[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke-Chapter 165: Petting A Silly Kitten

It had only been a couple of days, and yet, Darius had already pushed himself to the verge of exhaustion once more.

No wonder Allen had been nagging him non-stop about keeping a closer eye on His Grace.

But then again, it was not like Xion did not understand why there was such a rush.

They all needed to hurry back to the north as soon as possible. Leaving their home undefended was already a dangerous gamble, especially with the threat of war looming over their heads.

"Days are only busy until we reach our home."

Darius barely acknowledged the words he uttered. All his attention was taken away by the warmth he felt on his wrist.

It so easily spread on his body before sinking deep beneath his skin.

Instead of the usual hollow, senseless feeling that came with human contact, this was soothing.

Only Xion’s touch had this effect on him.

Why though?

This was not the first time, Darius had thought about this. In fact, he had been trying to figure it out, and yet, there was no answer in sight. Only his puzzles increased.

Why did every other touch feel like lifeless, cold lumps of flesh?

While Xion felt hot and ... alive?

Before he even understood his own musing, his hand was already inching closer toward the healer.

His fingers ghosted forward, brushing through the messy black strands of hair as if drawn by some unseen force.

Soft. Unbelievably soft.

The silly healer just sat there. Only those deep blue eyes, wide with obvious confusion, blinked up at him.

Darius said nothing. He simply let his fingers move, threading gently through the strands, absently rubbing small circles against Xion’s scalp.

His actions were more like treating a pet, rather than an actual human.

In his eyes, Xion was indeed very similar to a cat. Or maybe with the small frame he had, it was more appropriate to call him kitten.

Darius’ eyes gleamed as he started petting his little kitten with proper care.

And... Xion was letting him do as he pleased. That thought certainly brought a tiny bit of a smile to his lips.

Perhaps, Xion was unable to understand why he did it. Nonetheless, Darius was not surprised by his sudden impulse.

It was not like he hadn’t done something like this before.

He had touched Xion’s head more than once. Yet, no matter how often he indulged, he could never seem to resist.

The softness. The warmth. The way Xion’s sight filled a void he never realized was hollow.

His body had started to instinctively recognize Xion’s presence before his mind could rationalize it.

And so, once again, just like every time before, Darius gave in.

The archduke was not blind to the way his impulses were growing stronger when it came to Xion.

There was a dangerous kind of awareness that gnawed at the edges of his control, sinking deeper with each passing day.

To some extent, he despised it.

He hated the way his gaze sought out Xion the moment the small figure was gone somewhere he was not aware of. Hated the restless itch beneath his skin whenever the healer was out of sight for longer than a quarter of an hour.

It was irrational. Unreasonable even. Darius knew it all too well.

However, even then, he was looking forward to the time he would return to the north with Xion.

His strange attachment was unsettling, to say the least. Especially so in the eyes of his alchemist.

He could more or less tell that Ray was worried about his mana exploding again if his emotions got disrupted. Just the way he had done so after Ethen’s betrayal.

As for Allen, Darius was honestly unable to see the truth. Why Allen was so worried about him when he was near Xion? Was it also due to the same concern as that of Ray?

Maybe, Allen too had noticed how he was losing more and more of his control.

Darius sighed while his gaze was fixated on the healer and the way those black hair had now grown longer than before.

They were hiding that fragile neck from his gaze.

"Your hair."

Xion had been sitting silently on the carpeted floor, letting the archduke touch his head.

He was not stupid to not even see how Darius was staring at him. It was as if he were looking at some interesting animal at the zoo, something he found amusing and decided to pet the said creature for a while.

Then, the archduke would leave his side. Just the way everyone else did.

A bitter taste spread in his mouth. So, Xion decided to enjoy whatever last trace of warmth Darius showered him with.

That also included the way those long fingers were rubbing his skull in such a soothing way.

It feels so nice ...

If it was not for the fact that Darius was the archduke, Xion was ready to give some more commands like also rubbing his shoulders and maybe even his back. Perfectly acting like a spoiled kitten taking advantage of rare warmth.

"Should I cut them? I don’t not how to do it though..." Xion mumbled while closing his eyes.

"We can do it when we go back."

Xion hummed before rejecting the idea, "Don’t want to."

What he meant was he did not want to go to the north. It was far too cold for his liking.

Although he knew His Grace would misunderstand him thinking that he did not want to keep his hair this untidy for that long, he had no wish to elaborate on it.

Then, without hesitation, he rested his head on Darius’ lap.

Whatever the reason, he was not the one to refuse the free head massage. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Xion felt Darius stiffen before relaxing.

It made his lips quirk up in small victory. It was really fun to tease Darius like this.

So, a certain kitten became a bit bold and rubbed his messy head all over Darius’ thighs, feeling pleased with himself when he felt the archduke stiffen even more.

Finally feeling satisfied, he found a comfortable position to curl up. "You know, your grace. I feel like I know you better now."

That piqued Darius’ interest. He knew what kind of heroic image he had in the eyes of the civilian.

He was also well aware of how he was seen as something demonic by the nobles and royalty.

As for how his subjects saw him, it really did not matter as long as they were not getting in his way and were loyal to him.

Now, he was intrigued. What kind of man was he in Xion’s eyes?