Chapter 25 - Brother's Bedroom

Fang had never felt so good, but his excitement quickly faded away as he realized he was naked and Valeria wasn’t very far from the tub. He reached for his clothes when Valeria interrupted him.

“Don’t put on your clothes yet. Come over here.”

“?”

Valeria tapped the glass next to her. “The energy bath isn’t fully complete yet; there’s still the last step left.”

He didn’t know much about how this worked, so he moved next to her.

From a ring, she extracted a white, opaque bottle and dropped a drop of a purple liquid that she spread on Fang’s chest. The liquid seeped into his skin and, contrasting the fiery heat he felt, cooled him down.

She explained as she poured another drop, “You’ve just absorbed the energy, and not all of it is fully kept by your body. Over time, it will leak out, and the loss can be significant. This mixture containing Snow Dragon blood will prevent that.”

But he struggled to hear, unable to focus at all with the slender, creamy hand wiping down his chest. Embarrassed, Fang quickly protested, “Lady Valeria, please don’t trouble yourself. I’ll apply the tonic by myself.”

“Are you sure about that? This involves complex manipulation, detecting the hot spots of energy within your body. Otherwise, it might be ineffective.” She turned her attention to his back. “Additionally, I only have a total of five bottles containing the Snow Dragon blood, each costing at least hundreds of thousands of gold. Due to the danger of collecting this material, it hasn’t been put up for auction very often, and these bottles were all that were sold in the last two years.”

Hundreds of thousands of coins!

Fang froze in shock, as his savings totaled around fifty gold coins, where ten gold coins would be enough to comfortably rent an inn room for a couple of months. And Valeria had spent hundreds of thousands of gold—wealth he couldn’t imagine—just to help maintain his energy!

By applying it himself, he could waste that money in ignorance, so he had to relent. “Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Awkwardly, he waited as all of the medicine was applied. Once all the visible energy dissipated from sight, Valeria stoppered the vial. Fang immediately asked, “Lady Valeria, is there anything else?”

“No, we’re done for today.”

As if his life depended on it, Fang hurriedly put on his clothes while Valeria let out a small smile at his actions.

After Fang had finished dressing, Valeria looked at him. “The effects of this drug and absorption should take nearly a month to fully process, but you still need to practice to simulate it. Take these daily supplements as well.”

Ten bottles appeared, and she handed them to Fang, carefully clarifying the time and dosage. Reminded of the date, Valeria turned to Fang again. “Oh, and since the energy tower isn’t open on holidays, you can stay the night if you’re willing and train early in the morning. Of course, if you’re uncomfortable with that, I’ll have Rhodes pick you up tomorrow morning to continue as well.” Fang thought about it when Valeria interrupted his thoughts once again. “Also, you don’t have to be so formal with me; Valeria is fine, after all, we’ll be seeing each other very often in the future.”

Hesitating slightly, Fang replied, “I’ll stay the night, if it’s okay, Valeria.”

“It’s getting late, so I’ll go prepare a room. You can wash yourself off now.”

Due to the bath, Fang did smell, so he nodded and headed towards the bathroom.

After the bath, he was accompanied by the waiting secretary to escort him to his room. Climbing a set of winding stairs, he arrived at a room off to the side. Looking inside, he saw Valeria preparing the bed, spreading out blankets.

Since his parents had died, the only person who had prepared the bed for him was Mii. So to see Valeria preparing his bed sensibly, he felt touched. Hearing footsteps, Valeria turned around. “Oh, there you are. I was just tidying your room—is it satisfactory?”

Fang took a closer look; the decorations were simple, and the room gave off a homely, warm glow that created a quiet atmosphere. “It feels very pleasant.”

“Does it? It’s my brother’s bedroom.”

Taken aback, Fang held onto a nearby chair. “What?”

To hear that this was part of Valeria’s family home, it surely wasn’t an appropriate place for a visitor. Moreover, from Blue, he had heard that Valeria’s father and brother had been killed in that disaster; thus, the only memories remaining would be in this room.

“Valeria, could I change to a different room?”

“Are you sure?” Valeria said indifferently. “Any other room in this house is relatively large compared to this one, as my father liked it that way. However, my brother and I preferred smaller rooms, so these two rooms are the only small ones in the house. Unless it disturbs you to be in a place where people once lived, I can arrange another room for you.”

She considered Fang’s past, where losing his parents might have made him feel as lonely as she did in a large mansion.

Fang quickly responded, “No, I’m fine.”

“Then, good night. If you need anything, I’ll be in the room beside yours.” Valeria walked out of the room. “You must be tired; get plenty of rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She closed the door.

Fatigue set in as Fang drowsily lay down on the soft, warm bed. Although it was his first time staying in this strange place, he didn’t feel unsettled at all. The pleasant scent and warm, simple furnishings reminded him of a time when his family was together and happy.

Soothed, Fang fell asleep.