"Take a deep breath.
Slowly, now.
That's right..."
Maxi felt like he was drowning.
Lying curled up, panting, she felt someone gently caress her back.
Her shoulders were shaking, and she could barely open her dry eyes.
The familiar sight of his room lit by twinkling orange lights gradually became clear.
Confused, she fixed her gaze on the dark corner of the room for a while.
A wave of nausea hit her.
She moaned and writhed in pain, and the person holding her placed a cold brass bowl to her lips.
“If you feel like throwing up, do it.”
Maxi looked at Riftan, with tears in his eyes and saw his pale face.
"The dizziness is because of lack of mana.
You will feel better after vomiting."
Desperately holding back the urge to vomit, Maxi pushed his chest away with shaking hands.
“P-Please… c-call Ludis…”
"It's okay.
Go ahead."
Maxi covered his mouth and shook his head.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her stomach twisted in pain, but she didn't want to show him such an unpleasant scene again.
“I-I want…”
She squirmed to free herself from his arms.
Riftan tossed the bowl aside and pulled it to his chest, holding it tightly.
Maxi shook his head and tried to escape again, but his arms wouldn't move.
Holding her chin, Riftan inserted two fingers into her mouth and gently pressed the back of her tongue.
Maxi ended up vomiting sticky bile onto his chest.
She shook as she coughed, and her cheeks were wet with tears.
“Shhh… it’s okay.”
Riftan rocked Maxi in his arms while patting her back, as if he was comforting a child.
Maxi sniffed embarrassedly, the edges of her mouth still wet with saliva.
Not only was his face sticky with pungent fluids, but so were Riftan's hands and clothes.
“Don’t cry,” Riftan murmured over her head, wiping her face with his clean sleeve.
His grave expression seemed in contrast to his gentle actions.
With his mouth pressed into a tight line, he released the straps of her dress and pulled her dirty dress over her head before removing her tunic.
Maxi curled into a ball as he felt the cold air on his body.
Riftan quickly pulled her back and stroked her back.
Seeking warmth, Maxi curled deeper into his embrace.
She pressed her breasts against his muscular chest and wrapped her legs around his long limbs.
“Damn…”
A burning blush stained Riftan's cheeks, and Maxi saw beads of sweat on his forehead.
His body, pressed against hers, was as hot as heated iron as his heart beat loudly beneath her cheek.
However, the hands that tended her were firm.
Maxi was slumped on his shoulder as he wiped her face with a towel and pulled the pins out of her tangled hair.
She did her best to think clearly.
When had she returned to the castle?
And what about that colossal monster?
When his memories before he passed out came to the surface, his body began to shake uncontrollably.
“You’re freezing.”
Riftan caressed uneasily with his warm hand, but then picked her up as if he thought that wouldn't be enough and carried her to the bathtub in front of the fireplace.
He lowered her into the warm water.
Hugging her knees, Maxi sat there waiting for the heat to penetrate her body.
Even so, the cold still enveloped her.
“W-Why… m-my body…”
"Lack of mana induces the same reaction as blood loss.
It makes your temperature drop and causes dizziness," muttered Riftan, scooping up water with her hand and letting it run down her shoulder.
"I can't believe that damn brat didn't warn you about this.
But then, I guess he didn't think you'd do something so reckless either."
There was a sharp rebuke mixed in his voice.
She looked up to study his expression and saw suppressed anger burning in his black eyes.
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard, apparently trying to suppress his emotion.
Removing his pants, he entered behind her.
“Sharing body heat is supposed to help you feel warmer.”
With that, he lifted her onto his firm thighs and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Although she felt his manhood growing as hard as iron beneath her buttocks, his hot skin was a temptation she simply couldn't refuse.She clung to him like a chick nestling under a hen.
Riftan took a deep breath.
With slightly shaking hands, he began to massage his stiff limbs.
Maxi numbly allowed him to take care of her.
As Riftan had explained, she felt dizzy, and a shiver ran through her entire body.
She felt as if she had aged a hundred years.
“Try to bear it even if it’s uncomfortable.”
Riftan continued to rub his body until his skin was flushed.
When the water cooled, he took her out of the bathtub.
Maxi staggered as he pulled her to her feet.
Leaning against him, she allowed herself to be wrapped in a towel and quickly dried, then awkwardly helped into a nightgown.
“You should drink water even if you feel sick.”
Riftan brought a cup to her lips, and Maxi barely managed to take a sip.
As the warm water entered her contracting stomach, Maxi's face turned yellow, and she vomited once again.
She would have soiled herself again if Riftan hadn't been quick enough to catch the vomit in his hands.
Panting, Maxi stared vacantly at his palms.
He showed no sign of repulsion as he cleaned up his mess with a towel before meticulously cleaning his mouth as well.
Maxi was so embarrassed that tears started streaming down her cheeks again.
"I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to make you sick," Riftan whispered, kissing your forehead.
Evidently he misinterpreted her tears as an expression of pain.
The tears continued to fall as her body shook, and she began to sob with all her heart.
When he finally calmed down, it occurred to him that Riftan must also be completely exhausted.
He had fought such terrifying monsters; he must also need rest as much as she did.
Maxi pulled away and barely managed to open his mouth.
"I-I'm sorry for bothering you.
I-I'm...
fine now.
You should...
rest now..."
Anger flashed in Riftan's eyes.
“You may be fine, but I’m not.”
His voice trembled slightly as if he was holding back emotions.
“You’ll never know how I felt when I saw you unconscious on the floor.”
His face contorted in pain, and he rubbed his hands together hard as if he was trying to suppress his anger.
"Stop worrying about unnecessary things and go to sleep.
You look terrible."
He covered his eyes with his hand, and as soon as darkness filled his vision, sleep washed over him.
Maxi went limp like a broken doll.
As she slowly fell asleep, she felt Riftan laboriously rubbing her cold feet and stiff calves.
She had a feeling he would keep doing this all night if she didn't stop him, but she felt so exhausted she could barely form the words.
Soon he fell into a deep sleep.
The sun was bright the next morning, and Maxi struggled to open his eyes.
His blurry vision focused around the room.
To her surprise, she was not alone as she had anticipated; Riftan was sleeping next to him.
Maxi held her breath for a moment as she watched him.
His straight, disheveled black hair formed a halo around his head.
Seeing him so defenseless sent an intense chill down Maxi's spine.
She looked up to gaze at her black lashes that cast shadows against her cheekbones.
They reminded her of butterfly wings.
When he unconsciously raised his hand to touch them, Riftan's eyes shot open.
Surprised, Maxi hurriedly withdrew her hand.
"I-I'm sorry.
I-I didn't t-mean to wake you up."
Riftan blinked, his eyes dazed and heavy with sleep, before quickly sitting up to study her face.
"How are you feeling?
Are you still dizzy?"
“N-No, I’m fine now.”
He ran his hand over her forehead and the back of her neck, and when he confirmed that her body was warmer, he picked up the kettle on the bedside table and filled a cup with water.
“Do you think you can drink that?”
When she nodded, Riftan supported her shoulders as he helped her stand up and placed the cup against her lips.
Maxi quenched his parched lips with the warm water and sighed in relief.
“T-Thank you.”
“If you think you can eat, I will have the maids prepare some light soup, and…” he trailed off, looking at her white breasts visible under her ill-fitting nightgown.
“I will also have a change of clothes brought for you.”Blushing, Maxi quickly covered herself with the blanket.
Although he had seen her naked countless times, she always felt embarrassed when he looked at her like that.
After silently observing her embarrassed reaction, Riftan got out of bed and put on his pants.
Then he called a maid and instructed her to bring something for Maxi to eat, along with a change of clothes.
While he did this, Maxi sat propped up on a pillow and tried to fix her disheveled hair.
Although she still felt drained of energy and had a throbbing headache, she wasn't as dizzy as she had been the night before.
His shoulders relaxed in relief.
It really had been a horrible experience.
“You should lie down.”
“I-I feel good now.”
Maxi wrapped the blanket around himself and tried to stand up, his body swaying.
Riftan approached the bed and stopped her.
“I told you to stay in bed.”
“I-I’m fine“”
"Stop telling me you're fine!
I'm tired of this!"
Maxi recoiled at his sudden outburst.
Riftan grabbed her shoulders and forced her back onto the bed.
“I'm doing my best not to lose my temper, so don't test my tolerance.”
"I-I apologize for bothering you.
I didn't know… that using magic could be so exhausting."
“Do you think I’m angry because I felt overwhelmed?” he murmured, his voice soft but dark.
His grip on her shoulders tightened.
"Do you even understand what could have happened?
If I had arrived a moment later, you could have been seriously injured!
If you were unlucky, you could have“"
Unable to finish his sentence, he stopped himself and clenched his jaw.