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“All right. I will pretend I don’t hear anything you say during the treatment. If I feel something is strange, I won’t express it or ask about it either. Would that be okay?”
Khalid obediently accepted Renato’s request. He already knew that Renato had a secret that he couldn’t tell anyone. He also tried to dig up Renato’s secret several times in the past.
But now, he had changed his mind. Khalid no longer intended to force Renato to say what he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to create another worry for Renato, who already had a lot to worry about.
“Yes, I think you should do that. Thank you for listening to my stubborn request.”
“It’s not stubborn at all. It’s just a request for help during your treatment, Your Imperial Highness. Won’t the treatment be better when you feel at ease? Or should I not promise by words, but with my finger?”
Khalid playfully said and waved his pinky finger in front of Renato. At that moment, Souad’s voice came from outside the barracks.
“Your highness, this is Souad. May I come in?”
Hearing that, Renato moved his waist to get out of Khalid’s arms. But Khalid pulled him closer in his embrace, not letting him go.
“Where are you going?”
“Sir Souad has arrived……”
“Why does that matter?”
Khalid asked back as if it wasn’t a problem at all, turned Renato’s body around and sat him between his legs. Then, he hugged the slender waist with his arms and made Renato’s back rest against his chest.
“You can lean comfortably on me just like a chair.”
“Uh, uh.”
Renato, completely trapped in Khalid’s arms, stuttered in surprise. The firm body touching his back and the breath clinging to his ears made his hair stand up.
“Can you let go……”
“I won’t.”
Khalid refused Renato’s words in a single blow, then placed his chin on the round shoulder in front of him.
Taken aback by the sensation of the man’s curly black hair tickling the side of his neck, Renato opened his lips, then closed his mouth shut. Not knowing what to do, he raised his knees and curled his upper body as much as possible. He wanted to separate him from Khalid even for the slightest bit. Then, a little more force was put into the strong arm wrapping around his waist.
“Please stay still.”
“Ugh.”
With a gentle whisper, something soft brushed under his ear before parting away. A short groan escaped from his lips. Surprised by his own voice, Renato pursed his lips.
“If you keep trying to get out, I will really bite you.”
Khalid warned in a mischievous voice. Bite? What will he bite? My neck? My ear? Renato faltered, unable to believe what he had just heard. Then, he gave up escaping from Khalid’s arms and relaxed his body. When he did so, a low laugh reached his auricle before disappearing.
“Your highness?”
“Come in.”
When there was no answer inside, Souad’s voice rang out again. Only then did Khalid allow Souad inside. Souad, who was coming into the barracks with items necessary for treatment, paused his steps when seeing the two, but soon quickly came over with a smile.
“Hello, you two seem to be getting along very well today as well.”
Because of Souad’s words, Renato’s face was slightly flushed. Although there were times when they deliberately made physical contact in front of others to create rumors, except for the kiss they shared in Marquis Kyle mansion’s back garden, they only held hands or briefly hugged.
It was the first time someone saw him in Khalid’s embrace like this. Unable to suppress his embarrassment, Renato lowered his head. Being hugged like this made him realize the size difference between him and Khalid. He felt like a little child.
“I will light the incense.”
Souad put down the incense burner near the camp bed where the two were sitting, put the incense in the wood heater, and lit them up. A subtle flower scent spread along the smoke rising from the incense.
“It is hot, so please drink carefully.”
Souad put the lit incense on the incense burner and poured the prepared medicinal tea into a teacup. It was something he did every time before starting counseling or treatment, so Renato was accustomed to receiving the teacup.
Khalid glanced down at Renato who was drinking tea while letting out a small breath, then gave Souad a signal with his eyes. It was a signal saying that his conversation with Renato had ended without issue.
“When you finish your tea, please entrust yourself to his highness and lean back comfortably.”
“Can’t I just sit on a chair or lie on the bed……?”
“You shouldn’t. This is why we asked for his highness’ help in the first place. When you feel anxious, the warmth of others is more effective than anything else.”
“Ah.”
“As long as you are in his highness’ arms, you will be safe. No one will be able to touch you carelessly. With that in mind, you can entrust yourself to his highness.”
Renato understood why Khalid insisted on this posture only after hearing Souad’s explanation. It was clear that the man had heard Souad’s words in advance.
If he had told me from the beginning, I wouldn’t have made any fuss.
Renato pouted his lower lip and gently leaned against Khalid. Khalid then crossed his arms over Renato’s chest to embrace him. It was one of the postures to calm the trauma symptoms that Renato learned from Souad on the day he first started treatment.
“Please close your eyes and inhale slowly, then exhale. Don’t force yourself to relax, just naturally……”
Following Souad’s instructions, Renato took a deep breath to relieve tension. Closing his eyes, he could clearly hear the regular heartbeat behind his back. He could also feel the warm body temperature wrapping around his body.
“You are doing well, yes, please breathe slowly. Now please count the numbers internally…… One, two, three, four, five……”
“Huu.”
After taking a deep breath, Renato started counting in his head. Either because the flower scent filling the air had surged deep into his lungs or Khalid’s warmth had permeated his body, his mind gradually became dazed.
“Let’s go back in time little by little. Please think back to the time when you had this scar. Where are you now, Your Imperial Highness? What are you doing?”
“……I’m locked up, in the palace…… I was told not to do anything, so I just sit there……”
Renato slowly answered. A scene from some time ago flashed in his dazed mind.
“What happened there? Why are you locked up in the palace?”
“I cried, because I felt sad…… Emp, no, Maximo was angry……”
Renato, who was about to call Maximo ‘Emperor’, paused and said his name. Souad carefully looked at Renato’s reactions and asked in the most gentle and softest voice possible.
“Did that person, Maximo, harass you, Your Imperial Highness?”
The closed eyelids shook because of Souad’s question. Feeling the body in his arms tremble, Khalid gently patted his shoulder and collarbone. Then, Renato’s trembling gradually calmed down.
“How did Maximo hurt you?”
When feeling that Renato had somewhat calmed down, Souad asked the question again. In response, the small lips moved.
“Almost every day, he comes…… Then gets angry and hits me. He is angry because I’m full of myself, because of my fault, because he couldn’t get the Fairy King’s blessing……”
The faint voice seemed as if it would stop at any moment. Khalid clenched his teeth when he heard Renato’s story. He could also guess to some extent, but hearing it directly from the person concerned was completely different. Khalid struggled to hold back his boiling anger. He couldn’t get agitated now.
“Some days he strangles my neck, ugh, some days…… he kicks my cheeks when I fall…… Every time he comes, he does that, ah, n, no, don’t…… It hurts, it hurts, so stop……”
Renato, who was struggling to continue the story, violently trembled and tried to curl his body up. It was to avoid the violence that was pouring on him.
“It’s okay.”
When Renato struggled to get out of his arms, Khalid held him back and tightly hugged him. Then, he softly whispered in Renato’s ear.
“This is just a memory, not reality. Your Imperial Highness, no, Renato, you are with me now.”
“Kha, lid?”
As he violently struggled, Renato stopped when hearing Khalid’s voice. His hand fumbled around the air as if searching for something. Immediately realizing what Renato wanted, Khalid took his hand.
“Yes, it’s me. I am here.”
“Is, is it really you? Have, have you returned?”
Feeling the warmth on his hand, Renato asked in tears. Khalid tightly held their hands together to soothe him.
“That’s right, so please calm down and breathe slowly. Maximo can’t do anything to you.”
“Huu, huff. No, that can’t be true, l, lie. Back then…… Hic, our promise, ah……”
Renato, who seemed to have calmed down a bit, suddenly said incoherent words and groaned. He didn’t seem to know what he was talking about either. Cold sweat from his forehead ran down his cheeks like tears.
“Can we continue like this?”
Khalid frowned when seeing Renato’s unusual state and looked at Souad.
“It’s still fine. Rather, it is more dangerous to stop here. Considering his current state, he may react even more strongly next time.”
“But his condition is too……”
“A little bit more is fine. He has to face the traumatic event himself to move on to the next step. Your Imperial Highness, Your Imperial Highness. Can you hear me?”
Souad brought the incense burner close to Renato’s face so that he could smell it. After a while, Renato calmed down a little. Not missing the opportunity, Souad gently soothed him.
“Please don’t be afraid and just recall the past. It’s okay if you don’t tell me. Please just think about it. The day you got hurt enough to have a scar on your left waist……”
Guided by Souad’s voice, Renato’s consciousness was slowly sucked into his bloody memories. The day when he was stabbed with Maximo’s sword and lost his life, then returned back in time.