<CHAPTER 83>

Bad guy. Swindler, trash

Ledenberk had long since left the room.

Left alone, Ehili cried endlessly until exhaustion overtook her, then stared blankly into the empty air.

Rek is the Demon King.

How could my frail husband possibly be the Demon King…….

No, a Demon King wouldn’t be frail in the first place!

So that was all an act.

The questions she had brushed aside under the warmth of his kindness were finally unraveling.

“How could you…….”

“How could you do this to me.”

She thought she had already shed all her tears, yet her eyes burned again.

I trusted you.

She believed he was someone she would never meet again in her lifetime.

Her hands trembled with betrayal and emptiness.

Thinking that the kindness she had believed to be love, those tender emotions, might all have been an act made her chest ache.

I knew this might happen, so I tried to keep my distance.

But I foolishly fell for that handsome face.

No, it wasn’t just his face.

With how kind he was, how could she not fall?

“You bastard. You scammer, you trash, sob…….”

Ehili broke down into loud sobs once more.

She thought maybe this life would finally be happy.

But of all things, she ended up being marriage-scammed by the Demon King?

She felt wronged, miserable, and furious.

And yet, what angered her the most was—

Even after realizing he was the Demon King, when Mikhail’s blade had been aimed at his neck, her heart had dropped involuntarily.

It was the same when he grabbed the blade with his bare hand.

Seeing the blood pouring down, she had nearly run to him without thinking.

And even now—

Am I insane. I’ve completely lost it.

Ehili rubbed her tear-streaked eyes harshly and shook her head.

Get a grip. This isn’t the time to cry.

The situation was a complete disaster.

Not only had Mikhail discovered she was the Saintess, but she had effectively been kidnapped by the Demon King.

If she returned home, she would inevitably be dragged to the temple and follow the original route.

But she didn’t want to stay here either.

Calm down. First—

As she tried to think about what problem to deal with first, her stomach growled.

Of all times, she was hungry.

Well, I didn’t properly eat breakfast.

A person still had to eat to live.

Ehili sighed and stood up.

Just as she slightly opened the door to check the corridor—

She locked eyes with the butler Herond, who was pushing a food tray.

“Hk! Ah, Ah, Lady Ehili. G-good evening!”

“Do I look fine to you right now?”

If Rek was the Demon King, then naturally his butler Herond must also be a demon.

At Ehili’s cold retort, Herond broke into a cold sweat and darted his eyes around.

“N-no! Y-you don’t seem fine at all!”

“You’re a demon too.”

“What? N-no! I’m, well… I’m not exactly not a demon, but also not quite a demon either……”

“A crow?”

Herond’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

“H-how did you know?”

Ehili pressed her forehead.

Right.

Now that she thought about it, something had felt off.

She had never once seen Butler Herond and the crow Herond together, so why hadn’t she suspected anything until now?

“Don’t tell me Harond too?”

She asked just in case, but the reaction she received was enough without an answer.

“I really was completely fooled.”

“It must have been hilarious, watching me look like such an idiot.”

“N-no, not at all!”

Herond waved his hands frantically.

“His Highness may have worked me to the bone over anything related to Lady Ehili, which felt unfair, but I have never once looked down on you! Saying you’re foolish is absurd! If anything, I’m the foolish one! After all, I do have a bird brain! Though I come from a respectable lineage, so I’m not that foolish—”

“Get out.”

“Pardon?”

“I said leave. I don’t even want to see demons.”

As Herond hesitated, reading Ehili’s expression, he added awkwardly,

“Well… this is a corridor, so I can’t exactly leave……”

“Ah, n-no! If you tell me to leave, I must leave!”

Frightened by her sharp gaze, Herond quickly leaped out the corridor window.

Soon, a crow flapped its wings and flew away outside.

Ehili let out a deep sigh.

Learning so many truths at once made her head throb.

“……I should eat something and rest.”

She brought the tray Herond had brought into the room.

Placing the dishes on the table, Ehili froze.

The crookedly cut bread was filled with blueberry jam and cream cheese she liked.

Various kinds of ham and cheese were piled high, along with an excessive amount of vegetables.

A sandwich stuffed with everything she liked.

She recognized at a glance who had made it.

“Mixing everything tasty together doesn’t make it better…….”

Thinking of the man who did everything well except cooking brought tears to her eyes again.

Why did he make it so impossible to hate him?

She hated him for carefully making this sandwich with his injured hand.

***

Herond hesitantly entered Ledenberk’s room and reported.

“Lady Ehili says she doesn’t even want to see a dead demon.”

“But she did eat.”

“However… she said not to bring things like this anymore.”

Herond braced himself for the outburst that was sure to come.

But Ledenberk said nothing.

He simply stared blankly into space.

“Your Highness? Are you listening?”

“……I am.”

His voice sounded like it had been scraped out, metallic and rough, making Herond flinch.

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

Though he hadn’t seen it firsthand, Herond knew what his lord had done.

He had subdued priests and knights, shattered a blade imbued with divine power with his bare hand, and destroyed even the barrier.

After teleporting back using a massive amount of magic, he hadn’t even rested before making Ehili’s sandwich, then worked like a madman on his backlog of duties.

Even for a Demon King, no body could remain fine under such strain.

Herond cautiously approached and examined Ledenberk’s hand.

It was only roughly wrapped in bandages without proper treatment.

“Just wrapping it like this won’t heal it! You must treat it immediately—”

“Enough.”

“No, Your Highness. What if you lose the use of your hand entirely?”

“……If that happens, would Ehili feed me stew again?”

“Pardon?”

Frustrated by the nonsensical remark, Herond spoke.

“Why not go to Lady Ehili and beg properly?”

A Demon King begging a mere human woman was absurd.

But the woman in question was Ehili, whom Ledenberk loved beyond reason.

“I can’t.”

“Now is not the time for pride. Haven’t you heard? In front of the one you love, your knees must be light!”

“She said she doesn’t want to see my face anymore. She told me not to even say her name. What right do I have to go?”

Herond turned pale.

This was far worse than he thought.

“No, Your Highness. When women say they don’t want to see you, it doesn’t literally mean disappear forever. According to my knowledge of romance, it means—”

“Silence.”

“……Your Highness, then how about showing your injured hand and acting like you’re in pain? Like before, exaggerate how much it hurts—”

“Exaggerate?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant……”

“Leave.”

At the firm command, Herond sighed and left the room.

He quietly placed an ointment effective for wounds on the table before going.

***

Ledenberk’s gaze fell on his loosely bandaged right hand.

Even the slightest movement of his fingers sent pain surging through him.

It would heal quickly without treatment if he rested and recovered his magic for a few days, but his current condition was poor, so treatment was necessary.

If I cling to her like this, no matter how much she hates me, she won’t be able to push me away coldly.

Because Ehili was kind.

But he no longer wanted to exploit that kindness.

He had already learned how painful the consequences were.

For both himself and Ehili.

Yet the reason he stubbornly refused treatment was the fear he could not shake.

If I don’t even have this……

He feared she would leave without looking back.

He needed some excuse to hold onto her when she tried to leave.

It was a contradiction.

He claimed he wouldn’t deceive her, yet he was still trying to beg for her sympathy.

After deceiving her, how could he dare hope for her kindness?