Loving The Mad King

Rion Asks Odette To Choose His Outfit

"Ah! Uh!" Rion pulled his neck away when Odette was about to smear the medicine on his neck. He didn't want the medicine to touch him at all, and Odette had to coax and nag him due to his childlike behavior.

"Come on. You said you were busy and didn't have much time."

"Ugh. If it gets worse, I'll fire you right away!"

"It won't. Come on!"

Rion was restless, but in the end, he complied and instantly froze when Odette got very close to him. He lowered his gaze, and when he saw the face of the girl who was seriously treating his wound, his feelings became strange.

He felt like … his heart warmed up?

No! He must not allow himself to be attracted to any woman. He didn't want to betray Rose's love, and he had no right to be happy anymore after he killed Rose. He didn't deserve it.

He didn't deserve it!

Odette was still smearing the medicine on Rion's wound and the king closed his eyes. Because the medicine was very soothing to his neck which felt hot and burning, the coolness even blew up to his heart. It was very comfortable.

"It's done," said Odette after a while, but she was surprised that Rion, who had been restless and wanted to run away from the medicine, didn't move. At first, Odette thought that as soon as she finished applying the medicine, he wouldn't delay a second to leave. What happened?

Odette looked at Rion, who still closed his eyes. The man's face looked very calm. Odette raised her hand slowly and touched the man's cheek with the tip of her index finger, which immediately made Rion open his eyes.

The cold sensation that touched his face pulled Rion back to reality as he subconsciously got carried away.

"What?" A faint look of surprise appeared in his eyes, after which he looked at the woman sitting beside him, and then at the index finger that was still on his cheek.

"Are you okay?" asked Odette.

Rion made a flat expression then brushed Odette's hand a little roughly.

"Tsk, your dirty hands touched my face," he said, immediately standing up. He wanted to wear the scarf again, but Odette immediately snatched the scarf and asked Rion not to wear it.

She said Rion had to wait for the medicine on his neck to dry for up to five minutes. Rion, who didn't want to listen to her, said that Odette had no right to regulate what he should and shouldn't wear. Odette argued that she only thought about Rion's health because it was her duty.

Odette also commented on Rion's self-indulgent attitude, not wanting to listen to advice, his stubbornness and childishness. "If you don't listen to the advice given to you, no doctor can cure you."

Rion snorted. This woman was chirping like a bird.

"So what?" He looked at Odette flatly.

Odette stood up. "What do you mean?"

"So, what should I wear? This medicine is making me look worse." Rion pointed at his neck.

"Don't cover it up."

"Get out. You're fired." Rion always spoke in a flat tone, but his words often shocked Odette.

"What? W-what do you mean?" Odette suddenly stuttered. If she got fired, it meant she wouldn't have a job. Then, since she wasn't Rion's doctor anymore, what if she got kicked out of the palace because she was considered as a person without any interest to be there? Where should she go?

Good grief. Odette didn't feel ready to get out of that place and lived a life outside on her own.

Odette became silent. She didn't know what to say. She just stared intently at the man in front of her before finally looking away in annoyance. "Hmph."

Meanwhile, Rion was silent for two seconds before walking towards the mirror and looking at his neck. His appearance was indeed very bad, but the medicine Odette gave him was very effective. The itching and burning that he had been feeling had subsided.

"So, what should I wear?" he asked, looking at Odette's reflection in the mirror. The woman still looked away with a sullen expression, and it made him smile. However, the smile disappeared quickly when he felt unworthy to do so again.

After hearing Rion's words, Odette turned her head and looked ahead at Rion, who was standing with his back to her and facing the mirror.

She looked at Rion with a look that seemed to be asking for an explanation. Rion snorted again when he saw that Odette was silent.

"Did you not hear what I said?" he asked after turning to face Odette.

"So, I'm not fired?"

"What do you think?"

"..."

"You know that I have to hide my condition from people. So, you have to understand that I have to cover this up. So, hurry up and tell me what to wear or I'll really fire you," said Rion again facing the mirror.

Meanwhile, Odette was still silent. In her heart, Rion parroted. 'Quick tell me what to wear or I'll fire you really.' She rolled her eyes lazily.

Rion, who had turned back, turned around again.

"Hey!" he yelled to the woman who was just standing there.

Odette was surprised.

"Hurry!" Rion said with emphasis. He gave off a terrifying aura, as if he wanted to gobble humans up.

"Wear light clothing," said Odette quickly. Rion opened his cupboard and took out all its contents. Then he told Odette to choose one for him while he would sit back and relax while waiting for the medicine on his neck to dry.

Odette began to choose the clothes that she thought would make Rion feel comfortable when wearing them. However, what made it difficult was when she had to think of clothes that covered the wound on the man's neck. Any clothes that had high collars had very thick materials and were not very suitable for use in the summer like today.

"Rion, can this be removed?" Odette lifted and showed a shirt. The inside was thin and had a high collar, not much embroidery but intertwined with a wolf-style fur coat.

Rion was silent for a moment. It was one of his favorite outfits, but he finally nodded even though he really didn't want to wear it.

"Hm," he answered with a nod then got up from his seat, and went to the bathroom to rinse his neck while Odette started to take off the coat.

"Miss Ody." Anwen came over. "What are you doing?" she added.

Odette explained and Anwen nodded in understanding.

"Anwen, I thought you went to practice?"

"I canceled it."

"Why?"

Anwen said that she remembered Lucifer and was worried about Odette, so she came back. Odette felt touched to hear that, but Rion, who was about to get out of the bathroom, overheard this and felt sad because the people around him felt threatened when they were with him.

It wasn't their fault.

He walked languidly towards the mirror and looked at himself sharply, then he was surprised when the image he saw suddenly turned into Lucifer.

"Get out of my life!" Rion spoke in anger.