Escaping the Detached Palace was easier than expected. For some reason, Deus knew all the secret passages and side paths located within the Detached Palace. When I asked how he knew, he said it was thanks to his experience secretly roaming the Detached Palace to avoid the eyes of escort knights when he was young.
I quickly turned through corridors avoiding the eyes of mercenaries with my wrist held by Deus. I couldn’t see well ahead because of the robe pulled down deeply.
“Are you sure you know the way? If we get caught……”
“Huh, where is this?”
Deus, who stopped right in place, showed a bewildered expression. The moment I rolled my eyes as if I’d known, Deus grinned and pulled my wrist. Then he expressed doubt in a cheerful voice.
“Why do I want to tease Ash even though I like him?”
“I don’t care if you act selfishly with me like this, but if you do this at the banquet too, it’ll be real trouble. You know?”
“But isn’t it a bit harsh to ask me to act fine in front of the people who imprisoned me?”
I hesitated mid-step. Deus, who had been walking ahead with his back to me, continued.
“Even I wasn’t any less miserable during that time. Until Ash came, I was constantly lonely and sad……”
“That’s……”
“Right now I’m holding back from wanting to kill everyone because of Ash.”
Deus, who turned his head slightly, smiled faintly. Certainly it wasn’t wrong. From Deus’s perspective, he’d been trapped in the Void for decades without knowing why. Now he had to act fine in front of those who had imprisoned him in the Void. Even if I were Deus, I didn’t think I’d feel comfortable inside.
The place Deus led me to, left speechless, was the back gate leading out of the Detached Palace.
“Are you going to kill everyone?”
Before leaving the railing, I grabbed the hand of Deus who was about to go outside. Deus, whose body suddenly tilted toward me, met my gaze. Suppressing my trembling heart, I slowly continued.
“Kiss said you wanted to see the empire turn to ashes.”
“……”
“I’m asking if that feeling still remains. If that feeling is still there, I can’t trust you. It would be troublesome if you wished for the world’s destruction instead of my survival as your wish.”
Since my life was at stake, I wanted to be certain at least once. If Deus, after struggling to finally meet the Primordial Evil, wished for the world’s destruction instead of my survival, then all this hardship would become meaningless. Deus, who let out a brief groan, answered while tightly gripping my hand.
“Actually I’m still pondering. I have a body that can’t die, right? Even after Ash dies normally from aging, I can’t die and have to live boringly alone for life. Such a world is better ended.”
“……”
“So help me find meaning.”
As expected, he was thinking something else inside. I sighed while staring at Deus tying the strings on my robe tightly.
“Meaning?”
“Yeah, the meaning of why it has to be this world.”
“……”
“I still don’t really know, the reason why this world is better than the Void.”
Even if I somehow made a wish and survived, Deus who can’t die would someday have to live alone for life.
That seemed to be the point Deus feared. Rather than he alone facing the worst ending, he thought it better to end this world.
Just as I was about to say more after long pondering, our lips touched with a smack. I frowned and shot back.
“……Isn’t there no reason to kiss in the current situation?”
“Your face full of worry was so cute I couldn’t help it……”
I was tired of dealing with a psycho. After vigorously rubbing my lips with the back of my hand, I walked ahead past Deus. Deus, who had been following me pitter-patter, asked with sparkling eyes while clasping his hands behind his back.
“Aren’t your legs tired? Should we rest in a secluded grass field nearby?”
“We only walked 10 minutes!”
Deus, who laughed haha, naturally led me outside the Detached Palace. Bright moonlight illuminated our feet. The drum sounds heard from not far away somehow excited my heart.
* * *
Contrary to my expectation that he’d like it as soon as we came to a crowded place, Deus walked while tightly embracing my arm with an anxious face he’d never shown before.
His body was huge but clinging like a cicada on an old tree, making me keep swaying. Eventually, unable to overcome the discomfort, I asked in a tired voice.
“Why do you keep clinging like this?”
“With this many people…… someone might suddenly stab Ash with a knife. That’s scary.”
“So you do have things you’re scared of.”
“I can’t help it, unlike me Ash dies at the drop of a hat. It’s all Ash’s fault.”
Seeing him completely deflated when he usually acted triumphant somehow made me feel good. Suppressing the laughter about to burst out, I spoke as if I had no choice.
“If you don’t listen, I’ll just leave you here and go back alone.”
“Then what about me?”
“You’ll have to live here forever.”
“Don’t leave without me.”
It was an unusually restless appearance. Even for Deus, being left alone in such a crowded place seemed scary. How should I put it, it felt like pretending to be dead in front of a pet cat and watching the reaction. Thinking this was the moment, I whispered with a serious expression.
“Then as soon as we get back, remove the riding crop under the bed.”
“Okay.”
“The candles and…… handcuffs, rope, and saw too. And stop picking up bugs. Why do you keep picking them up? You don’t even have affection for them.”
Lately Deus, who had taken to walks for fun, picked up bugs like centipedes and beetle larvae. If it were just one or two, maybe, but the bugs increasingly formed colonies to the point where I woke up just yesterday with a huge centipede on my face.
At my voice full of complaints, Deus, who had been hesitating, answered with a blushing expression.
“Someday when doing kinky play with Ash, I thought I could use them……”
“If you use them, I’ll kill you.”
“……”
“Answer, answer me. Answer that you won’t use them.”
The image of a beetle larva as thick as an average adult male’s finger flashed through my mind. It was so horrifying I didn’t even want to ask how exactly he planned to use it.
Deus’s gaze, who had been lightly ignoring me urging an answer with a pale face, stopped at one place. My head turned following Deus without me knowing. The moment I confirmed a familiar face, my body stiffened.
‘Why are those bastards here?’
A snake beastman particularly noticeable among the crowds flicked a slender tongue. It was the Theo & Tian brothers I hadn’t met even once since leaving the mansion.
If I’d run into them alone it might be one thing. Since there was no good in encountering them together with Deus, just as I tried to pass quickly, a threatening voice pierced my ears.
“What, isn’t that coward Ash? Impressively still alive.”
“Heh, still the same stupid face. Do you even wash? The livestock smell reaches all the way here.”
The brothers who ultimately recognized me blocked the way, making my attempt to avoid them futile. I glanced to examine Deus’s complexion. Deus was just looking at the brothers expressionlessly without any particular change in expression.
The brothers, who had been chuckling, tapped my cheek with their palms. The moment I read Deus’s eyes beginning to sink, I hastily grabbed the brothers’ hands. Then I shook them as if glad.
“B-brother! Wow, to run into you by chance in a place like this. Did you come to enjoy the festival?”
“This shameless bastard……”
Smack!
The brothers, who let out an empty laugh and swatted away my hand, soon grabbed my collar. Sharp fangs like poison needles flashed threateningly. I rolled my eyes hoping they’d notice Deus’s presence, but the twins whose reason seemed already consumed by anger spoke in an irritated voice.
“You, just because you gained some trust from that Crown Prince, you seem to think you’re something. What method did you use exactly?”
“Obvious, what else. Humans have small bodies so the tightness is killer. What else could there be besides satisfying him by shaking that light ass?”
The twins seemed to have meant it as an insult to me, but since I’d actually used that method, I didn’t particularly feel insulted. I just thought inside ‘How do these bastards know that? Did they fly drones?’ and broke into a cold sweat. I thought with clenched fists.
‘First, humor them as much as possible. If sparks fly to Deus for no reason, today becomes doomsday.’
I forcibly pulled up the corners of my mouth to smile. Then spoke in the friendliest voice possible.
“Brother, I’ll visit you separately, so for today please stop……”
“Haha, even if you didn’t say that, I was planning to go. I heard premium information that a slave ship is coming near the dock today.”
“Your parents will be there too, shouldn’t you go meet them?”
Before I could answer, I landed on my bottom because the brothers threw me away. The brothers, who giggled seeing me groan while sitting collapsed, turned around.
Fortunately, Deus, who had been quietly watching the situation until then, reached out his hand as if to help me up. At that moment, a crowd surged and a sandstorm arose.
“Ngh……”
Perhaps sand grains got in my eyes, one eye stung and soon tears formed around my eyes. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand with my head slightly lowered. Physiological tears flowed regardless of my will. Just as I raised my head after wiping away tears indifferently, I hesitated. Deus was smiling as if troubled.
“Sorry, Ash. I really can’t hold this back.”
