence.
I climbed down from the lab table I had been sitting on at an angle. My stomach churned, and my vision spun. My shoulders trembled slightly.
“But it still feels like you’re somehow involved… Ah, did I ask the wrong question? Is the Mage Corps connected to this case—”
Before I could ramble on further, he cut me off.
“That’s enough questions for today, kid. I only have one left for you.”
“……”
I looked up at him with hazy eyes, unable to say anything. All I could do was plant my feet firmly on the ground to keep from shrinking back and meet his gaze.
“You’re going through all this trouble for the Grand Duke, aren’t you? Someone from another world like you neither desires immortality nor fears death.”
Nox’s blue eyes burned intensely, filled with some unspoken curiosity, almost ferocious in its focus. For a fleeting moment, I thought he might actually be human.
“Then, would you risk your life for the Grand Duke?”
The question was completely out of place in the current atmosphere. I let out a small, deflated laugh.
“Where in the world does that kind of love exist? Of course not.”
The moment those words left my mouth, the entire atmosphere in the laboratory shifted in an instant.
My body lurched forward as my legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor.
Dozens of ice needles encircled my throat, stabbing into my skin. I could feel them pressing deeper, deeper, the pain burrowing in. Reflexively, I swallowed hard and curled up.
It hurt. Not enough to kill me, but certainly enough to make me lose all sense of reality.
As I gasped, struggling to breathe, Nox knelt down on one knee and grabbed my arm, lifting me up. Because of our difference in size, he easily hoisted my body and set me back onto the lab table.
“Looks like your true answer is something else, kid.”
My voice came out hoarse as I replied.
“…Don’t tell Prince Kyle.”
“Why not? He’d be touched by your passionate devotion.”
“Passionate, my ass.”
I let out a dry, self-deprecating chuckle and touched my neck. Not a single drop of blood. The noose had only delivered swift pain before vanishing.
Maybe I got off lightly because I wasn’t deliberately lying. Not that the punishment had been mild—my back was drenched in cold sweat.
“He wouldn’t be happy about it. Betting your life for love is too extreme. Even if you manage to survive that way… how is it any different from being the one left behind?”
“Hmm.”
“Living like that wouldn’t have any meaning. At least, that’s how His Highness would see it.”
“Interesting.”
“Of course it’s interesting. He’s not you.”
I muttered, sulking.
“It’s a relief we’re not together right now. Anyway, I’ll say it again—don’t tell His Highness.”
“Shaken as you are, the first thing you do is look out for your lover. What a tear jerking romance.”
“I lied. I just didn’t want to show how much I care.”
“As if.”
He crossed his arms and chuckled.
“You should pick your lies better, kid. If you were really lying, you wouldn’t have gotten off with just a little cold sweat.”
“…….”
“But, I’ll admit… you don’t look so great. Your face is flushed. Should we call it early today?”
I didn’t refuse. My vision swayed, and my whole body started trembling. Had my fever gotten worse? It was just a slight fever in the morning.
Either way, I needed to get back. If only I could call Kyle… but he was probably investigating the tower right now.
When Nox offered to take me, I waved him off irritably, signaling for him to get lost. I’d rather crawl back than accept his help. Who knew what kind of scheme he’d pull if I gave him the chance?
Damn, this is bad. When was the last time I felt this awful?
Bracing against the wall, I staggered toward the door.
And then—
“Shu!”
A startled voice rang out above me.
Kyle.
“Your Highness.”
“I was worried since you didn’t look well… What the hell? Why is your neck burning up?”
With a troubled expression, Kyle grasped my shoulders, steadying me against him.
His hands were cool and soothing against my overheated skin. As I leaned against him, breathing shakily, he suddenly scooped me up in his arms.
“Nox—don’t tell me that bastard—”
His voice carried an edge of anger.
But it wasn’t like that. For once, Nox hadn’t actually done anything wrong. I had just been in a freezing, unfamiliar place while feeling sick… and then I’d been startled, and my throat hurt on top of that.
Maybe I’d been so tense the whole time that I hadn’t even realized my fever was rising.
“Your Highness.”
I grasped his sleeve, trying to stop him. As expected, Kyle hesitated just as he was about to storm into the lab.
“I’m cold.”
It wasn’t a lie. My whole body was trembling.
Fighting with Nox was exhausting. And I didn’t want to hear him running his mouth when Kyle asked him what had happened.
“Let’s go back.”
Kyle didn’t hesitate for long. He carefully adjusted his grip on me, then pressed a kiss to my forehead. The warmth of his lips contrasted with my fevered skin. Through my blurred vision, I saw him frown in concern.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Maybe it was because I finally felt safe, but the moment he said those words, I lost consciousness in his arms.
***
The fever didn’t go down easily. I drifted in and out of sleep, waking only to slip back into unconsciousness.
At one point, worried Kyle might go confront Nox, I tugged at his sleeve and mumbled for him not to leave. Each time, he lowered his head, pressed a soft kiss to the back of my hand, and reassured me.
“Your Highness.”
“I’m here.”
“…Your Highness.”
“Yeah. I’m right here. Do you need something?”
Even in my original world, I was never the type to get sick easily. Maybe I had been too busy to even have time to fall ill.
So having someone right by my side, constantly wiping my face and hands with a lukewarm cloth, worrying over me… it all felt strangely unfamiliar.
“I’ll give you anything you want. Just like always.”
What are you, a magic staff that grants wishes?
Normally, I would have said something like that. But my mind was melting, dulled to nothing by the fever. And so, without a second thought, the words just slipped out.
“Then… please don’t think I’m strange.”
Kyle tilted his head closer, as if my words were unexpected.
“Why would I think you’re strange?”
“Just…”
I couldn’t say it outright.
That if I loved him enough to risk my life for him, I didn’t want him to see it as something obsessive or unrealistic.
How could I possibly say that?
Aside from not knowing how to explain it properly, I was embarrassed. I quickly changed the subject.
“Well, I mean… I am a bit unusual in a lot of ways. I do weird things, too.”
“Shu.”
He whispered as he wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with the back of his hand.
“I don’t know what you’re worrying about, but no matter what you choose, I will never fear or dislike you.”
“……”
“Whatever decision you make, I will respect it. That’s how I love you.”
“…That sounds like you love me a lot.”
“Did you think otherwise?”
Kyle chuckled softly.
“Enough of that. Is there any way to bring your fever down? We’re not in the territory, so there’s no medicine. It’s not going down easily.”
He hesitated before adding,
“There’s a superstition that you can take away a cold with a kiss… It’s a shame it’s just a myth. If I could take it away, I would.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
I let out a weak laugh, but just then, a hazy system window popped up in front of me.
[Welcome to the Nut Shop!]
[ヽ(*。>Д<)o゜)))) Nut! Shop! Alert!] Nut Shop? What I needed right now was a fever reducer. Would the shop have anything useful…? …It did. [Almond-Infused Fever Relief Toffee | Costs 2% Miracle Power | Instantly lowers fever!] Alright, alright, I get it. I was too out of it to remember. The system flailed in protest, scolding me for forgetting about it, but I half-heartedly brushed it off. I quickly purchased the toffee and handed it to Kyle. Even just lifting my arm felt exhausting. I was definitely sick. "…It’s a kind of magic item. It’s supposed to help with fever." "Can you eat it?" It wasn’t syrup or a pill—it had to be a toffee, of all things. If I tried swallowing it whole and it got stuck in my throat, that would be a disaster. I honestly shook my head. I didn’t have the strength to eat it. "I see." Kyle took the toffee from my hand. He gently supported my back, helping me sit up slightly. My body felt as heavy as a waterlogged rag, and I leaned against him, my eyes half-lidded. Rustle. I heard the sound of the candy wrapper being opened. "Excuse me." Then, our lips met. His cool lips completely enveloped mine. A warm, damp breath seeped into my mouth, as if he were trying to absorb some of my fever. A rich sweetness flooded my senses before melting slowly down my throat. The toffee was as sweet as his kindness. My tongue felt like it would dissolve. Eyes squeezed shut, I clung to him. I used to think I should never show weakness to anyone… Because in a harsh world, it wouldn’t help me survive. But here, by his side, for just one day… I thought maybe it would be okay.
