Chapter 156: Illusions?

A heavy iron smell invades into his nostrils, burning deeply into his sinuses and his lungs. Every time he breathes, he feels like he is breathing in fire rather than air. The seventh prince opens his eyes and the blurry figure of Vivienne on top of him. The excruciating pain starts to register, and he cannot compare it to anything that he has felt before.

"I can't breathe…" Prince Davis attempts to push Vivienne off him but meets with sudden resistance.

He shoots a glare with his half-opened eyes to the woman in annoyance while feeling completely out of breath. His eyes spring open in shock; Vivienne's body is melting! She is melting like that demon puppet! 

'It's hot!'

The black flames seem to consume the body, but the sight is weird! Unlike the demon puppet, she is melting extremely slow, as if the seconds have corrected themselves into hours. The black sticky substance glides down from the charcoaling woman to the prince's body like hot slime. 

The prince pulls himself up and slides back, banging his head to the headboard in the attempt. He blinks again, but Vivienne turns back to her normal self. 

'Ah?' 

He rechecks his body. The black slimy substance is gone! The prince exhales the stuffed air compressing his chest, and his lower lip shivers. The melting body that he saw in that house might be messing with his mind.

"What happened. Davis? Did you have a nightmare?" Vivienne pinches her brows with concern as she slides closer to the anxious prince.

He feels like he has inhaled powdered sand and desert air into his lungs because he feels his chest hurt and blazing in heat. He lets out a stream of coughs as he holds his arm over his mouth. He freaks out when he sees a black substance gliding down his hand, but the black substance disappears when he blinks. Did he not just cough that thing out? Is his mind broken now? Why does he see these kinds of things?

"You are worrying me, Davis!" Her hand caresses the prince's cheek with the back of her fingers.

-Knock knock-

Prince Davis pauses, looking at Vivienne for a long second before he responds to the knocking.

"Come in."

The prince lifts his head to see the paladin walk in. 

Oh, right! The paladin has saved him, so he must be in Lord Analybe's guest mansion. He is now more relieved to know that he is still under the paladin's protection. Before the door closes, he also sees Osiath guarding the door. Maybe he is still a bit disoriented from waking up after such a traumatic and stimulating event.

"Holy paladin…" The prince attempts to get out of the bed to greet the paladin, but Kyrie stops him by putting a hand on his shoulder, pressing him to sit back to the bed.

"Prince Davis, patients should remain in bed," Kyrie sits on a chair by the bed, "I am just here to check on your condition again. Glad to see that you are awake."

"Thank you for the grace you have shown me…" The prince purses his lips together, feeling some warmth spreading inside. 

Kyrie smiles in response, accepting the gratitude, "Give me your hand."

The prince lifts his arm closest to Kyrie, and Kyrie lowers it back down to the mattress. He places his fingers on top of the prince's wrist and injects his mana inside. The prince shivers but at the same time blushes. He secretly observes Kyrie from the corner of his eyes, mesmerized at the paladin's pleasing face and physicality-.

'Ah! What am I thinking!?!"

The flustered prince looks away and sees Vivienne still by his side. A random sense of guilt pierces his heart. 

"What? What guilt?! The paladin is a man for Vita's sake!"

Kyrie coughs as he feels the irregular fluctuations and looks up to see a flustered prince watching Vivienne.

[Ahhh~ It's nice to be young- huh? Why am I talking like I am an old man?]

However, Kyrie's mana soon chases after something inside the prince's body, and the prince suddenly freezes, extending his back as if all his muscles have tightened at the same time. He vomits out a black substance to his lap, and a stream of coughs follow later. Despite his lung spasming, the prince feels way better now. His chest pressure is gone, and that burning sensation as well. 

Kyrie frowns at the weird substance. He quickly purifies it with light magic and finds the slimy substance awfully familiar, in a bad way.

[How revolting… This seems like a similar thing I saw in the town of Bristol where the witch poisoned everyone's mana.]

"Did that puppet put something inside your body?"

The prince fearfully shakes his head, "Not that I know of…"

[She was able to sneak in something without the prince knowing? Well… Those townsmen also did not know they were under her control either before turning into ghouls.]

Kyrie lets out a breath of relief. Good thing he discovers this soon, or else it would have been bad if this substance mixes with the prince's mana. 

"Well… Get some fresh clothes and sheets… If you are not feeling better by this afternoon, inform me."

The prince nods obediently, "Thank you once again. I will never forget this as long as I live."

Kyrie returns the comment with a polite smile. Then, the prince waits until Kyrie leaves. He turns to Vivienne, who became awfully quiet as soon as the paladin entered. Something is not quite right with Vivienne. Could it be jealousy? He smiles at the woman whose eyes are still fixated on him.

"How long have I been out?" The prince readjusts his sitting position.

"For about a week."

"A week?" The prince raises his voice in shock.

He swears he felt that he slept only a night. 

"Then? How did the tournament turn out? Narog… Did Narog succeed?"

Vivienne purses her lips into a line and shakes her head. She is getting prepared to see the prince fume, but the prince accepts the reality peacefully to her surprise. She finds it weird that the prince could give the Midnight Queen up this quietly. Did the near-death experience change him and wipe out his ambition?

"Then what are the results?" 

"Miss Laurel Ravenswood won the tournament."

"Ah? Laurel Ravenswood?" The prince lifts his voice again, "The female participant from the phantom guild? That is unexpected…"

The prince hums at the result and lets out a laugh at the complete twist of the narrative. He would have expected Federline to win since he defeated Osiath.

"Yes… No one really expected that kind of outcome since he was everyone's favorite from this annual tournament. Sir Ernest Federline was seen on his knees lamenting about something after the loss."

The prince laughs, "Of course! That man's pride has been shattered to pieces. What else could have been? Maybe also a lover aside from the first place prize!"

"No, Davis. I heard that he was lamenting something about a black forest…"

"Black forest? Is that some sort of artifact or place?"

Vivienne smiles amusingly, "Who knows? I wonder if it is something fun…"