Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 11

Chapter 11

Despite Caelius's sharp outcry, Chalet did not flinch and held out the towel to him with both hands.

"I will not touch your body, young master. But I am concerned that you might catch a cold."

Caelius, breathing heavily and hissing, hesitated.

"Kalipr."

I called Caelius's name gently as he growled fiercely, as if to say he no longer needed to be afraid.

"No one will harm you. And no one will be hurt by your flames. The person who handed you the towel is Chalet. She's the handmaiden who has served my mother since before I was born."

Caelius looked at me with confused eyes for a moment, then let out a long breath, took the towel, and roughly scrubbed his head.

"What are you, some kind of... wild animal?"

I almost said "wild animal cub."

I strode over to Caelius, led him to the bed, and sat him down. Now that he was washed, it was time for treatment.

"Would you be okay with getting your wounds treated?"

Just then, Mom called in the healer who had been waiting outside. The healer who entered was Kadelrn, the resident physician at the ducal estate.

The moment Kadelrn entered, Caelius's body tensed up. A tall adult male must have seemed threatening to him.

But I couldn't leave him like this—he needed treatment, yet he was frightened, and if he got agitated, sparks might fly again.

Looking around, I moved to find something to replace the water gun in case of an emergency. I quietly rose from my seat and hugged a large water bottle with both arms—the sloshing water brought me a sense of calm.

If a spark landed on the blanket or a hem, it would be a disaster. This is purely preventive. Preventive!

"M-milady, may I proceed with the treatment?"

"Examine him."

Kadelrn surveyed Caelius's visible wounds. If the exposed injuries were already this bad, the unseen areas were surely more severe.

"Young master, do you have any broken bones?"

"...No."

"Now, let me take a look. It won't hurt."

A blue glow emanated from Kadelrn's hands. Caelius flinched in surprise.

"These look like cuts from branches or sharp leaves. Weren't they painful? They seem to have healed and reopened repeatedly."

Kadelrn's hands carefully touched Caelius.

When I had slowly reached out my hand, he hadn't flinched, so I naturally assumed Kadelrn would be fine too. But that was a huge misconception.

Caelius fluttered like a startled sparrow. When Mom took a step closer to calm him, flames ignited in Caelius's hand.

"Stay away!!"

A sharp scream burst from the terrified Caelius. As he moved to quickly hide his flaming hand, I hoisted the water bottle up like a triumphant general.

"Honorary firefighter appears!!"

Whoosh—

Cold water sprayed through the air. Caelius, drenched by the water baptism, looked up at me with a dazed expression.

I planted my hands on my hips and laughed heartily.

"Haha! I told you! No one would get hurt!!"

"Good heavens. Hariella!"

Huh?

I turned my head at Mom's horrified voice.

"Gasp!"

I thought I had poured the water toward Caelius, but Kadelrn and Mom beside him had also been thoroughly drenched.

My eyes met Caelius's stiff, frozen gaze.

...Better than the room catching fire, right?

I backed away with an awkward smile toward Mom, set the empty bottle on the table, and dashed out of the room.

"Treat him well!! Kalipr!! Don't be scared!!"

"Oh my, that girl!"

When Dad arrives, I need to ask him to teach Caelius how to control his mana. If we're not careful, he might really burn down the whole villa, and I'll fail to change the ending—that would be a tragedy.

The stuffy air, thick as if filled with dust, constricted his lungs.

A man, scraping the uneven stone floor with his fingernails, barely managed to open his mouth that wouldn't move properly.

"G-grand Duke... P-please... spare... spare me..."

Before the man could finish his sentence, a heavy boot slammed into his solar plexus.

The man gagged and retched. The man watching him with indifferent eyes let out a bored sigh.

"What do you think, Kaelen?"

"It doesn't seem like we can get anything more out of him."

"Hmm. Lift him up."

One of the knights standing behind grabbed the barely conscious man and hauled him upright. The mere effort of standing seemed agonizing—tears streamed down the disheveled man's face.

"Grand Duke... Grand, Duke. Please. I beg you..."

The Duke quietly watched the pitifully sobbing, terrified man, then raised his hand clad in a black leather glove.

"Why are you so scared? What have I done to you?"

His outstretched hand lightly gripped the man's throat. As pressure closed in, threatening to block his airway, the man's eyes shook violently.

Overwhelmed by a fear as sharp as a blade piercing his lungs, the man abandoned all pretense and dignity, clinging desperately to the Duke.

"Did I skin you and sprinkle salt on your flesh? Or pull out your fingernails and torture you?"

The Duke asked in a gentle voice. Since he'd done none of that, why was he so terrified?

"As promised, I won't kill you."

"Huff... huff..."

The Duke's hand, which had been gripping the man's throat, slowly slid downward. Filth from the man soiled his hand, but the Duke paid it no mind.

As the Duke's hand neared his heart, the man's breathing grew more ragged.

He twisted his body as if in a final act of defiance, but breaking free from the knight's grip was no easy task.

A chill swept over his entire body, as if someone had splashed ice water on him. The Duke's large hand finally made contact with the man's heart.

His pitiful sobs became screams, adding dampness to the cold dungeon.

"Pray that you can open your eyes outside unharmed."

When the man met the Duke's chilling green eyes, a wide magic circle formed at his feet.

The intricately interwoven silver magic circle was beautiful enough to captivate any mage. The man probably thought so too—if only he weren't the target.

The moment the man saw the magic circle engraved beneath him, he screamed as if he'd been struck senseless.

"Aaaah!!! Y-your Excellency! Duke!! Please! Please have mercy!!"

"Hm? I am mercifully sparing you, am I not?"

He planned to spare him, just as he'd begged. After he lost consciousness for a while and woke up, he would see the sky he so desperately wanted to see.

If he endured the shame and humiliation he'd never experienced in his life, and tried hard enough to die for it, he might at least manage to scrape by.

Was that not truly great mercy?

As the Duke's fingertips shimmered silver, a cracking, tearing sound echoed through the space.

The disheveled man's eyes rolled back as his entire body convulsed violently. Then, mana burst vertically from his heart.

"Ugh, eugh...! No! No! My, my mana!!"

The man watched his mana vanishing from his body with bloodshot eyes. When the last strand dissipated, Kaelen pulled a white orb from his pocket—a device that measured one's mana capacity.

Kaelen brought the orb to the hand of the man, who lay sprawled in a daze. The white orb showed no reaction.

Except for a very small number with unique constitutions, every citizen of the Latarta Empire is born with mana—even if it's only a trace amount.

Those who cannot use mana cannot be citizens of the Latarta Empire and are treated worse than commoners—worse than beasts, even.

The Duke had destroyed the man's mana spring. No matter what he did from now on, he would never become a mage.

Perhaps death would have been kinder.

"That took longer than expected. It must already be night outside. Kaelen, what time is it?"

"Eleven o'clock. It did take longer than expected. You should rest now."

"I suppose I'm getting old. In my youth, I could handle scum like that all day without issue. Let's get out of here first."

The Duke discarded his black gloves on the floor, strode with his long legs, and exited the underground.

As the iron door opened, cool air filled his lungs. The Duke lightly snapped his fingers and dispelled the magic surrounding the underground.

Kaelen, who had emerged with the Duke, regained some color in his face. He let out an exaggerated sigh and quipped from behind the Duke.

"Your Excellency's magic never gets any easier to get used to, no matter how hard I try."

Kaelen looked down at his own trembling hands, then at the Duke's retreating back. His silver hair, glinting in the moonlight, scattered in the wind.

Today, the man's screams lingered in his ears more than usual.

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