NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23 – Cooperation
Vincent gently placed Klaye on the clean bed. He carefully wrapped him with a blanket. He sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly caressed his forehead.
It was in the middle of the night, yet someone knocked on the door. „Vincent, we need to talk!”
Vincent went to the door and opened it. It was Egbert.
Suddenly a little shadow jumped into the room and ran to the bed.
Queen jumped on the bed and she was stupefied. ’What the hell?! What the hell did you do?!’
Vincent looked back and saw the silly cat stood next to Klaye’s head and meowed loudly. „Don’t wake him up!”
Queen became silent and slowly looked at Vincent. She was shocked and didn’t want to believe what she saw.
„Let’s speak, but first, can you remove the mind control on Egbert?” Vincent pointed at the soulless servant standing in the door.
’You think I let go of my hostage so easily?’ she disagreed.
„... You know... I can’t understand what you’re saying.” Vincent sighed.
Queen’s body stiffened. She awkwardly jumped down from the bed and slowly walked over to him. She touched his leg. ’Now is it okay?’
„Yes, thank you!” Vincent smiled. „I hope that we can cooperate, so can you release Egbert?”
Queen didn’t felt any lie in his words, so she canceled the mind control.
Egbert suddenly came back to his senses and shook his head. „Young master?!” he was surprised when he realized where he was. He only remembered he heard some noises and went out of his room to see it. His eyes suddenly stopped on Queen. „Cat... Young master, this cat...” he reported what happened in the zoo.
„I know!” Vincent nodded. „Leave the rest to me. Now go back... Right! Prepare something easy for breakfast.”
Egbert was stunned and his eyes fell on the bed. He saw the sleeping Klaye and exhaled. „I understand. Leave it to me!” he said happily and left the room.
Queen jumped back on the bed and sat close to Klaye.
Vincent closed the door then sat on the chair next to the bed. „You don’t need to be so wary against me.”
’You think I can’t see how much you bullied him?!’ Queen’s eyes narrowed.
„Bully...” Vincent remembered how Klaye begged for some ’one more time’ and he was speechless. He massaged the place between his eyes. „He is the person I love.”
’Heh, do you know how much violence happens in a family?’
„... I won’t hurt him!”
’Maybe you aren’t afraid of me, but that stupid dog has a high position in his pack. They can cause a lot of trouble to you!’
Vincent felt powerless. It was like his future mother-in-law questioned his feeling for her daughter and wanted to test him. „You can rest assured I’ll protect him.”
’Protect?! You can’t even imagine how many times he was close to mentally break down!’ Queen shouted and the fur stood up on her back.
Vincent was shocked. First, he wanted to handle some things, then slowly develop his feelings with Klaye. He never thought letting him wait would cause him pain. „I’m sorry!”
’I’m not the one you need to say this!’
„You are right... From now on, I’ll pay more attention to him. Please tell me, if I do something wrong!”
Queen nodded and licked her paw. She was happy to see this man wasn’t completely hopeless. She jumped down from the bed. ’It’s time to sleep... Right! Didn’t you wanted to say something?’
„... There’s a woman with similar power as you...”
’Ah, you mean the bitch with a harem?’ Queen interrupted him. ’My power still far from hers, so I can’t help you to fight against her.’
„How do you know?”
’Some days before I helped Klaye to question one of her men and my control was broken after some minutes.’
„Oh.” Vincent thought about it. „So is it possible to find those who are controlled by her?”
’Possible, but when the two powers meet, it can cause some side effect. If you don’t mind they get a little brain damage I can try it.’
Vincent sighed. „Let me think about it.”
’Okay.’ Queen scratched the door. ’Open it!’
Vincent walked over and opened the door.
Queen went out, then turned back. ’I can help you, but if I’ll be in trouble in the future, say some good words about me to Klaye!’
„Are you so afraid of him?” he was surprised.
’Of course!’ she murmured. ’You’ll be afraid too if one day you run into someone who immune to your ability.’
Vincent closed the door and stood there. „... Immune...”
Vincent went back to the bed and lay down. He gently hugged Klaye and closed his eyes. A lot of things happened today, he needed to short out his thoughts.
When Vincent almost fell asleep, he was awakened by Klaye’s cry. He tried to wake him up, but it didn’t work. His eyes were closed and his tears didn’t stop. Vincent didn’t know what to do and panicked. He hugged him and caressed his head and back.
„Don’t cry, Klaye! I’m here! From now on, no one can hurt you!” he whispered into his ear.
Surprisingly, Klaye calmed down. Vincent waited for a while, then slowly fell asleep. He hugged him tightly and didn’t let go...
When Klaye woke up, he was still immersed in his dream.
The male lead reached the hideout the next day. When he saw the dead bodies in the house, he called the police and the man was arrested. Even if the kidnappers did a lot of bad things before, it was still murdering. The man was locked up and sentenced to death. He didn’t say anything and accepted it. On the day of his execution, he watched the rising sun. That time he finally spoke. He said ’if there’s an afterlife, I wish I can protect you’.
Klaye looked out of the window and cried again. He was sad. His heart hurt. He couldn’t leave behind those negative emotions.
Vincent walked into the room and saw him in this state. He sat on the bed and grabbed his hand. „What’s the problem? Does it hurt that much?!”
Klaye was scared when he saw Vincent. He finally realized he wasn’t in his room and slowly the memories from the previous night surfaced in his mind. His face turned red and he wanted to sit up and denied it, but his back hurt. His move jolted and he fell back on the bed.
„Don’t move!” Vincent gently helped him to find a comfortable position.
Klaye’s face was deep red and didn’t know how to face him.
„Are you hungry? Or want me to massage your back?” Vincent was helpless. He applied medicine on Klaye’s back yesterday, so he didn’t think it would be that painful now.
„Massage?”
„Yes. I learned a little.”
Klaye thought about it. They already did it and he could feel his body was cleaned, so there wasn’t anything he needed to hide. He nodded and Vincent carefully helped him turn on his stomach. Yet when his clothes were pulled away, he still felt ashamed and buried his face in the pillow.
Vincent applied the medicine and gently massaged his sore waist. His movements were skillful and Klaye felt puzzled. He knew that he had some girlfriends in the past, but they didn’t need this kind of service. So why was he so good? Klaye remembered about the previous night and realized he was skillful in other things too. He was shocked and slowly turned his head. He peeked at Vincent’s face and felt that he noticed something unexpected. He never thought that Vincent would be that kind of guy who liked to put it in the back hole...
Vincent carefully massaged Klaye’s back and felt that sometimes he peeked at him. He looked at him and realized something wasn’t right with his expression. „What are you thinking about?”
„Nothing!” Klaye turned away.
Vincent poked his neck. „Don’t think about stupid things!”
„I’m not! I’m not!” he cried out.
Vincent narrowed his eyes. „Really?”
Klaye didn’t answer. He played dead.
After the medicine was applied, Vincent helped Klaye to sit up and gave him his breakfast.
Klaye looked down and concentrated on his food. He didn’t dare to look at Vincent.
After a while, the door was opened and Egbert with some servants come in. They brought some clothes and other things and made space for them.
Klaye was surprised, those clothes seemed to be familiar to him. „... Hey! Those are mine...?”
„Yeah. You move here and your cat can use your previous room.” Vincent nodded.
Klaye was speechless. He understood his status changed, but living together... didn’t they developed too fast?! He didn’t know what to say, so he ate slowly and tried to find a subject.
The servants finished moving Klaye’s things and Vincent sent them away. He closed the door and watched his absentminded little lover on the bed. He sighed and walked over.
„What are you thinking about?” Vincent sat next to him and touched his face.
„... the infected... What happened with them?”
„In the institution, I saw the recipe of the medicine that they developed after studying your blood. Sorrowfully I can only remember part of it, but it gave a big help to the doctor I entrusted with it. Now he developed the first version of the medicine.”
„Really?!” Klaye’s eyes widened. In the book, the first medicine appeared half a year after the big rain, but now didn’t even 2 months passed. This speed was too fast!
„Yes. That doctor is a genius. My family spent a lot of money on teaching him. In the previous life, he traveled around the world and met with famous doctors to exchange knowledge. I don’t know what happened with him after the rain...”