Just as Puti said, getting angry here and now wouldn’t do any good. Fortunately, perhaps because Seoho was more out of sorts than usual, he didn’t seem to have noticed what had happened in an instant. Rosetta asked while examining Seoho’s ankle condition.
“May I touch it for a moment?”
“Yes.”
Rosetta brought his fingertips to Seoho’s ankle. As he carefully touched around the ankle, worried that Seoho might feel pain, Rosetta sensed a strange energy from Seoho’s ankle.
More precisely, from the entire foot besides the ankle. The injured ankle had the most concentrated energy, but apart from that, an unidentifiable energy touched various places including the sole of the foot, the top of the foot, and even the toes.
Rosetta asked Seoho.
“Exactly what kind of dream did you have?”
Seoho took a small breath and answered.
“In a situation where I couldn’t move my body or open my eyes, like being under sleep paralysis, something presumed to be a hand grabbed my ankle. And pulled hard.”
Looking at the shape of the bruise, it did look like a handprint.
“It pulled you?”
“Yes, I thought I shouldn’t be dragged away by that hand, so I barely managed to put strength in my foot and kicked down several times… But I was still helplessly dragged.”
Seoho’s face turned pale as he recalled the memory from that time. Rosetta patted him. Seoho squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them and continued.
“As I was thinking I didn’t want to be dragged away, some voice rang in my ear.”
“A voice?”
“Yes, I don’t remember it properly, but when I said I didn’t want to be dragged away, it pondered for a moment then said that since someone wanted me, it would be okay to share power, and that Dawn would help me.”
Only then did Rosetta understand where his power that had suddenly disappeared had gone.
“After that, suddenly vitality started flowing through my body. That’s how I broke free from that hand and woke up.”
Rosetta’s chest bubbled. Because of anger?
No, it wasn’t. Of course, he was still angry at the unidentified thing. But more than that, his heart pounded with an even greater excitement.
So, combining what Seoho just said with the change that had happened to himself a moment ago… Rosetta carefully hid his possessiveness that was trying to crawl out and affectionately called Seoho.
“Seoho.”
“Yes?”
Rosetta grabbed Seoho’s hand.
“I still can’t tell you for certain what that hand was.”
And he interlaced his fingers with Seoho’s, gripping Seoho’s hand as if binding it.
“But I know what the voice you heard was.”
“What was it?”
Rosetta answered while briefly kissing the back of Seoho’s hand.
“The voice of a god.”
“Pardon?”
Rosetta suppressed the urge to stick out his tongue and lick the back of Seoho’s hand, pulling up the corners of his mouth to smile wider. Swallowing the laughter that seemed ready to burst out at any moment, Rosetta explained.
“Part of my power has disappeared. More precisely, about half has disappeared.”
In that moment, Puti made a loud noise from behind.
“What? Your Majesty! What do you mean by that?”
Rosetta didn’t look back at Puti. He could hear bewildered breathing from behind, but what Rosetta needed to care about right now was Seoho, not Puti.
“So if my guess is correct, the Dawn you speak of would be mine.”
“No way…”
Rosetta smiled brightly and said.
“That’s right, it seems my power has transferred to you.”
Seoho spoke restlessly as if flustered.
“What? H-how can I give it back?”
Give it back—there was absolutely no need for that. To share his power. With this, Seoho had become closer to Rosetta. Even if he tried to return it, Rosetta had no intention of accepting it.
‘My thing went to Seoho.’
Rosetta answered with a grin.
“I have no particular intention of taking it back.”
Then absurdity filled Seoho’s face.
“What kind of nonsense is that? This power…”
Rosetta shrugged his shoulders.
“If that power is needed to protect you, I don’t mind.”
Rosetta stopped Seoho, who was about to say something.
“Even if not for that reason, giving you this power doesn’t matter to me at all. Rather, being more together with me…”
“Your Majesty.”
Just as Rosetta was about to speak his sticky inner thoughts, Puti stopped him. Rosetta casually changed his words.
“…Even if you have that power, there’s no particular change for me.”
“It’s not bad for Rosetta’s body?”
“Not particularly. It’s a power I didn’t usually use. So there’s no difference from my usual self.”
“A power Rosetta didn’t usually use?”
Rosetta brought up a story he had never told anyone before.
“The Power of Dawn is divided into two.”
Rosetta brought out the power of darkness he frequently used.
“One is the darkness I use.”
Black smoke billowed up around Rosetta.
“And the other is light.”
“Light?”
“Dawn is a time when darkness and light coexist. I just used darkness because it was more comfortable to use. Originally, light is also a power that belongs to me.”
Seoho asked with a confused face.
“…Th-then exactly what kind of power is it?”
Rosetta pondered for a moment. In fact, he hadn’t properly grasped exactly what the power of darkness could do yet either. So naturally, he didn’t know much about light either.
‘I didn’t use it much anyway.’
Rosetta answered with only what he knew.
“Well, the most representative one is healing?”
“What?”
Puti’s shrill voice came from behind, but Rosetta treated him as if he didn’t exist and looked at Seoho.
Seoho, who had been blinking blankly, asked.
“Healing?”
Rosetta nodded.
“It’s a bit much to definitively call it healing, but anyway, I had no use for it. I don’t get hurt in the first place.”
Thanks to divine power, he became strong militarily, but Rosetta’s body itself also became incomparably sturdier than others, so he didn’t need healing.
Nor was he the type who wanted to heal the injured or care for the sick, so naturally Rosetta had no occasion to use that power.
In fact, Rosetta was also aware that if he used the power of light, people would be bothersome in various ways.
So he had no opportunity to use it, and as he didn’t use it, he almost forgot that such a power existed. It was a power he had forgotten so much that when Seoho first came here, even while worrying about his condition, he didn’t think to use it at all.
‘But if Seoho came to possess it…’
It was the most rewarding day since gaining divine power. Rosetta said with a bright smile.
“So if you have that power, I’m relieved. Even if you don’t use that power directly, your body will now become much sturdier than an ordinary common person.”
Since he gained the divine power of this world, wouldn’t Seoho be bound even more to this world?
‘But I can’t just be happy about this.’
Rosetta glanced at Seoho’s bruised ankle and said.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“…No. Except for being unpleasant to look at, it doesn’t really matter.”
Once he realized the power of light was with Seoho, his mind became much more at ease. Rosetta stroked down Seoho’s thin ankle with his hand and suggested.
“Then let’s postpone the healing for a bit. I’ll have to ask the Saintess about the marks left on your ankle.”
Since Seoho, who came to this world through a mirror, experienced something incomprehensible, shouldn’t he naturally ask the Saintess about this?
“It worked out well. She didn’t leave because the conversation from the other day wasn’t finished, right?”
He was lucky. In fact, it had been very unpleasant that the Saintess deliberately dragged out her words to extend her time staying in the imperial palace the other day, but thanks to that, he could receive help, couldn’t he?
‘If she spouts bullshit about not knowing…’
Rosetta, who had been imagining dark thoughts for a moment, looked at Seoho in front of him and smiled again. Seoho nodded heavily.
“…Right.”
At Seoho’s atmosphere that had sunken considerably, mixed with fear, anxiety, and apologeticness, Rosetta reached out and cupped his cheek.
At Rosetta’s touch, Seoho met his eyes. Rosetta, who smiled with his eyes to mean it was okay, gave an order without even looking at Puti.
“Puti, arrange an appointment with the Saintess quickly.”
Puti tactfully stepped back.
“Yes.”
Rosetta confirmed that Puti had withdrawn and comforted Seoho.
“There’s nothing to worry about. As long as you have divine power, wicked things won’t be able to do anything to you.”
Seoho looked at Rosetta with an anxious face.
“…It’s really okay, right? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with Rosetta’s body, right?”
At Seoho’s question, Rosetta practiced patience once more. How could such a lovable person exist?
Rosetta answered while trying not to put strength into the hands cupping Seoho’s cheeks.
“Yes. It’s okay. Well, problems might arise, but…”
Seoho’s expression became serious at Rosetta’s words.
“Rosetta.”
Rosetta raised his remaining hand and cupped Seoho’s face with both hands as he said.
“Then at that time, Seoho can stay by my side and help me.”
Rosetta looked at Seoho with a subtle smile.
“Anyway, Seoho won’t leave my side, right? Since I don’t know when my condition might worsen, please stay by my side continuously.”
Rosetta lowered his head toward Seoho and whispered softly.
“I’ll also stay by your side continuously to protect you, Seoho.”
Seoho, who had been looking at Rosetta with wavering eyes, slowly opened his mouth.
“…Thank you.”
“What thanks, I’m the one who’s grateful.”
Seoho, who had grabbed both of Rosetta’s hands, gently removed his hands as he said.
“Um…, please convey my thanks to the god as well.”
Rosetta readily nodded.
“Yes, for once something to be grateful for happened. Protecting you.”
It was true. He had never once thought to be grateful to a god, and he had never liked this position of receiving a god’s love, but today was different.
Thanks to that god, he could protect Seoho, and thanks to that, he was more strongly connected to Seoho.
Rosetta suppressed a laugh with his throat trembling.
