Chapter Twenty-Six: Hesitations

Helix refuses to lie down on the bed when Kai is inside the room with him. So instead, he leaned on the wall next to his bed. Kai carefully wrapped a blanket around the calmly behaving mage.

His small breathing and the soft creaking of the bed as Kai moved to give Helix a better position as he rested filled the room.

Before getting off the bed, Kai looked at Helix's face. His head is down, his lips are pale but still slightly has a pink shade, while his eyes are closed, the long lashes displaying their length for Kai to see.

Kai's lips twitched slightly and awkwardly moved his gaze to the braid that had been undone for unknown reasons. He sighed quietly and took his knee off the bed and grabbed a chair from the table to sit on.

'What to do now?'

The pill that Helix consumed is like anesthesia. Though it can nullify the pain that Helix feels as long as he stays within the barrier, a side effect is making his consciousness faint. Helix is awake, but he's currently fighting his sleepiness.

He really doesn't want to sleep when Kai is around…

Kai leaned against the chair and stared at Helix.

Once the sun rises, Kai will leave and head to the castle so that he can finish his business here. And just like what Helix has said, they will both come back to the castle in the north.

Once they come back to the north, Kai will seriously start his study and research about Helix's curse. Though Seth is reliable when it comes to this kind of stuff, the life of this person can't just be handed over to others. Even if that 'others' is Kai's beloved protagonist.

Kai really wanted to laugh at his own thoughts.

To think that although the time he spent with Helix was short, it is undeniable that he really had gotten too attached to the villainous dark mage. Though he really spent most of his time learning, he spent almost every moment with this person ever since he came into this world. So how could he not?

Kai closed his eyes and leaned on the chair peacefully.

There is a chill inside the room that makes the room cold. But the cold didn't feel uncomfortable at all. This cold is caused by mana, a mage's power. It is obvious that this chill is not intentional, as it fluctuates and deflates at times at random. But it is perfectly fine. It doesn't cause harm to either Kai or Helix.

It is Helix's mana causing it after all.

And this is why Kai could be calm in such a dangerous environment. Though it is not that much colder compared to the castle in the north, it's not, by any means, just a simple cold temperature.

As he basked in this coldness, all sorts of thoughts entered his mind in a daze.

'I felt conflicted at times. And sometimes I feel happy to be here. And then I enjoy the pleasant peace I have in this world.'

There is no doubt that the world he originally belonged to was more peaceful and Kai could've never wished for any more world to live in. But strangely, everything just felt natural here. Kai does realize that the fact that he adjusted very quickly in this world is very strange.

It's as if…

Kai couldn't help but chuckle as the plot of a novel he had read in the past flashed through his mind.

'Living here would be more interesting if that was the case. However, my former life as just 'Kai', not the Duke of Zein or a resident of this world, was very much precious to me.' Though it is easy to get used to this life, Kai doesn't want to just replace the life he had prior to the transmigration. After all, he had a family. He has a mother and a younger sister. Then he has friends he can trust and those who are also precious to him.

But that doesn't mean he also wants to forget everything he has learned, experienced and encountered in this life.

Most importantly, Helix Vernon. Even Seth and Edith Rukadius.

As someone who despises and fears loneliness, Kai knows that all interactions with anyone and everyone should be considered precious and important.

Even this world.

Kai had started to think of this world as part of his life. He no longer treated it simply as just fiction and the characters as not real and fictional. This world is something precious to him already. This life, the people he had encountered in the short amount of time he spent here, Kai started to cherish them all already.

Slowly, the faintly glowing green eyes revealed themselves. It moved its gaze toward the figure on the bed.

Helix's breathing returned to normal, it was even slowly slowing down. He looks like someone who's going to fall asleep anytime but even with his eyes closed, Helix fights his drowsiness by focusing on the remaining pain on his body.

Seeing this scene, Kai held back a chuckle in fear of incurring the mage's anger and annoyance.

The furrowed eyebrows as well as the frowning lips, Kai smiled faintly. 'What, the scariest person on the continent is quite cute.'

Such a person has become someone very precious to Kai. Parting will be difficult, probably even impossible.

With a slightly amused expression, Kai got up off the chair and sat next to the bed instead. He crossed his arms and placed them at the surface as he leaned and eagerly watched every slight change of expression on Helix's face.

He doesn't even understand how he could find this entertaining. Only the small sounds of breathing coming from the resting man gave Kai a strange feeling of relief and happiness.

Before he could realize it, those small sounds turned into a lullaby, nulling his senses into a short slumber.

-

Kai normally has healthy sleeping habits. He sleeps early, and he never stays awake after the clock strikes 9 o'clock. Plus, he wakes up very easily and very early! That time he went and binged read the novel was only an exception.

The slightest amount of noise from the outside of the inn instantly forced Kai out of his dreamless sleep. He jolted awake and he blanked out for a moment. "Ah…" he uttered weakly while bringing his hand up to his eyes to rub them softly. 'I fell asleep.' He was not really supposed to sleep, he just wanted to wait until dawn all while watching over Helix's condition.

Speaking of Helix, Kai raised his head and stared at the one on the bed. What met his gaze was the similarly-looking at him, pair of purple eyes.

As Kai had just woken up, he was still out of himself and couldn't help but be unable to bring himself to look away from those eyes that resembled the amethysts he once saw in his past life. The amethysts his sister suddenly brought home one day…

Just like those amethysts, Helix's eyes glowed faintly with their purple hue, staring down at him with cold indifference.

Though it was so loud with a bustling market outside, the room they were in was filled with silence. Kai wonders. Normally, he should be afraid, uncomfortable, and awkward in this kind of situation. However, what's with this pleasant feeling inside his heart as he stares at those eyes? Something so alluring that he can't ever take his eyes off Helix's…

Like something buried deep within his soul was slowly being uncovered, Kai felt several intense emotions he had never experienced before.

But as though he didn't want to utter the words he wanted to speak, he kept those as his own unspoken words. Instead, he opened his lips and spoke very softly.

"Are you fine now?"