<CHAPTER 16>
Even if it’s poison, I have to swallow it
“……What?”
Gabriel made a blank expression at the sudden request.
No, how can you suddenly tell him to take everything off like that! At least be clear about what you mean!
Ehilie quickly stepped in and added,
“Th-The sword. Your sword.”
“Ah, I understand.”
As if he had belatedly realized that carrying a weapon could be seen as a threat, Gabriel obediently put his sword down.
“Is this enough now?”
In response to Gabriel’s question, a chillingly cold voice fell once again.
“Is what I said that hard to understand? Take everything off.”
It was a blunt and groundless demand.
Those who had been blinking blankly broke the silence at the same time.
“What?”
“Pardon?”
“Kkaak?”
* * *
Demon Lord! Why are you trying to strip that guy!
Wasn’t it that pale woman you liked!
Then why are you stripping an innocent man, and a hero at that!
There was no way Herond did not know that the man was a hero, because he possessed the Holy Sword that only heroes could wield.
While Herond’s doubts kept growing, Redemberg Lu Edeltein continued to relentlessly pressure the hero.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and take it off.”
“W-Wait. There’s a lady watching, so isn’t it too much to tell me to strip completely here?”
Even the hero, who had obediently followed Redemberg until now, protested this time.
“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”
Redemberg nodded as if he understood and apologized.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Naturally, his apology was directed not at the hero, but at Ehilie.
“I almost dirtied your eyes. Ehilie, would you mind going into the room for a moment?”
Smiling gently, Redemberg guided Ehilie into the room.
At his sudden change in attitude, both the hero and Herond clicked their tongues in disbelief.
After leaving Ehilie in the room, Redemberg returned with a murderous expression devoid of any smile.
“Satisfied now?”
“N-No, that’s not the issue…”
“Ha—”
His deeply sunken red eyes slowly closed.
Gasp! That expression…!
It was the look Redemberg showed when his patience had reached its limit.
Herond, who had been hovering nearby, flapped away to a distant corner.
After that, everything happened in rapid succession.
“Aaaah!”
Redemberg subdued the hero and stripped him of everything he had.
Although the hero resisted, the difference in strength was overwhelming.
Along with his clothes, his valuables were scattered across the floor.
Herond realized it then.
He’s figuring out the hero’s weaknesses while he has amnesia and neutralizing him in advance!
I didn’t understand Your Highness’s deep intentions!
Herond’s admiration for Redemberg grew endlessly.
* * *
“Why are you doing this to me!”
Redemberg lightly ignored the hero’s aggrieved voice.
Why was he doing this?
The reason was simple.
Because he had dared to receive Ehilie’s attention.
That was all.
* * *
“Ehilie, you can come out now.”
The commotion finally ended.
When Ehilie came out, Gabriel was crouching in a corner, wearing tattered clothes he had picked up from somewhere.
On top of the roughly piled belongings in front of him, a crow sat proudly.
“What in the world…”
From inside the room, Ehilie had occasionally heard Gabriel’s screams.
It looked as if Rek had forcibly subdued him and stripped him clean.
Rek? Gabriel?
It was hard for Ehilie to understand.
Physically, Rek was taller and more solid than Gabriel.
But that was only on the surface.
There was no way someone as delicate as Rek could overpower a hero like Gabriel by force.
“Rek, did you forcefully take his belongings?”
“No. After you went inside, he took everything off on his own.”
“But I heard screams sometimes.”
Rek answered without hesitation.
“Because of Herond.”
“Kkaak?”
“I forgot to tell you earlier. That crow’s name is Herond.”
“Ah, I see. So what did Herond do?”
“He really likes shiny things, so he suddenly rushed at him and startled him.”
“Kkaak?”
Ehilie looked at Herond.
Herond spread his wings wide and gathered the scattered belongings as if trying to protect them.
Ehilie nodded.
“True. Crows like shiny things.”
Many of Gabriel’s belongings were made of polished metal.
No wonder the crow liked them.
“Are you okay?”
Ehilie spoke to the quiet Gabriel.
His blue eyes were filled with resentment.
He tried to say something, then trembled as if he had seen a ghost, closed his mouth, and nodded.
Why is he like that? Was there a setting in the original story where Gabriel was afraid of crows?
Unfortunately, Ehilie could not remember such detailed settings.
After all, in R-rated novels, only the scenes usually remained in memory.
Ehilie brushed it off, thinking, There must have been something like that.
“More importantly, Rek, shouldn’t you be going now?”
Rek usually came early in the morning and left around sunset.
Outside the window, shallow darkness had already fallen.
“Where would I go?”
“Where else? Home…”
“Are you telling me to leave my beloved woman alone in a house with another man?”
“What?”
Rek lowered his eyes as if hurt.
Why did it turn out like that!
Ehilie suddenly remembered.
Right. That was our setting.
In front of Gabriel, they were supposed to be a couple.
Or… not exactly.
The conversation had flowed so naturally that she could not recall clearly, but Rek seemed to have taken it as a promise.
“Not you. I-I mean I should go.”
“Where are you going, Ehilie?”
Ehilie thought quickly.
She came up with a good excuse.
“Dinner. I’m going to make dinner.”
People had to eat, after all.
* * *
While frequently meeting Ehilie, Redemberg made several assumptions.
Liquids that passed through her hands contained divine power, and the more sincerity she put in, the stronger the effect became.
His theory was confirmed when Herond recovered after drinking her fatigue-relief potion.
“Eat it before it gets cold.”
When Ehilie placed a bowl of freshly made cream stew in front of him, Redemberg felt like a criminal receiving poison.
To him, this stew was practically poison.
Just drinking water she touched made my insides melt.
No matter how much of a Demon Lord he was, he could not predict what would happen if he ate this.
While Redemberg hesitated, Gabriel finished his bowl as if drinking water.
“Wow, it’s really delicious, Ehilie! May I have another bowl?”
Having introduced himself properly by now, Gabriel cheerfully praised her and gave a thumbs-up.
Redemberg’s eyebrow twitched.
He disliked someone other than himself saying her name.
“Of course. I’m glad you like it.”
Seeing Ehilie pleased irritated him even more.
How dare he try to charm her.
Redemberg did not want to lose her attention to some random hero who rolled in out of nowhere.
I won’t die, right?
He confidently took a large spoonful.
It did not take long for “I won’t die” to turn into “I might die.”
“Rek, how is it? Does it suit your taste?”
Her beautiful eyes held both worry and expectation.
“Yes, it’s very…”
“Very?”
“Thrilling.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean it’s delicious. I’ve never had stew like this before.”
He was sincere.
Where else could one experience a stew that made the entire body tingle and feel like the throat and organs were burning?
He wanted to finish it like Gabriel, but…
If he did, he might really die.
I’ll eat a few more bites and then make an excuse.
Just as he thought that,
“That’s a relief.”
Ehilie smiled softly and whispered,
“I actually made Rek’s stew separately.”
“What? Why go through all that trouble…”
His mouth, half out of his mind from the poison, shut slowly.
Ehilie replied without offense,
“You seem picky, so I used precious butter and salt, and added some fatigue-relief potion I made recently.”
“…”
“I feel bad for Gabriel since I’m taking such good care of you.”
Redemberg’s heart shook violently.
It was partly the poison, but her words had a far greater effect.
Her gentle voice and dazzling smile froze his clear mind completely.
At that moment, he had only one thought.
I’ll eat it even if I die. No, I’ll eat it and die.
If it was made for him by the woman he loved, shouldn’t he gladly swallow even poison?
