“KURGH!”

Mordred collapsed to the floor the moment he entered his room and shut his door.

“Argh! Koff! Urgh!”

As he coughed, Mordred felt hot all over. He was in deep agony, and he was paralyzed throughout most parts of his body.

As his entire form hugged the cold, hard floor of his living quarters, he helplessly spasmed as he tried to get himself under control.

It was useless, though.

Anytime he had these episodes, he was utterly powerless.

“M-Master! Lord Mordred!”

The voice of a certain reliable butler—none other than Aldred’s—echoed within the room.

~WHUSH!~

Within seconds, a spatial distortion appeared in the air and Aldred appeared instantly.

Aldred swiftly rushed to the ground where his Lord was coughing and groaning profusely.

A small pool of blood mixed with drool had already formed on the ground, and Mordred’s face was helplessly drowning in it.

It was both a pathetic and dangerous sight.

No one would ever expect the strongest Grand Mage of the Kingdom—even though he was now retired—to be in such a state.

Aldred ignored all of these things, as he was already used to seeing them, and turned his Lord’s body so that his chest faced the ceiling and his back flatly lay on the floor.

“Please hang in there, Lord Mordred!”

Aldred gathered his Mana into his two palms and pressed them both on his Lord’s chest.

~FWUUSH!~

A bright light covered the room as Aldred began the only procedure that could help Mordred whenever he was in this state.

Mana Correction!

By inserting one’s Mana into the body of another, one could achieve numerous things.

One of those was Mana Correction.

Simply put, it involved forcibly causing the target’s Mana to flow a certain way by infusing your Mana and allowing it to serve as a guide.

However, only the most skilled users of Mana could properly use techniques that involved controlling their Mana once it was outside their bodies.

Aldred was one of those skilled few.

‘His overwhelming Mana is rampaging his body faster than normal. It’s too agitated!’

Aldred was incredibly skilled, but he fell considerably short to his Lord when it came to Mana—both in quality and quantity.

‘I… I’m not sure I can correct this!’

However, he couldn’t give up. Not without trying to his utmost limits.

Depending the opposition faced by the target, Mana Correction could be incredibly tasking on the user’s body.

Sometimes, it was even impossible.

‘No… not yet! I’m not giving up on you yet, Lord Mordred!’ Aldred desperately poured in more Mana as he tried his hardest to save the dying man’s life.

‘So don’t you give up on us!’

*******

“Haaaa… haaa…”

Aldred was breathing heavily as he lay beside the stabilized body of his Lord.

It had taken everything out of him to stabilize Mordred—

up to the point where he didn’t even have enough energy to do anything besides breathe.

“Haa…”

Mordred was also breathing heavily. His entire body ached him like crazy, but at least he was still alive.

If Aldred had lingered a little longer or made the slightest bit of error, he would have died.

“Thank you, Aldred… haa… haa…”

“What are… haa… what are you talking about, my Lord? Haaa… this is only natural.”

“Aldred, old friend, please… just call.. haa… address me normally…”

“N-n-never!”

Despite their exhaustion, both men quipped and tiredly chuckled like the old friends that they were.

However, this moment didn’t last too long.

“Keuk!” Mordred felt a slight spasm in his chest, which abruptly put an end to his light chuckles.

“Sorry. Haa… seems the aftereffects aren’t fully gone yet.”

“Yeah… it seems so…”

For a while, neither spoke a word.

It was as if they were waiting for the other to address the issue first before they would respond.

After this lasted for a second, Aldred finally spoke.

“Lord Mordred… I could barely stop it this time. If it happens again next time, I’m not sure if you’ll be able to make it.”

Mordred gave a tired smile and heaved a sigh of the same proportions.

“I figured…”

“It’s getting worse, isn’t it? At this rate, it’ll might be less than a year before—!”

“Naa… I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.” Mordred interrupted Aldred’s words with a light chuckle.

This wasn’t the time for jokes, and Aldred knew Mordred should very well know that.

Yet, his Lord was busy making light of the situation.

“I finally got to retire. You think I won’t spend more time enjoying this newfound freedom?”

At this point, Aldred could not take it anymore—both as a friend and a servant.

“My Lord! Please seriously consider this matter! You should take this as seriously as—!”

“But I am, Aldred…”

Once again, Mordred’s words interrupted the flustered butler’s concerns.

“A week ago, I would have had no problem with how things were going. Sure, I still had regrets then as I do now, but I was prepared to accept the inevitable.”

But… it seemed that wasn’t the case anymore.

“Ever since I met him… I just can’t shake off this feeling, you know?”

“Him? You mean Neron?”

“Yes. He’s a special boy, Aldred. More special than anyone I’ve ever seen…”

Mordred’s dry lips formed a wide smile as he remembered their time together.

“I really wish I could spend more time with him, but there’s only so much stress this body can take.”

Mordred slowly turned to Aldred, his eyes glittering with something akin to wonder—no, more like hope.

“I’ll leave him in your capable hands in the meantime. Please nurture him well.”

“I’m sure you are doing a pretty good job already, My Lord.” Aldred responded with a smile.

“Well, I’m sure you’re more qualified as a father than I am.” As Mordred said this, the butler gave a soft and sad smile.

It felt like the smile was for someone a distance away.

An invisible memory, perhaps.

“I understand. But you have to be present in that child’s growth too.”

Mordred nodded vehemently, groaning as he struggled to rise on his feet.

“I don’t plan to die anytime soon. Not until I’ve raised him right. I want to see it with my own two eyes… what that boy will become.”

Mordred coughed a little more, but that didn’t deter him.

He rose to his feet and even assisted Aldred to stand as well.

Both men groaned as they stood opposite each other.

“I’ve decided to live, Aldred. For my family.”

The butler smiled and nodded.

Both of them placed their hands on the other’s shoulder and embraced silently.

“Until the time is right… I will endure it all.”

It would be hell, but Mordred was determined to see all of this through to the end.

‘… All for you, Neron!’