The Useless Prince Is A Gangster

Leo and Rin trudged back to the blood-soaked clearing, the air filled with the sharp smell of rotting cultist bodies. Their broken mana cores made the corpses melt fast, flesh sinking into the earth as if eaten by an unseen force—a gross effect of the unnatural mana powering their healing.

Rin's pink eyes flickered uneasily as she cautiously walked around the remains, her face contorted in disgust. She noticed a single body with its white mask off, revealing a middle-aged man's unremarkable face devoid of any hint of aristocratic refinement.

His body hissed and bubbled, becoming a heap of bones.

With shallow breathing, Rin knelt down and tries to take the broken mask. She hesitated and trembled before grabbing it, the cold surface chilling her.

Her voice was tremulous as she stood with the mask in her hand. She turned to Leo and whispered, "Who were they?" but then she froze.

Her face turned bright red, like a ripe tomato, her pink eyes wide as she stumbled back, nearly tripping over a root. Her words spilled out in a flustered, high-pitched rush.

"L-L-Leonhardt! W-what are you doing? We're in the middle of a forest! Someone could—could pop out any second!" Her voice cracked, a mix of nervous embarrassment and something like excitement, her hands gripping the cracked white mask so tightly it might break again.

Her violet hair whipped around as she averted her gaze, but her eyes kept returning to his abs, giving her away.

Leo's red eyes gleamed with mischievous intentness, and his lips formed a playful, lopsided grin. Like a magician, he twirled a tiny vial of glowing liquid—an external healing potion—between his fingers and held it up.

"Rin," he said in a smooth, low voice, "you seem to be dying for for that." She squeaked as he leaned slightly closer.

"All you have to do is pour this on my back. I can't get there myself, you know."

Rin's face turned even redder, almost glowing, and she froze, opening and closing her mouth like a fish in shock. "I—I wasn't thinking anything weird!" she huffed, snatching the vial from his hand so fast she almost dropped it, her pout big enough.

"You're such a—a jerk, Leonhardt!"

As he sat on a fallen log, he shook his head and laughed, exposing his bloodied back with deep, raw cuts and bruises that spread like stains. He teased, "Sure you weren't," but his tone softened.

"Just lend me a hand, okay?"

When Rin saw his injuries, her anger turned to worry and her breath caught. Her voice was shaking with urgency as she said, "Leonhardt, this is serious."

"These are more than just scratches! Let me to use my magic for healing. She turned toward her staff, lying among the leaves a few feet away.

"No," Leo interrupted, his tone firm but not harsh. "Rin, your mana is too precious. Keep it for the emergency; we're not done yet." He gestured to the corpses that were melting.

"There's more of them out there. We need you at full strength."

"Full strength?" she snapped, her pink eyes filled with defiance. "You're barely standing! I'm not letting you bleed out because you're stubborn!"

"Rin, please," Leo said, his tone softer now, almost pleading, his crimson eyes meeting hers. "Just use the potion. I can handle this."

Rin's lips trembled as she stared at Leo's bloodied back. Her pink eyes shimmered with tears she held back, but she gave in, her shaking hands fumbling to open the glowing healing potion vial. She stepped closer, pouring the liquid onto his torn skin.

It hissed and steamed, the wounds closing with a painful sizzle that made Leo's body tense, his fists clenching so tight. He kept his crimson eyes on the ground, jaw locked, but a slight shake in his shoulders showed the sharp pain he wouldn't admit.

"Leonhardt, this is awful," she whispered, her voice soft, choked with guilt and fear. She finished, her fingers hovering near his skin, wanting to help but scared to touch him.

Leo looked down at his right hand, which was a wreckage from smashing the mana cores. The voltsteel glove was melded to the burned skin in a terrible mess, with blisters leaking pus and blood.

He began to unbuckle the glove, his fingers shaking as he took a shaky breath. Slowly, the leather withdrew, tearing at the charred flesh with a gruesome, moist sound. A loud, wild scream ripped from his throat, resonating through the forest like the cry of a wounded animal.

Sweat trickled down his face, combining with the blood dripping from his temple as his body trembled.

"Leonhardt!" Rin dropped to her knees next to him, her hands hovering, tears running down her cheeks, her voice breaking as she sobbed. "Why didn't you tell me it was this bad?" Her voice cracked, her pink eyes wide with horror at his hand—charred bone showing through the ruined flesh, the smell of burned skin filling the air.

Leo forced a grin, but it was more like a grimace, his face pale, sweaty hair sticking to his forehead. "Didn't… worry," he rasped, his voice rough, each word hard to get out as he fumbled with another potion vial from his item space. He poured it over his hand, the liquid hissing loudly, bubbling as it burned into the open wounds.

His body shook, another choked scream escaping through gritted teeth, his crimson eyes squeezing shut as he fought to stay upright.

Rin sobbed, covering her mouth, her heart breaking at his pain. "You're an idiot," she choked out. "You're tearing yourself apart for me!"

He pulled a piece of bandage wrap from his item space and managed a feeble laugh. "Please, wrap it," he said.

Rin nodded, the bandage almost falling from her trembling hands. She made herself focus as she carefully wrapped his ruined hand, wincing as if it were hurting her too with each brush against the raw flesh.

As she worked, her voice trembling, her tears soaked the bandage.

His crimson eyes, dulled by pain but still piercing through the haze of his injuries, were staring up at her as she wrapped his mangled hand, her pink eyes full of confusion and agony.

Rin sat back on her heels, clutching the cracked white mask she'd picked up from the fallen cultist, its.

Her voice broke as she spoke, a mix of frustration and desperation sharpening her words. "Why, Leonhardt? Why did you do this?"

She gestured to his wounds—the gashes across his chest, the burned mess of his hand.

"You've been avoiding me for months, and now you're tearing yourself apart to save me. Is it because… because I'm someone from you know? Tell me why you avoided me!"