[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke novel Chapter 246

Chapter 246: Can’t I Kiss My Lover?"

Xion’s heart, which had just fluttered in giddy relief after his confession, sank when Darius didn’t react.

The Archduke didn’t speak. Heck, he didn’t even blink. He just stood there as if he were frozen.

Soon after, as if electrocuted, Darius shot to his feet in one swift motion. His boots scraped the polished marble of the gazebo as he stumbled backward.

One hand clutched his cheek, right where Xion had kissed him. Then, with not a shred of grace, the Archduke of the Northern Empire fell down. He knelt right on the white marble floor.

"Ah!" Xion flinched, hurriedly rising halfway from his seat. "Are you okay—"

"Don’t come near me," Darius said through gritted teeth. His voice sounded low and undoubtedly restrained.

Xion subconsciously obeyed, sitting right back on his chair.

The Archduke remained motionless, his spine rigid. Both of his hands were covering his face like a sinner ashamed to face the gods.

He didn’t look at Xion. Not even once. Just curled in on himself like the world had shifted beneath him and he was trying desperately not to fall into some unseen abyss.

And Xion thought the worst of it.

He hates it. He hates it.

The shame and guilt of violating someone’s boundaries hit him like a slap. He should’ve known already!

Darius wasn’t fond of physical touch, and everyone knew that. But he’d gotten used to the way Darius touched him, carried him, held him in sleep, even traced his hair and... and... I thought a kiss wouldn’t matter.

But apparently, it did. Oh, and it did too much.

Xion gripped the sides of the circular table. His pulse rang in his ears. I ruined everything.

When he saw how Darius didn’t even allow him a glimpse of his face, his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.

He had done something terrible, didn’t he?

And indeed, he had done something really horrific. He had actually managed to crack Darius’ brain with just a simple kiss.

If the archduke’s enemies knew about it, they would be in utter disbelief. After all, does that not mean that their years of training were utterly humiliatingly useless?

Darius, on the other hand, sat there in absolute silence. The kiss replayed in his mind like a broken record. The warmth of Xion’s lips against his cheek hadn’t faded. It lingered, etched into his skin like a searing brand.

Those words...

"I like y-you. Your Grace, I like you very much." And then that kiss.

It was sweet — sweet enough to mess the mind of a man who’d faced entire armies without blinking.

"...Xion," Darius whispered, finally lowering his hands. His face was slightly red from the ears down to his neck. He looked dazed. Too dazed.

"Say it again."

Xion hesitated, puzzled by those sudden words. "...What?"

"Say it again," Darius repeated, voice tinged with roughness. "Tell me you like me."

Xion’s long lashes trembled. If he asked... didn’t that mean he didn’t hate it?

The intensity of those green eyes staring at him, made Xion squirm in his seat. More than that, he was glad, happy that he did not seem to have crossed any line.

"Say it."

The heat spread across Xion’s cheeks again, but he nodded. "I... I like you."

Darius exhaled slowly as if those words were something he needed to breathe into his lungs or they might vanish into the thin air.

"...Like a friend?"

He clenched his fists on his lap, trying to restrain the storm threatening to consume him whole.

And Xion saw it. _{fгeewebnovёl.com}

"...W-What?" he glared, and yet his blush only blazed even more. "Can’t I kiss my lover?"

The fiery embarrassment only made him look more edible.

"You’re ridiculous," he whispered, watching the dignified Archduke act like a schoolboy with a first crush.