CHAPTER 353: THE LOVE GUIDE

Life is full of surprises.

It had always been true, but Xion had never felt it more deeply than today.

Just as his heart was still full from the painting, he found himself staring at little trinkets carefully kept in a box.

Darius must have never thought that anyone would even dare to step inside his treasure room, so there were no locks on the boxes.

Yes, there wasn’t just one but many.

The holy book, which he had left behind, was carefully labelled with "My Xion’s".

There was a glass bottle with green misty sparkle shimmering inside. The green aurora had long since lost its energy.

At that time, Xion had no idea that this was such a common thing for aristocrats.

The bottle, despite being empty of traces of mana, had many scratches on the glass as if someone had held it very often.

The more he rummaged through the boxes, the harder his heart thumped.

There was that angel-winged hairpin he had bought from the system, and there was that separate box filled with dried flowers.

Some white, some pink, but most of them were blue.

"Blue suits you."

Those words faintly echoed in his ears.

The pad of fingers barely touched the dried petal before retreating.

"They look so fragile, as if one touch and they might just be gone for good."

The system couldn’t understand the melancholy radiating off its host. If His Grace was keeping all these things like cherished treasures, shouldn’t Xion be happy?

[That is exactly what should happen. But why are you sad, host?]

Xion gently closed the box before his finger hovered over another one, placed far too deep into the clusters of various sizes of boxes.

"Just as you’ve said, the vanishing is natural. So, what if... I mean... just an assumption, what if I disappear? What will Darius do?"

[He will bring you back, of course.]

The answer was straightforward to the point that it made Xion chuckle. A mirthless laugh.

"Yes, he will. Won’t he?" Then why is there a sudden sense of suffocation burning in my chest?

It was as if all these things, adored like some jewel, had started to decay something inside. Just like those flowers.

They seemed to whisper that he, too, might one day wither like them. He had already started to feel it in his eyes.

"I feel bad."

He actually felt worse. So much that the clarity in his vision had started to sting him.

If he weren’t blind, then he could have done so many things with Darius. He could have painted them. Or maybe cooked.

He could have helped him with his official work.

More than anything else, he just wanted to take a proper look at Darius’ face. Was that too much to ask?

Perhaps yes.

Because now, he was like a patient who needed constant care every minute of the day.

The system, aware of the fierce emotional weight inside Xion’s heart, regretted its decision.

It should have taken the warning of other systems more seriously. Humans were indeed strangely powerful and yet fragile beings.

To distract Xion from mourning over the loss of his eyes, it excitedly said,[Host, why don’t you check that box in your hand? It looks like something to keep letters. What if we find something relating to His Grace’s hidden love letter for you?]

Xion looked at the flat box in his hand and stilled for a moment. Well, at least, the system wasn’t clamoring to find Darius’ secret lover anymore.

Trying to amuse himself, he set his fingers on the tiny lock and opened it.

Rather than letters, there was a book placed inside. A red cover that Xion had never seen before.

The owner of the room was definitely careful while cleaning. There was not a speck of dust anywhere, not even on the cover of the book.

With a casual flip, the first page came into Xion’s view.

"The love guide."

That title sure managed to distract Xion.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at the name of the author scribbled at the end.

"By Allen."

With a raised brow, Xion flipped the first page only to see the densely packed words.

No, those weren’t just the lines written by Allen but by the reader.

Just one look, and he could tell all these annotations were written by none other than his husband.

"One should be gentle with their partner."

Under such a title, there were even types of gentleness.

Gentle while speaking, gentle while helping them do something. Gentle while trying to tell your point, even if the other party is against it. Gentle while having sex....

The list was two pages long, each with careful descriptions. Almost as if Allen didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.

As he read further, all his sadness evaporated, turning into... embarrassment.

The next part was to use affectionate names to call the lover.

That alone wasn’t shocking, but the words scribbled in the margins were.

"Xion calls me sweetheart, so he must like it."

"It had been so many days. I miss him."

"Xion also called me baby. I want to call him too. Will he get angry if I do it?"

The next page turned, displaying the extra pages added to the book.

"It has been a few months, six to be exact. I miss him. I can’t sleep without him.

And when I do, I often dream of him. Sometimes it is a small form of him. A child of mere five or six. I want to play with him, but before I even reach for his hand, the dream ends. It always does."

"It had been one year and four months. I wonder if Xion is doing well. I have instructed Varenehold to take care of him. Having the lord of the place as an aid was the only thing I could do without being noticed.

If Xion finds out, he might hate me. But he already does hate me."

The word ’hate’ was written with such heavy pressure that the delicate paper had torn apart. The rest of the sheet was empty if one ignored the heavy smudges of ink.

Xion flipped to the other page, silently skimming over the words and stopping at the remarks Darius had left in between like his personal diary.