Garlan covered his face, closed his eyes, and relaxed his breathing, calming himself down.
Then he got out of bed and looked at the sky through the window. The sun was leaning slightly to the west, and it was already in the afternoon.
Logically at this time, if he didnât go to the greenhouse to see Nergal, the little lion cub would start to lose his temper. But this time, he thought for a while, instead of going to the greenhouse, he quickly ran to find Heimos by himself.
As always, Heimosâ residence was cold and deserted, with no one in it except for a few guards standing at the entrance.
As soon as Garlan walked into this small courtyard, he could hear the brisk sound of running water as there was a small stream running half a circle along this courtyard. The night Heimos had a fever, he ran to this creek to wash his hands.
As soon as Garlan walked into the small courtyard, he raised his eyes and saw the familiar figure standing in the stream.
The stream was not too deep, and as Heimos stood in it, the depth of the water didnât surpass his waist.
The young teenager stood in the middle of the stream. It was as if he were bathing, but he was still wearing his clothes. He lowered his head, holding clear water in both hands, splashing it on his face and shoulders, as well as the clothes on his body, even his black hair was soaked.
When Garlan approached, like a vigilant beast that had his own territory trespassed, Heimos suddenly raised his head. His golden-red eyes shot sharply towards Garlanâs direction.
After clearly seeing who the incoming person was, the blade-like gaze faded slightly.
The young man raised his hand. His dripping wet fingers lifted the soaked black hair in front of his eyes, and the golden-red eyes that were exposed became brighter in the sun.
Garlan squatted down by the stream, resting his cheek in one hand and looking up and down at Heimos.
Obviously this person looked well ah. Nothing happened.
He looked at him and wondered.
So why do I keep having that terrible dream?
The honey-colored skin drenched in water glowed with a dark brown luster in the bright sunlight with watery light.
The soaked black hair was stuck to the attractive teenagerâs cheeks. A small drop of water on the tip of the hair rolled along the honey-colored skin onto the slightly pointed chin and then dripped onto the water surface, making small ripples.
The wet hair slanted down, and a shadow covered most of Heimosâ right eye. Only a golden-red left eye was exposed and the image of a child squatting by the stream was reflected in it.
The thin lips were watery red, and the lip line was slightly angular, giving them a sense of toughness.
A well-proportioned body with wide shoulders and a narrow waist with tight muscles covering it, with prominent muscular veins.
En, truly a beautiful boy.
Staring at Heimos in the stream, Garlanâs thoughts unknowingly strayed.
Speaking of it, even if he was his mortal enemy, he had to admit that this person was really good looking.
When he grew up, he was also a beautiful man. With logical reasoning, he should be very popular with girls.
It was just that, after he grew up, the gloomy appearance and killing aura of Heimos covered up most of his good appearance. In addition, those evil eyes like poisonous snakes and lizards would chill oneâs back in terrorâŠ
Garlan couldnât help but think.
It was no wonder that this guy in his twenties had no woman around him. He had a gloomy face all day long. Which woman would dare to approach him?
Eh?
Speaking of whichâŠ
âHeimos.â
âWhat?â
âWhereâs your bandage?â
âHuh?â
ââŠâ Garlan scratched his head. âDo you not have the habit of putting a bandage on your arm? I saw the dagger on your body that day⊠Well, someone told me that after putting a bandage on your arm, itâll be easier to use a dagger.â
Raising his hand to lift the wet black hair back and revealing the raised black eyebrows, Heimos glanced at him.
âWho told you such stupid things?â
Garlan, ââŠâ
It was you in your twenties who said this stupid thing.
At that time, your right hand was tightly tied with a white dressing, from the upper arm to the palm of your hand, all firmly bandaged.
When Garlan was reborn into this world for the first time, there was once where he and Heimos were waiting in the outer hall to meet King Camos. At that time, he still had the mentality of being in a game, and he didnât know Heimosâ greatness. Because he was bored, he looked at the white bandage on the manâs arm, couldnât hold back his curiosity and asked the question.
That was how Heimos answered at that time.
âWith bandaged hands, you can hold the sword tighter, itâs easier to slaughter people that way. â
When Heimos said this, his hand wrapped in the snow-white bandage was pressed against the dagger around his waist, and the golden-red eyes stared at him coldly similar to that of a poisonous snake staring at its prey.
The last two words, âslaughter peopleâ seemed to be severely crushed by the man and swallowed bit by bit.
He even felt that in the next second, that person might use his bandaged hand to pull out a sharp blade and pierce himâ
âŠ
âŠ
Waking up from his memory, Garlan looked at the boy in front of him.
Speaking of which, this time, after seeing Heimos as a teenager, he had not seen bandages on his hands.
In other words, was that habit only cultivated at a later time?
Garlan was still thinking about it, but the young man standing in the stream threw another sentence.
âPeople who believe such things are also stupid.â
Garlan, ââŠâ
He never knew that Heimos as a teenager, actually had the attribute of having a poisonous tongue.
Forget it, I shall not mess with this guy.
Garlan, who had been choked several times, didnât want to care about this stuff anymore. He was just about to get up, but suddenly remembered something, so he squatted down again. He touched his waist, took out something, and then stretched out his hand in front of Heimos.
âDo you want it?â
Garlan chuckled and showed Heimos the pill that he requested in the morning, with a triumphant expression on his face.
Then he gave Heimos a wicked smile that he thought was a success.
âBeg me if you want ah~~â
Heimos stood in the middle of the stream. Icy clear water rushed past him, drenching the corners of his clothes that swayed in the water with the current.
He leaned on his side, looking at the boy who was squatting by the stream and showing him his hand.
Under the sunlight, the small hand that was fair and delicate had a milky white pill on it.
The round pill rolled around in the childâs reddish palm.
The child, who squatted there smiling at him, grinned sweetly with a cute little face. His big eyes bent into a crescent arc and even the voice of his speech was like a sweet cakeâsoft, waxy, and sweet.
This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org
This comfortable feeling felt like it was wrapping up the cold and hard stuff in his chest into something warm, revealing a little sweetness that had never been seen before.
âŠ
While Garlan was beaming and waiting for Heimos to beg him, the teenager staring at him suddenly leaned forward.
Wet black hair fell on his wrist and a wet hand supported the hand he reached out. The water droplets dampened the back of his hand.
Before Garlan could react, he felt that his palm was lightly touched by something, as if he had been lightly caressed by a soft feather.
Like the last time, in just a second, Heimos swallowed the pill in Garlanâs palm.
Then he raised his head, still keeping the posture of holding Garlanâs hand in his, and ran his gaze from the water marks dripping from his black hair to the boyâs honey-colored face.
The lips of the handsome face that were very close to Garlan were raised and smiled at him.
âŠ
Garlan couldnât even explode in fury anymore.
He looked at Heimos who had gotten up and walked out of the stream in an annoyed manner. The water dripping from that man even splashed a little on him.
He stretched his hand into the stream with an uncomfortable expression, as if to wash his hands on purpose to show Heimos and rubbed it vigorously.
Whatâs the problem with you always liking to eat from other peopleâs hands?
Did you learn from Nergal?
Currently, that little guy was the kind that wouldnât even look at the food thrown in front of him. He would just rush over and bite whatever Iâm holding and just chew and lick my hand, covering them with his saliva.
But the little guy who was just weaned did that to act like a baby to me. Heimos, what the hell are you doing with his virtue?
Could it be that he was learning from Nergal, acting like a baby?
The last sentence popped out of his mind, and Garlan himself shivered from the cold joke.
Heimos acting like a baby towards himâŠ
No, no, no, no, no â this was too, too, too, too frightening! Itâs terrifying!
Impossible. Itâs impossible in this life! The possibility of world destruction is higher than this!
He crushed the terrible thought in his mind to pieces, threw it into the trash can, and stomped on it with both feet. It was only then Garlan was relieved from the horror.
He didnât pay attention to Heimos, who had just grabbed the pill from him, and ran away.
Garlan quickly ran to the greenhouse to take a look. As expected, he found Nergal, who realised he hadnât come, throwing a temper. His brothers and sisters who were younger than him were bitten by him and were whimpering. Even a group of little lion cubs collectively bit him together, but they werenât able to overpower him. Although he was small, he was very domineering. He lost his temper and had refused to eat, so no one was allowed to eat as well. The bowls filled with food were all overturned by him and were scattered all over the ground. All of a sudden there was a lot of commotion in the greenhouse.
The maids stood by and dared not stop them. They were afraid they could not stop them and became anxious.
It wasnât until Garlan ran through the door that their eyes lit up and they were relieved.
The round ears of the little lion cub who was biting his brothers moved as if he heard Garlanâs footsteps and raised his head. His small bean-sized eyes looked over, saw Garlan, and he suddenly roared happily.
With his butt, he knocked away the other lion cub who was approaching to bite him, and ran towards Garlan happily, circling round him.
Seeing the messy sight in front of him and the little Nergal who was tumbling around him, the corner of Garlanâs eyes twitched.
However, in the end, he could only sigh and took a few small tender meatballs from the maids beside him.
These tender meatballs were specially made for these little lion cubs who were in a semi-weaned state. They used the freshest minced meat with a little milk mixed in them, which could be eaten by the cubs.
He looked at little Nergal exasperated, who was hugging his ankle and staring at the meatballs in his hand. As he was too lazy to squat down, he threw a meatball at him.
The meatball fell on the ground and rolled, just at the feet of the little cub. He could eat it with just lowering his head. But the little cub only looked and did not move away from Garlanâs feet.
Soon, the meatball rolled away, and the little cub didnât spare it another look. He continued to raise his head, tried hard to grasp Garlanâs calf with his paws, looking at the meatballs Garlan was holding in his hand and whined.
Garlan, who didnât know what to do with him, could only squat down and stretch out his hand.
The little lion cub immediately leaned over contentedly and the fluffy little head came to Garlanâs hand. His rough little tongue licked Garlanâs palm and the little meatballs rolled into his mouth. He munched on them and swallowed.
Garlan looked at the little cub leaning on his hand to eat the meatballs, his little tail flicked, and suddenly remembered the one scene where Heimos held his hand and lowered his head to swallow the pill from his hand not long ago.
âŠThe inexplicable sense of deja vu..
Was it an illusion?
There was this feeling⊠of how he seemed to have raised two beasts that must be fed by his own hands now.