My Strange Savior - Chapter 138

Chapter 138

“Why… what’s wrong?”

“Just… just.”

He was worried she might make a wrong choice.

Kalion suppressed the words inside him. The moment he spat them out, would it become reality? 

He tried to erase the thoughts from his mind.

Without understanding, Gia, nestled in Kalion’s arms, looked at the fallen tableware with unease.

“I was preparing a meal…”

“Together, let’s do it together.”

With a gentle stroke on the back of her head, he led Gia with his embrace.

“Surprised? Because I was gone?”

The sound of Gia’s voice resonated in Kalion’s chest, gradually calming the pounding heart.

“Yes.”

“Sorry.”

Gia, who had no intention of surprising Kalion, apologized. Nevertheless, Kalion couldn’t let go of Gia. What if Gia disappeared again? Anxious, Kalion hugged her tightly.

“I was surprised. So next time you go somewhere, tell me. No, from now on, we’ll always go together. Never be apart.”

Gia, with one hand holding an empty tray, swept her broad back with the other. Through the touching skin, Kalion’s heartbeat was felt.

“Yeah. Got it.”

Did Gia notice that Kalion was trembling with fear? Without asking for the reason, she obediently responded to Kalion’s words.

“I won’t disappear without a word again.”

With her head held high, Gia stared intently at Kalion.

“Really.”

“Promise.”

“Yeah.”

Kalion carefully held Gia’s cheeks. As he held her small face, it seemed to disappear in Kalion’s hands. Kalion’s gaze naturally turned to Gia’s lips, now tinged with red.

As Kalion slowly lowered his head, Gia’s breath was fully transmitted. Just lightly pressing their lips, Kalion savored Gia’s warmth.

Through slightly open eyelids, he looked down at Gia, who was kissing him. Neat eyebrows under a smooth forehead were visible. Every time he stirred the tender mucous membrane, Gia’s long eyelashes swayed charmingly.

With Gia’s breath now fairly even, Kalion gently mixed his tongue. Expressing his emotions, he conveyed his feelings to her.

‘I am by your side.’

Kalion, who had lowered his hand that was holding Gia’s cheek, now gripped her slender waist.

‘If only you didn’t have to endure this alone.’

As he touched her smooth flesh, Gia couldn’t help but inhale sharply. Finding it cute, Kalion’s lips curled upward.

Now he knew what it meant to be lovely.

Reluctantly parting their lips, Gia’s bright brown eyes were solely focused on him.

“Gia.”

“Yeah?”

With flushed cheeks, Kalion, who caressed the face of his lover as she answered, tightly held Gia’s hand as if he would never let it go.

On the floor, dishes, bread, and jerky were scattered.

“Since we can’t eat this anymore, shall we go make some food together?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

“My body… my body.”

The emperor, who was looking in the mirror, touched his face here and there. As if that was not enough, his hands roamed all over his body.

“I’m not in pain.”

The emperor’s eyes widened as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Then, the figure imbued with vitality blinked just like him.

“The illness, the illness…”

What on earth happened? The emperor, who had been confined to his bedroom for the past few days after meeting Morrison, had a complexion more vibrant than ever.

The emperor shook his shirt with trembling hands. The pale and soft skin, which seemed oddly calm compared to what he had seen last time, was strangely quiet.

“Did I see things?”

“Absolutely.”

“Hah.”

The emperor’s shoulders rose at the heard response.

The murky eyes reflected in the mirror twisted into a mocking smile as they looked at the emperor.

“H-How is this possible…”

The Emperor whirled around and bared his teeth at Morrison, looking like a mouse before a lion.

“Look here, is anyone there!”

Even shouting at the top of his lungs elicited no response. The emperor only then recalled that he had expelled them from the palace without permission. Also, he had threatened to kill anyone who dared to set foot in the imperial palace without his permission.

In the emperor’s withdrawn hand, lumpy objects were grasped. Without even checking what they were, the emperor simply threw them at Morrison.

“Do you think this will kill me?”

Morrison casually caught the flying perfume bottle. Holding the bottle in his hand, he grinned.

“Dare you?”

Morrison’s eyes, which had raised his mouth as if mocking, suddenly flashed fiercely. The energy emanating from his body was so sharp that it seemed as if he could tear him apart at any moment.

“Me, who cured the illness?”

“Y-You…”

The emperor stuttered with trembling lips.

“You cured my illness?”

“Yes.”

Morrison frowned while caressing the bottle in his hand.

The emperor found it difficult to believe Morrison’s words entirely. Not a single one of the high-ranking courtiers who flew and came had properly cured his illness. They had only managed to stop its progression without worsening.

To cure the illness, there was no other way but to refine and use the heart of a dragon. If curing the illness were so easy, he wouldn’t have bothered with alchemists and would have avoided the tedious tasks. Doubt crept into the emperor’s mind.

“Have you already forgotten that you ate my hand?”

Morrison shook his left hand. Then, the empty sleeve hung sadly.

“K-Keuk.”

Perhaps recalling the painful memory, the emperor grabbed the shelf and barely stood, his face turning blue and purple. Morrison threw a smirk at the emperor’s pallid face.

“You lived by eating that.”

Quite foolish, Morrison added silently, and the emperor continued to growl incessantly, perhaps not hearing the muttered words.

Morrison habitually swept his chin with his left hand but stopped abruptly.

“Or, should I have just let you die back then?”

Morrison approached step by step. The emperor’s back was blocked by a wall, with no place to retreat. Nevertheless, instinctively, the emperor pushed the wall with his back and took a step back.

“I can kill you now. How about it?”

“You, you scoundrel!”

Though the emperor yelled with anger, his appearance was pathetic, trembling like a puppy with its tail tucked.

“As soon as I retrieve my hand, you will die.”

At Morrison’s words, the emperor’s eyes fiercely narrowed.

“W-What’s that…”

As if indicating that showing was faster than explaining a hundred times, Morrison closed his eyes as if he could see it well. Only the eyes moved incessantly above the wrinkled eyelids. What on earth was he trying to do? The emperor swallowed his saliva, tensing with anticipation.

Hichuk.

As Morrison’s lips stretched, the emperor’s stomach surged.

“K-Kek.”

It felt like something was ruthlessly pushing out of his belly.

‘W-What if it tears…?’

It felt like it might tear out of his stomach immediately. The emperor’s eyes, consumed by fear, widened significantly. He groped his shirt with trembling fingertips and raised it.

“T-This…?”

“Can’t you see? You are now completely free from the disease, able to live eternally without aging.”

The emperor, with eyes filled with exhaustion from staring at his belly, suddenly raised his head at Morrison’s words.

What met his gaze was Morrison’s grotesque face. Covered with crimson veins, he grinned, revealing not teeth but the sharp fangs of a beast. The once-red gums were strangely dark.

“Do you want to return to a life where you don’t know when you’ll die again, like before?”

Morrison sneered, circling the emperor. Out of breath, the emperor, bending at the waist, wiped the sweat streaming down his spine with the back of his hand. The un-wiped sweat dripped down as he made a hesitant gesture.

‘I don’t want to die.’

He couldn’t let go of this power. It was the power he had fought for. The emperor’s eyes glowed with desire. Morrison, who confirmed the peculiar form of desire within, laughed brightly and stepped back.

Morrison’s lips soared into the sky without limits, and his smile, having obtained what he desired, grew increasingly profound. Even the emperor’s eyes, suspicious of those usually by his side, were empty like that of a fool.

‘Why am I like this?’

Even though he tried to regain his senses, his field of vision narrowed, dominated by a single goal.

‘I have to listen to him. Otherwise, I will die.’

Thinking about death made it feel like someone was tightly gripping his throat, and he couldn’t breathe properly.

‘No, I can’t. How did I… How did I climb to this position? I can’t let this happen.’

The emperor’s eyes stared at Morrison without a single blink.

‘The person who will save me.’

A bead of sweat on the emperor’s forehead dropped into his eyes. However, the emperor’s eyes still followed Morrison.

Submission.

The emperor slowly nodded his head. Whether Morrison found the emperor’s appearance satisfying or not, he arrogantly lifted his chin.

“If you do what I say, you will gain immortality.”

“Is that… so?”

The emperor, forgetting his humility, addressed the one holding his life with honorifics. Morrison easily accepted the emperor’s submission, the one at the top of the empire.

“Yes.”

Even with Morrison’s answer, there was no reassurance. The emperor bent his waist, raising his eyes only.

Not satisfied with merely curing the illness, if he could obtain eternal life, the emperor could make a deal with the devil. Perhaps the demon in another dimension responded to his desperate call. The emperor’s gaze was tainted with greed.

“You.”

Morrison raised one eyebrow.

“You are very much like me.”

Finding a fellow human in this otherworld seemed amusing to Morrison. His smirk twisted with arrogance.

* * *

Gia pulled Kalion’s trembling hand in reassurance.

“You didn’t even dry your hair.”

“It’s okay…….”

“Hmpp.”

Gia made a displeased expression and nudged Kalion.

“It’s not okay.”

“Okay. I’ll dry it with a towel.”

“Uh-huh.”

Upon Kalion’s words that he would dry it with a towel, Gia tilted her head, extended her lips, and puckered them as if expecting something. Whether Kalion interpreted it as a signal or not, he lowered his face and left a brief kiss on Gia’s lips as if it were a matter of course.

“Oh, no.”

“What?”

Why is this so natural? 

Gia, looking incredulous, playfully slapped Kalion’s shoulders, who was wide-eyed and smiling.