Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 11

If she fed him, it would not even strain him. Irene thought nothing of it and, holding out the spoon, stared intently at Idris.

After blinking for a moment as though trying to grasp the situation, Idris’s face rapidly drained of color.

This demon is serious.

“…….”

The soup, made from unknown ingredients, was pushed right up to his mouth.

Idris’s head gradually moved back.

“N-no. It is fine. I cannot trouble you to this extent…….”

But it did not take long before the back of his head touched the wall behind him. With his retreat cut off, despair flickered across Idris’s eyes.

“No. You truly must eat this. You were unable to eat anything while you were collapsed.”

“Even so, if it is like this, it would also inconvenience you, Miss Irene…….”

“It is nothing at all. Please eat. If a human goes several days without eating anything, it becomes serious.”

Idris’s eyes shook mercilessly. The unease, fear, and tension contained within them were far too clear.

At that blatant refusal, a faint crease formed between Irene’s brows.

At the very moment Irene was about to force the soup into his mouth regardless, Idris spoke urgently, yet in a calm voice.

“Do you perhaps……have a cup? It seems my right arm can be used without much strain, so if you would pour it into a cup, I will eat by myself. Of course it would inconvenience you, but it would still be less so than feeding me. I ask you in this manner.”

“Ah……. That is true.”

After examining his face, Irene nodded a beat late.

She slowly rose from her seat and left the room.

But when she closed the door, displeasure was clearly evident on Irene’s face.

‘He is suddenly showing with his whole body that he dislikes it. ……Why? Why? What did I do?’

Of course, she was not foolish enough to hope that Idris did not shrink from her.

Since she herself was secretly weighing his life and death, she had no grounds to feel wronged.

‘But why does it feel so filthy.’

Irene chose a fairly large wooden cup and poured the stew into it. As the expression that had so plainly revealed rejection came to mind, strength naturally entered her hand.

Just a moment ago he had gone along so well with her ridiculous little play at being human……. Is it that he simply cannot endure receiving food from something impure?

To the point that even the mask he had so desperately worn as though it were his lifeline might crack.

A short while later, Irene entered the room and thrust the cup toward Idris. The corners of her mouth were stiff, her displeasure not yet settled.

“Thank you. Miss Irene should also eat comfortably, yet I continue to trouble you.”

As Idris received the cup, he gave a faint smile as though apologetic. It was a smile that revealed embarrassment.

“…….”

At that moment, Irene’s expression went blank for an instant.

Then, after a moment, the lips that had been firmly pressed in a straight line curved, and a clear laugh burst out. She laughed for quite a while, paying no heed to his bewildered gaze.

‘Really, I do not know whether I should call him remarkable…….’

It would already be difficult just to hold on to one’s sanity in front of a monster, yet it was not enough that he had already gathered his expression back under control, he even smiled. A desperation and acting ability worthy of applause.

‘Have I truly lost my sense of reality all this time.’

It was not as though she had forgotten the desperation with which she had prayed even to a hateful god to rid her of this loneliness. In a situation where she ought to be grateful that conversation was possible at all even if Idris spoke while trembling, she was growing resentful over something so trivial. She had grown complacent.

Was it not said that human greed has no end? Though not even human, she was exactly that sort.

Irene leaned toward Idris, who was sitting propped up weakly, and smiled faintly once more. The displeasure from earlier had vanished without a trace.

“I am fine. I ate a great deal at lunch, so I am full.”

“Even so, skipping a meal……”

Irene merely maintained a bright, smiling face. From the beginning, the concept of meals was different for her, so she had nothing to say. It had long since become a revolting yet convenient body that only needed to indulge in a loathsome banquet once in a while.

Right. We are entirely different beings.

Haah, it seemed she had become too immersed in her conversation with Idris. Had she unconsciously wanted to think that they were truly exchanging a sincere conversation, person to person.