[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke novel Chapter 245

Chapter 245: A Green Paradise

The teleportation array was unlike anything Xion had seen before. The walls glistened with veins of luminous red mana crystals.

A single shard of these would have powered a city for years. Here, there were thousands... no, tens of thousands.

It was a treasure trove that could ignite wars.

Inscribed into the stone floor was a gigantic circle crafted from rare northern-forged metal. Even if someone wanted to imitate it, it would be nearly impossible to smuggle this amount out of the border.

The array glowed faintly with a soft, pulsing light. Its rhythm echoed like a heartbeat through the floor beneath their feet.

Ancient symbols older than written language shimmered faintly as they encased the circle inside.

Xion didn’t fully understand how it worked, but he could tell. Each rune was a dense reservoir of pure mana.

Special blue mana crystals, the size of fists, were embedded at key points around the ring. They pulsed in perfect synchrony, drawing mana inward through winding paths of those red crystals.

At the very center of the array was a raised pedestal just high enough to step onto with ease, like the first stair of a shrine.

"This is the core that sustains the teleportation array," Darius said, his hand lingering at Xion’s waist. The healer was so absorbed in looking around that he didn’t even notice his sneaky actions.

Without changing his tone, Darius continued, "Allen refined these after I returned from the capital... thanks to your help."

Xion, still staring at those shiny crystals covering every inch of this gigantic room, shook his head, "Not me. I just gave some tips."

If Allen hadn’t been so gifted, the guidance would’ve gone to waste. Even knowing his talent, Xion hadn’t expected such a perfect refinement.

It was truly a miracle.

"The array drains their energy completely. Once depleted, the crystals shatter. We only use it when absolutely necessary."

And he’s using it for me... The realization left Xion dumbfounded.

He bit his lower lip, trying to shake the unease twisting in his gut. He was far too familiar with this feeling.

Guilt. That’s what always crept in when someone spent time or money on him. It was as if, deep down, he had convinced himself that he wasn’t worth any such gestures.

[Host.] The system’s voice rang in his mind, brimming with excitement. _{freewebnoveℓ.com}

[How about you pick one? Just one. With so many here, no one would ever notice! Look at that pretty orange one. Or that sparkly finger-sized one?]

Those words lessened the heaviness in Xion’s chest, but they also made his eyes twitch. ’No.’

[But—]

’I am not stealing anything,’ he repeated firmly, ignoring the greedy whine in his head.

To others, he simply looked like he was lost in some profound reflection whenever he spoke to the system. His slight frown made him look even more solemn.

So much so that when Darius called him, there was no response.

"Xion?" it was the third call, and that was also when Darius decided to take matters into his own hands. Quite literally.

"Ah!" Xion yelped, instinctively throwing his arms around Darius’s neck for balance. The sudden loss of gravity ultimately brought Xion back to his senses.

And now he couldn’t figure out what he was doing in Archduke’s arms.

"Y-your Grace, what are you doing?" Xion asked while clutching onto Darius’ shoulder for his dear life.

If he fell down now, he might land on those crystals, and he didn’t have that kind of money to compensate for the loss!

Darius, on the other hand, simply started walking forward. His feet touched the crystals, creating an echoing sound that sounded very harsh to Xion’s ears.

Cheer me up... So he noticed. Xion stared at the side profile of Darius bathed under the red glow of crystals.

There was an invisible shield over the entire garden, protecting it from the heavy snow and rainfall. Like a perfect little green paradise.