CHAPTER 307: ANOTHER DAY

Someone else could write the report however they liked.

Someone else could take the reward.

The government and the nobles sent invitations for victory parades and celebrations, wanting him to share the joy with the citizens and honor the achievement of defeating the Aeon.

He ignored every one of them.

If they wanted to celebrate, they could do it without him.

They should not drag him into it.

Dominic only wanted to stay beside Shiao Yi.

He did not want anyone disturbing him.

"The bath is ready."

Lambard knocked on the bedroom door and told him.

Dominic undressed Shiao Yi and wrapped him carefully in a wide towel.

Shiao Yi’s crushed bones and damaged organs had regenerated and his body had become more stable.

After about a week, Shiao Yi had recovered enough that Dominic could bring him to the bath like this.

"Let’s warm up well."

He spoke to Shiao Yi who gave him no reply, then lifted him gently in both arms.

He carried him down the stairs to the bath.

In the changing room, he laid Shiao Yi softly on the couch, then quickly undressed himself.

He unwrapped the towel and carried Shiao Yi’s naked body into the bathing area.

Dominic was glad he had remodeled the bath to be wide, even though he had never expected a situation like this.

While holding Shiao Yi on his lap, he washed his body carefully and also washed his hair.

He placed Shiao Yi on the couch in the bath area and washed himself quickly too.

Then he lifted Shiao Yi again and entered the main bathtub.

They could both soaking slowly while Dominic held him.

He adjusted his hold so Shiao Yi could lay slightly against him and he massaged Shiao Yi’s arms and legs to help the blood flow.

"How is it? Does it hurt? Is it too hot?"

Shiao Yi slept with no expression at all, but Dominic kept talking to him.

Although there was no answer, but maybe his voice could still reached Shiao Yi.

Maybe these small things would help wake him up from his long sleep.

Shiao Yi’s arms and legs drifted weakly in the warm water, they look thin and lack of muscle.

There was a limit to how much Dominic could feed Shiao Yi while he slept.

Shiao Yi could only take liquid food and even when Dominic fed him with a spoon or let Shiao Yi drink through mouth-to-mouth, it was never enough.

Because of the lack of nutrition and no movement, Shiao Yi was clearly becoming weaker day by day.

After they left the bath and returned to the bedroom, Dominic put new sleepwear on him.

"Did you get warm? It was a good bath. Lambard is getting better at preparing the water."

He spoke while brushing Shiao Yi’s hair gently.

"Shiao Yi, when will you wake up? You’ve slept long enough, haven’t you?"

It was true that Dominic thought it was enough just that Shiao Yi was alive.

At that terrifying place, in that terrible condition, it had been a miracle that Shiao Yi survived and made it back to him alive.

Just like the mountains and land around it, Shiao Yi could have been blown to pieces together with the Aeon, or burned until not even bones remained.

Since Shiao Yi fell from the sky, he had probably teleported into the upper sky.

He must have moved far above to avoid being caught in the explosion.

Even so, until the last moment, he held the Aeon down.

Because of that, he had taken a huge shock and pressure.

A normal person would have died instantly at that point.

Shiao Yi survived only because of his strong will and the body that had been artificially strengthened.

Dominic found himself, for the first time, feeling gratitude toward the people in Shiao Yi’s original world.

He had felt nothing but anger and hatred toward that world that had hurt Shiao Yi and treated him so cruelly.

But that world with advanced science had done one good thing.

However, even the strongest modified body would weaken if it could not take real food.

At the end of that weakness waited a slow death.

If Shiao Yi did not wake up, he would die before long.

Dominic was beginning to prepare himself in some quiet part of his mind.

"When you die, I will go with you."

He knelt down beside the bed and held Shiao Yi’s powerless hand between both of his own.

"Didn’t we promise? That we would go everywhere together. Don’t think you can leave me behind, Shiao Yi. If you die, I will follow you at once. You won’t even have time to wait. Let’s go together. To the afterlife and the world beyond that. Always together."

It was his prayer.

He would never let Shiao Yi go.

Shiao Yi had been loved by someone who would not give up.

He should not think he could run away.

Shiao Yi was his one and only.

Even if the world were to end, they would be together forever.

As Dominic watched Shiao Yi, it seemed he fell asleep without noticing.

A knock sounded and Jude opened the door.

"I brought your morning tea. Will you not go to the palace today either?"

"Of course I wasn’t going. Put the tea on the table," Dominic said.

He had fallen asleep kneeling beside Shiao Yi while leaning against him as if guarding him.

He stood up and stretched his stiff body.

He opened the curtains of the window, which opened wide enough to step out onto the balcony.

It was sunny again today.

The season was shifting from summer to autumn.

He could see two small birds flew across the blue sky.

In the courtyard, Eline washed the laundry while talking to someone who he could not be seen from here.

In the stables, Lambard seemed to be tending to his beloved horse, Marengo.

Ah... another day was beginning.

Another day of Shiao Yi’s life slowly being worn away.