CH 114

Pedro glanced back.

At first he thought it was an illusion, but the sound of his sister’s harsh breathing grew closer and closer.

His wolf ears perked up and he ran in the direction of the sound.

He dug up a pile of stones and put his arm into the hole. Something hard touched his fingertips.

He pushed the debris around and pulled without hesitation.

His siblings scrambled out of the ground.

Hugo fainted, Lily was carrying her brother over one shoulder.

Lily’s eyes widened.

Pedro stared blankly at his sister, then lowered his gaze to the hand he caught.

The sensation in his hand was not human skin. It was hard, dry, and sharp as a blade.

“Bro, Brother Pedro…”

Lily licked her lips as if surprised by the sudden encounter, then hurriedly shook his hand away.

Pedro’s skin was scratched by her claws as she pulled back with force. Even though the wound was insignificant, the girl swallowed a sigh of relief.

Pedro looked at his two siblings in turn. The archmage, Hugo, lost consciousness, while Lily was stunned, unable to even touch her older brother.

Somehow he understood the entire situation.

He could see not only the reason Hugo took Lily out, but also the cause of the feeling of regret his sister now has.

Lily’s scent was carried by the earth wind. The smell of skin that he could never forget was mixed with the smell of the earth deep in the ground.

Pedro looked at Lily with a blank expression and grabbed her claw hand.

Protecting his family. Since 14 years ago when Lily disappeared, he had lived solely for that purpose.

Therefore, there was only one thing he had to do now.

***

‘Am I still dreaming?’

The situation I was in was unrealistic enough to seriously think so.

The hot body temperature warmed my whole body. The sound of the heart of the man who hugged me was heard in my tense ears.

Thud. Thud. Thud. It was a slow and heavy beating like a drum.

I leaned over to Pedro and recalled the situation just before.

“Did you get hurt?”

Those were Pedro’s first words. He grabbed my demonized wrist and casually glanced at me.

“Give me that child. I’ll carry him.”

Pedro took the fainted Hugo from my shoulder and put him over one shoulder. It seemed like he was going to go home.

I, who was frozen, suddenly came to my senses.

After all, if ‘Lily’ was a demon, they would accept it. 

I hurriedly pulled Pedro’s collar.

The thought of clearing up the misunderstanding came out of nowhere.

“I am a fake.”

Even after I said it, I wanted to stop. The truth was not that simple.

As I was about to go into more detail, Pedro put Hugo aside and peered at my face.

When I saw his expression, I was terribly surprised.

“…Really?”

Pedro held a few strands of my hair and smiled softly. Then he hugged me.

His arms were hot, like I had entered a hot furnace.

My entire face heated up in the unbearable heat.

“It must have been difficult.”

Pedro said that clearly. He even patted me on the back with a thick hand.

I looked up, stiff, like a creaking broken doll.

“Why…?”

I thought Pedro misunderstood me.

Otherwise, there was no way he would react like this. There was no way he could comfort me so easily.

“I said I’m a fake…”

My fists that were on his chest trembled.

“I’m a monster… occupying Lily’s body…”

I blamed myself for doing my best to make the imagination and reality equal. Still, Pedro nodded his head.

“I see.”

The blunt response was shocking to me, like a lightning strike.

Pedro took off my ripped robe and wrapped his own around me. Tears welled up as I felt the warmth of the hand that was clumsily tying the ribbon.

‘No.’

I hurriedly lowered my head.

Tears should not be seen. I was in a position to beg for forgiveness, so I couldn’t give them any more ammunition of debt.

“…….”

Pedro’s gaze was felt on the top of my head.

Just as I was shouting inwardly to pour out the blame, my feet were lifted into the air.

Pedro held me in his arms like I was little again. He supported my leg with one arm, and with the other, he lifted the fainted Hugo.

“Let’s go home.”

“Bro, brother…”

“Eat something and rest well. Let’s talk about it after that. Understand?”

Pedro smiled, revealing his teeth. His smile was bright as if the sun had risen at night.

At that moment, the lump in my stomach was released.

“…Yes.”

I hugged Pedro’s neck and held back the tears that were threatening to pour out.

‘What do I do?’

Again, I had unacceptable feelings. Even though I know I shouldn’t do that.

‘I’m happy.’

I was happy that Pedro accepted me. The unexpected love was sweet and I didn’t know what to do.

‘If I go back to the castle like this and not leave…’

My mind was rather clouded by the emotion that was as if my veins were about to burst. A dream that I had never hoped for flashed into my vacant mind.

‘Can I still be happy?’

I might not get as much love as when I pretended to be Lily, but even half of that happiness was good.

‘If Hugo doesn’t hate me, Pedro accepts me, and Alan spares my life…’ 

“…Ah.”

Then, a familiar figure from afar caught my attention.

My mind was blown. Yes, I forgot for a while.

Even if everything went well, there was one problem I had to solve.

“Brother Pedro, please go back first.”

I tapped Pedro’s shoulder. He looked puzzled, but he gently lowered me to the ground.

“What’s the matter?”

I looked back at the pile of ruins piled up, and took a step back.

“I have something to do.”

The voice that came out was so resolute that it surprised even myself.

Pedro licked his lips, but didn’t ask further. I made eye contact with him as I promised.

“…I will definitely come back.”

I slowly turned around and went back the way I had come. I wrapped my arm around the cloak that was dragging on the ground and ran.

Instead of chasing after me, Pedro smiled and waved his hand. One side of my chest felt numb at the bright expression on his face that was like sending me off on a picnic.

There was something I had to finish to keep that smile.

***

“Hah, hah.”

I took a deep breath with my black, pointed hands on my knees. I looked up and saw a small cliff.

It was the very place where I was stoned by naughty boys when I was young.

A beautiful boy was standing in front of the cracked cliff. The bright moonlight shone brightly on his silver hair.

Even in a place full of garbage and filth, he was so beautiful that I was distracted.

“…Benny.”

Although I muttered softly, Benny turned to me as if he was waiting.

The boy slowly walked towards me.

Weak aftershocks had been occurring repeatedly since before. Although it would be difficult to balance, he did not budge, like he did not feel any vibrations.

As he approached, and when he was ten steps before me, I saw his left eye, which was reversed. The purple pupil in the middle of the new eyes was as clear as a jewel.

I took one step closer to Benny.

At that moment, the ground sank with a ‘Thump!’. As I was flailing my arms, Benny frowned and stared at my feet.

Then the tremor subsided. To be exact, only the land around us seemed to have calmed down a little.

This tremor would have been a disaster caused by the rise of the evil spirits, so I quickly knew how he calmed the disturbance.

Thud, thud.

Benny came to me along the flattened road. And stood tall in front of me.

He looked at my face, gently brushed the dust on my bangs, and grabbed my hand with a hand that was incomparably larger than it was when he was young. All touches were thoughtful and cautious.

“…Ack”

An unfamiliar sensation rose from both hands held by Benny, as if the skin was contracting.

The next moment, I opened my mouth wide.

In an instant, white flesh covered the demonized hands. Both hands returned to human form in the blink of an eye.

Benny did not stop there and stroked my left cheek. His calloused fingers gently brushed my eyebrows.

As soon as I reflexively frowned, he pressed his thumb down on my eyelids. It was a cool temperature.

The boy’s face, which I looked at with only one eye, seemed somehow out of this world.

Benny released his hands after a while, and I slowly raised my eyelids.

The visual field of the left eye became the same as that of the right eye. It looked like it had been turned into a human’s eye.

I returned to the human form from head to toe. But it was not by my own volition, but by Benny.

As a demon, Benny was able to control not only demons, but also me.

“I missed you, Princess.”

Unlike mine, Benny’s left eye was still demonized. However, the seriousness felt in those eyes was the same as when he was in a human form.

“Benny.”

I carefully grabbed his cheeks.

There were a lot of issues I wanted to talk about. About demons, about us.

But now I have one thing to say.

“I can’t go with you.”

Benny tilted his head.

“Is there any reason to stay here?”

“…It’s not like that.”

I took a deep breath and said,

“I won’t run away with you. Outside the barrier, or anywhere.”