Chapter 22
Well, winter was almost over now. Spring had come, but she was still sleeping under thick blankets. It wouldn’t be strange if her body, not yet adjusted to the rising temperature, had sweat while she slept.
She wondered where she had seen these white crusty marks before, but it must have been sweat stains that she saw every day during summer. Her pajamas just happened to be black, which made it all the more noticeable.
“That’s right. It’s exactly white and salty.”
Still, the smell was a bit more terrible than what she used to smell in summer.
“What kind of man’s musky smell is this, coming from sweat? I’ve been eating only cheap stuff lately, so maybe my body has gone bad.”
She had heard somewhere that a person’s body odor changes according to what they eat. This is why you have to pay attention to what you eat. Her period cramps had gotten a bit worse recently, and now even the smell coming from her body had reached this state.
“Still, it’s a relief that it’s just sweat. That means there’s nothing wrong with my body.”
Eden sniffed a few more times before heading to the bathroom. She wanted to quickly wash off her body before the smell made her sick to her stomach.
When she finished bathing and came out of the bathroom, Eden smelled the same savory bread aroma from the day before. She went to the kitchen and sure enough, a familiar back of the head was standing in front of the oven.
“You’re diligent this early in the morning again today.”
She spoke without thinking, and only then did she remember what had happened with him yesterday. Eden’s ears flushed red and she stepped back.
‘This damn mouth! After running away like that yesterday, how can I shamelessly greet him!’
Maybe it wasn’t her mouth’s fault, but a habit problem. Acting before thinking was one of her long-standing chronic problems.
“Ah, you’re awake?”
Fortunately, Bezel seemed completely unfazed. Rather than being surprised or uncomfortable by her sudden greeting, he smiled brightly as if he was happy to see her.
For a moment, Eden forgot that she had been tense and stared at him blankly.
It was nothing new, but he was really handsome. He’s not the sun, so why is he so radiant? Eden bit back the gasp of admiration that was about to burst out and sat at the dining table, grumbling unnecessarily to hide her awkward feelings.
“Can’t you stop making those eye smiles?”
“What’s wrong with my eye smiles?”
“You know it’s indecent. If you smile so carelessly like that, you’ll get into big trouble.”
Bezel’s lips twitched as if he wanted to ask what she meant, but just then a ding came from the oven. He immediately turned around and skillfully took out the food. Eden watched the man walking over with bread on a plate.
Bezel had large, striking features that caught the eye even when he was still, but when he smiled, his eyes curved and he looked particularly seductive.
When he stared at her with those big, round eyes like he didn’t know a thing, he looked like a puppy. But now, with those eyes narrowed, he looked like a fox.
It was amazing that two impressions that seemed impossible to coexist were contained together in one face. He was a man with truly remarkable looks in many ways.
“Oh, after we eat, I need to get ready to go out.”
“I see.”
Bezel, who sat across from Eden, pushed a plate toward her. Eden picked up a piece of toast, put it in her mouth, and pointed at him with her chin.
“I need to, but so do you.”
“Are you taking me along today?”
Perhaps he had yesterday’s incident on his mind, Bezel smiled teasingly.
“Yesterday was because you were naked…. From now on, let’s go places together. I can’t leave you alone in a house without its owner.”
Actually, this was an excuse. Eden needed Bezel. A person with divine power was a great help just by being nearby when hunting demons. Demons feared divine power. Not only could it frighten them, but if she got hurt, she could immediately ask for treatment.
“By any chance, besides curses, to what extent can you treat wounds?”
At the unexpected question, Bezel stopped chewing his food. A very brief silence flowed.
Treating wounds? There was no way he, a demon, could do such holy work. Even improving her curse was just a vile act of consumption, though he had packaged it nicely as treatment.
“Well, I might have done it in the past…. I can’t remember well….”
But he didn’t need to worry about making excuses. Bezel threw out the magic words that always worked. The simple-minded Eden immediately nodded with a convinced expression.
“That makes sense. I wasn’t trying to pressure you, so just let it go in one ear and out the other.”
It was disappointing to lose one advantage, but that didn’t make Bezel any less useful. Just alleviating curses and having divine power made him more than enough, excessive even, to take along.
“Um, but why do you ask that?”
“You know what kind of work I do, right?”
“Yes. I heard other people call you a Hunter.”
Eden stuffed the last remaining bite of toast into her mouth. After chewing roughly a couple of times and swallowing that big lump, she wiped her mouth and said,
“Now that we’ve eaten, it’s time to earn our keep. I’m saying we have to go to work.”
Earn our keep. To Bezel, who was quietly muttering, Eden smiled shamelessly.
“You too, of course.”
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