Chapter 24 - The Aftermath

“A little lamb here needs your touch. Please show a miraculous recovery.” I had learned the prayer long ago, but it was the first time I had used it. Rays of light came out of my fingers and entered his arm.

‘It wouldn’t hurt anymore, right?’ I looked at him in anticipation, but his face still held a pained expression. “Does it still hurt? What do I do? I did as I know. Why isn’t it getting better?” I was nervously moving around when I heard Miltiades snicker.

“…?” ‘Why is he laughing? Did he lose his mind?’

I blankly stared at him until I realized what had happened. ‘This man!’ He was playing around! “Daddy, you’re not hurt!”

“No, I am.”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“I’m not lying.”

“I’m not falling for it!”

“It really does.” The smile on his face belied his claim of being in pain, and I became upset.

“I can’t believe you. I was so scared. I thought you were actually hurt.” I started tearing up, and Miltiades’s expression changed. 

“Were you that surprised?”

I nodded.

“… Sorry.”

A whisper of an apology. At first, I thought I had heard wrong. ‘Mil is apologizing?’ He wasn’t the kind of person to apologize. I looked at him with a shocked expression, but it seemed that he found it funny. A seductive smile appeared on his lips. 

“I’ll let you off since you apologized.”

Hearing my response, Miltiades nodded while laughing. “Thank you, my lady.” He kissed my hand as he would to a lover and laughed again. I was still upset.

“But it’s true that it hurts.”

“Huh?”

He smiled without saying anything, but I knew what he was talking about. ‘The curse.’ He was talking about ‘the blood’s curse’ that he had been dealing with his whole life. 

I looked at his face and put my hand on his forehead again.

“… What are you doing?”

All I did was put my hand on his head, but he acted like I was weird. “A mom’s hand is medicine!”

“What?”

“But I’m not your mom, so I’ll just leave my hand on your head.” If I had been Miltiades’s mom, it’d have also been nice. Then, I would’ve made sure that he had a happy and healthy childhood. As I thought about it, I became sad. “I’m a saintess, so you never know if this can help.”

I didn’t know what he was thinking as he looked at me, but he grabbed my hand that was on his forehead.

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“I’m fine now.” He brought my hand to his cheek and smiled. “I promise.”

It sounded like a lie, but I wanted to believe him. 

His golden eyes shone like starlight as they looked at me. They didn’t look at me as if I were a rock on the side of the road. “Are you not scared of me?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not.”

“Really?”

“Should I be?”

“No,” Miltiades smirked. “Don’t be scared.”

That would never happen. I seriously nodded, and Miltiades couldn’t stop himself from laughing. And then, Callian ran into the bedroom in a rush. “Your Majesty! Sir Berrict!”

‘What was he trying to say?’

“Uh, uh…” Callian didn’t know what to do after seeing the sweet moment between me and Miltiades. He looked confused as he blinked.

“What’s going on?” Miltiades sounded annoyed because of the interruption, and this brought Callian back to his senses.

“Your Majesty, Sir Berrict is here.”

* * * 

Miltiades had three personal knights along with his royal bodyguards. However, there was one more knight in his service. This person was more outstanding than the other three, and people called the four of them ‘Miltiades’s Four Knights.’

The Ice Knight Berrict got down on his knee and saluted us. “It has been a while, Your Majesty.” His silver hair and blue eyes could leave a lasting impression on anyone.

“Why are you so late?”

“I am sorry, Your Majesty. I encountered a situation on my way here.”

As Miltiades talked with Berrict, I looked at Berrict’s assault troop. ‘Huh?’ I recognized someone in the troop and looked at him with wide eyes. ‘Why is he here?’

I knew who he was as soon as I saw him. That velvety black hair and those shining blue eyes that looked like crystals were unforgettable. ‘He’s the male lead.’ 

His features stood out so much I couldn’t ignore him.