[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke

Before Darius became feared, before he was labeled inhumane and given the cruel name "Devil," he was just a child.

A child who was driven by rage, disgust, and, most importantly, desire.

His desire to crush those who looked down on him. The desire to rise so high that he would never have to bow to anyone. And as he sat on his throne, he saw with his own eyes how the world worked.

Like many people, Darius found a strange symmetry in things that were complete opposites yet bound to each other for eternity— or at least until time ended for them.

Life and death. Day and night. His mother and father. The killers who sought his life, and he, who refused to die.

Darius had seen many such pairs, and in the end, it had only reinforced the idea that being together meant suffering.

Hence, even with the swarm of people trying to impress him, he remained alone.

And though he had achieved everything he set out to do, something inevitable had settled into his life, something that had become his only ’constant’.

Loneliness.

Though, Darius himself never realized that the strange emotion clawing at his chest whenever he saw people laughing and dancing together was loneliness.

He dismissed it as mere irritation.

A meaningless distraction, a foolish display of vulnerability enemies would use against them.

After all, what use was laughter? What was the point of joy, of companionship, when the world only understood power?

If he could not feel it, then there was no need for warmth, no need for fragile relationships that could be broken with a mere whisper of greed.

And Darius had become that very Greed.

He became the chaos that would devour those who dared to harm him, those who even thought of touching him.

He had clawed his way to the top, leaving behind the weak, the pitiful, and the naive. Oh, how he despised the naive ones the most.

And yet...

The moment a silly, raven-haired human blinked his big blue eyes at him and, with all the foolishness in the world, asked him to save him from the scary archduke, Darius gave in to his instinct and said yes.

Come to think of it, was that not the start of it all? The beginning of his worry about Xion?

In just a month, his ’constant’ had changed from loneliness to Xion.

It was only when Xion became his friend that Darius finally understood what being a friend actually meant.

It meant protecting Xion from the filth of the world.

It meant watching over that stupid healer who would pick up his bag and start healing just anyone... even his enemy.

To make Xion happy, Darius went to meet Ethen, only to be alarmed halfway.

It was supposed to take him almost half a day to reach Ethen’s residence. Yet, barely had he crossed the boundary when Ray informed him about the emergency signal.

Darius didn’t even need to ask. He already knew.

It was most definitely his silly Xion, somehow finding trouble in ways only he could.

Without a second thought, Darius abandoned his meeting with Ethen and rushed back through the night at full speed. Even then, it took them nearly five hours to return.

Darius had expected to find Xion healing some stranger while getting blamed for using ’unheard and dangerous methods’, or something similarly ridiculous.

But the moment he stepped into the palace, he heard something even more absurd.

Something so unbelievable that he actually questioned if his ears were playing tricks on him.

Xion. Marrying. Nikolai.

What an absolute load of bullshit.

Before Darius’ brain could properly grasp the situation, his tongue was already acting on instinct.

"Who dares to marry my Xion?"

His words fell, making the jubilant Nikolai’s face instantly turn sour.

Allen had already bowed to His Grace, while Xion completely ignored formalities and had directly dashed toward Darius like a puppy would to his owner.

In one smooth motion, he grabbed Darius’ arm while his chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.

"You’re finally back!" Xion almost gasped his words out of his mouth. "I missed you so much!"

Darius knew Xion didn’t mean it that way.

And yet, his heart had already betrayed him. It was beating just a little faster, that too, without his permission.

Darius hummed lightly but made no move to free his arm taken hostage by Xion’s grasp.

"I told them I used Mikosa Ribitiyon on you, and they started calling me a pervert!" Xion huffed. "They even threw us in jail, saying I was seducing you! Have I ever done that?!"

Darius looked into those pretty eyes, wide with frustration and disbelief, while those lips parted in haste as if Xion couldn’t wait to unload his grievances to the one he trusted the most.

And Darius found himself enjoying it.

The way those fingers were curling around his arm, the way Xion tried to explain so desperately... Oh, it was so amusing, so delightfully thrilling.

Not to mention the seduction.

Darius leaned down ever so slightly, lowering his head until his nose nearly brushed against Xion’s. With delicate care, he tucked a wayward strand of black hair behind Xion’s ear.

"You seduce me?"

Xion hummed absentmindedly in response while the heat had already started to crawl over his ears.

Darius let his fingers glide downward, catching the now-reddened earlobe between his thumb and forefinger.

It was so soft, so tender as if intentionally seducing him so, Darius gave in and pinched it lightly.

He savored the way Xion trembled beneath his touch.

"Do you even know how to seduce someone?"

Darius’ voice was gentle but there was an unmistakable hint of teasing.

"If you tried... " Darius halted.

What if one day Xion really tried to seduce him? The question lingered in his mind for a second longer than necessary. And yet, in the end, Darius had no answer.

It was not that he could not see Xion succeeding. With a face like his, Xion could probably seduce anyone he wished, and he would succeed without question.

Rather, it was Darius’ inability to actually imagine it happening. He just could not ’see’ Xion doing all those impure actions. Or perhaps he did not let his mind wander into that direction... for now.

In the end, Darius could only say, "Forget it." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

He gently combed Xion’s slightly wet hair with his fingers. Xion must have taken a bath just now.

No wonder that familiar sweet scent was crowding his senses.

"Let me talk to Nikolai first."

Darius watched how with just a simple gesture, Xion’s entire face turned a darker shade of pink.

Satisfied, he patted the black-haired healer’s head as an elder would to a child, or rather, it was the way Xion had done to him.

"You go back and rest. Leave the insignificant things for me to handle."

Xion muttered in a voice no louder than a mosquito’s buzz, "Okay. Take care of yourself too."

The corners of Darius’ lips curled ever so slightly.

And that was enough to completely turn Xion into a blushing mess.

Without another word, Xion turned on his heel and followed Ray to a separate room, leaving behind Darius, who now had a face devoid of even a shred of warmth.