CHAPTER 55………………………………………..
“I ate the food given to us by the villagers we stopped by back then… but there was a bit of a problem with it.”
“Wait. What did you say?”
“I had some resistance to poison, but my companions didn’t.”
Zenya, finally understanding what he meant, asked in shock.
“You mean the food wasn’t spoiled—there was poison in it?”
She hurried him anxiously.
“Why? Don’t tell me it was like those people today….”
She blurted it out in agitation, then shut her mouth, worried it might hurt Lumiere. But he replied calmly, as if it didn’t bother him at all.
“That could be the case. I still don’t know the reason myself. I got caught up in a mana rampage and was flung into the demon realm.”
‘Just how badly does mana have to go berserk to open a gateway to the demon realm?’
It was truly a case of misfortune piled upon misfortune. Shaking her head, Zenya recalled that day again.
“Wait a second—you said you had resistance to poison. Then why was your stomach pierced?”
From Lumiere’s explanation, it was clear he hadn’t been affected by the poison in the food.
“If I’d left things as they were, the mage would have died… so while trying to stop it, I… got a bit injured.”
“A bit?”
When she asked incredulously, Lumiere avoided her eyes.
“I also had to protect the others.”
If they were the hero’s companions, shouldn’t they at least be capable of protecting themselves? Why had he needed to protect them?
“There were also some villagers nearby. If I hadn’t stopped it, it could have become dangerous in many ways.”
Honestly, Zenya felt like her insides would burst because of Lumiere. They ate food the villagers gave them and something went wrong, yet he still had the leisure to worry about those same villagers?
“To be honest, I don’t really know what happened afterward. I lost consciousness.”
The slight smile tugging at his lips bothered her. It didn’t seem like something to smile about.
“And when I woke up again, the sky was red. At first I thought it was strange for it to just be a sunset, but then I ran into demons.”
“Don’t tell me… you fought demons too?”
“Yes. That made the wounds worse. After taking care of a few of them, I lost consciousness again. And when I woke up, Zenya was there.”
It felt like he had skipped over quite a lot in the middle, but it was obvious the story would just continue with details about fighting demons.
“You don’t remember how you got all the way to the Demon King’s castle?”
“No.”
That was strange too, Zenya thought—when Lumiere smiled shyly.
“Maybe… instinctively, I knew where you were.”
Blink.
After a brief silence, Zenya coldly ignored the remark. Now wasn’t the time to feel embarrassed by things like that.
“Shall we move on to what happened today?”
Lumiere nodded without looking disappointed.
“Yes. Let’s.”
“First, let’s deal with the lighter issue. The portrait.”
When Zenya looked at the portrait and the documents on the table, Lumiere followed her gaze.
“The document here is a list of nobles from the Kingdom of Abie who were incorporated into the Empire.”
Clicking her tongue, Zenya looked at the portrait.
“And this is… as you can see, Jeremiah’s portrait.”
The owner of the portrait—dirty blond hair and green eyes—looked somewhat similar to Zenya at a glance. She was Jeremiah, the imperial princess and Lumiere’s fiancée.
“They look alike.”
At Zenya’s muttering, Lumiere tilted his head.
“I’m not sure I see it. Do they?”
What is he talking about? Looking at Jeremiah made Zenya think of her mother’s face.
Honestly, it was strange that Lumiere hadn’t suspected the two were related by blood earlier.
‘But it doesn’t seem like he’s lying about that.’
Pointing at the portrait, Zenya said,
“The colors are different, but they look similar. Don’t you see why the Demon King made such a ridiculous proposal?”
Lumiere stared at the portrait.
“No matter how I look at it, I don’t see it. They look completely different.”
“I’m not saying they’re identical…”
Zenya decided not to continue that line of discussion. She still had a lot to say and couldn’t get stuck here.
“Anyway, if we follow the Demon King’s proposal and put in a little effort, I could probably pretend to be Jeremiah inside the imperial palace.”
The Demon King’s words when he handed her the portrait had sounded utterly absurd.
‘Then you can try pretending to be the princess. What do you think?’
‘Are you joking?’
‘Not at all. Doesn’t it sound pretty plausible?’
‘In what way?’
‘Well… I think it’s quite a good method. Think about it.’
It had sounded like teasing, but she had no right to refuse. If Zenya rejected it, the Demon King would simply kill a few humans and take what he wanted.
‘I don’t know what he wants, but for now I have no choice but to follow along.’
Looking closely at the portrait now, it didn’t seem entirely impossible—if she ignored her personal reluctance.
Looking tired, Zenya turned to Lumiere.
“Of course, for that to work, I’ll need your help.”
“My help?”
“You’re the one who saw Jeremiah most recently between the two of us. So you’ll have to check whether I’m doing it right.”
“I don’t really remember much.”
Was he just saying that, or was he serious?
Zenya opened and closed her mouth before saying,
“It’s still better than me.”
“Hmm.”
Before Lumiere could say something unnecessary again, Zenya turned to the documents. The Demon King clearly intended to make full use of this newly discovered information.
“And this…”
As Zenya pressed her aching temples and reached for the documents, Lumiere grabbed her hand.
“Why?”
When she looked at him, he released her hand and pushed the papers aside.
“Let’s put this off for a moment.”
“Huh?”
“There’s something you want to ask most, isn’t there?”
The thing she wanted to ask most.
His unwavering blue eyes made her mouth go dry.
“But…”
“Zenya.”
His gaze told her not to run away anymore. Anger welled up inside her. Whose fault was it that she had become so hesitant in the first place?
But instead of getting angry, Zenya steadied her breathing.
If he was the one bringing it up first… maybe the result would be different this time.
Still, lacking full trust in Lumiere when it came to things like this, she demanded a promise first.
“Absolutely no weird behavior like last time.”
Clenching her fists, Zenya glared at him. Lumiere smiled brightly.
“I’ll try.”
“Try?” Zenya leaned forward. “Isn’t there an option where you just don’t do it at all? I told you not to do things I dislike.”
“Alright. At least for today.”
Zenya swallowed a sigh and glared at him before deciding to let it slide for now. This topic would go on forever otherwise.
“What are you planning to do from now on?”
Lumiere answered with a gentle smile.
“That question is too abstract.”
At his evasiveness, Zenya asked directly.
“Are you planning to go back to the temple?”
Even after asking, she tensed, worried he might react violently. But Lumiere simply asked back, still smiling.
“Do you want me to go back?”
She had no patience for word games.
“I’m not asking about my thoughts. I want to know yours.”
Without hesitation, Lumiere replied,
“For now, I don’t want to go back.”
For now?
“So that means… you might want to go back in the future?”
“Depending on the situation.”
“What situation?”
Lumiere only smiled without answering. The silence made her uneasy.
“What situation?” she pressed.
“Your safety.”
“My safety?”
What was he talking about? She was confused.
“If you’re thinking about my safety, wouldn’t it be safer to go straight to the temple?”
They were no longer in the demon realm but the human world now. Escaping wouldn’t be that difficult.
“In the demon realm and here as well—don’t you ultimately want the same thing?”
It felt strange to say it out loud herself, but Zenya knew what Lumiere wanted most right now.
“To stay with me.”
Lumiere beamed, as if she had given the correct answer.
“Yes, exactly.”
“So what I’m saying is… there’s a way for you and me to stay together even if it’s not here.”
Wouldn’t it be safer to be among humans—even if the temple wasn’t great—rather than beside a capricious Demon King or participating in his bizarre plan?
“How about asking the temple for help?”
“That won’t work.”
When Lumiere rejected the idea, Zenya hurriedly added,
“I know the temple treated you badly. But staying beside the Demon King is too dangerous.”
“That’s true.”
“The Demon King is unpredictable, and he’s pushing ridiculous plans like this!”
Zenya pointed at Jeremiah’s portrait on the table.
“You could tell them the Demon King plans to exploit a temple ceremony and ask for help.”
“Zenya.”
“Of course, since you’re officially considered dead it might take time, but we could use that. Maybe this time you could stand on equal footing with the temple instead of—”
As she rambled on, Lumiere called her again.
“Zenya.”
She stopped talking, and Lumiere firmly shook his head.
“I’ll say it again: the temple is not an option.”
Her head spun. Was his aversion to the temple stronger than she expected? Or had something else happened that he hadn’t told her?
But the answer he gave was neither.
“Because the temple isn’t safe for you.”
“…What?”
“The safest place for you is right here. Beside the Demon King.”
What kind of nonsense is that?
