[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke-Chapter 240: Only You Matter

Nazia chortled at the way Xion squirmed under her gaze. It was delightful to see that His Grace’s efforts hadn’t been in vain after all.

Somehow, the Archduke’s emotions had miraculously begun to bear fruit. It was something no one had truly expected to happen.

Given the long-standing tradition of singleness within the archducal castle, most had written off Allen’s research on love as a hopeful fantasy at best.

Including the knight commander who had been teasing the poor Alchemist.

"If I may say so, Lord Xion, cherish the emotions His Grace has finally begun to show... and only to you. We all assumed they had festered away after your departure."

Her words were far too somber for an evening tea, but Nazia couldn’t bear the thought of the Archduke turning into nothing more than a humanoid warrior carved from ice once again.

The last four years had been nothing short of a nightmare for them all.

They had watched Darius transform from a devilish Archduke, one who would smirk atop a field of fallen enemies, into a man who barely showed a flicker of emotion.

It was as if the little warmth inside him had frozen solid. And now, with Xion’s return, that long winter had finally begun to thaw.

"How could that be?" Xion blurted out without thinking. "He was smiling so prettily..."

It was only after the words left his mouth that he realized how improper they sounded. Not only had he forgotten to use "His Grace," but he’d also spoken far too casually about the respected lord of the castle.

If Ray had been present, Xion was sure the knight’s honorable sword would already be resting at his throat, accompanied by one of those infamous, icy blue glares.

But he didn’t get to mull over his slip of the tongue and other such trivialities for too long, because Nazia’s response came just soon enough.

The lady looked at him fondly. "His Grace finally smiled today, thanks to you, my lord. In fact, he hasn’t smiled this much in all the years combined since you left."

"Why?" Xion felt his chest tightening at the thought of Darius enduring any kind of suffering.

As someone who wore every emotion on his sleeve — just as Nazia had pointed out — and someone who was not fond of suppressing emotions, he found the situation far more alarming than just Darius being the icy Devil.

"Why, you ask?" she echoed gently. "How could His Grace be happy when the only person he had begun to care for vanished without a word?"

There was a soft hint of reproach in her voice, but Xion didn’t resent it. He couldn’t when his own thoughts were aligned with the same line when he had left for Faymere.

"But I left a letter for His Grace," he murmured, almost as if saying it again could lessen the weight of his guilt.

"Yes, you did," Nazia acknowledged that with a slight nod. "If not for that letter, I’m certain His Grace would have turned the entire world upside down to find you."

She paused, and her eyes appeared distant for a moment as if trapped in some faraway memory.

"That letter is the only reason he didn’t go after you. You asked to leave... and His Grace... He’s a man who would rather bleed than deny the wishes of the one who gave him his first taste of love."

After a beat of silence, she added in a soft voice, "Even if it meant bearing the ache of your absence for every minute."

To say Xion was speechless would be far too mild for his current situation.

He stared at the woman with his mouth slightly open, but even when he tried to speak, no sound came out.

His heart beat so loudly in his chest it drowned out the crackle of the fire burning in the nearby hearth.

The one who gave him his first taste of love?

Those words echoed in his mind, refusing to leave him. He had known Darius had cared, maybe a bit too deeply, but love?

That felt... too wrong. If Darius really loved him at that time, why was he treating him like some object?

The previous suffocation was no longer there. The present Archduke felt... different. Kinder even.

Thus, in his giddiness that his crush actually liked him too, he almost forgot why, despite having feelings for Darius, he left for Faymere in the first place.

"I didn’t mean to hurt him," Xion said at last, voice barely above a breath. "I just... I thought he’d forget me eventually. I didn’t think I mattered that much."

His throat tightened as he continued. "Because to him, I was more like... like a treasured pet at most."

Nazia was taken aback by how perceptive Xion truly was. The young healer had been like a ray of sunshine in their lives. He was painfully soft-hearted and far too innocent.

It was these qualities that had worried many when he left them without any warning. It was also the same soft innocence that now, in hindsight, revealed a quiet yearning she had overlooked.

Hearing those words from Xion’s mouth indicated a new truth that settled heavily in her heart.

No one felt caged by the favor bestowed upon by someone of the Archduke’s status. Not unless they had hoped for something more.

In Xion’s case, he hadn’t wanted status or power. He hadn’t even wanted love in return.

He had simply wanted the basic human warmth. Something real. Something untainted by power or possession.

But what he received instead was something Darius himself didn’t understand. Love, yes, but offered in the only way he had ever known. It was possessive, stifling, and far too desperate for someone delicate like Xion.

A gilded cage, no matter how beautifully built, was still a prison.

How unfortunate, she mourned at the twisted fate that had bound them so tightly only to make them bleed. freewebnσvel.cѳm

At last, she said, "Most people don’t realize how much space they take up in someone’s heart until they’re gone. That was how His Grace has finally learned a terribly painful lesson."

She stared at Xion with a gaze with such complex emotions that Xion found it hard to comprehend.

"But you mattered, my lord. You still do, and you always will be. More than anyone else."

You mattered... Just as those words rang in his ears, the person they had been talking about knocked on the already open door.

"I’ve been looking for you everywhere, Xion." The Archduke stood there leaning against the wooden frame.

With a soft smile, he slightly shook his head as if he was gently scolding a naughty child for not sitting in a place he was told to.

And that made something twist in Xion’s guts.