I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]
Chapter 167: Itchy Neck

Chapter 167: Itchy Neck

Felix’s face turned white. It had already been pale to begin with, from the fright and then Agnes taking his blood. But now, upon the realization, it became even paler, until it seemed whiter than the snow outside the window.

His neck was itchy.

Exactly how it frequently itched for the past year.

The itching that allegedly had no medical or magical cause, and was just a nervous reaction.

A nervous reaction that Felix had only developed after moving into Silverfall.

He had some suspicions before, but...

Agnes finished transferring the blood into vials and corking them up, and turned her eyes back to Felix. "Do you feel unwell?" she asked, seeing his pale face. "Did I take too much blood?"

"It’s... It’s nothing. I’m fine," Felix shook his head lightly. He did feel dizzy... But not so much from the blood loss, rather from the realization that he had just come to.

Agnes wasn’t so easily convinced, though. Her green eyes narrowed, as she stared at Felix intently, carefully examining his expression. She was neither blind nor dumb, she had already suspected earlier that something was off, but she just let it slide, since she had been able to confirm that Felix genuinely cared about her son. But Felix’s reaction to drawing the blood was just too odd to ignore.

Sensing her gaze, Felix lifted his head, and instantly realized that his behavior must have made the woman suspicious. He didn’t want to be subjected to the truth spell again... So, he forced on a weak smile, and said, "Actually, I’m feeling a bit light-headed. I’ve been sick not long ago, and with Remi taking my blood, I haven’t recovered well..."

Agnes stared deep into his eyes for a while longer, but eventually, she accepted his excuse. "Tut, tut, tut," she clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "That’s not good. He should at least feed you the potions to help you replenish your blood faster..."

"It’s alright. He’s been really busy, covering up our connection to Kade, so that even if the people from the Misty Claw Pack come, they won’t discover anything."

"Ah, I understand. Still..." She looked Felix up and down, before pulling out a piece of paper, and scribbling down a few words. "Ask him to brew this potion for you, it should help. Since he’s taking your blood, he should at least do this much in return. As for your neck..." Her eyes drifted to the side of Felix’s neck, which was reddened from scratching. She was about to write down one more recipe, but Felix stopped her.

"I already have medicine for that," he said, trying to control his voice to hide his emotions, and quickly bypassed Agnes, heading to the bathroom. There was the jar with the balm he had gotten from Remi there, which he wanted to show to the woman... But most importantly, he wanted a moment to himself, even just a few seconds, to try to compose himself.

So Remi had been stealing his blood! He had already had his suspicions the moment he felt the familiar itchiness, but for Agnes to confirm it... Of course, she might have been wrong, since she was just repeating after Felix... But it was rather unlikely.

Felix’s blood had some special use. Remi knew it, and he knew that Agnes would realize it as well as soon as she saw his eyes, which was why he had stuffed the spiky witch hat onto Felix’s head, and refused to remove it until Agnes had left. Why? Because he didn’t want Agnes to notice it...

Or because he didn’t want Felix to find out?

He hid it all from Felix. Even when Felix had tried asking him about his condition just the other day, he had lied about it with some stupid, unconvincing excuses.

And yet, he had been taking Felix’s blood all this time. Without Felix’s permission or knowledge.

Felix took a deep breath, and grabbed the jar, going back to the kitchen.

"This is the balm that Remi prepared for me," he said, presenting it to Agnes.

Agnes took the jar from his hands and unscrewed it. She stared at the pinkish cream for a while before sniffing it. As she did, the corners of her lips went up a bit, and she nodded with approval. "It’s good. I have nothing to improve here. You can keep using it, and it should get rid of all the itchiness."

"Yes, it’s been effective till now," Felix agreed, taking the jar back. He was about to apply it on his neck... Only when he almost dipped his fingers in the balm did he realize that his hands were still covered in flour. He had been in the middle of preparing the dough when Agnes had arrived.

The dough that was still lying on the counter, waiting for Felix to take care of it.

"Anyway, mo-mother-in-law," he cleared his throat, changing the topic. "What brings you here?"

Agnes’ brows lifted slightly at being called ’mother-in-law’. It was the first time Felix had referred to her in such a way, and he clearly had been barely able to utter it. She didn’t question him about this sudden change, though, and just smiled. "I wanted to see your face."

"...Huh?"

"I was curious why my dear son was trying to hide his partner’s face so hard. So, naturally, I had to return to take a look," she explained.

"Oh." Felix still had more questions, but on second thought, he decided it was better not to ask too much. The less they talked, the less Agnes would realize that something wasn’t right. "Will you be staying for dinner, then?"

"No, I should leave now, before he comes back," to Felix’s relief, Agnes rejected the invitation. "Don’t tell him I’ve been here. He doesn’t like me researching ways to break the curse... He thinks it’s a waste of time, you see."

"I understand," Felix nodded his head. "I won’t tell him a thing."

Naturally, he had no intention of keeping this promise.