Chapter 22: He remembers.

"Ah ah ?"

Pyro continued to let out unintelligent noises because of the unexpected twist.

"That's true."

Then the same agreement came from Ruwel Hart's parted lips.

The first prince also seemed to have understood why Kai replied like that. The only ones who hadn't were Arad and Pyro.

A bracelet that dangled cutely from Arad's left paw swayed gently when his mana surrounded it.

The bracelet was a gift from Kai. When Arad had left the only place he knew, Kai had given this gift after he infused it with mana stones and changed it.

One of the purple stones shone in a brilliant albeit small light.

*Why are you not helping them ?*

Arad's innocent and confused voice entered Kai's mind.

The stone engraved with the power to enable telepathy was a way for Arad to communicate with others, though he only used it for Kai.

*Because we have no justification.*

"We have no justification."

Kai's and Michael's voices mentioned at the same time.

*Justification ?*

Arad's telepathic voice asked for clarification.

"Even if we are nobles, we have no authority to meddle with this. Nor do we have the right to meddle in a business of another noble family."

Kai explained to both Pyro and Arad at the same time.

"But the Andrews family is a merchant family."

Pyro denied vehemently.

Kai chuckled at Pyro's disgruntled expression which looked like a petulant child.

Pyro, an agent of the Erast women association.

How did Kai know about who she was ?

There were two reasons.

The strange dreams put him in a complicated mood that set him on edge. When he woke up hearing the panicked cry of the baby dragon, instantly he was alert.

He subconsciously wanted to realize the true face of the people he wanted. Because of that, the overwhelming power that he absorbed from the dungeon subconsciously reacted to his emotions.

Kai reminisced how startled he was inwardly when he saw a stream of information flooded him, leaving him dizzy.

So the first reason was that he awakened an attribute related to information due to the overflow of the awakened power.

The second reason was there was a plot that unfolded in the Erast city between the female lead and one of the male leads.

It was a scene between Jennette, the saintess and Raphael, the real owner of the hotel.

"It's better if the owner of the hotel deals with the problem himself."

Kai mentioned calmly.

Michael and Ruwel exchanged a glance.

"What do you mean the owner of the hotel, young master ? How is it possible that he doesn't know what's going on in his own hotel ?"

Pyro still had the misconception that the real owner of the hotel was Jacob Andrews.

Despite the hotel being admired and praised among the nobility and royalty, it wasn't that the hotel management neglected the commoners.

So this hotel was well received among all kinds of people.

Even so, no one has come forward to be the owner of the hotel. The ones who were recognizable for their management of the hotel had been the Andrews family.

This generated a misconception that they were the owners of the hotel, since no one claimed to be the owner.

Raphael La Du Boise.

He was another duke of the Emmanuel empire and he specifically cared about his reputation.

It could be said that one of the weaknesses of this male lead was his reputation.

He always stayed far away from unnecessary trouble. He was a businessman rather than a noble.

To please his customers, he kept his reputation spotless and didn't involve himself in illegal activities.

'There's no way someone that sensitive would do something like human trafficking.'

Kai was definitely sure about this.

He turned to Michael and beamed brightly at him.

'Why should he work so hard when the person with real authority can solve this ?'

Michael understood this gesture and smiled helplessly.

"I'll take care of this matter."

*****

"Ugh..."

Kai woke up with a groan at the agony of his head.

His head was pulsing with pain and his eyes that he barely managed to open squinted.

His vision was blurry and he felt so weak.

Even though he felt weak, like someone has sucked all of his energy, he felt very comfortable and warm.

He tried to remember what happened to him while trying to move his body.

Unfortunately, he found that he only had the energy to turn his head.

'Why do I keep fainting these days ? I should stay far away from the main leads. It's probably their unluckiness that's rubbing off on me.'

Kai thought sullenly.

It had been two days since he woke up and started to explore the hotel.

He recalled how he felt drawn towards a room for some inexplicable reason and he unconsciously followed the draw to enter the room.

He was met with darkness that he couldn't see hear or feel anything. As his body was drawn more into the room, he felt into a pit.

He wasn't injured but with the sudden unexpected fall, he was half lying and half leaning in the pit.

Ssssss….

A strange noise as if something was dragging along the floor was heard and it was drawing near him as seconds went by.

In this overbearing darkness, this dragging sound was like an eerie premonition.

Kai had felt so panicked due to his loss of control over his own body and the unexpected situation.

He immediately tried to crawl away from whatever that chased after him. But suddenly he was utterly surrounded from all sides.

There were black snakes with red eyes that crawled over his body. At first it was one or two.

But as the seconds passed by, one or two became ten or twenty. Then the number gradually increased until a swarm of serpents glided over his body and covered him.

Over his wrists, his legs, his thighs and his chest. There was no end to them.

Fortunately, they didn't bite his body. Unfortunately, he didn't have much luck trying to escape them. 

What was more terrifying than being surrounded by those serpents was that when he tried to use his powers, they were absorbed into the bodies of the serpents. 

The more he struggled, the tighter those snakes wrapped around him almost suffocating him.

The harder he exerted his power, faster they sucked out all of his power.

"No. Umm. No."

Kai tried to twist his body around but only succeeded in wasting his strength.

He grew weak and his vision grew dim, losing consciousness.

That was the last thing he remembered.

"Are you awake ?"

A low husky voice breathed into his ears.

It was a pleasant and soothing voice in the dark room he found himself in.

The voice seemed closer to him than he thought. A hot breath warmed his ear as Kai slowly lifted his gaze.

His beautiful eyes grew round in shock and he looked adorable.

Seeing Kai like this, a chuckle dripping with amusement and fondness left the parted lips of the stranger.

Kai only became aware of his precarious position after his eyes locked with ruby red eyes.

He was in the embrace of a stranger, seated on his lap diagonally.

Kai's head was leaning against the stranger's shoulder and the stranger had wrapped both his arms around Kai's waist.

The stranger's hold was gentle but firm, like he was holding a precious treasure.

Kai stared speechlessly at this but he couldn't do anything because he had no strength left in him.

"I am happy that you woke up."

The stranger uttered with a hint of happiness and affection in his voice.

"Who are you ?"

Kai struggled to ask as his lips didn't co-operate much with him.

The stranger removed his arms from Kai's waist and moved them to wrap around his shoulders and under his knees.

Having secured Kai safely to him, he stood up and princess-carried Kai with measured and steady steps towards the bed.

Despite the room being dark, there was no hesitation or stumble in the stranger's gait.

"You don't have to be scared. I have no ill intentions towards you."

The stranger murmured gently to Kai like he was whispering poetry to his lover.

Kai tried to struggle free from his hold.

"Hmm."

A fond sigh left the stranger's lips.

"You are so willful, aren't you ?"

The man said gently as if he was reprimanding a lover.

Kai could only look on helplessly. There was not even a droplet of power in his veins and no strength in his muscles.

'Who was this man who spoke to him with such affection and familiarity ?'

Kai felt an itch in his heart and the sensation of being drawn towards the stranger surged within him again.

The man laid Kai down softly. Kai felt like he was drowning in clouds with such softness and coziness.

The stranger draped the thick blanket over Kai and tucked him into bed.

His ruby red eyes curved into crescent moons when he stared softly at Kai.

The stranger sat down on the bed next to him. Then Kai felt warmth on his wrist.

When he slowly lowered his gaze to look, he saw how the man held his wrist gently and from the tips of his fingers started to caress his wrist.

It felt a subconscious action rather than something the man did intentionally.

Moreover, he was caressing his pulse point as if he was checking whether Kai was breathing or not.

Then the moonlight infiltrated through the window and illuminated his silhouette.

Kai gasped as the visage of the man appeared before his eyes.

"Seems like you remember me too, Kai."

A loving smile crossed the lips of Raphael La Du Boise, the other male lead of the novel.