I Saved a Demon, and Now He’s After Me - Chapter 17

Bezel turned Eden’s hand over and pressed a kiss to her wrist. His soft lips moved as if he was eating something, then traced their way upward along the blackened spots.

‘Ah, this feels weird.’

If it were the outside of her arm, maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad. But the inside was more sensitive. The moment his lips touched the crease of her elbow, Eden couldn’t stand the tickling sensation and pushed his shoulder away.

“W-wait a minute. Do you really have to do the treatment like this?”

“What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable?”

“No, it’s just… it feels a bit ticklish….”

To be honest, it felt more intimate than ticklish. It was uncomfortable enough just having his lips resting there, but he kept moving them. He pressed firmly into the spot, rubbed his lips together, then pulled away just barely making contact, brushing softly as he moved. It was probably just her imagination, but she could’ve sworn she felt the faintest brush of a tongue.

His breathing, focused entirely on the act, came out heavy. This was like… she felt bad for using such a profane word to describe a sacred act, but it was starting to feel like he was caressing her.

“Please bear with it a little longer. I’m eating away the bad energy.”

“You’re eating the curse?”

It was a completely different approach from the treatments Eden had received until now. The high priests she had met always poured their divine power into her curse. They tried to push out the curse with opposing forces.

Of course, the effects were minimal. The demon that had cursed her was so powerful that even exorcist priests couldn’t properly handle it and let it escape. Facing that kind of power with ordinary divine power was simply not enough.

‘But if you absorb it instead…’

It was obviously easier to pull something in than push it away. She seemed to have finally found the reason why this man alone could ease the curse that no high priest had ever managed to treat.

“I’ve never heard of divine power being used like this.”

“…I’m sorry. I don’t really know either.”

Right. What could she expect from someone who had lost their memory? Perhaps it was stranger to question divine power in the first place.

The power of gods was a mysterious realm that couldn’t be explained by rational thought. Unlike Hunters, who slay demons with consecrated guns and swords, exorcist priests defeated demons through seemingly harmless acts like praying and sprinkling holy water. There was even a case where an exorcist priest, in order to save a victim cursed by a vicious incubus into eternal sleep, dragged that demon into his own dream to purify and destroy it.

Looking at it this way, eating curses might not be such a strange act after all. Just like that priest who defeated the incubus, this man seemed to be transferring the unclean energy into himself to purify it.

“By the way, Eden. Are this hand and arm the only places where the curse has manifested?”

Bezel lifted his head from her arm, now cleared of the dark blotches. Eden looked down at her own arm with curiosity. She’d grown so used to seeing it blackened every day that the sight of clean skin felt unfamiliar.

“For now, yes. But that doesn’t mean the rest of me is fine. I can’t see it, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s all ruined on the inside.”

Eden ran her other arm broadly across her torso.

“Lately, a few spots have started showing up around my side too. Still just a few dots for now, though.”

Bezel’s eyes narrowed.

“Your side…”

A red tongue flicked over his lips and slipped back in. What the hell. What was with that look? Feeling a strange sense of threat, Eden subtly scooted her hips back on the sofa.

“Haha. Thanks to you, the pain has completely disappeared. This is enough, so let’s keep some distance.”

“Completely? I don’t think it’s quite that much.”

“This is more than enough! Compared to usual, I feel like I could fly… Ah!”

Before she could finish speaking, her vision flipped. Startled, Eden tried to sit up, but Bezel was faster. He pushed her shoulder and laid her back down onto the sofa, his other hand braced beside her face.

She hadn’t realized it when they were sitting apart, but this man’s build was no joke. It felt like her whole body was engulfed in shadow, and her field of vision was completely caged in by his broad shoulders.

“Instead of stopping here, how about I treat you deeper inside?”

“Deeper inside? What do you mean….”

“Here, shall I suck on it?”

His hand slipped from her shoulder and poked her side. Startled, Eden shuddered as she cried out.

“Wait a minute! What are you saying right now!”

“Or…”

Bezel trailed off, his long lashes fluttering as his eyes closed, then opened again, purple eyes curving into something wicked. He pressed his thumb into her side, rubbing in slow circles, then dragged his palm over her belly.

“I know a way to treat it even deeper.”

A way to treat the deeper parts. At those words, Eden swallowed hard and asked,

“W-what is it?”

“The more delicate the inner mucous membrane, the easier it is to consume the curse. If you don’t mind… would it be all right to kiss you?”