[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke-Chapter 190: There Is One Healer For His Grace

Darius stayed silent for a beat before the corners of his lips curled upward.

Then he laughed.

A low, melodic sound rolled smoothly into Xion’s ears, so sweet that it made his stomach flip like a startled bird.

Darius flicked his forehead while amusement danced in those shining eyes, "There is only one for me in this world, and that’s you. My silly healer."

Xion dazedly blinked. The heat travelled from his heart through his veins until it silently spread over his cheeks, and even onto the tips of his ears.

I was so serious! And you laughed?!

Xion pursed his lips, silently lowering his gaze. It was not that he was angry at his grace’s unserious response.

It was just his own fluttering beats that were making a mess of his mind.

"There is something wrong with my head," he mumbled still in a daze.

"What?"

"I kinda lik—" ed the way you called me silly...

The words nearly slipped out, but Xion’s paw flew up and smacked over his mouth just in time. His eyes went wide as if he had nearly committed a capital crime.

Saints have mercy.

If he’d actually said it... there would be no way to sit in front of His Grace again. Though to be honest, even now, he wasn’t exactly calm.

Darius arched a brow, watching him far too closely. "Hmm?"

Xion squirmed in place. "N-nothing," despite his efforts he still ended up stammering.

Trying to collect himself, he shoved the parchment into Allen’s hands. "Brother Allen, can you help me with these?" he asked.

As one of the best alchemists in the empire, Allen didn’t need a second prompt. He glanced over the page once, and without a word, began gathering what was needed.

Allen sure was quick on his feet. Barely after a few minutes, the things were being placed on a table beside Darius’ bed.

Meanwhile, the knight found himself being unceremoniously pushed toward the exit.

"Go and take a bath," Allen ordered.

"But I just did!" Ray huffed, genuinely baffled. "Why are we wasting time cleaning the tent when His Grace is—"

Allen did not bother to quibble with this dense block of muscles. "Wash yourself properly and come back. No arguments." With that, he yanked the tent flap shut in Ray’s face.

Allen arranged the things neatly and sterilized the entire place using the special liquid from the bag Xion was carrying earlier.

Meanwhile, Xion filled the second page with densely packed words.

Darius, on the other hand, silently watched him.

The way Xion’s ears were still faintly red, the way his lips pressed into a line when he was deep in thought, how he bit the corner of his lower lip when nervous ... It was all endlessly fascinating.

I could watch you for hours.

Xion was such a strange creature. No, not strange. Unique.

This little kitten was the only one who made him feel like his gaze had a will of its own.

The sight was intoxicatingly sweet.

And suddenly, Darius had a fleeting, ridiculous thought — that if he had to die, having Xion as the last thing he saw wouldn’t be such a terrible way to go.

As the archduke entertained his whimsical thoughts, his hand moved of its own accord, reaching toward Xion.

The lightest brush of his fingers startled the kitten, causing Xion to drop his pen. Those wide blue eyes blinked up at him in utter surprise.

Cute.

Darius twirled a strand of soft black hair between his fingers. As expected, it felt just as pleasant as the rest of him.

It was not the first time Darius wondered why this healer was so soft. His body, his hair, even his heart. Everything about Xion seemed breakably gentle and dangerously warm too.

"You haven’t told me how you plan to handle it," Darius said at last, though his low voice was still raspy with obvious laziness.

Xion’s lips parted before they closed again as if in heavy contemplation.

Darius was more curious about what Xion came up with than the actual result.

He found himself invested, hopeful even. A quiet, unfamiliar feeling had taken root inside him.

And really, what else could he do? Those stupidly honest blue eyes had somehow convinced him that a long future might actually exist. That he might live to see it.

So even now, watching Xion fidget and tense up, he remained in a surprisingly good mood.

If I die, then I die, he thought casually, twining a strand of black hair around his finger. But if I live...

His eyes glinted with something more. If I live, I’m going to make some very special plans for this kitten of mine.

But before any of that he needed to live.

"What is it? You’ve been hesitating way too much for someone who never doubts his skills."

Xion, "..." I am not hesitating! And can you please stop flirting with me while I’m doing the damn paperwork?!

Of course, Xion wasn’t stupid enough to say that out loud. But if he had even the slightest clue what His Grace was thinking behind that serious expression, he might’ve actually lost it and cursed aloud.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, he wasn’t a mind reader.

So instead, he took a deep breath and forced his mind to refocus. Words first. Feelings later.

"You already know that your mana has turned into a sort of... poison. And anything injected into it will eventually be corrupted as well."

Darius tucked the long strand behind Xion’s ear before he started pinching the soft earlobe. It was fun to play with.

"Yeah?" he replied lazily, still not letting go of the now noticeably red ear.

Xion cleared his throat, pretending not to notice. "That means we need to drain all of your mana before injecting the new one. Specifically, the purified reserve stored in your pendant."

By now, Allen and Ray both had returned.

With slightly dripping hair and new clothes, Ray stood by his grace’s side. But the moment he caught wind of Xion’s words, his brows knitted into a hard frown.

"That won’t work. Someone tried it. It was useless... and time-consuming."

A vein on Ray’s temple twitched at the memory. That scammer had dared to take a hefty sum from His Grace, then failed completely.

Worse still, he made His Grace’s condition deteriorate further. Then, that damned healer decided to run!

Ray was so infuriated that he hunted him and dragged him back.

As for the rest... well, only the healer’s grave could tell the story now.

Xion felt the grip on his ear loosen, and in an instant, he scooted a bit far away.

"That’s exactly what I’m saying," he said, tapping his finger firmly on the table. "His Grace’s mana is like a rabid beast. Ready to devour anything it touches. If we want to cure him, we need to remove it... all of it."

Ray did not understand the deep meaning, but Allen did.

To remove all the mana meant stripping His Grace’s body from its vitality, and putting His Grace at higher risk.

Not to mention that this would mean shattering the one remaining protective layer of mana that was still shielding his organs from complete collapse. Without it... they’d begin to rot.

That was literal suicide!