Chapter 127
“Here it is.”
Jaeha frowned as he looked at the documents Izzen handed him.
“There are more than I thought. It’s going to take a while.”
“More may appear while you’re working.”
“Then report them to me immediately.”
“Are you really going to do it?”
“I don’t say things twice.”
While they were having that conversation in the living room, a door creaked open, and Heesu and Rufus came out.
Taking his eyes off the documents and looking at them, Jaeha’s expression visibly soured.
The wolf who had been a mess yesterday had fully recovered and was completely human. He had absorbed so much magical power overnight that Heesu’s unique scent was wafting intensely from his body. It was a disgustingly foul feeling.
“Whimper…….”
Terrified by the murderous intent directed at him, Rufus, with his large body, hid behind Heesu.
“Rufus? What’s wrong?”
Unintentionally shielding him, Heesu looked at Jaeha. When their eyes met, Jaeha flinched and froze.
Staring at him, Heesu furrowed her brows. Her face was full of bewilderment. Now that her mind, which had been dazed because of the dying wolf, had returned, it was time to question his identity.
However, Jaeha, who had been even more out of his mind than Heesu because he was so angry after yesterday’s events, hadn’t prepared any excuses.
He couldn’t just say, “Heesu, the truth is… I’m a demon who ate your younger brother a long time ago. I was so hungry that I ate him, but then I got dominated by the prey’s ego, and so I’ve been living as your family all this time, whoops. I’m sorry. Please be understanding.”
It was impossible to be that honest. No matter how kindhearted Heesu was, to the point of accepting all those demons, there was no way she would accept a demon who ate her own younger brother and lived as her family.
Heesu, who had been staring at Jaeha with a suspicious expression, finally opened her mouth.
“Jaeha. You…… what on earth are you? What was that yesterday, what was that?”
“…….”
A cold sweat ran down Jaeha’s forehead as he awkwardly avoided her gaze. He felt as if he was about to be sentenced to death. He was trying his best to maintain a calm expression, but his violently trembling pupils betrayed his inner turmoil. His mind was spinning. A desperate scream was pushing its way right to the front of his throat.
What should I do? What on earth should I do?!
If he let his guard down for a moment, he felt like he would just scream that out.
“He is a Magical Boy.”
The one who broke that terrifying silence was Izzen.
“What?”
Heesu was flustered by the unexpected statement, and so was Jaeha.
Fortunately, Jaeha managed to swallow the “What?” he was about to blurt out along with Heesu. But he glared fiercely at Izzen with a look of absurdity, conveying a violent protest with his eyes.
‘Are you crazy?! What kind of b******t is that?’
In response to his protest, Izzen also replied with his eyes.
‘Then do you have a better excuse?’
‘Ah, but damn it. Magical Boy, how embarrassing.’
‘If you have another excuse, then you should try, Lord Jaeha.’
‘…….’
At those words, Jaeha, who was deeply tormented, his pupils shaking, eventually lowered his head. It was a sign of his consent to leave everything to Izzen from now on.
Having finished the conversation with Jaeha through their eyes, Izzen continued to speak shamelessly.
“The truth is, he has been fighting demons since long before you, Miss Heesu. I also learned that you two were siblings belatedly, but Lord Jaeha had earnestly begged me to keep it a secret because he was embarrassed, so I haven’t said anything until now. Yesterday, I urgently asked Lord Jaeha for help because you were in danger.”
“No way.”
Heesu’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
Asta had said that Izzen created magical girls to make them absorb magical power from demons. That means, then…….
“T-then, Jaeha, you also have s*x with demons and stuff?”
Jaeha’s face became intensely serious at the question.
“No!”
Izzen continued to speak with a shameless expression as if it didn’t matter.
“Lord Jaeha is different from you, Miss Heesu. As you saw yesterday, Lord Jaeha does the job of subduing dangerous demons who go berserk and attack people, like Asta.”
Heesu tilted her head with a somewhat unconvinced expression.
“That’s strange……. Why is what you do different from what I do?”
“Lord Jaeha is special. He is the possessor of an overwhelmingly powerful magical power. As you also saw yesterday, Lord Jaeha is the only one who can defeat a demon of Asta’s caliber with a single strike.”
“Wow…… why is Jaeha so strong? Is he really a chosen one or something?”
“Something like that.”
“I see…… You’re so different from me……. You’re like a real hero. I’m so jealous.”
Heesu, who looked somewhat crestfallen, stared at Jaeha and mumbled.
They were in the same universe with the same setting, but unlike herself, the protagonist of a depravity story, Jaeha was the protagonist of a real, authentic story. It was as if the person she had so wanted to be was right in front of her. Would a happy ending of saving the world and winning a fated love await Jaeha, unlike herself? Thinking that made her genuinely jealous. She was unbearably jealous.
“W-What’s there to be jealous of?”
At Heesu’s gaze filled with jealousy, Jaeha averted his eyes with an awkward expression and mumbled. Since it was all a lie anyway, he felt very uncomfortable with Heesu believing it and looking at him with sparkling eyes.
Staring at him and lost in thought for a moment, Heesu suddenly realized something and clapped her hands.
“Ah, I get it! That’s why you told me to stop watching magical girl anime all this time. You’re doing something like that yourself, so it’s embarrassing for your family to be watching a show about a similar topic, right? You’re so embarrassed right now. You even asked me to keep it a secret because you were ashamed from the start…….”
“T-That’s……!”
That’s not it. Jaeha was about to answer that, but the moment his eyes met Heesu’s, he averted his gaze again and mumbled unintentionally.
“T-That’s part of it…… and I didn’t want you to get involved in this side of things…….”
“……You were worried about that?”
“I-It’s dangerous. It was dangerous even yesterday…….”
“Wow, so that’s what it was…….”
Heesu cupped her hands together and was filled with admiration. Thinking that all of Jaeha’s nagging that she had to endure every time she watched magical girl anime was actually out of his concern for her, all of it took on a new meaning.
“Then, by any chance, you don’t actually have a prejudice against adults watching anime or cartoons?”
“W-What’s wrong with that……. People can watch it…….”
“Right? I knew you thought that!”
Heesu clapped her hands happily. It felt like all the resentment that had been piled up like a permafrost had melted away at once. It turned out that Jaeha wasn’t an arrogant and unlikable younger brother. He was actually a good younger brother who was secretly worried about his older sister but just couldn’t be honest.
“Wow…….”
Whether Jaeha felt burdened by her gaze or not, Heesu continued to look at him with sparkling eyes. She earnestly looked at him and re-established the character setting of Lee Jaeha.
A talented university student who excelled in both academics and sports, with a good personality and handsome looks. The very image of a ‘mom’s friend’s perfect son’—who diligently earned money through tutoring, was already financially independent, and showed devoted filial piety to his parents.
And his true identity was, in fact, a magical boy who secretly fought for world peace.
“You’re so cool.”
Heesu said her honest impression.
“R-Really?”
Jaeha, who she expected to snap at her, asking what kind of b******t would give her goosebumps, unexpectedly blushed, avoided her gaze, and scratched his head.
‘Oh my, he’s shy…….’
Heesu was once again filled with admiration at the sight. My goodness, now that she looked at him, he even had a cute side. The affection she had for Jaeha, which had always been at rock bottom, was now soaring, piercing the ceiling.
“…….”
Meanwhile, Jaeha, who turned his head awkwardly and was shy, thought to himself, I did hesitate a bit, but it was a good idea to keep Izzen alive after all.
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