The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-270

After passing out earlier on, Aeria fell into a deep sleep. She laid in her bed silently.

“She’ll be fine after a bit of rest,” said Davey as he finished Aeria’s examination.

“Perhaps this is related to the disease that she had before?”

“That disease has already been purged completely. It will no longer harm the Imperial Princess,” Davey said firmly. He was sure that the earlier disease was no longer affecting Aeria.

Emperor Deorte nodded at Davey’s firm answer.

“But…” Davey trailed off before shutting his mouth.

‘Whatever this is, it is progressing faster than I expected…’

Davey had heard about a similarly extraordinary situation before. In fact, he had never witnessed such a rapid progression of symptoms even after applying the medicine that he had learned from Hypocria.

“But?” Emperor Deorte asked quietly.

“It’s nothing,” Davey said.

“You can go now. You can leave the rest to the Imperial Family.”

“Let me treat her.”

“What qualifications do you have to do so?”

To Emperor Deorte, it was Davey who had dragged Aeria into such a situation.

If he intended to shake Aeria off completely, Davey should not show contradicting actions right now.

“You’re still immature,” Emperor Deorte said calmly. He then headed toward the window before asking quietly, “Do you know how I met Aeria’s biological mother?”

Davey looked over silently, then answered, “Who knows?”

“Aeria’s mother is a beastfolk. A fox beastfolk.”

Anyone could infer that fact just from looking at Aeria’s ears.

“Among the fox beastfolk, Aeria’s race is a bit unique,” Emperor Deorte said calmly as he locked the window in front of him.

“A bit unique?”

“Nine Tails. Have you heard about them?”

“Nine Tails…” Davey murmured as he recalled something that had been said to him in the past.

[My wife? You want to know who she is?]

The man had said as he scooped up a bucket of alcohol.

[My wife has already entered the cycle of reincarnation. She died at an early age. It’s because of a chronic illness. And it’s all because of me.]

The man had said that it was a mental illness. His wife had died after the mental illness worsened over time.

“Let me tell you this,” Emperor Deorte said calmly as he approached Aeria. “Aeria’s biological mother was the scariest among all of my wives.”

Clack…

Then, Emperor Deorte took out a dainty necklace, hung it around Aeria’s neck, and headed toward the door.

“What the…”

“This is your fault for giving Aeria hope. I have definitely warned you before.”

Emperor Deorte had clearly told Davey that if he was going to refuse Aeria then he had to firmly refuse her. It was all about refusing the other’s feelings before they could fall even deeper in love. One could not afford to give them any more hope.

“You. You still have a little bit of affection for Aeria.”

Feeling a sudden wave of anxiety, Davey stood up from his seat.

However, the emperor had already reached the door. Then, he said, “For your information, a female Nine Tails will never show their tails to others. They only show them to their chosen mate. Do your best.”

Clack!

“Your… Your Majesty?”

Why did Davey never think about it? Aeria was a Nine Tails. If she truly was a Nine Tails, then…

“Ugh?!” Davey groaned, trying to move away from Aeria on instinct.

Just then, Aeria’s hands shot out. As her turquoise hair began to shine brightly under the moonlight, her firmly closed eyes suddenly snapped open to reveal glowing purple eyes. She looked completely different from her usual appearance.

“Im… Imperial Princess?” Davey asked in a fluster as he tried to step back.

Unfortunately, Aeria held onto Davey’s hands tightly. At the same time, she slowly raised her body from the bed. Unlike her sickly appearance from moments earlier, she looked quite energetic as she lowered herself back on the bed seductively.

Looking up at Davey with her big eyes, Aeria said with a subtle change in her voice, “Sir… Da…vey…”

Before Davey could even move away from her, Aeria suddenly took out a small silver knife from her pockets and thrust it toward her heart.

Bang!!!

Just then, Davey moved reflexively. He leaned forward, slapped the blade away from Aeria’s hands, and glared at her. “What is this… Hmph?!”

When Davey had leaned into her to slap the blade away, Aeria quickly snatched Davey’s shoulders. Then, with movements she had never shown before, she completely overwhelmed Davey and dragged him down onto the bed.

Seeing that Aeria was getting on top of him, Davey instantly moved and tried to stand up. However, something soft, fluffy, and turquoise in color grabbed his hands to pin them down to the bed. The power behind this mysterious thing was beyond his imagination.

Then, without any hesitation, Aeria shut Davey up with her own lips.

“Hmph?! Hmmmph?!”

Davey immediately stopped struggling.

Aeria still did not move away from Davey. She continued to tangle their tongues together for a little while longer before licking her lips. She said, “You’re quite a bad person. Why do you have to keep giving me hope and letting me down?”

Even Aeria’s way of speaking had changed.

Davey could use his strength to easily overpower Aeria. However, one wrong move on his part and Aeria could get severely hurt.

“But I don’t blame you. Although my original personality respects your choice, I am not someone who will reject food that has been served on a silver platter right in front of me…” Aeria’s eyes flashed with purple light as she smiled at Davey.

Fiddling with the necklace on her neck, Aeria asked, “Prince, do you know what this is?”

“Princess, what are you doing?”

“This is an artifact that is used to seal our race’s instincts. It is to prevent something like this from happening.”

If that was the case, then this entire situation had been caused by a single culprit. The culprit had awakened Aeria’s sleeping instincts, and the culprit was none other than that goddamn emperor.

—Hmm. Right. Since you made a mistake, you should take responsibility.

‘You punk.’

Davey glared at Perserque, who just shrugged her shoulders at him.

—Davey, you’re not yet perfect, you know? You can completely stop any kind of curse and your magic resistance is extremely high. But, you know… There’s no way for you to stop a special ability, right?

“Ugh…”

Special ability users were separate entities. As for the Nine Tails, they were a group of special ability users who consistently made a name for themselves in the Tionis Continent. And the Nine Tails’ special ability was Opponent’s Rut.

Just like that, blood began to flow away from Davey’s head. He was being forced to lose control of his strength.

“If you’re going to leave, it’s best that you leave now,” Aeria said calmly.

Only then did Davey slowly exert his power.

“However, the only future waiting for a Nine Tails who has been abandoned by their partner is…”

They would simply be awaiting death. This would be the only outcome whether one was a male or a female Nine Tails. Simply put, this was the reason why their race was small in number despite the nature of their special ability.

“Did you think that my father has left me alone here with you because I’m clueless as to why you’ve rejected me?”

“Don’t do something that you will regret, Imperial Princess. I cannot afford to give my heart to you, Princess…”

“Lies. You do not have anyone, right? That’s all I need to know,” Aeria said with a strange smile. “If that won’t work, then just leave me. If you really do not have any room in your heart to accept me, then leave.”

‘Damn!’

Aeria slowly unbuttoned Davey’s clothes while speaking calmly, “You have seen my tails. Do you know the significance of a member of the opposite sex seeing the tails of a Nine Tails who have come of age for the first time?”

It was an oath of eternal submission.

“The reason why you rejected me…should be due to my young age, right? After all, I’m just a girl who hasn’t even turned twenty. By your standards, I should still be young.”

The heady scent of heavy arousal started to spread in the room. To be exact, that was only how Davey was perceiving the entire situation. This was because his blood was roaring in his ears and his senses had become extremely sensitive.

Nevertheless, Aeria’s words made Davey’s eyes grow wide. Davey had never told anyone else anything remotely close to that topic. There was only one person who knew about that concern.

Only one existence had gotten to read his memories…

At that point, Davey turned to look at Perserque, who immediately avoided his scathing and crazed glare while whistling a soft tune. How the hell did it happen?! When the hell did it happen? No one else could see Perserque other than Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon…

[Davey, can you lend me Red Ribbon?]

[Brother, I’ll bring you with me to the empire.]

[Lyndis Empire’s invitation…]

Davey had been played. This situation had not been created by Emperor Deorte alone. Just how many people were involved in this scam?

Davey glared at Perserque, who simply smiled bitterly. She did not even try to deny anything.

—Enjoy.

The gentle smile that had always been on Perserque’s face disappeared after she waved her hands.

Davey lost the strength to struggle. With a blank expression, he looked up at the place where Perserque had vanished.

“Make your choice. Since you want to live as you please, then I will also live as I please. Of course, none of it is your business. I can just quietly disappear after being rejected.”

Aeria was still scared to say that she was going to die.

Davey slowly loosened his clenched palms at Aeria’s completely different behavior. He could tell that the princess was not lying. Also, even after being placed in this unpleasant situation, Davey still did not want the girl who was sitting on top of him to die.

“Let’s… Let’s talk about this, Imperial Princess.”

“Talk? But this will be the only talk that will happen between us though?” Aeria said as she gently caressed Davey’s chest. “It won’t hurt. You’ll definitely feel good. Talking with our bodies will be pleasurable and intense. Don’t be scared. You can just close your eyes and hold my hand.”

Davey thought that Aeria did not truly mean to say that.

Anyone who had been subjected to a special ability user’s mental suppression would obviously develop immunity. However, Davey had just been fully exposed to Aeria’s powers, which was why it had taken him so long to get used to it. Perhaps, just like what the people around him had said, he had developed a bit of affection for the girl in front of him albeit unconsciously.

“Who do you think I’m abstaining from these activities for, huh?! Damn!” Davey murmured as he looked up at Aeria. “Princess!”

“Huh?”

“Look over there.”

Seeing Davey gesture with his head, Aeria turned to look in the direction out of curiosity.

Stab!

Then, Davey deftly untied the tail that was pinning his arms to the bed and quickly stabbed Aeria’s pressure point. When the princess collapsed, the overwhelming power that had overpowered Davey completely disappeared.

“…”

Davey had subdued Aeria and put her to sleep. After the princess collapsed silently, Davey lifted her up and placed her back on the bed. He tidied up her messy skirt, where her tail had been protruding from. He watched the turquoise tail gradually shrink before buttoning up her loose top.

Davey murmured silently, “So, this is my karma…”

It seemed like his karma had already piled up to the point that it was coming to bite him back. However, it did not mean that Davey was stupid or inexperienced when it came to such matters. He just did not have the heart to reject Aeria firmly, which was how the situation had ended up like this.

—Davey.

“Quiet. I’m doing all of this because of someone,” Davey shot back in anger.

Perserque stumbled back at the fire in Davey’s voice.

—Don’t forget that I do not have a body, Davey. You won’t be able to hold me in your arms at all.

“Are you telling me that you want to be resurrected?”

Perhaps Perserque had forgotten that Davey was also a dark mage, a 9th Circle high-ranking dark mage.

‘Bringing someone back to life is not that difficult for me, you punk!’

—You should not think about resurrecting me. Just resurrecting a member of the demon race… Let alone the Demon Lord…

“Shut up. It’s up to me to decide what I will do,” Davey snapped back as he opened the door to stare silently at the waiting Emperor Deorte. Then, he took out a brooch and handed it over as he said, “Engagement ceremony.”

“Did you finally make a decision? It seems like that lady is right to say that you're very stubborn.”

“How many people have been involved in this farce?”

Emperor Deorte chuckled at Davey’s question. “Who knows? You’ll probably know the answer if you look at the people around you, no?”

“It seems like you have planned everything, huh?”

“Not at all. The promise that I made to the warrior is most definitely true,” Emperor Deorte said, looking completely satisfied.