To Be King (9)

Edited by: Kuro and Lille

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When Grey arrived at Dean's estate, he was given a quiet, but heart-warming welcome. Everyone knew that he was the cursed prince who defended the country. No one disrespected him or looked down on him because of his curse. They didn't know Ameer's relationship with Dean, but they knew it was really close seeing how overprotective Dean was. He even brought a doctor, a magician, and an alchemist to meet Ameer.

Grey was taken to a room right next to Dean's. Dean ordered his servants to do this just in case something happened to Grey during the treatment.

Dean helped Grey sit down on the bed and sat next to him. He held his hand. "Gregory has already created the antidote for the curse, but I don't know the details, so you can ask him about it yourself."

Grey gave Dean the chest with the book when they met at the inn. It only took 20 minutes for the mage to unlock the chest, but it took an additional three days to gather all the materials needed for the antidote, and then make it. It wasn't difficult to make. The ingredients, on the other hand, were extremely weird. Like the liver of a bear, or the roots of a fruit that no one likes because of the smell. The worst part was, there were over 30 ingredients, and each one had to be processed at different temperatures. Some were cooked at high temperatures, and some were cooked at very low temperatures and for a very long time. It drove the alchemist nuts.

The alchemist, Gregory, had bags under his dark brown eyes. His gray-blueish short hair was shaggy and uncouth. He looked like he hadn't showered or slept in days. "Let me tell you, this antidote was a pain in the ass to make. I will never do this again. I won't let anyone make this stupid curse even if it means I have to burn myself and take this book with me."

To make the curse, it was even worse. The ingredients were so rare that Gregory didn't even know how Queen Meredith or Consort Ceanna got their hands on the ingredients. They also need 50 ingredients to make the curse effective. How long did it take for them to gather it? He didn't even want to know.

Grey didn't see the contents of the forbidden alchemy book, but just looking at Gregory's face, he knew it was pretty damn traumatizing.

"Well, if it fails, you will have to do it again," Dean looked at Gregory with a smile on his face. "If you have to do it again, I will not only give you a raise, but a bonus."

Gregory's face cracked. He wanted that raise and that bonus, but did he really want to make another antidote? Not really, but for the money…

"You must keep your word." He liked money far too much.

Dean looked at him with his eyebrow raised. How didn't he realize that Gregory was just like some people he once knew… Money lovers who would do anything for money… He hasn't changed at all. They also liked to follow him sometimes, especially when he was filthy rich.

"I appreciate all the help you have given me," Grey sincerely thanked Gregory. Without him, Grey didn't know how he would be able to get rid of this "curse." It would have probably taken a lot longer too.

"It is no trouble at all, Your Highness."

Dean glanced at Gregory. It was weird to see the man so… formal.

"Alright, let's get started. I don't know how the process will be, so we have doctors on standby. I wish you the best." Gregory handed the antidote to Grey.

Grey had a strange feeling that this would be painful. So he got himself comfortable on the bed. Dean helped him add pillows to support his back while he sat down.

Afterward, he took a deep breath and chugged the antidote in one breath. It was a wise decision because the taste was so disgusting, he was about to vomit. It had an indescribable taste. There were not enough words in any dictionary that could describe the taste.

"It was a smart move to drink it all at once. When I smelled it, I also threw up."

All of his senses shut down the moment he swallowed the antidote and his brain processed what he had just ingested. The taste was so bad that he thought he blacked out and ascended into a higher plane of existence. He almost thought that he had gone back to that time before System 225 found him.

Then his consciousness came back to him and he found himself in someone's embrace. It was Dean, God System, who was holding him. He couldn't hear what the man was saying, but he looked worried.

He then began to feel a burning, itching pain creep up his spine. It branched out, following every line of the curse to his fingertips. After the pain reached his fingertips, it went back to his lower back. This process repeated. It felt like someone was taking a hot, metal knife, and tracing every mark.

Grey couldn't feel it, but his body was tense and he was sweating all over the place. He gritted his teeth, refusing to utter a sound of pain.

While Grey was dealing with the pain, Dean was glaring over at Gregory. The pressure he exerted made everyone stop breathing.

Gregory felt wronged! Why did it seem like Dean was blaming him for all of Prince Ameer's suffering?

"Don't glare at me! I followed the instructions in the book. You must blame the people who gave him that cursed potion. From what I read, this would manifest on the body like a curse. When the body tries to sleep, the pain would creep up on him. It's so painful, that it feels like someone is repeatedly stabbing you, burning you, and torturing you all night. The pain will knock you out and bring you back. You will never have a peaceful rest."

"From what I heard, Prince Ameer has been suffering from this pseudo curse since he was a baby. I can't believe he even survived as a child. Honestly, I'm surprised he made it to this age with that pseudo curse plaguing him every time he sleeps."

"To be honest, the pain he's experiencing now isn't as bad as what he had been going through every night. For him to stay awake instead of passing out shows that the pain isn't as bad. It's still painful though, which is why he's in that condition right now…"

Dean felt his blood run cold. For those trash to do something like this to his beloved. It was like they were asking to be killed by him.

"Is there anything the doctors can do for him? Even just to lessen the pain?"

There were three doctors in the room. They were all doctors of the Glemont family. Two of them were women and one of them was a male.

They looked over at Gregory with hopes and expectations.

Gregory saw the way everyone was looking at him and felt bad that he was going to ruin all of their hopes. "Sorry. I don't know if anything will conflict with the ingredients in the antidote. We don't want to cause a chain reaction that could kill him instead."

"So we just have to watch him go through this pain?"

"That…. Well, Master Dean, you can continue to be his support. It seems like he is really relying on you."

With how Grey was clinging to Dean, he wouldn't be surprised if Grey saw Dean as his moral support.

"Hm... I will stay with him until he gets better."

"That's all you can really do. I don't know how long this will last though, so you may have to take time off of work, Master Dean."

"Yeah, I will do that. Thank you, Gregory. Everyone can leave now. I will take care of Prince Ameer from here."

Everyone bowed before leaving the room.

When everyone left, Dean took some of the towels on the nightstand and began to dry Grey. He was gentle, afraid that if he put any pressure on Grey, it would cause him more pain.

His heart hurt seeing Grey going from a sitting position to lying in his lap, clinging on to his shirt. His grip was gentle, but the grit in his teeth looked like he was going to break his jaw.

"My love, can you release the tension in your jaw? You can grip onto my shirt as tight as you can if you want instead."

Dean softly pinched his cheeks and gave him a very gentle face massage. He didn't want Grey to hurt himself. He would rather have Grey dig his nails into his skin. If he could share the pain with Grey, he would.

With the familiar touch, Grey slowly released his clenched jaw from further torture and gripped Dean's shirt until his knuckles turned white. It hurt so badly but he made sure that he wasn't hurting Dean.

After drying Grey off, he got into a position where they were both more comfortable. Grey was in pain, but it was just enough pain to keep him awake, so he couldn't fall asleep. Actually, he wanted to fall asleep. He really did. It was better to be unconscious than conscious during painful times.

"Dean… Don't leave me." He mumbled this but Dean could hear him.

"Don't worry. I'm here. I won't leave you."

"Hmm. Good." Grey closed his eyes.

He felt it was funny. In the last world, he also helped God System when they were stuck on that remote planet. Now, he was the one being helped.

"I will take care of you like you took care of me. So rest up. Don't let this pseudo curse beat you."

That was the last thing Grey heard before he let his body go into a deep sleep.