[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke-Chapter 339: Xion’s Small Heart

Xion was just about to return to his chambers when a cheerful voice stopped him mid-step.

"How are you doing, Your Grace?"

He turned to see Bianca Nocturne standing there with a smile as bright as morning sunlight, her expression so sweet and effortless that it was hard to believe they’d had that odd, teasing exchange a couple of days ago.

She looked entirely unbothered, as if it hadn’t happened at all.

Her poise was enviable, really—like someone who had long mastered the art of gliding past judgment.

Xion found himself wondering if he’d ever be able to do the same, especially under the kind of scrutiny Darius constantly faced.

He smiled politely. "I’m good. And you?"

Anyway, Bianca wasn’t interested in Darius, he reasoned.

As for Darius... well, the great Archduke was only interested in him. So what was the point in being hostile to a girl so far from home?

"Oh, I will be very good," she shrugged, her eyes twinkling with mischief, "if you could help me with something, that is."

Xion blinked. "Help?"

She nodded, leaning forward slightly, then made a little beckoning motion with her hand like she wanted to tell him a secret.

Perplexed but curious, Xion stepped closer so she could speak without being overheard by the guards.

Though he wasn’t as tall as Darius, he still had to dip down to her level.

"You see," Bianca whispered.

The scent of fresh lavender clinging to her filled Xion’s nostrils, and he somehow didn’t hate it.

"I have something for your husband... but honestly, I didn’t want to give it to him directly. That devil might cut my throat if I say the wrong thing."

Xion let out a soft giggle. "He won’t. He is a very nice and gentle person."

Bianca looked as if she had heard a most heinous kind of joke, something that made his lips twitch, but she held herself back from cursing aloud.

"I’m smart enough to know what is good for my life," she replied with a stiff smile. Then she reached into the folds of her embroidered sleeve and drew out a small, palm-sized object wrapped in silken cloth.

She placed it gently in Xion’s hand.

"What’s this?" Still bending over, he asked.

"A stone of Zen," she said in a hushed voice. "The Archduke will know what it means. The favor I owed—this settles it. I just didn’t want to deal with that... intense gaze of his."

Xion stared at the wrapped token. It felt warm in his palm as if whatever was inside it was alive.

Zen... This is Zen?

"Do you know what this is?" His voice sounded taut, almost nervous. After asking almost everyone, there was still no clue on Zen until now.

"That it’s a rare stone?" Bianca’s eyes flicked over his tense face. She playfully tugged at his sleeve, forcing him to stare at her instead.

"Besides," she added with a sly grin, "now that I’ve met you, I understand everything."

Xion’s brows furrowed even more. Does she know something about Zen and me? "Understand what?"

"They all say that beauty tamed a beast."

"Huh?" How was that related to Zen?

"Oh, come on," Bianca teased. "I wouldn’t last five minutes near that man without crying—or fainting. But you?" She blinked her bright red eyes. "I don’t think anyone could remain stone around you. I’d melt, too."

"Wh-What are you even saying...?" He straightened his back, trying not to let her teasing affect him. Yet his ears turned pink.

"You’re too beautiful," she said easily, waving a hand as if it were just an obvious fact. "He probably stares at you like you’re his sunrise and he’s never seen one before. Maybe he really hadn’t..."

Xion stared at the gift in his hand, heart thudding. I didn’t tame him, he thought. It is he who had taught me how to live again.

Like a shadow pulled by the mention of his name, Darius appeared at the far end of the corridor.

Xion’s spine snapped straighter than before. It was only now that he realized how close he and Bianca were standing.

Before he could put a distance between them, the Archduke was as imposing as ever, grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Dull green eyes darted between Bianca and the silent figure in his arms.

Bianca turned to face him with her usual poise. "Oh, Archduke," she said smoothly. "I was just admiring the beautiful view."

Darius arched a brow, clearly not following. And yet the moment he heard the word ’beautiful’ his eyes subconsciously fell on Xion.

Xion, "..."

’He looks at you as if he were looking at the sun.’

The silly healer wanted to hide.

Much to his surprise, Bianca didn’t seem satisfied with just that.

"I meant beauty that can even tame the monsters." Then she looked back at Xion and gave a playful wink. "I’ll leave you two to your night."

She offered a gracious nod and disappeared around the corner like she hadn’t just called Darius a monster on his face.

"Pfftt..." Xion couldn’t help the laugh that spilled from his lips. She didn’t seem that bad.

His blue eyes were still staring in that direction when he was pulled back to his room.

He wasn’t smiling for long after that.

The moment the door to their chambers shut behind them, Xion found himself backed up against it, the click of the lock barely fading before two hands pinned him there.

The look in Darius’ eyes was molten, and it finally dawned on Xion that he might be in trouble.

"So," Darius drawled, "you were having fun with her?"

"It wasn’t like that. We were talking about something—"

He was cut mid-sentence when the grip on his wrists tightened. With his hands pinned above his head, no matter how he tried to wiggle, he couldn’t do anything.

"You were laughing." And you were mere inches apart from her face.

Darius had seen it all, how Xion had bent down for her. Why?

It was irrational and didn’t he know it? He trusted Xion more than life itself. But still, the sight of them so close had burned something in his chest.

"Darius," Xion stared at the taller man, towering over him.

Darius rarely got enraged, or even if he did, Xion had never been on the receiving end of it.

"She wanted to give you something. But apparently, you scared her." He gulped before kissing the corner of his pursed lips in an effort to ease the tension.

However, nothing. The person who was always eager to touch him stayed still.

The flicker of disappointment flashed in his blue eyes. I made him angry.

Considering how he had nearly blown himself up only for Darius to bear the burden of it all, Xion found himself spiraling into that black hole.

"Why are you angry, Darius?" he asked in a low, barely there voice. "You have to tell me so I can fix it." So, talk to me. Don’t just stand there and stare at my face with that heavy gaze. I can’t bear it.

Darius shut his eyes in a desperate attempt to rein in his thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, he loosened his grip, letting Xion free from his cage.

But he didn’t move back, not even an inch.

"I don’t like it when you are so close to others," Darius said through gritted teeth.

He had been trying to hold back and not cause any trouble, but all those cheers and praises from the morning parade had been messing with his mind.

And now, when he though he was going to spend some time with his baby that damned woman decided to make Xion laugh.

"I hate it. I hate it when you smile at others."

He cradled the face that could drive him insane with just one gesture. Just like right now.

"Xion..." There was a silent pleading in his voice as he rubbed his thumb over the cheekbone. "Look only at me."

Even filled with slight haze, those shimmering blue eyes looked so pretty.

"Laugh only when you are with me, okay?"

Xion couldn’t decide whether to smack Darisu’s head or his own. He had made this man like this, had he not?

While struggling with his own emotions, he had forgotten to give Darius the same sense of security he had been looking for all his life.

Was he not the biggest fool?

"I have a very small heart, Your Grace."

Leaning into the touch, Xion placed his hand over the bigger one. "It can only accommodate one person for a lifetime. You are bound to me now, and even if you ask me to leave, I won’t."

Because my heart is very small, you see. So small that if you ever take yourself out of it, there would be nothing left.

Xion would not be alive anymore.

Sure, there might be a breathing corpse known as a great healer, but it wouldn’t be this Xion.