Chapter: 105
“Ah, ahem… No, I can hear you just fine.”
Luckily, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up before everyone turned pale. When Lian tried to sit up, chaos broke out around him.
Lian had no choice but to stay laid back in bed while continuing the conversation.
“Do you remember what happened before you collapsed?”
“Ah…”
Lian reflexively touched his jaw at the memories flooding back. The inside of his nose tingled like another nosebleed was about to happen.
But thanks to having experienced nosebleeds so many times, he’d built up some resistance, and no blood came gushing out. Lian rolled his eyes and replied, “Um, yeah. I remember.”
“I see. Then…”
Mukan looked at Lily, Nero, and Noah gathered around the bed.
“For the examination, could everyone step outside for a moment?”
“What?”
“But…”
“I’ll assist from the side.”
Lily, who had some medical knowledge, was the only one allowed to stay, while the other two were unceremoniously kicked out of the infirmary. Mukan calmly pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down.
This indicated that the conversation was going to be lengthy.
“I heard you’ve been vomiting blood quite a few times. When did it start?”
“Ah…”
At Mukan’s words, Lily stiffened in the back. Lian scratched his cheek awkwardly and said, “Um, if I have to put a time frame on it, I’d say since I was born?”
“…So you’ve been in that condition since your memories formed.”
“Right?”
As a reincarnator, Lian remembered being a newborn, so “since my memories formed” and “since I was born” were the same to him.
However, to Mukan, it sounded like he’d been experimented on at a very young age—too young to remember!
“Do you often vomit blood?”
“No, not really. Just when I’m emotionally shaken or if I stub my little toe. Ah, it might sound weird, but it’s just how my body is…”
“I see.”
Mukan nodded understandingly, an expression of calm on her face, and Lian’s tension eased.
‘So that remarkable mental strength must be what allows him to handle all those nasty things. Vomiting blood from stubbing his toe? Must be his reverse scale.’
‘Wow, someone who gets it!’
They were two peas in a pod in the misunderstanding department, but hey, no one was around to point it out!
“Under what circumstances have you vomited blood so far?”
“Uh, let’s see… when I accidentally ate something weird, when I heard a heart-piercing remark, or when I saw something unexpected, I think…”
Just like when you walk into a doctor’s office and spill all your secrets, Lian ended up telling his stories quite freely.
“How did you hurt your forehead? It looks self-inflicted.”
“Ah.”
Lian could share everything else because Mukan was taking him at his word, but he couldn’t reveal this particular truth.
‘I can’t tell her I slammed my forehead into the wall because I was overwhelmed by lust due to Noah’s scene!’
Lian felt his ears heating up and started scrambling his thoughts. No suitable excuse was coming to mind. Mukan’s gaze was way too intense for long thinking.
“Well, I had some worries lately, and I guess I did it without realizing…”
“Even if you have worries…!”
Lily, who had been silent up to now, suddenly raised her voice but clamped her mouth shut at Mukan’s gesture.
“Do you usually do this?”
“No, this is the first time.”
“Hmm, could you tell me what worries you? It might clear your mind.”
“Uh, um…”
Lian’s eyes started darting around. He couldn’t spit out that he couldn’t stop thinking about something soft, white, and round that kept popping into his mind.
‘What am I supposed to say!’
He could’ve opted to say nothing, but then it might look even weirder.
‘Worries, worries… any other worries…’
Suddenly, Lian recalled a recent concern and blurted it out before thinking if it was fit for the moment.
“Actually… I think I’ve been marked by the Demon King’s army after the recent attack.”
“…What?”
Lily was left stunned, unable even to gasp, while Mukan looked at Lian in shock.
Once he started talking, there was no stopping Lian. Maybe it was because Mukan and Lily were his travel buddies.
“I encountered one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and according to what he said, it seems the Demon King’s army is targeting me and the Nest organization for some unknown reason. It’s stressful, I mean, I could be ambushed anytime, anywhere, haha!”
Compared to the reason of ‘I can’t get the image of the boss’s white chest out of my head,’ this was way more normal, and Lian flashed a satisfied smile.
“You should have told us!”
“Huh?”
Lian’s grin faltered at Lily’s reprimand. This time Mukan didn’t stop her.
After thoroughly scolding Lian, Lily dragged Noah and Nero back into the room. Noah looked at Lily with a heavy expression.
“So… Lian…”
Sigh “This big brother always causes trouble.”
Lily glaring at Lian filled Noah’s mind with endless question marks. When Lian stammered and repeated his earlier words, Noah and Nero couldn’t help but get angry.
“Hyung, really!”
“Why would you keep that to yourself!”
“Well, I was going to tell you after the celebration party. Ah! Speaking of that, the celebration party! Let’s hurry!”
“That’s not what’s important right now…”
“I’m perfectly fine! Right, doctor?”
When Lian looked at Mukan desperately, who was munching on herbs with her arms crossed, Mukan glanced at Lian’s abdomen.
‘Well, he doesn’t look too bad.’
Even though she couldn’t figure out a treatment plan and couldn’t get a good look, she could tell his condition wasn’t terrible.
‘More importantly, he doesn’t seem like he’s in any immediate danger.’
In the harsh lands of the Demon King, unless someone was on the verge of collapsing dead, rarely did anyone end up in the infirmary. For this reason, Mukan was quick to agree with Lian.
“Well, that’s a fair point.”
“See! Let’s go!”
Although the three wanted to keep Lian in bed, they had no choice but to head to the party venue since Mukan had deemed him fine.
“We were planning a surprise party…”
“Big brother, that’s not what’s important!”
As Lian licked his lips in disappointment, Lily spoke with a tone of incredulity. Noah felt the atmosphere lightening and thought to herself,
‘Yeah, that’s the actual issue.’
Lian has this weird power. Being near him made every issue feel trivial. The fact that he was vomiting blood and that the Demon King’s army had it in for Nest didn’t feel important at all.
This was all thanks to the gag filter and Lian’s comedic composure, but Noah had no way of figuring that out.
In the meantime, Lian changed out of his blood-stained clothes and headed to the dining hall with the three of them.
“Congratulations, boss!”
Upon entering the noisy party hall, the heavy atmosphere from earlier lifted like a feather. Although Noah felt a bit disheartened, facing everyone’s smiles helped clear her mind.
‘I promised I wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.’
Recalling how emotionally lost she was in the past and couldn’t protect anything, Noah snapped into focus. She looked at Lian with newfound determination in her eyes.
‘Let’s face this properly and talk. If there’s something I don’t know, I’ll just ask.’
She couldn’t keep being sad while knowing nothing. Just as Noah was set on her resolution, Lian was swarmed by Jess.
“Boss, you’ve got to try this!”
Like a hunter bringing back spoils, Jess piled a bunch of delicious food she’d sampled on Lian’s plate.
“You’ve got food on your face, Jess.”
“Hmm?”
As Lian grabbed a napkin from the table, Jess instinctively leaned in. Lian watched her come closer, eyes half-lidded, thinking,
‘Those eyelashes are super long.’
As he wiped her mouth, her soft lips squished. Thanks to the greasy food, they sparkled. Before he knew it, Lian found himself lost staring at Jess’s lips. With her eyes closed and face so close, she looked incredibly sexy—
Smack!
“Ugh?! Boss?!”
“Ah, um. It’s nothing.”
Lian slapped his own face with his right hand and gestured with his left that he was okay. Surprised, Jess perked up her ears and asked,
“Boss, why? Why did you hit yourself?”
Jess grabbed Lian’s face to check out his red cheeks.
“Uh, wait, Jess?”
“Your cheeks are all flushed!”
“No, um… could you back up a bit?”
As Lian stepped back, Jess leaned in quickly, their faces growing dangerously close. Lian froze like prey caught by a predator when he met her beast-like eyes. Just when he felt the heat of her breath on his face—
“Get out of the way.”
“Ah!”
With that familiar voice, Jess was suddenly knocked back. She spun gracefully through the air before landing in a striking pose.
“Wow!”
“Are you showing off, Jess?”
“Impressive!”
Everyone clapped at Jess’s impromptu display. Meanwhile, Iris confidently approached Lian and simply plopped herself in his lap.
“Um, Iris?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Iris looked up at Lian with a sweet, relaxed smile. Even her neutral face was beautiful, but that adorable grin could blind someone!
“It’s… nothing.”
“Okay.”
Now that Iris was all grown up, he thought it wasn’t right for her to sit on his lap anymore, but once he met those sparkling eyes, all words evaporated.
“Oni, ah.”
“Ah…”
Lian felt a tear squeeze out as he ate the food Iris offered him.
‘Just the other day, I was feeding her…’
Being pampered by Iris overwhelmed Lian with emotion.
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