1. Prologue (His Past) - 8. Fated Night
Rose helped him open the door to his room as she supported his body.
As they entered, she swept her gaze into that room in confusion. It was not only this room location that was near the barrack, but the size of his room was not big even compared to the guest room where she stayed right now. The walls were ivory yellow, the floor was covered with dull carpet, the only one that gave the elegance impression was a crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. There wasn't much furniture there. To the right, a big bed with a simple wardrobe beside it. In the middle, a long sofa paired with a simple coffee table. To the left, a desk with a chair and two glass cabinets filled with books. His room looked too simple for a prince like him.
She leaned him on the sofa.
"I will ask the guard to call a doctor." Even though she had medicinal abilities, she still needed medicine to treat his wound.
'I can't let anyone know about this. They might think I want to cheat for tomorrow's hunting competition, 'thought Angel. He knew tomorrow's competition was an important competition to determine who was the most suitable to be the crown prince as was the rule in all kingdoms on the Andromeda Continent, only the strongest in the family had the right to become king. That's why Asteria determined it with this competition. And of course, he shouldn't know this competition's purpose, but he knew it since his father had told him about it when he was a kid.
As Rose nearly left, he quickly caught her hand, preventing her to leave.
"Don't ... Do you know the punishment for breaking into the hunting ground? Fifty lashes, no matter who you are." He couldn't say it bluntly about the competition.
"Are they still going to punish you though you are in this condition?" she said in disbelief. He was a prince, they should have given him some concession, after all, it wasn't his fault.
"Whatever my condition ... They will punish me," he said in a weak voice.
She paused a moment, her eyes on him. His breath was getting heavier and from the look on his face, the pain on his back tormented him.
Rose shook her head as she couldn't stand to see him in pain any longer.
"I can't see you like this! I'll call the doctor and take all the punishment." She tried to leave again.
He caught her hand before pointing to a glass cabinet near his desk.
"There's a medicine box at the bottom of that cabinet."
She quickly took it and unpacked it on the table. After finding the antidote at the bottom of the box, she opened his blazer.
He pulled his blazer in shock and turned his gaze to her.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a frown
"Treating your wounds, what else?" she said in a nonchalant tone.
He was quite shocked by her boldness.
'She's an unmarried woman, how could she act recklessly like this?' There were strict manners and etiquettes in Andromeda Continent, especially for royal families and aristocrats. Taking off a foreign man's clothes, even the girls from the commoner weren't that bold to do it.
"Get out. I can do it by myself." His tone sounded like an order.
She frowned in confusion.
"Your wound is on your back and no one here beside me. How do you treat it without my help?"
'She's right. But I think it's inappropriate for a girl doing this. Moreover there were only two of us in this room,' thought Angel. So he thought to ask her to call a servant. Unlike doctors who had to provide a written report if he treated people, the servant did not need to do that. So as long the servant could keep his mouth shut, they wouldn't know about this.
Before he could say anything, she tried to open his blazer again, but he stopped her.
"I told you-"
Before he finished his sentence, she interrupted him in annoyance.
"If you keep this up, I'll scream." She was from the Heart Family, so she used to treat others, even if it was a man, but of course, it was not like this. It was usually her knights or her assistants who took off the men's clothes, but since this was an emergency, she thought of doing it herself.
He was quite shocked at her blunt words.
'What a weird woman. Is she not afraid her reputation will be ruined because of this? ' Unconsciously, he let out a quiet chuckle as a strange feeling began to envelop his heart.
'Fine then, I will consider this as a payment because I saved you.' Then he released his hand.
Rose opened his blazer and unbuttoned his shirt. Meanwhile, though he already permitted her, he couldn't help but feel nervous.
'Is it because I've never been treated like this before?' He had hardly ever felt the kindness since he distanced himself from others after his father's death.
She glanced at his face and noticed his nervousness.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything inappropriate." She realized with her boldness act and also felt nervous about it. But for a doctor like her, the most important thing was her patient life.
He looked away to cover his weird feelings.
'Why I'm feeling so nervous over this trivial thing? ' This was the first time he'd lost his cool over a small thing like this.
Secretly, a smile started to develop on her lips.
'Interesting, he looked calm when fighting, but turned nervous just because of this.'
After removing his entire shirt, she could see his body clearly. His well-defined muscles, broad chest, several scars on his chest and back, indicating that he was a real fighter.
Rose glanced at his face which still looked nervous. Occasionally he held back his pain. Somehow, it made her heart pounded. She even could feel her face hot and red.
'What am I thinking? I should focus on treating him. ' This was the first time she had not concentrated on treating her patient.
"I'll get the poison out," she announced so he could prepare what she would do next. She began to press around his wound. Meanwhile, he tried to hold his groans as an intense pain struck his back.
'I can't get the poison out,' she thought. She knew there was a blood clot clogging the wound so she decided to take it out with her mouth.
She brought her face closer to his back to suck the poison. As her lips touched his back, he gasped in shock, his heart beating fast and he quickly turned around.
"What are you doing?" He couldn't hide his shock since he knew she almost kissed his back.
"There's a blood clot clogging up your wound. So I must remove the poison with my mouth," she explained.
'How could she do that without any shame ?!' He was shocked since she had done something out of line.
"There's no need to go that far, just help me put on the antidote and wrap it with bandages." He was a prince, though this looked like a simple matter, it could be a big scandal.
While Rose was thinking differently. She looked at him with annoyed expressions.
'This man is so stubborn! Is he wanting to die?'
"Now that I think about it, it seems easier to call a doctor than treating a stubborn patient," she said in a nonchalant tone one more time before she tried to leave.
"Wait!" he said.
'We will get in trouble if someone knows about this.' Not only they would receive the punishment for breaking into the hunting ground, but this would become a nasty scandal that tarnished their family name. He let out a surrender sigh.
"I give you my permission."
She back to her seat brought her face closer and began to suck the poison in his back. As her soft lips touched his back, his heartbeat even faster.
Rose spat out the poison into a towel, cleaned his wound with alcohol, put on the antidote and wrapped it with a bandage.
"Done."
"Thank you." Carefully, he put his shirt back on.
She looked at him gently.
"I should be the one to thank you. You got hurt because of me."
"It's my duty," he answered simply. His hands moved to button his shirt slowly as the pain bit him.
'I think I've seen him before ...' she thought. Her eyes on him. Suddenly, she remembered when she attended her kingdom sword competition three months ago. A man in a white uniform stole her attention in the final round match. The match used the Battle Royale system where participants would fight each other until one person left as the winner. And he was able to defeat his three enemies in less than five minutes. She could not see his face clearly because of his rapid movements, but she could never forget his name.
"Are you --- Asteria's Demon Prince, Angelus Raizel Reinheart?" she said out of blue.
He was surprised by her words.
'I often hear people talking behind my back and calling me with that nickname. But they never dare to say it directly. ' A chuckle slipped off his mouth since this was his first time meeting a woman as bold as her.
"Demon prince? Is my reputation that bad?" he said.
When she saw his smile, her cheeks flushed, her heart pounded.
'Who knew that the cold Asteria's Demon Prince had a sweet smile like this?'
"I don't think it's a bad nickname."
"Do you think I look like a demon?" he said as he looked her in the eye.
His sharp gaze made her heart pound faster. She gazed up at him in a daze, her eyes fixed on his. Unconsciously, she leaned her face toward him and stopped after she could see his slightly flushed face.
'She's too close ...' he thought.
"My lady?"
His voice made her thoughts back. As she got her thoughts together, she tilted her head closer to his ear.
"I think you are too kind for that nickname," she whispered. She thought she had gone crazy doing something bold like this to a man that she barely knew.
Angel distanced his face from her in nervousness.
"Thank you," he said as he tried to gather his composure.
She chuckled as she looked at his expression.
"Why do you look so nervous?"
He looked away.
"To be honest, I've never been this close to a girl before." No, not even a girl but also to other people. That incident brought bad trauma to him, which made him afraid to open his heart to others.
"Really? Does that mean I am the first?" she couldn't believe what she heard since she thought he was the same as Ilex. It was the first time she found another side of the cold Prince of Asteria.
He glanced at her briefly and nodded. Of course, that sounded strange, because princes were usually quite popular among women.
She smiled. Maybe she was the only girl who knew the other side of Asteria's Demon Prince. This side of him made him look more ... human, even that nickname wouldn't be suitable for him anymore.
'There must be a reason behind his cold attitude,' she thought.
"Since you saved me today, I will give you a reward," Her eyes still fixed on him. It was her fault that he hurt like this, so she decided to try her Healing ability even if she didn't know if it would work or not, at least she wouldn't back down before she tried it.
She put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, bumping her lips to his.
He pushed her away spontaneously in shock.
"My lady, this is inappropriate-"
Before he could finish his sentence, he lost his balance and fell on the sofa.
"You ... poisoned me ...?" he said as he tried to maintain his consciousness.
She brought her face closer as she tried to hold back her pounding heart. After all, it was her first kiss.
"You saved me, so there's no way I would poison you. It's just a sleeping drug. I'm sure that your wound is still stinging your back and it can torture you all night. This drug can help you have a good rest tonight. you'll be better tomorrow. "
He struggled to keep himself awake.
"Name ... tell me your name ..." he said in a weak voice. Somehow he couldn't hold his curiosity that made him attracted to the weird woman in front of him.
Rose could have given her name now, but she wanted to make an excuse to make him see her again tomorrow. She thought for a moment, the competition that he was talking about when they were trapped on the hunting ground gave her an idea.
"If you want to know my name, meet me at the hunting competition tomorrow and win that competition for me."
Slowly, his eyes closed as he was no longer able to maintain his consciousness.
She stared at his sleeping face.
"I never thought there's a man who could steal my heart this fast..." she whispered.
Rose fixed his sleeping position and put her hand on his left chest as she used her Healing skill. Her hand glowed in red for a while but then that light shattered into pieces.
A sigh of disappointment escaped her mouth.
'I wish this Magic Shield didn't get in my way.' This was also one of the reasons why Rose made Angel fall asleep, because she wanted to try to treat him but unfortunately it failed. With this skill, Angel's wound would disappear without leaving the slightest pain when he woke up tomorrow. The Heart family was well known as a great doctor and poison master. While they had secret hidden healing skill ability and deadly secret poison that no one knew. They kept these abilities a secret so it didn't bring disaster to the Heart family.
Rose's eyes fixed on Angel who was sleeping in front of her.
"Too bad I couldn't heal you properly."
As she was about to take her hand away, she could hear Angel's voice.
"Father ... Please ... Don't leave me ..." he muttered in his sleep.
Rose paused in surprise. An old rumour flashed through his head, a rumour regarding the late King of Asteria and his son. In that instant, she quickly realized what had caused his cold act.
'I wish ... One day ... I can heal the wounds in your heart.'