Chapter 417: Sweet Healer Planning a Demise
"What did you two talk about?"
"You mean His Highness Nikolai?" Xion asked, pushing a bowl of soba with wild mushrooms and bone broth toward the Archduke.
Steam rose from the dark broth, carrying the earthy scent of mushrooms and herbs, threaded with something foreign to the Northern lord’s palate, and yet soothing all the same.
"Yes, him."
Darius knew Xion was busy in the kitchen.
To keep his recovery a secret, there was no one else to help him through the process. Only Xion.
So when he was suddenly dragged to share a meal in their chamber, he had been almost happy about this little lunch date.
Almost — if not for that damned prince still freeloading in his castle.
"Why would you talk to him for so long?"
Xion blinked, tilting his head as though the question itself puzzled him.
"We talked about medicinal herbs, and it was only for a few minutes. Were you keeping an eye on me, Your Grace?"
That faint smile on Xion’s lips was enough to make Darius’ hand tighten around his spoon.
Instead of answering, he took a sip, letting the hot broth flood his tongue, earthy and rich.
"...It’s delicious."
Xion watched Darius bury his head in the bowl and sighed. They both knew that there were indeed secret guards protecting him from afar.
They would not act until it was absolutely necessary.
And if Xion’s guess wasn’t wrong, it had happened after his kidnapping during their marriage.
He stirred the broth in his own bowl, thinking that time was indeed a funny thing.
It was as if he was back in his past, with Darius looking at him with the same adoringly obsessive eyes when they were both children.
Their hands would brush, their breath mingling into each other as they would lie in the garden.
Both were unaware of their love back then, but it was there. It had always been.
And like a fine wine, it had simmered until the intoxicating smell couldn’t be kept hidden. Until they simply couldn’t stay at a distance from each other.
It had turned to the point where Xion didn’t even care if Darius’ way of love wasn’t how it should be.
He was just teasing his lover, nothing more, nothing less. If putting more guards lets Darius sleep at ease, so be it.
Anyway, with his knack for getting in trouble, it was better to have extra help.
"Darius," he called.
"You called my name so sweetly. Say it again."
Darius grinned in that stupid way that made Xion’s stomach do a little flip.
Xion huffed, though the corners of his lips twitched. "I can call it as many times as you want, so you’d better be there to hear it."
"Always, love," Darius promised, his large hand cupping Xion’s cheek, thumb brushing over skin warmed from the steam. "I’ll always be here."
"Yeah." The silly healer leaned into the touch.
Before the beauty of the silver-haired elf could melt him, he motioned the Archduke to dine. "Eat it while it’s hot. And then we can go on a little trip to the church."
The smile on the Archduke’s lips thinned. "No. Michael isn’t there. My people are hunting him. Once they find him, they’ll bring him here."
"Do you really think he’s that stupid?" Xion shook his head, sipping his broth. The bitterness of the mushrooms lingered on his tongue like the bitterness of his words. "The only thing he wants is... me."
"Why, Xion? Just why you, out of all people?"
Darius had been trying not to question it.
However, that didn’t mean it wasn’t constantly haunting his mind. Now, all of it slipped out of his mouth like it had been just waiting for this moment.
"Why does he want you? Is he like that Soren bastard?"
Soren was a sadist, a freak who liked to see Xion sob and writhe.
Father Michael, on the other hand, was someone who thought of himself as God.
Then again, gods were indeed on his side. Always had been.
"He wants to make me his puppet."
"What?" The Archduke found it absurd. "Does he think that he is God, so you should act the way he wants?"
Xion laughed softly, though there was no humor in it. Others wouldn’t have understood so quickly, but Darius always did.
"Yes, he thinks he is God’s chosen."
Xion stirred his broth idly as he continued. "Talia Valaria, the royal princess, could control humans, turn them into her puppets. Michael gave her that power. And it wasn’t only her. Other elders, too. The blessed ones who could have opposed them? Talia killed them. Aunt Serena was cast out."
After Darius went on a killing spree in his last life, it was these elders who supported Michael despite knowing the horrible things he had done.
Just the thought had his lips pressed into a thin line.
"We need to kill those elders as well. They’re all insane, worshiping Michael like some saint, blind to the blood on his hands."
Darius suddenly chuckled. His low laughter curled through the air like heavy smoke, sending a thrill down Xion’s spine.
"Heavens..." the Archduke muttered, setting his spoon aside to lean closer.
"My sweet darling Xion," he said while playfully scratching the tip of the healer’s slightly red nose. "Planning murders with that soft voice. I love you more every second."
Xion rolled his eyes, but his cheeks grew warm. Whether from the broth or those piercing green eyes, he didn’t know.
Anyway, as long as Darius never saw him as cruel, Xion thought he could become a bit more brutal. A little more ruthless until there would be no Michael troubling him ever again.
The Archduke merely smiled as he reached again for the soba, knowing that no matter how bitter the world became, nothing would ever taste sweeter than what Xion made for him.
To have something cooked by Xion again was a fantasy in itself.
Not to mention how the sweet healer looked at him with those bright, beautiful eyes.
Darius felt this was one of the best days of his life. Of course, fucking Xion was at the top. It will always be at the top.