Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 9

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When she came face to face with the man who had awakened, despite the calm first words she had offered, Irene was noticeably tense.

The man had opened the eyes that had been closed the entire time, and the moment he met her head-on, his strikingly blue eyes reminiscent of the sea flew open as if they might burst.

‘Ah, is he the type to scream?’

Then in the end I would have no choice but to use my hands again.

As she quietly faced the man, the gaze that had been fixed on Irene began to shake mercilessly.

The man, who had not made even a single sound of breathing, suddenly closed his eyes slowly. At the unexpected action, Irene’s head tilted slightly to the right.

“……?”

And the man’s eyes, which had been closed for a brief moment, slowly opened again.

It was obvious at a glance that his blue eyes were finally being completely swallowed by fear and despair.

It was certainly an unpleasant reaction…… but how should she put it.

Of all the reactions she had seen so far, it was the most moderate. The fact that he did not immediately scream was quite surprising. Perhaps because of that, the way he closed and opened his eyes as if escaping reality was not all that displeasing.

Rather, it was a little funny. As if closing and opening his eyes would make me disappear from in front of him.

And so Irene revealed her smile without hiding it and asked gently.

“Are you feeling a little better?”

After a moment, a low voice slipped out of his mouth.

“Yes, um. Thank you very much for saving me. I truly thought I was going to die……”

At that moment.

Thump, thump.

Irene’s heart began to pound like mad.

The man’s voice had a small tremor, but he was clearly giving a normal ‘answer.’ That is to say, a conversation.

Perhaps, perhaps……!

Inside Irene, all kinds of emotions swirled and swelled like a large balloon, filling her chest until it was almost too much to bear.

The thing named hope, which had always been like torture, completely swallowed her thoughts.

Even though she tried to calm herself, she could not stop the tingling elation. A voice brimming with excitement and laughter burst out on their own.

“No. I did not really do anything at all.”

Is this the right way to do it?

She was not sure what kind of words were appropriate. After all, it had been so, so long since she had exchanged simple greetings with a person. Even such an ordinary conversation, truly…….

And the man did not betray her expectations.

The conversation that continued smoothly afterward felt like a dream. If it was a dream, she did not want to wake from it ever.

Of course, it was not as if there were not parts that occasionally bothered her.

When, as an imperial citizen, he gave the utterly out-of-place name ‘Idris,’ she wondered if he was trying to joke, but as she listened to him smoothly recount anecdotes about his mother and the reasons for it, it somehow sounded convincing.

Thinking about it again, it was indeed too out of place a name to have made up as an alias. Unless he was a fool, he would have just said a common imperial name.

‘And besides, would he really brazenly trade away his own mother like that just because he did not want to give a name?’

Hmm. And in the first place, even if it were an alias, it would only be a little unpleasant, not to the extent of doing anything about it. Let’s assume it is his real name and just let it pass. Irene reached that lukewarm conclusion.

Aside from that, there was nothing that greatly grated on her nerves. The fear and disgust that occasionally gathered in his eyes, and being treated like a demon with a contractor, were a little unpleasant, but she knew it could not be helped. After all, it was Idris who gave her such enjoyment, so that much she could willingly turn a blind eye to.

Her fondness toward Idris shot up steeply. If he continued like this, it felt as though she could truly do anything for him. She wanted to treat him as gently as possible, as kindly as possible, as though attending to a precious guest.

And so, now.

Without hesitation, Irene suddenly pulled Idris, who was lying on the bed, into a tight embrace.

Supporting his stiff waist and neck with her hands, she easily lifted him upright into a seated position in one swift motion.

Then she took a step back and carefully examined Idris. It did not seem that anything else had broken. She felt inwardly pleased, thinking her control of strength had been perfect.