Capítulo 20: ~ The frost of time progresses with the tone - II ~
Noble?
With a side gaze I could see that he did in fact wear a footwear, which was a traditional wooden sandal, polished and clean.
But his arrogance baffled me. Even if I couldn't see his face, I was pretty sure his expression would make me vomit.
"I cannot understand your ink, it is neither that of a work partner, nor that of a slave. So an unidentified inking has to be reported." He chuckled, "If you are lucky I will spare you the life imprisonment."
I could tell he would really do it, so panicking, I started to resist him, not willing to get into a difficult situation when Xi Ken was still out of it.
"Let go!"
He laughed at my situation, holding me by the back of my neck, "Your feisty attitude is nice, but you have to come with me right now, who knows what kind of an ink is-"
And in the next moment he was lying on the floor crying out in pain, his palms momentarily burned. As a scent of burning meat entered my nose.
I was certain that the backlash was from the charm Xi Ken had inked upon me, because my navel was tingling, buzzing with some strange aura.
It really did protect me.
And then the door to our room slid open, as Xi Ken stepped out, fully robed and functioning, his stature looking too tall and impressive since I was on the floor, crouching like a scared little pitiful being.
Seems like he was over the meat's influence, the little sleep must have been enough to give him his senses back.
"Xi Zuen, you are awake..."
Xi Ken seemed to be taking in the situation, slowly and steadily, as a very oppressing strangeness fell over the inn.
The air seemed to be getting colder and colder as a dark mist started to flame around Xi Ken. A flicker of pungent brutality escaping his cold aura.
I shivered involuntarily, almost shrinking away from him.
"You took good care of me," he suddenly spoke, his words directed at me, piercing the air which now seemed stagnant, "I was in an unspeakable state of mind, I am obliged to you for your concern."
"N-No issues," I waved my hand, flushing a bit when the robe slipped further down my shoulder, almost till my waist, giving him an unhindered view of my naked upper half.
Not caring to think whether he was blind or not, like seriously, I no longer felt the need to... I covered my self back and scrambled to sit up, running to stand behind him, trying to hide from who knows whom.
And all the while I noticed the blond man had stopped screaming, shivering in fright when he saw Xi Ken.
Huh? Wasn't he the man who was so arrogantly trying to take me down? And now he was shivering as if he saw a ghost?
Coward.
I ignored an inner voice calling me coward as well, for I was also scared of Xi Ken, even if I had gotten used to his intimidating presence.
"Young master Haido," Xi Ken greeted, his glacial voice freezing over the blond, as his face lost all of its blood, pale and pitiable.
"In...Ink m-master Xi Ken."
"You remember me."
Haido nodded, almost sweating. "I ask for your forgiveness, for I misjudged the young man and forced my will on him." He even started to bow, his eyes and head lowered in fear.
"It is not I who you scared, then why apologize to me?"
Well Xi Ken was right, so I looked at the blond, whose eyes immediately settled on me, his smile stoic and his eyes twitching, "I am sorry brother, I seem to have made a mistake, can you pardon me for my poor behavior?"
Reluctant, I could only nod, but I did not believe my approval meant anything, since Xi Ken was the one making the decisions here.
"You may leave," Xi Ken murmured, his face tilting to the side, "but your punishment will be 2 years of banishment from this region of Zor En, do you understand me?"
I blinked stupefied, 2 years of banishment? Wasn't that a bit too much?
But watching the blond, I got the feeling that it wasn't as severe as I made it to be, since Haido began to smile gratefully, bowing repeatedly with gratitude. Leaving as soon as Xi Ken completely turned his face away from him.
Seeing that the drama was finally over, I entered the room and plopped on the bed, with face down and hips up, since the position made my butt hurt less and I felt too exhausted to correct my position.
"Did you get hurt?"
I turned my face to look at Xi Ken, feeling sleepy, "Well I did fell when he bumped into me, otherwise I feel dandy."
He smiled, coming to sit next to me, carefully taking out a small vial from his sleeves, the container tinted blue in coloring, having a strange fragrance when he opened the cork lead.
"It smells nice," I mumbled, sniffing the tip of the vial to take in a better scent.
"It is a herbal liquid, you rub it over the area where you got bruised, will help heal faster."
I nodded, taking the vial and doing the work on my knees which were red and throbbing, also rubbing some on my ankle which I thought I twisted during my fall.
But even sitting still hurt since the bed was hard, and my butt was pulsing with pain.
I had really fell hard.
Although, I was in a dilemma, I couldn't really rub my butt in front of him, which would just make everything super awkward.
And as if he noticed my hesitation, he tilted his head in question, asking much more gently than before, "Is there an issue?"
So Xi Ken had calmed down, I deciphered, and he seemed to remember what happened, although I did not have the guts to ask about it.
"I also..." do I tell him? Like, 'Hey, Xi Zuen, I also need to rub this on my butt, do you mind?'
"Do you want me to go outside?"
I blushed, he must have reasoned my behavior into a conclusion, which was embarrassing. He already knew even if I hadn't wanted him to know.
Really, sharing a room was a real pain at present.
~~
We had some light dinner in the room itself, before we went to sleep, a single bed glaring back at me.
In the previous inn I had been dizzy the whole time so the bed situation hadn't phased me, but right now, I was sweating bullets.
I watched as Xi Ken disrobed to a single inner robe and went to settle himself down for some sleep, his hair parted to the side to leave the other side clean, which I concurred was my side of the bed.
"Should we ask for another mattress?" I delivered the suggestion with a light conversing undertone, not wanting to make him feel as if he repulsed me or something. Who knew but some people were more sensitive to things than the other.
I saw him prop himself on his left arm, turning to face me, "Are you shy?"
Coughing awkwardly, I waved my hand, "You would have more space to sleep."
"Come sit," he motioned for me, patting the empty side of the bed.
And when I sat, he pulled me by my shoulder to lay me down, and since I was still in my bathing robes, his touch felt more intense.
"I forgot to bring my clothes back, they must still be in the bath house."
He chuckled, "That is alright," his fingers caressed my chin and went to glide on the neck, rubbing in a gentle manner. "I will bring them back in the morning, since I will be waking up early."
I trembled slightly when the fingers brushed against my scalp, tracing out random patterns, "You have to go somewhere?"
"Yes, it seems I have to, but until then you can stay in the room, take a bath or even buy scented oils."
Huh?
"What oil?"
He sniffed my neck, his nose almost touching my bare skin, making me tensed. "You used scented scrub," he told me, "which I presume you like, so for your information, the innkeepers around this town also sell bathing utilities and kitchen cutlery, one can buy from them."
I found the aspect intriguing, but I also did not want to invest Xi Ken's money into it. "But I don't like wasting your-"
"Shh," he hushed me, as a weird static seem to be hanging in between us, both out bodies too close with little to no personal space. His own woody scent intermingling with mine.
"Buy something for me as well if you find a good scent, after this mid stop we will be traveling to another region which is not Zor En, it is quiet far."
I wanted to tell him that the woody scent he carried was good enough, but since he told me the plan, I felt as if my interest was piqued, "Why there? Are we going to your hometown?"
He nodded, "Yes, it is my hometown, I generally stay traveling, but to get missions and opportunities, I have to make a visit every once in a while."
"Then that makes it exciting."
He looked pleased with my response, "Yes, we would even find a way for you to go back to your home."
"R-Really?"
"Yes."
I laughed, snuggling into the sheets by my side, happy to have a chance to go back, but... I would miss Xi Ken, and that made my mood dampen.
While my mind wondered when I had started to mind Xi Ken to such an extent where my thoughts would always fall on him unintentionally.
Status de energia semanal
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Poder 
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Poder