Chapter 171: 171: A calm sleep
Leo was still subconscious, asleep in bed, so he didn’t bother much.
He was still engrossed in his sleep while he ran his hand again. And this time, he was certain that his hands were brushing through the bare skin of someone else.
And this time, he slowly opened his eyes first.
His hands were on Eden’s bare chest. His body was extremely close to the half-naked young man who was now sleeping beside him.
At first, he didn’t understand what was happening. He struggled to understand. But as he stared at the scene for a while, he immediately got up to his feet.
Leo had panic all over his face as he ran a hand through himself. He was still clothed, so at least nothing he feared happened.
He turned to his side and stared at Eden, who was still asleep. He didn’t have any bedsheets over him. His robe had almost given up on him.
All he had was his boxers that covered him up nicely.
Leo sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. And then he brushed a hand through his heavy eyes.
He couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep.
He gently looked around the room. The sight of the familiar confused him.
It was his room. A room he was sure he didn’t sleep in. A room he was certain he couldn’t sleep in. One he was sure haunted him every time he closed an eye in it.
But he had slept in it. Comfortably. And it was sleep he couldn’t even remember the last time he had. The most comfortable sleep.
Confused, he ran a hand through his eyebrows while looking at Eden, who was asleep beside him.
He should be mad. He should kick him out. And he knew. But he was too tired for that as he slowly got down from bed.
He adjusted his clothes while he lazily made his way out of the bedroom. The hallway was empty. Strangely.
He was certain there were supposed to be guards around, guarding at least. "Are they slacking off or something...?"
He muttered as he made his way to the dining room.
He was still confused while he made his way off. Still confused as to how he ended up sleeping so peacefully when he was certain he couldn’t with the insomnia.
He was sure the drug wasn’t behind it. He had been using it for a while, and he was sure it wasn’t capable of doing that.
While he sat down at the dining table, a maid approached him.
"Get me something to drink," he casually instructed while still wondering how he was able to sleep peacefully in a room he was certain was haunted for him.
And as the maid turned to leave, he asked, "And where is Damien?"
"Oh, I haven’t seen him all morning. Along with some other guards. It’s like they disappeared from the palace. No sign of them anywhere..." the maid explained.
While the maid left to get what he had instructed, Leo stared into thin air, confused.
"Disappeared?" he muttered in thought.
Now he guessed he had a lot to think about.
But soon, Damien actually walked into the dining room.
He was completely covered in mud water. His whole body was filled with dirt, and he reeked of the smell of it as well.
Shocked at the sight of the dirt monster that suddenly approached, Leo ran his hands through his nose while glaring at him.
"What happened? Why do you look like you spent the night swimming through the rivers of dirt?!" Leo panicked at the sight of Damien approaching.
He stretched out his hands, signaling him to stay behind.
"Because I actually did." Damien looked horrified. It was also almost impossible to see his face with the mud covering him all up.
The floor was also dripping with mud as well.
"...." Leo stared at him, shocked. "What the good heavens happened to you?"
"I don’t know, I..." Damien wanted to explain.
"Wait." Leo stopped him, his hands over his nose. "First go and get yourself washed up in the highest order. And come back and explain..."
"But..."
"Go..." Leo said. It was an order, and Damien couldn’t defy.
"Yes, My Lord." He turned and left.
Leo slowly calmed himself down as he watched him leave. And then he called the maid to clean up whatever was left there.
---
Damien had rushed and gotten himself washed up.
Soon, he was standing beside Leo, who was enjoying his morning drink at the dining table.
"So, what happened to you?" Leo questioned.
Damien started off by explaining what Eden did to him. How Eden had used some strange powers to trap him up and all.
"I couldn’t even move at all... I was just there..." he explained in terror.
Leo stared at him. "So... how does that have to do with you looking like a dirt monster?"
"Oh. About that. Well, I don’t know, but while I was up there, I suddenly disappeared. Like poof! And suddenly I found myself in a pool of mud."
Damien continued. "And I wasn’t even alone. I was trapped in this pool of mud with some palace guards. And all of us couldn’t get out till this morning! We tried swimming through it all night."
As they explained, Leo stared at him. He didn’t know how that was possible.
He wasn’t a fan of magic and didn’t really believe in power. So he didn’t know how to logically explain that.
The only magical person he had around was Eden. And he couldn’t say he was behind it since he was pretty much with him all night.
Or was he...?
"So who was behind it?" Leo questioned.
"I still don’t know. But there’s only one demon we know and have around. That wizard of EL..." Damien said. "He must be the one behind it."
"How sure are you?" Leo asked.
Damien blinked. "I mean, he’s the only one with such abilities to do such. So it’s certainly him."
He was more than sure after suffering through hell all night.