I Saved a Demon, and Now He’s After Me - Chapter 45

“Just a kiss? I’ve done more than that…”

His well-shaped lips curved as if pleased.

Whoa. Eden was clearly the one who provoked first, but somehow she felt like she was the one being provoked. Bezel’s voice from before, saying “Here, shall I suck on it?” overlapped with his trailing words. Eden bit down hard on her lip, feeling a strange tickle along her side.

“Fine, just do it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ah, seriously! Why is he acting like this when he wasn’t like this before?

“What do you mean, what! The sign of the cross! You followed me, so you should be working, right?!”

As if finding Eden’s outburst was amusing, Bezel let out a low laugh. Eden glared at him, grumbling before barely calming her emotions.

Right. The demon she had to deal with now wasn’t just any riffraff, but a half-human, half-beast mid-ranking demon. With hostages to rescue, it would be foolish to kick away the chance to have divine power applied just because she was embarrassed.

Besides, she needed to negotiate wages. Since they had agreed to verify his abilities, she needed to test whether Bezel’s kisses had the effect of terrifying demons this time too.

“Then as you wish…”

Bezel kissed her face in the same order as before. Forehead and chin, then both cheeks.

Each time his lips touched and parted with soft smacking sounds, the areas they touched grew warm. It was strange. The man’s lips were cool, so why did her skin keep heating up?

‘Is it because of what happened yesterday… Or maybe because someone’s watching.’

To shake off that feeling, Eden decided to focus on something else. She rotated her right hand back and forth to check its condition, and though not as much as yesterday, the blotches had disappeared here and there.

In fact, she didn’t even need to look since her body already felt lighter. The throbbing pain hadn’t completely disappeared, but it was definitely more effective than some grass scraps.

“Thank you.”

She conveyed her thanks and raised her head again, only for her nose to bump into Bezel’s lips. Even after finishing what he needed to do, he hadn’t stepped back and stood there staring openly at Eden.

His gaze rested once again on her lips. The sensation of the kiss they had shared last night lingered on her lips.

‘Why does he keep looking at me like that?’

Dangerous. A man handsome enough to be captivating even when doing nothing was sending her a gaze whose intent could be misunderstood, making her lower belly tingle and her body react on its own.

Damn it. This was all because she had gone without dating for so long.

Just as Eden hastily lowered her gaze and tried to pass Bezel to enter through the main gate, Johan, who had been staring blankly at the two of them as if lost in thought, muttered.

“That’s enough, Eden. You don’t need to show me any more.”

What’s that supposed to mean now? Eden stopped walking and turned around.

“Why would I care about you? I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but this is because of divine power, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Divine power…?”

Johan’s gaze turned to Bezel. It was a look demanding a detailed explanation, but Eden pulled Bezel close, blocking his view.

“Are you seeing a High Priest after breaking up with me?”

“Not a High Priest.”

“He has divine power but isn’t a High Priest…”

Johan wore the exact same expression Eden had made when she heard the demon wasn’t devouring humans.

“It’s a long story. It’s none of your business, so stay out of it.”

Eden flashed him a crooked smile that couldn’t be more cold-hearted.

“If you’re curious, figure it out yourself.”

***

The orchard entrance consisted of an arched iron gate that had been popular about ten years ago. The iron gate only had traces of where a lock had been, with no locking mechanism in place. Eden took the lead, opened the gate, and stepped onto the path leading into the orchard.

Passing through the dirt path and going deep inside, a clearing overgrown with weeds came into view, untouched by human hands for a long time. Apple trees lined both sides of the empty center that seemed to have once been a path.

“The stench of blood…”

But what caught Eden’s attention more than anything was the smell. With such a strong metallic scent, it wasn’t blood from just one or two people. She had expected the damage to be minimal since the demon wasn’t devouring people, but it seemed it was still killing humans, just not putting them in their mouths.

Johan, who had been sullen the whole way, must have sensed something unusual as he snapped to attention and gripped the sword at his waist.

Cautiously scanning their surroundings, Johan suddenly drew in a sharp breath.

“Johan?”

It was the first time Eden had called his name since their reunion, but there was no room to pay attention to that. With a trembling hand, Johan pointed at a tree in the distance straight ahead.

An unusually large, imposing tree that seemed to be the orchard’s symbol was laden with bright red fruit. However, they were far too large to be ordinary fruit.

“What in the world is that….”