[CHAPTER 17]
Redemberg Lu Edeltein picked up his spoon with a joyful heart.
Halfway through, he was already not in his right mind.
The world in front of him shook maddeningly, and his brain throbbed.
Even so……
He finished the entire bowl of stew.
“Rek, are you hurt? You’ve looked so pale since earlier……”
He tried to answer gently, but his body collapsed softly.
“……Rek!”
Even in his fading consciousness, he clearly heard Ehilie’s worried voice.
A faint, lovely voice reached his muffled ears, and Redemberg smiled.
He felt genuinely satisfied that he had captured Ehilie’s attention properly, more than that foolish guy.
* * *
“Are you awake?”
Seeing the angelic face as soon as he opened his eyes left Redemberg momentarily dazed.
“Rek……? Are you okay?”
His lips moved on their own.
“I want to make you cry.”
“Excuse me?”
Ehilie’s face, filled with confusion, brought Redemberg’s half-submerged mind sharply back.
“Y-you said you want to make me cry? Me?”
Damn.
What use is regaining consciousness if his mouth had already caused trouble?
Fortunately, Redemberg was very skilled in social tactics.
He quickly came up with a plausible excuse.
“No. I said I want to cry. It hurts too much.”
Exposing the filthy desire to make her cry and be despised, versus being a weak man who wants to cry from pain.
The latter was better.
*I’ve already put on all sorts of pitiful acts. Adding one more here won’t be a problem.*
Herond, watching from a distance, sent an utterly horrified look, but he didn’t care.
Redemberg valued Ehilie’s attention more than any dignity as the Demon Lord.
The worry on Ehilie’s face shifted to pity.
She hesitated for a moment, then gently opened her arms.
Her delicate arms carefully enveloped Redemberg and patted his back.
“Cry when you want to, Rek.”
“……No, Ehilie. I don’t want to show you any more shameful side of me.”
“Crying isn’t shameful. I’ll stay like this until you’re okay. So you don’t have to hold it in.”
Redemberg was relieved.
Because Ehilie couldn’t see his face right now.
Stay like this until I’m okay? Don’t hold it in?
It was a continuous stream of sweet temptations loosening his restraint.
The lingering heat from his still-undissolved vitality surged for another reason.
Should he just push her down?
Suppressing the messy desire in his head was not easy.
*I’m going crazy.*
Still, Redemberg restrained himself even in this situation.
He did not touch her without permission.
He realized once again how tremendous his self-control was.
*Feels like being a dog under “wait” training.*
A well-trained dog should get a reward.
When would he receive proper reward from Ehilie?
Unfortunately, not today.
Because they weren’t alone in the house.
*No, does that really matter?*
If they aren’t alone, make them alone.
The thought, fit for a Demon Lord whose power is order, came and was immediately set aside.
A carefully built tower can’t be easily destroyed.
*I can’t ruin a tower I’ve painstakingly built in a moment of impulse.*
But……
When something this sweet flutters before your eyes, a small mistake might happen, right?
For example……
Redemberg gently brought his lips to her slender nape.
He restrained the instinct to bite and only pressed his soft lips lightly.
Heat surged to his lips.
Was it from the lingering sacred power, or from an even stronger desire?
“Re-Rek?”
Ehilie trembled and pulled away.
Her eyes wide open, like a rabbit caught by surprise.
Redemberg spoke with an innocent expression.
“Thanks to you, I feel a bit better.”
Pretending not to notice that his lips had touched her nape, he answered cheekily, leaving Ehilie unable to say more.
“Still, lie down a bit more. You still have a fever, and you suddenly collapsed too.”
“Because of you.”
“Excuse me?”
Blinking in surprise, Ehilie exclaimed, “Ah!”
“Could it be because of the stew I made? Do you have an allergy……?”
Her apologetic face irritated Redemberg.
He wanted to protect her, yet also had a mischievous desire to trouble her.
He didn’t dislike seeing her fuss over him.
*Shall I make things a bit more difficult……?*
He had an evil thought fitting his nature, then immediately stopped.
Better to build favor than earn hate.
“No, Ehilie. There was nothing wrong with the stew.”
“Really? You said your illness was because of me just now.”
“I guess I made it sound confusing. I meant the fever is because of Ehilie.”
Redemberg placed his hand near Ehilie’s cheek, as if to cradle her.
His fingers brushed aside strands of her white hair, naturally reaching her ear.
Having touched her a few times before, Ehilie seemed not to resist his touch.
Her defenselessness tested Redemberg’s patience to the limit.
Sensing he might cross a line, he withdrew his hand first.
Redemberg squinted slightly and whispered.
“When you’re in the same bed with a woman you like, how could you not have a fever?”
Ehilie blinked rapidly, then shivered and got up.
“W-what are you saying! I was worried about you and you’re just joking!”
“Joking? I am always sincere with you, Ehilie.”
Ehilie turned away silently.
Through her white hair, her round ears peeked, faintly pink.
Her flushed cheeks seemed even more alluring.
Redemberg suppressed the urge to turn her around and face her.
He called her in a languid voice.
“Where are you going leaving the patient?”
“You seem healthy enough. It’s late, so I’ll go get Gabriel ready for bed.”
As Ehilie opened the closet and pulled out the blanket, Gabriel was said to be training outside.
Information he didn’t particularly want to know.
“Why is Ehilie taking care of that?”
“Because I am the owner of this house and Gabriel is a guest.”
Guest? Isn’t he an intruder?
Anyway, Ehilie is a guest, so he accepted it.
As for the title, fine.
Redemberg had no intention of quietly watching Ehilie prepare Gabriel’s bed.
* * *
In an instant, Rek took the blanket.
“You lie down and rest. What if you get up and collapse again?”
“I’m fine now. Ehilie said I look healthy.”
“That’s……!”
Rek’s strange comment was just an attempt to change the topic.
Before she could respond, Rek carried the blanket and pillow and moved.
He wasn’t heading to a corner to lay it out, but to the bathroom.
*Why is he taking it to the bathroom?*
Ehilie cautiously followed him, bewildered.
A ridiculous sight awaited.
A blanket and pillow neatly arranged in a wooden bathtub.
Next to it, Rek smiled with satisfaction.
“Rek.”
“Yes, Ehilie.”
“What is this……?”
“As you can see, I prepared a bed.”
“No, what kind of bed is this!”
“With a blanket and pillow, I think it’s sufficient. Is there a problem?”
“Of course there is!”
“What’s the problem?”
“A bathtub isn’t a place for sleeping. And it’s too small for Gabriel.”
“He’ll manage to fit. And, Ehilie.”
“You can’t have an outsider sleep in the same room as the lady of the house.”
Ehilie was left speechless.
This man… why is he so serious about a husband-and-wife setup?
During their conversation, Gabriel returned.
“Uh, Gabriel? What’s all this?”
The man who said he was training had returned carrying a huge pile of wood.
“Huff, huff. Wood.”
Sweat drenched Gabriel, his hair sticking to his forehead.
“Why are you chopping wood at this hour?”
“If you have no money, you use your body! I brought some usable wood while training.”
Ehilie was dumbfounded by his bold answer.
Gabriel’s gaze landed on the bed arranged in the bathtub.
“Is this my bed?”
Before Ehilie could speak, Rek calmly replied.
“Yes.”
“Wait, Rek. Even so, this is……”
Before she could finish, Gabriel bowed and shouted.
“Thank you for preparing a bed even for an unexpected guest!”
Huh? Is this… something to be thankful for?
“Ehilie, as you see, there’s no problem, so let’s go to the room.”
Persuasively soft Rek convinced Ehilie to drop her objections.
If he says it’s fine, what else could she do?
