The moment Leone leaped, Trixie bumped into him. Trixie’s weak little body couldn’t stand the strength of her hard, gigantic body, so naturally she bounced away. Trixie, who was thrown off, hit her body against the carriage parked behind her and crashed to the floor. Surprised, Leone instinctively reached out and tried to pull Trixie away from him, but it happened too quickly.
“Trixie!”
Leone immediately came to his senses and ran to Trixie and took her into his arms. Trixie was checking Leone’s face even as she closed her eyes.
“Trixie… Trixie?”
Facing Leone’s crying face, Trixie smiled faintly as if to say, ‘It’s okay.’ She then lost her mind.
“Trick…”
Leone’s hand trembled. Trixie’s breath was thin. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. There were also quite a few people who didn’t recognize that Leone growled. However, the atmosphere of the servant who suddenly jumped in and injured her and the prince who hugged her was unusual, and silence fell.
“Patient… patient! Butler. The patient needs to be moved. Hurry!”
In the meantime, Adler’s anger rose. The imperial palace attendants, who barely came to their senses, looked at the hardened Emperor with serious faces.
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry-“
“What the hell is this? Sir Adler.”
There was no anger in the Emperor’s voice. He was just a person who would have only absurdity and wonder. The prince’s outfit changed a lot. It was something he could never have imagined before. However, the behavior was not the same as before. Teeth bared menacingly, eyes filled with disgust. The figure of Leone lowering her body was clearly seen as preparing to pounce on the Emperor. He didn’t see the others, but he did see the Emperor.
‘However… What is that?’
He was a prince who unconditionally hated people that much. How could that child be hugging people as if they were so precious? It was a surprise. Being an attendant and being a woman bothered me a little, but anyway, the Emperor was immediately puzzled and confused. Had he changed or not? It seemed that there were many stories to hear from Adler.
“Let me explain. But right now it seems difficult.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know what will happen if I leave Lordy Leone alone, so I think I should stay with him.”
Adler broke down and answered, avoiding Trixie’s words. It was a valid reason even for the Emperor to hear. The Emperor, who witnessed the moment of seizure, knew best that Leone was in a bad condition.
“After calming down the prince, come to me. As soon as possible.”
“Yes, your majesty. Thank you for your consideration. But can I ask you one more thing?”
“What?”
“Please give me a full-time doctor at the imperial palace. I want to examine the injured.”
The Emperor glanced at Trixie and nodded.
“Let it be.”
The imperial palace doctor was a valuable resource, but it made sense to let her go after seeing the heir hurt someone right in front of their eyes. After the Emperor disappeared into the castle, Adler hurriedly approached Leone.
“Leone. We need to move Trixie inside and examine her. Is she seriously injured?”
At those words, Leone jumped up with Trixie in his arms. Leone supported Trixie’s limp, unconscious body very stably.
“Where?”
Leone asked, already walking. Adler asked Butler where the room was available, and Butler gave a detailed answer. As soon as Adler and Leone located the room, they moved quickly. Unable to keep up with the stride of the two tall men, most of the attendants fell far behind. So, Butler divided the number of people to follow the two and ran to call the doctor on duty at the imperial palace. What a mess! The Butler sighed in the empty hallway. Apparently, His Highness the Prince still hated humans.
* * *
The bruises aren’t too bad. There are good medicines, so there will be no major problems in living without scarring. However, if you jumped up and hit your head on the floor, the impact would be considerable. Fortunately, there was no life threatening. It’s normal to wake up right away with a concussion, but she was not sure why she kept lying down. She thought it’s probably because of the fatigue accumulated in the body, but in that case, it was unknown when the patient would recover. It’s certain to happen though. She wasn’t seriously injured enough to fall unconscious.
The doctor’s diagnosis went back and forth between hot and cold baths. It would be normal to get up right away without being seriously injured, but it was unknown when it would happen, and it’s certain that it would happen, but if it did happen, there may be aftereffects. He couldn’t say anything ‘good’ for sure. In the end, all he could do was pour Trixie the finest medicine used in the imperial palace.
All day, they burned incense made from processed herbs, poured medicine into the mouths of people who had fainted, and applied herbal ointment to bruises. Knowing that the price of these herbs was equivalent to a small house in the capital, Adler was moved by the Emperor’s generosity. Of course, that generosity was given because Adler chased after the Emperor, explained what had happened, and diligently expressed how important Trixie was.
“Leone.”
It’s been three days since Leone didn’t move next to Trixie, whose eyelids didn’t even flinch. Adler, who had gone to the Emperor in the morning and had an audience in place of Leone, entered Trixie’s room with a confused mind. Of course, Trixie was also worried, but Adler was even more worried about Leone’s condition.
“Have something to eat.”
Leone sat in the chair next to Trixie for three days and never got up. He didn’t change clothes, he didn’t eat, he only took a sip of water from time to time.
“Whoa. I will leave it here for now.”
Adler gave up persuasion and placed the meal on the table next to Leone. It was Leone’s favorite raw meat. Leone turned his head to the sudden bloody smell. He used to like meat, but… Even the meat reminded Leone of the past.
‘It’s all my fault.’
Benjamin once warned. Leone’s ways didn’t match those of humans, and Trixie was a human. He would have to fix it if he wanted to stand by her side. Otherwise, she would be in big trouble someday. He understood to some extent, and thought he was on her way. But no.
Leone easily missed his human appearance. It was natural. Because it was forced to be processed. But as a result, Trixie was injured. No, to be precise, ‘I hurt her’.
“Trixie.”
Leone spoke the name he had been whispering incessantly for the past three days. He didn’t even know if he deserved it. Why was it always like this? He couldn’t protect his loved ones. No, rather everything became this way because of Leone.
Just like the brothers did in the past. rixie’s faint smile before closing her eyes reminded him of his brother’s deathbed. Eyes telling him they were glad he was safe.
Everyone protected him, and he was always helpless. Again. Always… Always, like back then. Powerless with nothing changed.
“Trixie.”
Leone reached out and took Trixie’s hand. A small, cold hand entered his palm.
“Sorry. I- can’t, stand.”
Nothing got better. Leone, then and now, was ugly.
“Sorry.”
But he hoped for salvation. He dared, Leone wished.
“Trixie. Eyes open.”
He hoped that Trixie, who was stronger than himself, would wake up and tell him a solution in a friendly voice. Leone couldn’t solve it. No, he didn’t know how to solve it. Pain lurked inside his body, and from time to time it consumed his body and manipulated Leone to its will. It even hurt Trixie. In order not to do this, the pain would have to go away, but no one taught him how to do it. There was no one to tell.
In the meantime, the pain had only eased because of Trixie. The pain that soared when he faced the Emperor even tore Leone’s heart apart when he hurt Trixie. The more the pain intensifies. Another pain piles up on top of the pain. Leone’s pain was disastrous. He was fed up Helplessly weak in front of this huge wall.
“Open your eyes, Trixie.”
It was not difficult for him to put her name into his mouth, the words he had muttered endlessly for three days.
* * *
Before meeting Trixie, he always dreamed. Some would call it a nightmare, but Leone Atarta couldn’t tell if it was a nightmare or not. Because he always had the same dream. Did the scene last longer, or did it end on a suitable line? Only that was different. The beginning of the dream, that was, the beginning of his life that Leone remembered, was the scene of his father looking down at him. His father looked at him as a child and pondered for a long time, then shook his head at his brothers who were dripping with saliva. As the surrounding animals took a step back, the father grabbed the little boy by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up. The cave where the pregnant mother was resting was deeply hidden. After digging it up, his father set Leone down inside. His mother was not surprised and she took care of him naturally. Leone never had any questions.
His family had beautiful gray hair and sharp teeth, but his arms were smooth and had blunt teeth. His reflection while drinking water was completely different from that of her family. Her body was weaker than that of her youngest brother, who was born a long time later, and her cry was meager. But he did not wonder at all of this. The family first gave food to Leone, who was weak. Whenever he had a chance, he would fight with Leone and run through the forest to joke around.
So Leone was happy. He thought he was unique, but not different from his family. It’s just a mutation. He thought so.
He understood what the family was saying. How thick the love between mother and father was, and how much his brothers care about Leone. Everyone knew. So Leone didn’t think he was human. No, he couldn’t think.
The first time he questioned it was when he felt that his power was growing stronger.
