* * *
The demon, attacked without warning, coughed up a spray of blue liquid.
“Gah!” He turned to look at Joel with an expression of pure disbelief.
The demon’s pitch-black pupils, which completely filled the whites of his eyes, were swirling with intense rage.
Joel stared blankly at those eyes, his mind drifting into a stray thought: ‘I guess a demon’s blood really is blue…’
The demon’s massive body collapsed onto the floor with a heavy thud.
Joel realized he had driven the blade directly into the demon’s heart.
A gurgling sound escaped the fallen creature’s mouth as blood bubbled out in thick spurts.
Watching the scene in a daze, Joel suddenly snapped back to his senses.
This was no time to be standing around.
Although the demon had taken a severe blow, he wasn’t dead yet.
That demon possessed enough magical power to turn back time; it was possible he could recover from such an injury in an instant, stand up, and try to devour the Crown Prince’s soul again.
Joel quickly took the unconscious Crown Prince’s arm, draped it over his neck, and heaved him upward, trying to carry him.
“Ugh…!”
For a moment, Joel staggered violently, unable to withstand the Prince’s weight.
The Crown Prince’s physique was robust, comparable to Sir Bennet, who had spent twenty years in the military.
Joel felt overwhelmed at the prospect of carrying a heavy man—who was easily 1.5 times his own size—out of this mansion, but he as grit his teeth and took his first step.
He was terrified that preacher John might stand up perfectly fine at any second and grab the back of his head with those black, sharp fingers, but his body wouldn’t move as nimbly as he wanted.
Joel grunted and groaned, using every ounce of strength to walk and walk.
The bubbling, frothing sound coming from John’s mouth gradually grew distant until it could no longer be heard.
The basement door drew closer with every agonizing step.
When he finally pushed the basement door open, Joel realized that climbing the stairs wasn’t the end of the journey.
Come to think of it, he had to climb the stairs of a three-story underground mansion and then pass through that long tunnel again.
‘Can I really do this?’
His entire body was already soaked in sweat, and his legs were trembling. Joel stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat pouring down his forehead like rain.
Accidentally glancing at his hand, Joel flinched.
He had thought it strange that the “sweat” was so heavy it made it hard to keep his eyes open, but the hand he used to wipe his brow was stained bright red.
Now that he noticed, the scent of blood hit him. The wound on his forehead that Robert had bandaged had burst open again.
A surge of fear washed over him. Joel felt tears prickling his eyes.
Suddenly, he felt resentful toward the Crown Prince again.
Why couldn’t the Prince have just let him die in the previous life?
Why did he have to make a deal with that John guy and cause this whole disaster?
Still, since he couldn’t just leave the Prince behind, Joel continued moving, tears streaming down his face.
“Darn it… why do you have to be so big for no reason…!”
Joel muttered in frustration. How much simpler would this have been if the Crown Prince were short and small?
Last time, he was too big down there, making it impossible to even sleep together comfortably, and this time he’s too big overall, making life so difficult.
Truly, there wasn’t a single thing about Carlyle the Idiot that Joel found likeable.
For someone like Joel—who had been starving to the point of malnutrition for three years, had been tormented by John all day, and had spent two hours wailing while hugging the Prince—carrying a man that distance was an incredibly cruel task.
By the time he finally reached the entrance of the underground mansion, Joel was on the verge of collapsing from total exhaustion.
“Hah… hah…”
Joel stopped in place and struggled to keep his consciousness.
Perhaps because he had lost too much blood, his head was spinning.
He had to move, but his trembling legs felt rooted to the ground and wouldn’t budge.
It didn’t matter if he died here, but he had to save the Crown Prince no matter what.
‘I have to go,’ Joel thought anxiously, when suddenly, the front door of the underground mansion swung wide open.
A man he had never seen before had opened the door from the outside.
Not only that, but at least twenty soldiers were lined up behind him.
‘Damn it, who are they now…’
Dozens of startled eyes stared at him. Joel muttered inwardly with annoyance.
He was so exhausted that he didn’t even have the strength to speak out loud.
While his vision was blurry, the crest embroidered on the soldiers’ armor suddenly became clear.
It was the crest of Count Gray.
“Joel! My child!”
Through the ranks of soldiers, he saw Sir Bennet rushing toward him, shouting his name.
His father had brought the soldiers as requested. The terrifying weight of relief hit him now that he knew they were safe.
“Ugh…”
Joel let out a sob he had been holding back, and suddenly felt the world fade.
His legs, which had barely held on, gave out. He fell beneath the weight of the Crown Prince and lost consciousness.
Joel was having a happy afternoon tea time with the Crown Prince.
The setting was the garden of the Crown Prince’s palace.
Joel had deeply cherished this garden, which the Prince had specially decorated for him in the previous life.
Aside from roses, the garden was filled with over 3,000 types of rare plants and was so beautiful that even Joel, who had zero interest in gardening, would stare at it in a daze.
‘Is this a moment from the past life?’
The large table where Joel sat was covered in delicious food.
But what made Joel even happier and more excited was the person sitting across from him.
After staring blankly at the Crown Prince’s exceptional looks, Joel glanced around and discovered a tiny baby wiggling inside a basket.
Because of that baby, Joel knew this wasn’t a moment from the past.
The baby’s hair was a pale gold like Joel’s, but the eye color and the overall shape of the features were the spitting image of the Crown Prince.
The baby was undoubtedly the child of the Crown Prince and himself.
“Here, say ‘ah’.”
The Crown Prince cut a piece of delicious peach tart with a fork and held it out to Joel, who was distracted by the baby.
He couldn’t understand why the peach tart smelled and tasted like chicken soup, but Joel was hungry, so he opened his mouth like a baby bird and ate it happily.
Suddenly, water from the fountain shot into the sky, creating a rainbow.
As if delighted by it, the baby playing in the basket let out a loud, bubbly laugh.
It was an afternoon scene that filled his heart just by looking at it. It was so happy, yet Joel knew it was a dream.
Because this was something that could never happen.
Having tea time in the Imperial Palace with the Crown Prince and a baby, like a real family.
This was only possible in a dream.
A single hot tear rolled down Joel’s cheek as he enjoyed a moment he could never have in reality.
Then, along with the clinking of dishes, a low voice drifted from afar: “Hurry and bring a handkerchief.” Joel tilted his head at the sound, which didn’t fit the scenery at all.
“Hmm, the soup tastes fine. Sir Bennet, does Joel happen to dislike chicken soup?”
“That can’t be… when my wife was alive, she always made chicken soup when Joel was sick. Perhaps because of that memory, Joel loved chicken soup even after he grew up.”
“But, Joel is crying so sorrowfully right now.”
The owners of the voices discussing this seriously were definitely his father and the Crown Prince.
Joel then felt a gentle hand caress his cheek.
“Your Highness, if I may be so bold… in my opinion, he is crying because it tastes so good.”
A familiar voice joined the conversation.
It was definitely Robert.
Despite his confusion, Joel muttered to himself that Robert was indeed a pathetic idiot.
Who in the world cries just because food tastes good?
“Still, it bothers me. Take this away and tell the kitchen to make the soup again with seafood.”
The clinking sound and the smell of delicious chicken soup grew distant.
Feeling regretful, Joel unconsciously muttered, “A-ah, no…!”
Then, he heard Robert’s haughty voice: “See? I told you he said no.”
The scent of chicken soup returned.
And in the dream, the Crown Prince just happened to cut a piece of meat pie and offer it to Joel.
Joel opened his mouth in a daze and ate the meat pie.
Strangely enough, the meat pie also tasted like chicken soup.
Joel felt absurd as the dream became weirder, but he decided to put aside his useless doubts.
Right now, taking in this happy sight was more important than anything else.
Joel made sure to look at the baby’s face for a long, long time.
* * *
