Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 46

“Anyway, Mr. Idris. I really feel this every time I see you, but you seem to have a great many talents. It seems as if there is nothing you have not tried.”

For some time now, Irene had long since lost the housework and all sorts of chores to Idris. After realizing that attempts to help were more of a hindrance, she was only helping with things like tidying up or laundry.

‘Since I had never even touched such things until I was alone, I knew I was unskilled… but I did not know it was to this extent. I thought my survival skills had improved quite a bit in their own way.’

That confidence had long since been slashed through with red X marks after living with Idris.

“Not particularly. I think your evaluation is too generous, Miss Irene.”

“I said it just now. I think you are too faithful to the virtue of modesty, Mr. Idris.”

“Is it not that you see me in too favorable a light, Miss Irene? I am merely stating the facts.”

“Ahaha, I will believe you for now. But what were we talking about that caused the conversation to leak this far?”

“We were talking about how traps are dangerous, perhaps.”

‘Ah, dear. I said it for nothing. That story is not interesting.’

“Since the subject has come up, if I were to say it again, results will come quickly from the traps, but I am not confident at all about farming, so I am not sure.”

That is certainly true. Irene nodded her head in agreement.

As if expressing his troubled mind, Idris drew a series of circles over the location of the field he had marked on the ground. He added words that sounded like a sigh.

“Sprouting the seeds is one thing, but I do not know if I will even be able to grow them well until autumn. I do not know if they will grow well even if I plant them now.”

“…….”

Irene’s face, which had seemed to be trying to listen attentively to Idris’s agony in its own way, stiffened in an instant.

Her red eyes, which had been following his hand, slowly moved upward. Idris, who still had his eyes naturally downcast, comes into her field of vision.

The atmosphere sank in a single breath. What broke the brief, death-like silence that had settled in an instant was Irene’s loud laughter.

The pleasant mood plummeted to the floor in a heartbeat.

It felt as if she had been struck in the back of the head. It seemed she was the only one who had been enjoying the conversation with amusement, without any thought.

I understood well what you meant. Yes. Truly, very, well.

Summer and autumn. Crops that he does not know if they will grow well until then. She was not so stupid as to not know that this was a question directed at her.

Is the crop him, and is she death?

It seems he is asking if she will even keep him alive until then, but what a pity.

‘Oh dear, I can never give you the kind of answer you want.’

Irene tucked her hair, which had fallen forward while she was laughing uncontrollably, behind her ear. Ah, the mood that had been excited by the game of playing friends is on the verge of plunging to the floor.

‘No, it is nothing much, so I should not become sharp.’

Because if I pour out my anger all of a sudden like this, I am afraid of myself too.

Irene barely moved her facial muscles to smile as usual.

“Well, what can be done. We will have no choice but to wait.”

“As expected, that is the only way. It is a headache since both of us happen to be ignorant about farming.”

A natural answer.

It is truly fascinating every time I see it. How his face does not change even while he is calculating so intensely.

“Do not worry too much.”

Irene straightened her hunched body. Today, the forest surrounding the cabin looked even more dense and shaded.

“Since what we can do is fixed anyway, we just have to do our best within those lines.”

If you want to live long, be quick-witted and do well.

That is probably how Irene’s words sounded to Idris.

‘In fact, your life span is a problem that has already left my hands to some extent, though I cannot say this.’

From the moment she vowed to stay with ‘this kind of Idris’ for as long as possible, two people were holding his life line.

One was Idris himself, who would decide how much longer he could endure like this and deal with her.

And the second was the one who possesses the right to command her life. The one who is fortunately turning a blind eye to this farce.

Irene gave a bitter smile at the fearful face she had no choice but to recall often lately. Red eyes that shone beneath stark white hair. And the black, strange pupils that opened and closed as they were torn vertically. It is a face she does not want to see even in her dreams.

Kill every human who sees you. So that they cannot dare to speak of it. That murderous command comes to mind again.

If that person were to give the order even right this moment, Irene has no choice but to follow whether she likes it or not. In the first place, her relationship with Idris could only be maintained because that person was overlooking her clever exploitation of a loophole in the promise.

It is a ridiculous thing. It is her life, but there is nothing she can choose for herself. Nothing.

‘Hmm, but come to think of it again, is it the same for Mr. Idris, that he has no proper choice?’

Along with that thought, Irene, facing Idris’s peaceful face, laughed again. Indeed, that side probably feels wretched inside as well, even if he does not show it. The base satisfaction that she was not the only one suffering like this, washed away what little anger remained.

‘Well, fine. If a person is anxious, they might lose their fear for a moment and try to test me a bit. It is annoying that he dislikes me… but let us not be fickle when I vowed to overlook everything.’

Looking again at the man who was wearing an expression as if he knew nothing, her mood became good again in an instant. Thinking about it from a step away, this entire situation felt merely entertaining.