The chill lingered in the air. It was not as biting as it had been in the forest. Rather, it was like an eerie coldness of early winter.
Sothing that would stir a subtle anticipation in living creatures for the coziness heavy winter would bring.
Unlike his old ntor Minato, whose body rebelled against the season, Xion was fond of winters, imnsely so.
Why would he not when they brought holidays, the new year, and, above all else, silence?
Whenever the Aijawa family went out for vacation, Xion had the entire house to himself.
It felt nice, strangely similar to how he felt now.
He had harvested so many rit points today!
An average person had about 20, though the range varied widely.
Ironically, he treated a beggar on the street and earned 300 rits. The lavishly dressed lady, however, gave him only 3 points. The disparity was truly eye-opening.
In a good mood, he humd a nursery rhy while browsing the system mall.
He bought so fruit. Apples, grapes, mangoes. Despite their small quantity, they looked very tempting.
Xion would have never spent rit points on fruit, but to make Rael strong, he did not bother with such trivial matters.
Noxian was not sitting with him. The super excited kid was lounging with the coachman, giggling every ti he was hurled into the air by the bumpy road.
When they reached their destination, Xion tossed a shiny red apple to the boy. "Eat it after you wash yourself, okay?"
The purple hair bobbed along with its owner’s motions. "Okay, brother!"
A sweet yell, and Xion felt his footsteps lighten.
While bathing, Xion pondered a few things he had been ignoring all this ti.
He knew Darius Rael was the child of the archduke. Aside from the fact that Rael was 11, Xion had little else to know about him.
Ah, but he did know that Rael had been treated poorly by his parents. He was so sick, yet the poor boy had to search for a cure all on his own.
A sigh slipped past his wet lips.
He better not step on any of Rael’s taboos.
Maybe it was because he strictly explained the situation, Allen had been with Rael the entire day. Xion did not doubt for a second that he had taken care of the sick child.
His guess was not wrong. Allen had taken care of all the tasks the archduke had assigned him.
Like planning to move in two days or dealing with a few thugs who were trying to cause trouble for the clinic.
With the rising popularity, it was inevitable that other healers would grow envious and resort to underhanded tactics.
There was also the route they had discussed, which would take them to the royal capital within a month or two.
After that, Darius had a sword match with the other soldiers. The precious dicine worked so excellently that his master could manipulate his mana again, sothing he had not been able to do since the poison incident.
He also did not torture the new assassin! This ti, he just cleanly severed his head.
Completely oblivious of Allen’s ’care’, Xion made his way to Rael’s room with a small plate of nicely chopped fruit.
When the door opened, Xion nearly dropped the plate at the sight. Rael was sitting on a cushioned chair resembling a small throne.
But what took Xion’s breath away was the sight of him tossing a sharp knife, specifically, a strangely shaped dagger.
Where the heck did he even get such a dangerous thing?
Xion quickly glanced around the room, and the bloody scene that sprang to mind remained purely imaginary. Phew, safe.
"You are here," Darius said with a faint smile on his lips. Perceiving Xion’s gaze, he flicked his wrist lightly, tossing the dagger into the air.
He caught it effortlessly before lowering it to the table.
"I thought you would be early. Did you not declare you wished to... take care of ?"
Xion paddled over to the boy and put the plate on the sa table. He cautiously slid the dagger to the other edge with his finger.
He took a seat on the chair while replying, "I need to treat them too." For you.
His words hung in the air, and Darius’ smile vanished. Of course, he sneered, you think everyone deserves your help.
How ridiculous.
With a soft snort, he picked up the fork. The fresh, sweet tanginess filled his mouth, and the earlier unpleasantness seed to dissolve.
"How are they?" Xion asked with a smile.
"Fine."
Darius decided to forgive his healer for his mistake. He conveniently told himself it was because of the dicine and... fruits.
They were indeed delicious.
"I will go make dinner then. Bye." Xion waved his hand like a child and trotted toward the kitchen.
Darius watched the thin back until it disappeared behind the door.
There it was. Another mistake. How could soone just dismiss themselves in front of him?
But... Fruits. He picked another bite-sized apple and chewed it. Yeah, they are good and so was the dicine.
Anyway, why else would he tolerate soone so weak, so foolish, so ridiculously naive like Xion?
If they stayed together, sooner or later, Xion would surely get himself, or the people around them in trouble.
If it were anyone else, just one of these reasons would have been enough for him to send that person’s head flying. He had actually just done that.
With the sa dagger, which now lay out of the reach of his small arms.
Yet every ti Xion dangled at the edge of his taboo, he would always find a reason to expand that edge.
It was not a lie that those reasons were genuine. Truly.
Darius had allowed Xion to call his na because he enjoyed the way it sounded in that sweet voice.
Sweet. It was an odd word. Sothing that made the edible taste better. Sothing he actually had a least preference for.
Now that he had t Xion, for the first ti, he understood that there were indeed so people who could be considered sweet and were still tolerable.
The words of his old nurse echoed in his mind.
"My lord, there are so people who are truly sweet. They are very special, not easy to find. But once you do, you need to take care of them, as they are often fragile."
Yeah, Xion was like that.
Sweet and fragile. A combination he abhorred with all his might. He despised things that were easily breakable.
And yet here he was, sweet Xion, still breathing, still alive, because he, Darius Rael Darkhelm, had spared him.
Black Box-
Xion, while dancing on the minefield of Darius’ taboos, "I hope I won’t make him mad."
Helpless Darius, "... Dance wherever you want. It does not matter as long as you are in front of ."
The many people who lost their lives for the tiniest of mistakes, "... Are we a joke to you?"
Ray, sharpening his sword, "Yup!"
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