Water of Regeneration

The moment he lay down, the movement tugged at his abdominal wound—a muffled groan escaped his lips,cold sweat beading on his forehead.

“Don’t move. Let me tend to your wound first.”

Alice knelt beside him,carefully unfastening his blood-soaked outer tunic.

The fabric had been torn open by the dagger,the dried blood stiff and brittle.

With feather-light fingers,she peeled the cloth away from the wound’s edge—gentle as if handling a child’s fragile skin.

When the gash—raw, bleeding, horrifyingly deep—was fully exposed,

Alice’s hand trembled violently.

Her already reddened eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

Her voice cracked, thick with suppressed emotion:

“How… how could you be hurt this badly?”

“It’s fine. At least I’m still breathing.”

Black forced a light tone,unaccustomed to seeing Alice so tender—so close to tears.

It reminded him of her favorite Moon Mousse cake:beneath that proud, composed exteriorlay something soft, vulnerable—a molten core that melted at the slightest warmth.

From the wooden crate, Alice retrieved a compact medical kit,filled with emergency supplies.

She uncorked a vial of white coagulant powder—intending to sprinkle a small amount—but her shaking hands spilled far too much.

“Ah—! Your Highness, go easy!”

Black winced, nearly yelping from the sting.

“I’m sorry… I…”

“You’re worried about the captain and the Dragon-Slaying Guards, aren’t you?”

Black saw right through her.

He spoke softly, trying to soothe her.

“They’re strong. Even against those assassins, they can hold their own.”

“Besides, sea dragons attack indiscriminately—and those black-clad killers aren’t any different.”

“Hmph. Even if things go badly here,the Hodyr will notice the chaos soon enough and send reinforcements.”

“Mm.”

Alice nodded faintly at his words.

But her eyes remained fixed on his wound—the torn flesh, the relentless bleeding—all because he’d shielded her.

Her heart felt clamped in an invisible fist.

Raised with royal discipline and a stubborn sense of duty,Alice feared nothing more than burdening others because of her own weakness.

The guards had risked everything to protect her.

Black had nearly died for her.

Once again, she felt utterly useless.

If it were my elder sister, the First Princess…she’d have handled this far better.

She lifted a clean gauze pad to wipe the blood around his wound—but hesitated, terrified of causing him more pain.

Her fingers trembled.

Seeing her on the verge of tears,

Black gritted through the agony and gently caught her delicate hand in his.

He gave a lopsided grin, voice deliberately light:

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ve got thick skin—

I can take it. Go ahead.”

“Back on the pirate ship, once,

I got into a fight over cargo.

Some swordsman sliced me deeper than this.”

“Thought I was done for.

Out at sea, no proper medicine—

so our first mate just slapped a handful of sun-dried, rotten fish paste on the wound.”

“And guess what?Next morning, I was good as new.

Everyone said I was blessed by the ocean.”

“So really—don’t be afraid. Just do it.”

Alice’s face twisted in visible disgust—as if she could already smell the foul stench of rotten fish.

But his last line made her laugh—a soft, unexpected sound that eased the tension in her shoulders.

The warmth of his rough hand steadied her trembling fingers.

She poured a little clean water onto fresh gauzeand began wiping the blood from around his wound—slow, meticulous, tender.

In the dim crystal light,her lashes cast soft shadows over her cheeks,her face flushed with nervous concentration.

All traces of her usual sharp composure had vanished—replaced by a flustered, almost clumsy gentleness that made her strangely endearing.

Once the area was clean,

Alice stared at the deep, bone-near wound,bit her lip hard—then made a decision.

From around her neck, she pulled a golden chain,at the end of which hung a tiny crystal vial.

She uncorked it.

A crisp, earthy fragrance—like rain on fresh soil—filled the chamber.

Inside, a pale golden liquid shimmered,as if it held captured sunlight,radiating a gentle, healing warmth.

It was unmistakably extraordinary.

Recognizing the scent and the luminous hue,

Black’s pupils contracted.

Regeneration Elixir.

An SSS-tier legendary potion—so rare in the Cassel Continent that even dukes couldn’t buy it.

Forged from high-tier dragon blood, Dragonbloom petals,and dozens of other mythical ingredients,brewed for weeks by a Dragon-tier Alchemist—just one bottle could raise the dead.

As long as a person had a single breath left,this elixir could drag them back from death’s door.

What Black didn’t know was that this was a gift from Ethan,the Third Round Table Knight and Grand Alchemist Sage,given to Alice on her tenth birthday.

She’d kept it untouched all these years—reserved for her own direst emergency.

But seeing Black’s life bleeding out…she’d opened it without hesitation.

When Black realized what she was about to do,he weakly waved his hand.

“Your Highness, that’s too precious—keep it.

My wound isn’t fatal. At worst, I’ll just be bedridden for a year or so—”

But before he could finish,

Alice had already tilted the vial over his wound.

The golden liquid dripped onto his skin—and instantly formed a luminous membrane,sealing the gash.

Then—miraculously—the torn flesh began knitting itself together,closing at a visible, astonishing speed.

Within moments, only a faint pink scar remained.

“Don’t overthink it,” Alice said quietly,her softness already receding,her usual calm returning like a mask sliding back into place.

“You’re my guard… it’s just a potion.”

Silence settled again—thick, awkward.

Black cleared his dry throat, breaking it.

“Your Highness… those black-clad assassins—they’re from the Draconic Parliament.”

Now that they’d struck so openly,he had nothing left to hide.

“The Draconic Parliament?!”

Alice’s head snapped up,her crimson eyes blazing with shock in the darkness.

“How do you know that?”

She knew of the organization—a shadowy, treasonous sect her mother, the Empress, despised with every fiber of her being.

The Empire hunted them relentlessly.

But she never imagined they’d infiltrate the royal fleet.

“I saw the emblem on their blades.”