Chapter 59: The Researcher’s Heartbreak

Chapter 59. The Researcher’s Heartbreak

"Rey, are you okay?"

Ariel’s voice was soft. Worried.

Her hands hovered over my bare chest, glowing with pale blue healing magic as she carefully checked the damage beneath my skin.

We were inside one of the palace guest rooms.

My cloak was somewhere on the floor.

My jacket had joined it.

Both looked like they’d personally offended a pack of wolves.

I sat topless on the edge of a ridiculously expensive sofa with only my pants remaining, while a neat stack of replacement clothes provided by the king rested on the nearby table. One of the palace servants had already taken my boots away for cleaning.

Probably because they were covered in blood, dirt, and pieces of someone’s dignity.

Mostly Garr’s, hopefully.

Ariel’s magic moved over my ribs.

Warm.

Gentle.

Careful.

She’d offered me her own blood to lessen the pain, but I refused it.

"I don’t feel anything broken," she murmured. "But your muscles are badly bruised."

Liora sat beside me with a basin of warm water. She dipped a clean cloth into it, squeezed out the excess, then carefully wiped dried blood from my shoulder.

Nia stood nearby with a plate of sliced fruit.

She’d already attempted to feed me twice.

I’d refused twice.

That alone had apparently convinced everyone I was dying.

Seris wasn’t inside.

She’d stationed herself outside the door.

After what happened in the hunting ground, she trusted approximately nobody in the palace.

Reasonable.

But I barely noticed any of it.

Because I was staring solemnly out the window.

Silent.

Heartbroken.

And for once, I wasn’t even hiding it.

"Rey?" Ariel asked me once again.

I sighed. "I’m fine."

It was a lie.

A terrible lie.

My heart was shattered.

My soul was wounded.

My principles had been violated.

For the first time in my entire existence... I had betrayed my researcher heart.

That A-tier core.

Potentially holding the answer to one of my unfinished projects.

And I’d walked away.

Voluntarily.

I felt disgusting.

Could I explain this to my wives? Absolutely not.

What was I supposed to say?

’Don’t worry. I’m just sad because I had to leave that wolf’s core behind.’

They’d laugh at me.

Worse, they might actually start wondering whether Garr had been right and the curse had driven me insane.

Researcher wasn’t even really a profession in this era.

There were scholars.

Alchemists.

Magicians.

But dedicated magical researchers who willingly sacrificed sleep, food, social lives, and occasionally common sense just to answer a question nobody else cared about?

Rare.

So here I sat.

Topless.

Staring through an enormous palace window like the tragic protagonist of some overly dramatic romance film.

All I needed was rain.

Perhaps thunder.

Maybe some flower petals drifting dramatically through the air while melancholic music played somewhere.

Something brushed my shoulder.

I blinked.

A flower petal.

What?

Another floated past my face.

Then another.

One.

Two.

Three.

I lifted my hand and caught one.

Pink.

Soft.

Fresh.

I stared at it.

Had the universe just responded to my dramatic request?

More petals descended.

I slowly looked upward.

Then followed their path.

Lily.

Liora stopped wiping my shoulder and stared at her. "What are the flower petals for?"

Lily waved both hands. A soft green-gold glow surrounded her fingers. "He smells like blood."

I stared at her.

Lily smiled brightly. "So I’m making him smell good again."

Then she waved harder.

The petals didn’t gently drift toward me this time.

They charged.

A massive fan-shaped gust exploded from Lily’s hands, carrying hundreds of flower petals straight at my body and face.

-WHOOSH!

"Lily—!"

The wind slammed into me hard enough to whip my hair backward.

Petals flew everywhere.

Roses.

Lilies.

Tiny white blossoms.

Purple flowers I couldn’t identify.

They smacked against my bare chest, plastered themselves across my shoulders, tangled in my hair, and attacked my face with the determination of an extremely colorful swarm.

I squinted against the wind.

"Okay! That’s eno—"

Terrible mistake.

I opened my mouth.

A pink petal flew straight inside.

I immediately shut it again.

The floral hurricane continued.

The smell hit next.

It wasn’t perfume anymore.

It was an assassination attempt committed by an entire botanical garden.

The concentrated floral scent invaded my nose, my lungs, my soul, and possibly several previous incarnations.

I raised an arm to shield my face. "Lily! Stop!"

The wind finally died.

Petals fluttered harmlessly to the floor.

Silence returned.

I sat there completely covered in flowers, my hair ruined for the second time today.

"Achoo!"

I sneezed violently.

Something was still inside my mouth.

I stuck my tongue out, caught the offending pink petal with my fingers, and pulled it off with a disgusted expression.

Nia covered her mouth. Her shoulders shook suspiciously.

I pointed at Lily. "Enough flowers. Bees are going to sting me if you throw any more."

Lily paused. A handful of petals hovered dramatically around her. "You’re sure you don’t want more?"

"I am extremely sure."

She looked disappointed.

I stared at the petals covering my lap.

Great, I had survived three SSS-rank former comrades trying to murder me. But Fairy Princess aromatherapy nearly finished the job.

I stood quickly.

Bad decision.

Pain immediately shot through my back.

My muscles protested.

I froze.

Ariel immediately reached for me. "Rey!"

"I’m fine."

"You’re obviously not fine," she argued.

"Temporarily less fine."

Liora gave me the kind of look usually reserved for particularly stupid patients. "Sit down."

"No. Because if I remain here, Lily is going to turn me into a flower arrangement."

"I can make a crown!" Lily offered.

Nia finally lost the battle and laughed.

I glared at her.

She responded by lifting another slice of fruit toward my mouth.

I stared at it. Then at her. "No."

"You haven’t eaten since the hunt," she coaxed me with a sweet voice.

"I’ll eat later."

Her fox ears twitched. "C’mon, Rey. Open up."

We stared at each other for a second.

She won.

I leaned forward and took the fruit directly from her fingers with my mouth, chewing it while Nia’s expression immediately brightened with unbearable satisfaction.

My dignity defeated by a piece of fruit.

"I’ll go change. Wait here."

I grabbed the stack of clean clothes from the table and tucked it beneath my arm. I needed to change everything anyway, including my pants.

And yes, although the women currently surrounding me were my wives. That fact did not mean I intended to strip completely in the middle of a royal guest room while all five of them were hovering around me.

I still possessed common sense.

Some.

Probably.

Besides, we were inside the royal palace. I’d just dodged a coordinated murder attempt from my former comrades, burned through almost all my Forbidden Energy, and gotten battered by the shock wave of a fortress-breaking attack.

This was absolutely not the time for my brain to switch from survival mode into husband mode.

Especially with five beautiful wives fussing over a half-naked me.

Nope.

Dangerous territory.

I headed straight for the adjoining changing room before my remaining common sense decided to abandon me too.