CH 46

lucifer: “i was thinking.”

pei xia: “ah?!”

lucifer raised an eyebrow slightly, seeming to carry a hint of melancholy: “why? are you very surprised?”

pei xia replied softly: “well, i am a bit surprised. i thought you were completely devoted to the cause of the light.”

in the original work, lucifer was the epitome of someone who prioritized career over romance. besides, this novel doesn’t even have a designated couple.

ah, i don’t even know what has happened. not only has the main character’s orientation changed, but he’s even thinking about dating.

lucifer smiled kindly: “it’s not contradictory.”

pei xia nodded and took a deep breath: “yes, you’re right. since you have this thought, i will definitely help you with all my heart!”

lucifer brushed his beautifully radiant golden-like hair with his hand. his expression was delicate and timid, yet tinged with a hint of expectation: “oh? how do you plan to help me?”

pei xia was stumped by the question; it seemed not so easy to answer.

after some thought, with his hands folded neatly on his lap in an attempt to appear serious, pei xia replied, “my mission is to protect lord lucifer. whether it’s your physical well-being or your inner feelings, i’ll do my best to guard them. so, as long as you’re happy, i’ll do my best.”

lucifer seemed a bit distracted, gently repeating, “as long as i’m happy?”

“yes!” pei xia looked at his somewhat distant expression, feeling a bit anxious, and hurriedly added, “i’ll do my best to keep scoundrels from hurting you. of course, if you genuinely like someone, i’ll help you pursue them!”

chuckling, lucifer covered his face with one hand and lightly tapped the table with the other, unable to contain his laughter.

pei xia was perplexed, asking, “what’s so funny?”

he felt a bit embarrassed; did his words sound that ridiculous?!

lucifer, after laughing a couple of times, took a deep breath and gazed across the table, his eyes curving as he said, “i just feel like it’s a good idea.”

pei xia, still baffled, giggled along, “is that so, hahaha.”

but at that moment, the man across the dining table set down his fork and sighed gently, seeming somewhat melancholic, “but it seems the person i want might not like me.”

at that moment, pei xia’s heart skipped a beat.

“how is that possible? you’re so outstanding!”

what? lucifer already likes someone?

“but i really can’t figure him out”. lucifer cradled his face, squinting as he looked at pei xia and said, “he’s never said that he likes me.”

pei xia, giving him a sympathetic look, asked, “does he know about your feelings?”

lucifer shook his head slowly, “maybe he knows, maybe he doesn’t. i’ve never told him.”

pei xia looked at him with empathy.

lucifer extended his tongue and nervously licked his lower lip. under the candlelight, his lips appeared even more moist and enticing. “pei xia, why are you looking at me like that?”

pei xia sighed sympathetically and said, “your grace, please give up on him. he’s a scoundrel, not worth it!”

lucifer asked, “how do you know who i’m talking about?”

no confessions were made, and the holy son never said anything, but they seemed to be quite ambiguous towards each other. however, now he felt that the other person didn’t like him at all. wasn’t this prince harry?

pei xia clenched his fists and stood up abruptly. “your grace, please choose someone else. anyone but prince harry will do. i’ll help you win his heart!”

lucifer began, “no. first, i think there might be a misunderstanding between us. i don’t have any feelings for prince harry, i—”

suddenly, a desperate cry for help rang out from the backyard, and pei xia was startled. he rushed to the window to see what was happening.

a servant had tripped and dropped a basket of feed. several people were in a panic, and inside the horse pen, someone had untied the horses. the horses were now spooked, whinnying and wildly running about.

seeing one horse charging towards a person, pei xia quickly jumped out of the window and pulled the person to safety.

he turned back to lucifer, saying, “your grace, the horses in the yard have been set free.”

lucifer nodded and said seriously, “pei xia, you and the others handle this situation here.”

pei xia was concerned, “it looks suspicious as if someone did this intentionally. please be cautious, your grace.”

“don’t worry, i’ll go back to the room now.”

pei xia replied, “yes, i’ll come to find you right away!”

soon, pei xia, along with several holy knights, managed to control the frightened horses and left the rest of the work to others. he swiftly ran upstairs to meet lucifer.

the ominous premonition had indeed come true!

on the second floor, there were strange figures in black robes trying to obstruct them.

one of the black-robed figures said, “the lord wants to kill you too, die, knight!” he raised a long, jagged staff and chanted incantations.

pei xia responded, “you’re talking nonsense! the lord would never want to kill me. don’t spread false rumors!”

the black-robed man hesitated and asked, “aren’t you pei xia?”

“yes.”

“the lord said he wants to kill you.”

“that’s ridiculous. you must have heard wrong.” pei xia was perplexed. he walked up to the black-robed man and asked, “what’s your name? what’s your relationship with the lord? i’ve never seen you before. speak up!”

the black-robed man weakly replied, “i’m kendra.”

“i don’t know you.” pei xia raised his hand and punched him.

kendra writhed on the ground, clutching his nose, shocked, and said, “you, you, you, despicable!”

“you’re the one who’s despicable! daring to impersonate someone from the lord’s side to sow discord. this conspiracy is too foolish!” pei xia lifted his foot and unceremoniously knocked kendra unconscious.

then, pei xia ran up the stairs to the third floor. however, he encountered another black-robed man at the corner of the third floor.

it was only at this moment that pei xia realized they were dark sorcerers.

a murky black mist swirled, seemingly toxic and corrosive. without hesitation, pei xia rushed forward and incapacitated the black-robed man before the poisonous fog could affect him.

finally, he arrived at lucifer’s room and saw him standing calmly in the thin black mist, holding a sword. he wore a nonchalant smile on his face and elegantly swung his sword. the blade, gleaming with a cold light, sliced through an enemy’s throat, causing blood to splatter like molten lava flowing freely in hell.

the blood splattered onto his cheek, one droplet, then another, starkly contrasting against his snow-white complexion.

pei xia noticed that the curve of his lips became more pronounced, captivating and intoxicating. he looked so beautiful, even amid the carnage, that it was impossible to look away.

in the blink of an eye, three enemies met their demise at his hands. finally, lucifer tilted his head, seeming somewhat uninterested, and turned around, his blood-spattered robe billowing like patterns on butterfly wings.

when he turned to look at pei xia, there was a faint hint of stiffness in the smile at the corner of his lips.

pei xia stammered, “your… grace…”

lucifer suddenly let out a weak sigh, his voice trembling and fragile. the motion that had already slowed down abruptly continued.

the longsword in his hand made a clang as he threw it away. lucifer continued to spin, and then he collapsed onto the ground.

“your grace!”

shocked, pei xia slid to his knees and anxiously embraced the upper half of lucifer’s body.

“your grace, are you okay? are you injured?”

pei xia coughed.

lucifer gazed at him with unfocused eyes, reaching out to grasp pei xia’s hand. his voice was hoarse, faint as a thread as if he would drift away like a wisp in the wind at any moment.

he coughed, his face pale, a trickle of fresh blood from the corner of his lips. he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

pei xia tightly held his hand, filled with despair. “your grace, please hold on!”

cough, cough.

the dark poisonous fog slowly dissipated, but it still had an effect on pei xia. he felt his breathing becoming labored, his body temperature rising, and his head spinning. these were signs of poisoning.

his skin and respiratory tract also stung, indicating that he had been affected by the toxic fog.

but now, pei xia had no mood to care about himself. they say that real men don’t shed tears easily. but facing life and death, pei xia couldn’t help but shed two lines of tears.

“my lord, they’ll be here soon. you have to hold on! tom, buck, go find the light magic mage!” pei xia shouted loudly, hoping they would find a rescue in time.

however, tom and buck didn’t seem to respond, and pei xia had no choice but to staggeringly pick up lucifer and shout as he moved.

at this moment, the dying lucifer gently held pei xia’s hand and said, “stop shouting, just talk to me.”

pei xia, with red eyes, looked down at him and said, “my lord, you will be fine, i’m sure of it.”

lucifer smiled lightly, pure and beautiful, “you’re also injured and poisoned, aren’t you, pei xia? don’t be afraid. eat the fruit of life, and you will be okay. don’t worry about me; as long as you are well, it’s enough.”

with these words, lucifer’s eyes slowly closed, and he fell into a coma.

pei xia shouted, “your grace,” and wanted to wipe the blood off his face. but when he raised his hand, he realized there was still breath in him!

he still had a chance!

lucifer mentioned the fruit of life, so if he gave it to him, it could save him!

pei xia quickly carried lucifer back to the bedroom and placed him carefully on the bed. at this point, the other holy knights had arrived, and buck, panting, said, “how is the lord? tom has gone to get the light magic mage.”

“the lord’s condition is very critical, and i don’t know the details. anyway, we’ll know when the mage arrives!”

“good!”

on the bed, lucifer furrowed his brow slightly. to make it more convincing, he didn’t reveal his true intentions in front of the light magic mage and pretended to really faint.

pei xia, near the cabinet, was frantically searching through everything, “where is it? where is it?” but why is there only one fruit of life left? pei xia suddenly looked up, rapidly scanning the room. he noticed the window had been opened at some point, which he had overlooked earlier, and now, upon closer inspection, the room was slightly disarranged.

“intruders!”

regardless of who the thief was, with only one fruit of life left, pei xia gritted his teeth and decided to give it to lucifer.

after all, once lucifer recovered, as long as pei xia didn’t die, even the most severe injuries had a chance of being saved.

pei xia staggered over to the window where lucifer lay, whispering, “your grace, you must get better.”

then he raised the half-fist-sized fruit, ready to feed lucifer, but hesitated. this fruit was quite large, and he couldn’t just shove it in; it might choke him!

pei xia frowned, stood up, and gave orders, “buck, you must protect the lord at all costs, understood? i need to leave for a moment.”

“yes, captain!”

the weakened holy knight supported himself against the wall and ran downstairs to the kitchen, where the servants were in disarray. they looked at him, concerned, “sir knight, what’s happened?”

“don’t worry; it’s temporarily under control.”

pei xia coughed twice, took a spoon and a bowl, scraped the fruit of life into a mash, and diluted it with some cold water. then he returned to lucifer’s bedroom.

he gently lifted lucifer’s upper body, feeding him the entire fruit of life spoonful by spoonful.

after pei xia finished feeding the fruit of life, the light magic mage finally arrived to treat lucifer.

lucifer slowly woke up, and the first thing he saw was pei xia. he reached out, gripping pei xia’s hand emotionally, and asked, “pei xia, did you eat the fruit of life?”

“yes, i did,” pei xia sniffled, pretending to be a bit flustered. what a kind and noble lord he was; he was worth everything pei xia had to give!

“thank goodness.” lucifer smiled with his eyes curved, then he forced himself to sit up, opened his arms, and suddenly embraced pei xia.

pei xia was taken by surprise when lucifer hugged him. his body stiffened, and he stammered, “your grace, you…you…”

“you’ve worked hard, pei xia.”

lucifer released him but held pei xia’s face in his hands, frowning slightly as if puzzled. “pei xia, it seems like the poison in your body hasn’t been completely neutralized yet.”

pei xia: “uh, maybe the fruit of life has expired.”

lucifer smiled gently, his hands caressing pei xia’s face, making pei xia blush deeply. “don’t worry. i’ll check it. hmm, it’s not severe. i’ll heal you.”

pei xia softly said, “thank you, your grace.”

the gentle holy light enveloped pei xia, and he felt his condition slowly improving as the poison was expelled. his face, which had been red and hot, gradually returned to normal.

in the end, everything calmed down. because they had been injured and poisoned, their energy was depleted. lucifer and pei xia stayed in the bedroom to rest, while the others searched for the identity of the assassins and their accomplices.

in the late night, pei xia, who had been healed by lucifer, tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep.

ah, why is the lord so kind?

he even… he touched his face. how could he make such an intimate gesture with someone so easily?

the holy son without any guard is truly too, too dangerous.

pei xia sighed and made up his mind. even if he couldn’t be with the holy son, he would still protect him!

with this determination, pei xia quietly got up, sat by the bed, and watched over lucifer the whole night.

as the day was about to break, lucifer had a bad dream and furrowed his brow unhappily.

after a moment of contemplation, pei xia gently pushed him when he saw the first rays of sunlight streaming in. “your grace, did you have a bad dream?”

as lucifer slowly opened his eyes, his voice was filled with confusion. “i…”

before he could finish saying ‘i,’ pei xia was already expressing his shock, “your grace, why has your belly become so big!”