Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 43

“Then Mr. Idris, good night. Happy birthday once again.”

“You did not have to congratulate me so diligently…… Thank you. I hope you have a good night as well, Miss Irene.”

Irene exhaled a warm breath as she chewed over the conversation from a moment ago. Even though she had only repeated her congratulations a few times, the expression of Idris, who had been visibly flustered, was still vivid before her eyes.

‘He keeps making my heart grow weak.’

It might be partly due to the influence of growing up under a quite unique…… and indifferent mother, but there must have been many various hardships caused by the very nature of being born an illegitimate child. To call it a lie, the short stories he occasionally tossed out aligned too well. There was not a single contradiction.

‘Even if it were a lie, I have no intention of saying anything, of course, but if that were the case, I would not need to care for him like this, so I should know to some extent.’

She was looking after him because her heart was more drawn to his appearance of having a troubled past, but if it were all fake, she would be the only one feeling wronged.

Irene stopped her hands, which were stitching as usual, and stuck the needle into the bundle of thread. The white thread threaded through the needle connected to the black fabric, stretching out in a gentle curve.

Snip. Along with a small sound, the scissors cut the thread. Having knotted the thread two or three times over the pitch-black fabric, Irene cut the end of the thread once more.

“It is done.”

Irene, who muttered in a small voice for fear that Idris might wake up, stroked the finished clothes. It was completed quickly because she had merely added pockets to a large coat that already existed.

It was an outer garment she had repaired slightly for Idris, who seemed to feel the cold more than she had imagined. It was a coat she had once made with much larger measurements, but it was so big that she had shoved it into a corner, and she never thought she would end up taking it out like this.

‘But I do not know if it will fit. I should ask him to try it on tomorrow.’

Unfortunately, since her own height was on the shorter side, the difference in physique with Idris was quite large, so she could not be certain.

Irene folded the coat neatly, placed it on the dining table, and pushed it across. Irene, who lay facedown with her cheek against the spot where the coat had been, blinked. Beyond the window, a pitch-black world and faint moonlight were visible.

Through her ears, which had long since surpassed human levels, Idris’s even breathing could be heard beyond the room door. The shallow and regular sound he made when he fell asleep. It did not quicken, nor did he toss and turn.

‘I suppose he is not having nightmares today.’

Usually, Idris slept as if he were dead, but sometimes he would make a sound as if he were choking and gasping for breath. When she looked in at such times, nine times out of ten, he was clutching his neck and panting as if in pain.

When she first saw it, she was flustered and tried to wake him immediately, but before she could even touch him, he returned to a peaceful face in an instant, as if he had never been like that.

Irene, who had been lying facedown leaning on her arm, slowly raised her idle left hand and stroked her neck.

“……It is quiet.”

The only things heard clearly were the sounds of two people’s breathing. Even though it was the same place and the same seat as the dinner time, which had certainly been boisterous and noisy, the atmosphere was completely……. It was remarkable how the feeling could be so different just because not a single person was awake.

It was only a few hours ago, but that bright and warm atmosphere now felt like a dream. Both that night sky and the inside of this dark cabin were somber and quiet.

The moon, which had been hanging high in the sky outside the window, had already fallen and tilted significantly. The short time flowing by quickly was resentful.

‘I wish time would flow just a little slower.’

Irene bent her idle left arm and covered her eyes as if wrapping around her head. Having gained a field of vision that was complete darkness, she uttered to herself.

‘Continuously like this…….’

Irene’s bright red eyes were slowly covered by her eyelids. Her long eyelashes brushed against the vicinity of her puffed sleeves.

‘Ah, I should give up on today’s diary…….’

* * *

Irene, who had fallen asleep lying facedown on the dining table, opened her eyes. The morning sunlight coming through the small window stung her eyes, which had adapted to the darkness. Irene, who was frowning, raised her body and sat up to stretch.

05:10

It is a perfect time.

Irene left the coat she had roughly taken out yesterday on the dining table and pulled out the chair with a rattle. Irene, who got up and headed to the attic, opened the wardrobe and tilted her head.

‘Shall I go with this one today?’

Irene, who chose a bright dress mixed with sky blue and white, began her grooming in earnest. After changing her clothes and roughly combing down her hair, she took off the deep purple earrings that did not match the dress color and put on small pearl earrings.

She looked in the mirror and smiled as if satisfied, then hopped back down from the attic. Now, after a simple face wash, if she goes to Idris’s room, it is the start of a full day.