9. Between Husband and Lover

Adelia's eyes widened seeing Kairav's state. His arm was bleeding and Adelia could see how it flowed, dripping onto the grass. Her eyes stared fiercely at anyone who could be used as a suspect. She wanted so badly to draw her sword at them all, but she desperately had to hold back.

"How could this happen,Kairav?" Adelia asked frantically.

Kairav shook off Adelia's fingers that wanted to touch him, he was really afraid of going too far. However, her name is not Adelia if you just think about it. She punched Kairav's wound until he winced. It hurts, of course. Kairav, who was in a standing position, shook his head and bravely threw Adelia's hand away.

"Do not touch me!" he said curtly.

The chosen soldiers who saw the incident, could only remain silent and quickly left there, leaving Adelia in silence and covered in cold. Stevan, who had been listening to how the prince shouted at the soldiers for being too relaxed, finally became interested when his idol arrived.

"Adelia?" called Stefan.

Adelia turned around, her eyes sparkling. I don't know why it hurts. Maybe it's because of Kairav's rejection.

"Stev?"

Stevan's hands were open, as if inviting the owner to come in and share his suffering. Adelia's scent, which has become addictive, finally Stevan can breathe again. Adelia's face sank into Stefan's chest. They both did not care if anyone saw and reported this to the King.

"I'm suffering too," Stevan said. "You know how much I miss you?"

Stevan was talking to himself, while Adelia was already stretching her arms, looking at Stevan's face under the moonlight.

"I want to kidnap you and take you to another part of the world, Adelia. I can't bear to see you with another man besides me," said Stefan again.

"Then why don't you try it?"

Didn't try it? In fact, on the first night Adelia and Kairav got married, Stevan had prepared everything. The flower petals that were scattered were not ordinary flower petals. It contained poison in it, but Kairav casually stepped on it and even made the flower petals sweeten as they should be. Then, the next day, when Kairav and Adelia were walking towards the cliff, Stefan had already sent a small poisonous bee which one touch could put him in a coma. And… Kairav easily swatted the bee as if it was a mosquito.

Stevan's body was thrown to the left until it hit the sword storage wall. He groaned, while Adelia was quite surprised by the incident. The culprit is Kairav. The man with a tense face and arms wrapped in cloth looked at his wife intently. When he arrived in front of Adelia, Kairav immediately hugged his wife tightly.

"Don't turn your back on me, Adelia. You are mine!" Kairav ​​said, which sounded more like an order.

Adelia rebelled in her arms, she then pounded Kairav's chest with mixed feelings. "You ignored me earlier and rejected me," he said.

Stevan stood up, he exerted magic energy to attack Kairav and the attack was successfully pushed aside by the soldiers who were there. The three main warriors instantly froze Stefan's movements.

"Stev!" shrieked Adelia.

Adelia wanted to move towards Stevan, but Kairav prevented her by pulling his wife's arm. "Your bodyguard has dared to attack the prince of this country and it will receive a severe punishment, Adelia. Dare you get close to it, I will make sure he gets the death penalty."

Really! Adelia did not recognize who was hugging her now. Kairav's attitude was very different from Kairav who, that afternoon, was still being affectionate towards her.

"You're mean, Kai!"

Kairav ​​replies firmly "I am trying to protect what should be mine."

That night, Stevan was put in a dungeon where there was minimal lighting and humidity. The three soldiers weren't even gentle with him, they threw Stefan's body roughly like he was a stray dog.

***

Adelia woke up from her sleep because she felt a hot sensation radiating from her stomach. Her eyes blinking to adjust to the view from the dark, she moved slightly to light the stone night lantern that hovered at the side of the bed. There was only Kairav's hand wrapped around her stomach. Adelia touched her husband's hand and indeed found Kairav's skin hot.

She turned around and found Kairav's face still calm, his eyes closed as if fine. Adelia's hand touched Kairav's forehead and the girl hissed from the heat.

"Kairav," Adelia called in a half-whispered tone.

"Kai?" she repeated.

When Adelia was about to get off the bed, Kairav's arms that were wrapped around her waist grew stronger. The man opened his eyes and it was very clear that they were a little red and wet. "Don't go, Adelia," he said.

"Huh? I just want to order the guard to call a healer, Kai," replied Adelia.

Unfortunately, the man shook his head slowly. He inched closer to Adelia and rested his head on the side of his wife's thigh. "The cure is only you."

Extraordinary! Is this guy flirting now?

Adelia really wanted to refute it, it's just that seeing that handsome face that seemed to be begging, she finally complied. She lay down again and Kairav immediately took the most comfortable position by his side. The man rested his head on the crook of Adelia's neck. The hot breath from Kairav's nose really made Adelia unable to close her eyes anymore, the girl thought.

"Kai," said Adelia. "You really need to be treated."

Kairav, who really wasn't sleeping, snorted softly. He kissed Adelia's neck once and immediately sat up. "Fine, but you can only order the guards and come back with me here."

Adelia didn't answer, but the girl immediately ran to the bedroom door and opened it hastily. There were two guards standing at the door. "Hey you two," Adelia said. "Please summon the imperial physician immediately, yes, and also please bring us some breakfast. His Highness the Prince is ill."

The two guards bowed respectfully and one of them hurried off. Adelia immediately returned to bed and approached Kairav, ​​who had spread his hands. The girl went into her husband's arms.

"What exactly are you sick of, Kai?" asked Adelia while inhaling her husband's distinctive scent.

"I'm sick because of you, Adelia."

Not long after, there was a knock on the door and Adelia asked him to enter. The royal physician had arrived, along with the King and also Prince Allo. They were all very worried because, as far as they knew, Prince Kairav ​​had very good body resistance against poison or disease.

Adelia was actually embarrassed by her current position because Kairav hugged her waist very tightly. She also couldn't bow down to King Elazein and, in the end, Adelia could only nod and apologize.

The healer began to approach, he took one of the prince's hands and soon stared closely at Prince Kairav ​​and also Adelia alternately. He was too tongue-tied to tell what was going on. He also looked back at the place where the King and the second Prince were standing. Stared at like that, the King was getting fed up.

"What is it?" he asked in a curt tone.

The healer turned to look at Prince Kairav ​​again and asked carefully, "Does Your Highness know the consequences of withholding the ritual refinement?"

"Yes, I know."

"Then, why is the Prince still putting it off?"

"My wife is still not ready. Should I force her?"

Hearing her name being called, Adelia blinked, confused, because she didn't understand where their conversation was going. Meanwhile, King Elazein's face was immediately shocked and Prince Allo relaxed since he had been from the start.

The healer didn't know what to say, finally he just cleared his throat and started concocting something with his shining palms. A clear glass vial with a liquid potion in it floated between the healer's palms. "This potion can only relieve its effects temporarily, Your Highness."

"So Kairav ​​is sick. What exactly?" asked Adelia.

All eyes in the room glanced at him and the King just snorted in response. Adelia's face, which is very curious, makes Allo unable to keep silent.

Allo cleared his throat softly, "You see, Sister-in-law. We magicians are, of course, different from ordinary humans like you. Our match has been determined by a hereditary ritual and yesterday's marriage was only half of it. The ritual would be complete once we had intercourse with our partner. You know sex, right?"