Chapter 36 Untie the Ritual Robe and Let Me See
Upon entering the room, it was discovered that the strong smell of blood on the balcony was only one-tenth of that inside the room.
Ancia didn't know how she got to the bedside. The single bed was already narrow enough, but with Heligaluo lying on it, there was still enough space for her to sit down.
Heligalo lay unconscious, his usually neat and clean blond hair now sticking to his forehead, his straight eyebrows furrowed in pain, and he was covered in cold sweat, unable to find peace even in his sleep.
The linen sacrificial robe covered his body, stained with dark bloodstains, streaks and patches that almost completely soaked the robe, leaving only tiny glimpses of the original white between the bloodstains.
How can a person bleed so much?
Aren't you a germaphobe? How come you fell asleep wearing such a blood-stained robe?
Ancia's throat tightened, her hand hovering above Heligaluo's body as she continuously cast healing spells.
Golden rays of light briefly illuminated the room before plunging it back into darkness.
It's useless.
The blood was still thick, and the wound under the sacrificial robe had not improved; only the tightly furrowed brows had smoothed out slightly.
The pain that had plagued him for days subsided considerably, and Heligalo slowly opened his eyes. In the dim moonlight, he saw the face that had repeatedly appeared in his dreams.
“You’ve appeared again, is it a dream…” His dry lips moved slightly as he murmured.
Ancia lowered her head and remained silent, continuing to cast healing spells without pause.
The fluctuations of light magic broke the tranquil atmosphere, and Heligalo immediately realized that this was not a dream he had been in while he was in a daze. The pain in his body was indeed lessening, and Ancia had really come to his side.
From the Eternal City to the Red Maple City, from Gracia to the Holy See of Light, from dream to reality.
Heligalo laboriously raised one hand and covered Ancia's eyes.
"Don't look...don't see me like this...please forget my wretched appearance..." His voice was broken, a weak plea.
The wound on his arm reopened the moment he raised it, and more blood flowed, dripping down his elbow onto the bed. Heligalo kept it raised, unwilling to put it down.
Ancia remained silent, golden light flashing repeatedly in her palm.
Heligalo's hand suddenly trembled as some scalding liquid splashed into his palm, burning his fingers and causing them to curl up, revealing Ancia's dark eyes that haunted his dreams.
She was crying.
Some tears fell directly from her eyes, landing on the blood-stained sheets and making the dark blood clots appear larger. Other tears streamed down her cheeks, across her chin, and onto Ancia herself.
"I was wrong..." Heligalo gently wiped away her tears, his slender fingers wiping them away from left to right, but the tears under his hands were endless, never-ending. Those tears were more painful to him than all the wounds on his body combined.
He continued to apologize, "I was wrong, don't cry..."
Ancia asked, her voice choked with sobs, "What did you do wrong?"
Finally, he was willing to talk to her, and Heligalo breathed a sigh of relief, sincerely apologizing, "I was wrong about everything, please forgive me, okay?"
Ancia was still crying, her voice trembling, but she spoke clearly, "Perfunctory."
Heligaluo paused, "This isn't just a perfunctory response. Go and rest first, and I'll apologize to you one by one tomorrow."
Ancia dodged his hand and asked coldly, "Do you even have a tomorrow?"
Heligalo withdrew his hand and fell silent.
"You and Ellan both kept it from me, fine, I respect your secret. You said you'd explain everything to me after the match, fine, I'd wait. But when I came down from the stage, you had vanished without a word. It was Verion who told me you were in danger; I knew nothing. If I hadn't come tonight, would I have seen you again in the cemetery of the Holy See?"
Heligaloo's lips moved slightly, "I'm sorry..."
Ancia stood up, interrupting him, her tears flowing even more freely, unable to maintain her composure any longer. "Don't say sorry! You haven't wronged anyone—not the Holy See, not the Pope and the clergy, not even the commoners and nobles who don't know what you've done for them. You've done right by them! You've only wronged yourself..."
Heligalo reached out again, gently took Ancia's fingers that were hanging by her side, and shook them. "I'm sorry for you, for worrying about me for so long."
His eyes were filled with heartache as he gazed tenderly at Ancia. "Coming all the way from Gracia must have been tiring, right?"
Ancia sat back on the edge of the bed. "It wasn't hard. I just missed you, Heligalo."
She lowered her eyes and finally admitted her feelings, "I'm still very scared, scared that you're really dead, Heli. You're very important to me, and I can't accept your death, at least not now."
Heligalo chuckled softly. "Is it related to why you approached me?"
Ancia looked up abruptly, meeting the gentleness and understanding in those deep blue eyes. "You know?"
Heligalo nodded. "I've always known."
After the pain subsided, his mind returned to normal. "In the Holy See's intelligence network, there are no noble families who have lost their daughters of marriageable age. Your talent could not have gone unnoticed. Even the most profit-driven nobles would have devoted themselves to cultivating you. But you are like a miracle that fell from the sky, suddenly appearing in the Monster Mountain Range, bringing a lot of secrets and talents into Gracia. I have modified your information so that no one will find anything unusual."
"Aren't you going to ask what my secret is?" Ancia's heart raced, and she became nervous.
“I won’t ask. I believe you must have your reasons for doing this. No matter why you approached me, there’s only one thing I care about.” Heligalo loosened his grip, loosely holding Ancia’s wrist, revealing a hidden obsession beneath his gentleness. “Ancia, tell me, how much of your fear and longing… is because of Heligalo?”
Hergallo's gaze was somewhat familiar, subtly overlapping with the image of the Holy Light Prison in the "High-Risk Bad Ending Guide" that Ancia had seen.
Ancia's breath hitched for a moment; this answer must be very important.
Should we lie to him?
Besides being a romanceable male protagonist, Heligalo is also her most important friend in this world.
Ancia couldn't lie to him. With a determined look in her eyes, she chose to trust her intuition and follow her heart.
"Half of it is because you are you."
He loosened his grip on her hand and smiled contentedly. "That's good, more than I expected... cough cough..." His laughter aggravated his wound, and he coughed again.
Ancia's stunned silence was broken by the cough, and she gathered golden healing magic in her hands, surging it toward Heligalo.
“I’m not in much pain anymore, Ancia, don’t waste your magic,” Heligalo said.
"I won't waste anything. If it can relieve your pain, then I won't waste anything." Anxiya said through gritted teeth, "Not much pain is not completely painless. I must cure you."
"I'm used to it... Fine, you can heal me." Seeing the girl's fierce eyes, Heligalo wisely chose to shut up.
We absolutely must cure him!
In a class on the basics of magic, Diana once said that the origin of magic is a strong belief.
The original Miracle Continent had no magic; it was only through the people's strong beliefs and prayers that magic came into being.
Before the word "magic" was coined, people called those miracles "miracles".
[Skill Healing Spell - Intermediate Proficiency is sufficient. Upgrade?]
Ancia paused, the golden magic power that had been half-condensed in her hand dissipating, and quickly answered in her mind, "Yes!"
[The skill "Healing Spell - Intermediate" has been upgraded to "Healing Spell - Advanced".]
Without even reading the skill description, Ancia immediately cast the upgraded healing spell.
"Healing Spell - Advanced!"
She took out her staff, and the golden part of the twin gems shone brightly. A vast amount of golden magic gathered at Ancia's fingertips and fell onto Herigalo.
"Hmm..." Bathed in the warm and comfortable golden light, Heligaluo felt it particularly clearly. The wounds that could not be healed by the priest were healing rapidly. A slight itching sensation came from the process of the flesh growing back, and the pain, which had been reduced to a tolerable level, disappeared completely.
"How is it?" Ancia looked at him expectantly.
“The wounds are completely healed, you really cured me.” Heligalo sat up in bed, turning his arm in surprise.
"Let me see." Ancia raised her hand to unbutton his clothes.
Heligaluo stepped aside, covering his collar. "This isn't good... It's really healed."
Ancia said firmly, "Then let me see it too."
Under the moonlight, Heligaluo blushed. His doctrines and upbringing forbade him to expose his body in front of women, especially since this was Ancia, the woman he loved.
Ancia sniffed softly, lowered her eyes, and looked like she was about to cry.
“…I’ll show you, don’t cry.” Heligalo sighed. Even if Ancia was just putting on an act, he could no longer accept the possibility that she would shed tears because of him.
As expected, Ancia looked up without any sadness on her face. "I'll do it."
She had wanted to strip Heligalo's priestly robes for a long time!
The high collar of the sacrificial robe exudes a solemn air, and the buttons are fastened all the way up to the top of the neck, even covering the Adam's apple.
Ancia's fingers started unbuttoning the first button, and only after unbuttoning four buttons did she see the indentation in the center of her collarbone. A silver-white spatial necklace stopped right there in the depression, rising and falling gently with her breath.
The moonlight shone on her fair skin, adding a layer of pale, fragile beauty that made it impossible to look away.
"Shall we continue?" Her gaze lingered there for too long, and Heligallo asked softly.
“Yes.” Ancia’s hand continued down, and the button reached the right side of her chest.
As the buttons were undone, the overlapping fabric hung loosely on Heligaluo's body, the buttons extending all the way to his waist. Ancia tore apart the two pieces of fabric and hung them on Heligaluo's arms.
The early winter night was a bit chilly, causing Heligalo to shiver involuntarily.
Intertwined black scars appeared on his body, and there was hardly a single patch of good flesh on his upper body. Whether it was the front or the back, it was all covered with crisscrossing black scars.
Ancia trembled as she touched a scar on Heligaluo's chest, a wound that almost pierced through his entire heart.
"What are these...? Wasn't it all healed? I thought I was cured..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
