Chapter 29
CH29 Tsuneo
A beat of silence passed. Then, she began. Her hands were gentle as she began cleaning the wound on my shoulder. It stung, but I barely noticed it around the throbbing pain of my claws. gouging into my flash. "Nothing?"
I said nothing.
"Fine. Poison's making you crazy?" I scoffed. "Not that then. Is it making you dragon hyper-aggressive for some reason?... Or is this like a beast gnawing its own leg off to get out of a trap?"
I set my jaw, and her hands went still.
""Tsuneo? Am I right?"
I hesitated. The memory of the hallucination and the searing pain was still fresh in my mind. Part of me wanted to confide in her, to tell her everything. But a deep-seated shame, honed by the sheer amount of damage this whole incident has caused, held me back. "It's complicated," I mumbled, my gaze flickering away from her.
"Uncomplicate it."
I scoffed. "It hurts."
"Too simple, try again."
"I didn't watch my food and drink, and now everyone is paying the price."
She went still. "You only eat off jade plates. Try again."
I blinked and looked at her. She frowned. "I know poison probably messes with your head, but it
had to be something else."
I blinked and nodded. All this time, we'd been working on the assumption that it was something I ate or drank because there were so few people who had access to my clothes, but I nodded. I didn't remember much about the day I passed out or the days leading up to it. Maybe."
1/4
CH29
got to
it sound like I should bathe in a
scoffed. "And this poison... are you
something more?"
Was it so obvious, the way I was holding back? Taking a deep breath, I met her
"There are things I can't tell you
"Uncomplicate it, husband."
hearing the words coming from her lips.
"You're manipulating me."
the job of every wife,
I laughed.
www
intended. "But trust is a two-way street. And right now,
but she
now.
"So I'll
applying a cooling salve that soothed the burning
silence stretched between us, no longer suffocating but strangely comfortable. In the quiet intimacy of the moment, a strange thought flickered to life - perhaps trust, like any bond, was built not on a foundation of complete openness but on a shared journey, one careful step at a time. The thought gave me a sliver of hope. Maybe, just maybe, with time, I could tell her. For now, however, all I could do was focus on
nerve pain," she said finally. "A neurotoxin like a snake or a spider bite, maybe
K 88%
10:03 Wed, Oct 16
CH29
paralytic."
medical knowledge... I thought you
actually. His mother was a tailor, as is
sighed. "He has
"Doctor Shang?"
The silence stretched once more, this time a comfortable one filled with the quiet
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