Chapter 58

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 58

Chapter Title: His Kisses and Her Soul (2)

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Adrian didn't even realize that he had started calling Roxiana "Princess" at some point.

Floyd gazed down at Adrian with sunken eyes.

"No."

A hoarse voice escaped his lips.

His gaunt appearance—untouched even after facing dozens of magical beasts—made the knight captains' hearts sink in dread. Roxiana, wrapped in Floyd's jacket and cradled in his arms, hung limp like a corpse. Her glimpsed face was deathly pale, her lips cracked and dry.

"But I barely managed to keep her breathing."

No one knew how Floyd, who wasn't even a doctor, had "kept her breathing," but the news that Roxiana was alive drew sighs of relief from everyone.

They knew nothing of spirits, but anyone could guess that pushing oneself to such extremes would drain all life force, potentially leading to death.

Kirshan approached with a worried expression.

"Let me take a look."

"No."

Floyd spoke in a voice laced with exhaustion.

"Head back."

Heat continued to pour from Floyd's body, but it flowed into Roxiana's so swiftly that the knight captains couldn't detect it.

Like a mother bird incubating her egg, Floyd held Roxiana close without a gap and raced toward the Grand Duke's Palace.

The moment they arrived, he laid her on the bed in the Lily Palace chamber.

Roxiana was still so pale that Floyd felt like he was going mad. Her breathing had steadied to faint wisps, but chills emanated from her intermittently, and she stopped breathing now and then.

Each time, Floyd felt his heart drop as he pressed his lips to hers. Intense heat seeped into her parted lips, stabilizing her breaths.

"My lord. I brought some medicine."

Kirshan had brought a tonic to generate body heat.

"Not sure if it'll do much, but we have to try something."

"Leave it and go."

Kirshan saw Floyd lying on the same bed, holding Roxiana tightly in his arms, but he set the vial down silently and left. Only after her spasmodic chills subsided did Floyd pick up the medicine.

He tried prying her lips open to pour it in, but whether her esophagus was frozen or not, more spilled out than went down.

"Damn it."

Floyd took the medicine into his own mouth and fed it directly to her. He stirred it around inside to help it flow. He wiped away the drops trickling down her chin with his hand. After several attempts, he managed to get the entire vial into her.

Floyd's hands trembled with anxiety as he embraced her cold body and stroked her cheek. He kissed her forehead, cheeks, nose, and nape, whispering,

"Stop driving me insane, Princess. You're making me lose my mind."

Amid the shattering pain, Roxiana thought calmly.

This must be what it feels like.

So this was what it meant for a soul to break.

A grinding agony, as if crumbling grain by grain from the crown of her head to her toe tips. If it shattered all at once, it might end in an instant, but this slow, tearing pain was so excruciating she wanted to scream for death.

But I won't die.

Somehow, she knew she wouldn't. Even if her soul fragmented and her life force halved, she would cling to breath.

I'm the child the spirit kings saved.

That was enough. She never expected a normal life anyway. As long as she achieved her goal, even total soul destruction didn't matter.

The pain of aching bones, frozen organs, ruptured veins, and sloughing flesh hurt less than the reality of her family discarded in a well. Less than the betrayal by those she trusted, leading to their gruesome deaths.

So Roxiana endured. She could bear even eternal torment.

Still, I wish I could lose consciousness.

Her body must have collapsed, yet her mind stayed sharp. The onslaught of pain felt all the clearer for it. She screamed now and then, but the cries never escaped her flesh.

Roxiana was trapped alone in vast, profound darkness, screaming and wailing, enduring the agony.

Interminable time passed.

She couldn't tell how long in reality, but to her, it felt like an eternity. Just as her soul fully shattered and her mind began to scatter, a single ray of light pierced straight toward her.

The light was so warm, sweet, tender, and loving as it caressed her broken soul. The fragments clung like to sticky honey. The rending pain vanished wherever it touched.

Impossible as it was to grasp light, Roxiana reached for it. She clung and held on. Like a parched soul finding water, she devoured it greedily.

By the time the excruciating pain dulled to mere ache, Roxiana opened her eyes.

The sunlight stung her eyes unbearably. Far worse than morning glare, the pain made her squeeze them shut again.

It felt like she'd dreamed for ages. She couldn't recall the thoughts or experiences, but the horrific agony lingered vividly.

An excruciating torment she never wanted to relive.

Her body still hurt, but nothing compared to the dream. It was bearable now, so she cautiously opened her eyes once more.

Tears welled to shield her aching eyes from the piercing sunlight, blurring her vision. Through them, she made out a familiar ceiling.

The one adorned with paintings of Adelia Flowers.

My room.

When had she started thinking of the Lily Palace bedroom as "my room"?

Such an out-of-place thought was her way of distracting from the lingering pain.

"A week."

A voice from what she'd thought was an empty bedroom made Roxiana's eyes fly open. Turning her head, she first saw reddish-brown hair.

He sat hunched on the chair beside the bed, elbows on knees, head bowed. Stray locks hid his face.

But his rigidly tensed shoulders radiated thick fury.

"Princess. You lay there. Like a dead woman. For a week."

As if suppressing bursting emotions, he spoke haltingly, chewing the words. His low, sunken voice was chilling.

Roxiana stared at his still-bowed head, then parted her lips.

"The forest..."

"The forest isn't the issue!"

He shouted, springing up. Only then did she see his face—contorted not in anger, but torment.

"The forest isn't the issue, Roxiana! Do you hear me? You nearly died for real!"

If I nearly died, why are you so furious?

Roxiana set aside the question and replied calmly.

"But I'm alive."

"Alive? Do you even know how you survived? Do you know what state you were in when I found you in that forest? You couldn't even breathe!"

"But I am alive. I was certain I wouldn't die."

Floyd started to yell back at her rebuttal but clenched his teeth. He bowed his head for a long moment to suppress the roiling emotions inside, then lifted his gaze to meet hers.

"Certain. How convenient. When you don't even know how you survived."

"..."

"You'd be dead without me, Princess. I saved you. Do you know how I did it?"

Roxiana recalled the light from her dream—the sweet, tender warmth and the relief it brought—but suddenly, he reached out and gently grasped her chin.

His thumb brushed her plump lower lip. She tried to turn away, but his other hand cupped her cheek, holding her steady.

Roxiana thought his gray eyes might swallow her whole.

"These lips."

His fingers trailed from her cheek and chin to her nape.

"This neck."

Down her shoulder to her arm.

"These arms and waist, legs. Even your toes."

Every spot his hand touched bloomed with fiery heat. The warmth swiftly turned sweet, seeping into her body.

Only then did Roxiana realize the dream's light was Floyd's flame. She opened her mouth to describe the strange dream, but he ground out,

"I kissed and rubbed every inch without leaving any out."

Her eyes widened as the meaning sank in. Floyd smiled sadistically.

"Not a single spot on you untouched by my lips, Princess."

"Your flame..."

"Yes, Princess. You devoured my flame greedily. No matter how much I poured out, you swallowed it all. Do you get what that means?"

"Yes, I do. No matter how much power I overuse, as long as Your Highness shares your heat, I can survive!"

"What?"

Floyd was so flabbergasted he lost his words.

He'd wanted to say he'd revived an unmarried woman without permission through lascivious acts. That unless she wanted a repeat, she'd never be so reckless again.

So why was this woman sparkling with delight?