Chapter 37

“Ugh… .”

“It smells good here.”

The index finger went into my mouth.

Like Kalisten and Alexis Rainier—maybe there’s something in my blood that really attracts espers?

So I scrutinized him to try and figure out why these people were doing this.

Alexis’s eyes were loose, as if he had lost his mind. He seemed to be fully awake before, but now he’s completely changed in a strange direction.

“Oh… ! Don’t bite!”

He started biting my index finger to see if he couldn’t hear me at all. The blood that had barely stopped was beginning to bleed again. Still, something soft touched it, and it tickled me. When I tried to pull my hand out, he bit me harder.

“Argh… .”

His eyes met, but his eyes were out of focus.

“Alec!”

When I shouted his name, and then his eyes returned. But he didn’t stop biting me even though he was sober. My face lit up from embarrassment at the sound of wetness.

“Delicious.”

As he let go of my hand, a long thread of saliva continued and fell.

“Ugh—Oh my… .”

“Your blood tastes strange.”

Glancing at him resentfully, he scratched the back of his neck and avoided my eyes.

“I want to keep eating.”

“… .”

“Why do I keep doing things that make me say sorry?”

He had a look of embarrassment, and I wondered if I should be fooled or not. But I had nothing to worry about, ultimately, I wasn’t in a position to be angry with him, and he seemed to have already reflected enough on his own.

“I’m sorry, but… .”

“… .”

“Can’t I just try it one more time?”

“Alec… .”

“What?”

My hand stung, but no blood was coming out because it had stopped bleeding.

“Wait a moment.”

He walked out of bed with only his pants on and went to the cupboard. There were all sorts of junk in it. He was rummaging through the closet, looking for something.

Eventually, he found what he was looking for; he brought it and presented it to me:

“Here.”

“What’s this?”

“If you apply this, the wound will heal.”

It seemed to be something made by healing espers.

“It’s very precious.”

“Let’s cut your hand and apply this.”

I looked into his eyes, wondering if he was really serious, and the body was shaking unusually. I couldn’t stop him if he forced me anyway, and now I don’t have the strength to resist him.

“I don’t like being hurt… .”

“I’ll do my best not to make it hurt,”

“How can it not hurt to cut my hand?”

“It doesn’t hurt that much, right?”

Come to think of it; he said his pain was dulled because of his body-strengthening abilities. So it must have been a side effect so he could withstand his own powers.

“Have you ever cut your hand before awakening?”

“Before I awakened, I was stabbed several times.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“I still have scars here.”

Alexis showed me the scar on his body, pointing a finger at me.

“I want you to touch it.”

“What?”

“It hurts. I think it will feel good if you touch it.”

“Ah… .”

I felt troubled because I brought up something useless that hurt him.

“A-are you really going to cut my hand?”

“Uh? Ah, yes.”

He took my hand, answered when I changed the topic, and looked at me. It felt strange because it seemed like he was really asking for my consent, perhaps because of his eyes.

“What if Alec draws all my blood and I die?”

“Then, I will die too.”

“Is it so easy to say that you are going to die?”

“Yes.”

Alexis seemed to be broken. So it was not easy for me to understand the conversation with him. But I kept thinking that he wasn’t a bad person. He would have used his power to threaten me if he had been a malicious man.

Since earlier, he’s been asking me for permission.

“Then please be quick and gentle.”

“Yes.”

His eyes lit up, and his blue eyes gleamed red.

Then he took my hand and drew his index finger across the palm of my hand. Then I began to bleed from the extended cut on my palm. His eyes changed again, perhaps because of the scent of blood. Then he started consuming it.

My palm was itchy, but I couldn’t pull it away. It felt like being devoured by a beast.

There was a wet sound, but I didn’t feel any pain.

It looked like some sacred worship, as if he was kissing the palm of my hand.

In fact, I was wondering if he was going to drink all my blood.

“Argh… .”

When he came to his senses and withdrew, his eyes returned as if he had come to his senses quickly, unlike before. But he continued to lick the blood. His ribs continued to rumble, his thick neck was pounding, and strong pectoral muscles moved with every breath.

“Oh, n-now… stop… .”

“Yes.”

He spoke immediately when I told him to stop. Then, with his other hand, he uncapped the bottle he was holding and poured it into my hand. Then, the tingling was gone entirely.

Stunned, I looked at my palm with inquisitiveness. There wasn’t even a scar.