***
If it could be called fortunate, perhaps it was. After that day, Damian’s behavior changed completely.
His previous selfish and overbearing attitude disappeared, and instead he became strangely careful. When customers came, he would step forward first to help with serving, and when I tried to lift something heavy, he would quickly reach out and carry it instead.
The problem was that the direction of that ‘carefulness’ was a bit strange. When I boiled pork in the kitchen and picked up a knife, Damian would watch that scene for a long time.
Under that persistent gaze, sweat formed on my forehead without me realizing it. When I wiped away the dripping sweat, Damian’s face became serious again. Perhaps thinking I was sick somewhere, the space between his eyebrows slowly narrowed.
…Anyway, setting aside the burdensome behavior, the real problem was something else.
It was when only the two of us remained.
“I want to put my tongue in, Sion.”
“What?”
“I want to kiss you.”
“……”
This demon started shamelessly demanding kisses.
“No, it’s still daytime and I’m working.”
I hurriedly pushed away Damian’s chest as he approached right up to my face.
Of course, he didn’t budge. This damn muscle mass.
“What does that matter?”
“Th-that kind of thing… is usually done when two people are alone, and not during work.”
“There’s no one here now.”
“……”
He wasn’t wrong.
The large-scale subjugation wasn’t over yet.
Which meant the inn was still quiet, and right now in this inn there were only me and this demon, just the two of us.
Of course, even if it was called a large-scale subjugation, it wasn’t a full-scale war. It was more like a kind of cleaning, so to speak, sweeping away the demons that had leaked outside the boundary. Of course, the Empire deploying forces on this scale was essentially tantamount to a declaration of war.
As that thought crossed my mind, I unconsciously glanced at Damian.
“By the way… aren’t you worried, Damian? When subjugations are happening on a massive scale across the entire Empire.”
It was funny to worry about a demon, but seeing him calmly serving felt strangely odd.
Well, wouldn’t it be natural to be afraid or angry?
Of course, looking at the usual Damian, I didn’t think he would show such human reactions, but his response was too quiet, far too quiet.
“Aren’t your fellow demons dying out there?”
Usually when beings of the same species are being killed, whether people or beasts, they show some reaction, don’t they?
But Damian didn’t even blink, instead looking at me with a gaze that seemed not to understand my concern.
“Why would I worry about those half-wits who got pushed outside the boundary because they’re weak?”
There wasn’t even a speck of interest in that voice.
“They would have died inside the forest anyway if it wasn’t humans. Their lives were just extended until now.”
It was a tone devoid of blood, tears, or any trace of kinship.
Could it be that demons don’t take this situation seriously? Is that why they show no reaction like this?
Demons are generally divided into four types.
Wild demons whose forms are unclear, wandering outside the Demon Forest’s boundary.
Subordinates who stay within the boundary line and obey stronger individuals.
Commander-class demons who lead those subordinates.
And the Demon King who reigns at the apex of them all.
Usually demons with unstable forms are classified as wild demons and belong to the lowest class. The ‘half-wits’ Damian mentioned are probably these. On the other hand, commander-class demons are beings with language ability and judgment that transcend instinct, establishing their own territories and commanding subordinates.
The fact that Damian had a human form meant he was at least commander-class. Moreover, when I first met him, he had collapsed while injured. If that was from a clash between commander-class demons…… it meant Damian was that strong.
I looked him over once more.
A height far taller than others, and a physique that looked solid at a glance.
And even the rare dark red hair and red eyes. An appearance that was hard to guess was a demon.
Of course, even if the hood hid his horns, it couldn’t hide his dangerous atmosphere, but in terms of looks alone, ‘handsome’ wasn’t enough to describe him.
Even as I looked at him searchingly, Damian didn’t care at all. Rather, he sat down in the chair next to me with a relaxed attitude and spoke in an all too peaceful voice.
“I want to kiss you, Sion.”
“……”
The same words twice.
And what came next was as clear as day.
He would start throwing a tantrum, and then he’d bother me all day, so in the end I’d have to do it anyway. I reluctantly let out a sigh and stood in front of him.
If we kissed standing up, Damian would get excited and lift me up without fail, so by the time the kiss ended, my whole body would be covered in bruises. So lately, it had become a rule to sit him down in a chair.
Good grief. Now that I think about it, sticking together with a demon like this has become routine.
After lamenting inwardly, I placed my hands on the backrest of the chair Damian was sitting in and looked down at his face. Even though Damian was sitting, our eye level was only slightly below, the difference wasn’t great.
“Don’t bare your fangs.”
Damian nodded and slowly closed his eyes.
A demon letting down his guard and closing his eyes in front of a human. Anyone watching would let out an empty laugh at the sight, but to me it was too familiar.
How should I put it, it was like giving candy once to quiet a crying or whining child, only to end up creating a bad habit. Even when I was at the orphanage, I often gave the nuns headaches with that problem.
I took a short breath and slowly touched his lips.
As soon as our lips met, Damian’s tongue carefully pushed in. True to a demon who learned quickly, he was surprisingly skilled, incomparable to our first kiss.
Soon slurp, smack— wet friction sounds filled the quiet inn.
Lips pressed together and separated, breath and saliva mixed. Each time his thick tongue pushed deeply in, my throat was blocked and huck huck sounds leaked out, but moans, breaths, were quickly swallowed by the kiss.
“Mmng, hmng….”
Even while tongues intertwined, there was a strange lack of reality.
Was it strange that I wasn’t uncomfortable kissing a man?
Even though my first love was a man, it was a puppy love where I couldn’t even remember his face or know his name. It was unreasonable to say I wasn’t uncomfortable with this situation now because of that one memory.
Or… was it because Damian was too handsome? Well, even if he was a demon, he was far more handsome than most humans.
Thoughts continued one after another. In the meantime, the movement of my tongue slowed subtly without me realizing it.
Not knowing that he had already opened his eyes and was looking at me, I remained lost in thought.
Why was Damian surprised when I put my tongue in?
Could it be he had never kissed before?
Looking at how he called sex ‘mating,’ it must mean he just moved according to instinct like a beast. Could Damian’s first kiss be with me?
The moment that thought reached me, I unconsciously opened my eyes.
And our gazes collided.
“……!”
Red pupils were staring at me right in front of my face.
Of course, to say our gazes collided when my eyes were covered by my bangs, I must have been startled for nothing.
“Huk, ugh—!”
I bit my tongue hard in surprise. As soon as the stinging pain spread, I hurriedly pushed Damian’s shoulder. As I quickly pulled out my tingling tongue and made a groaning sound, Damian pulled his upper body back and asked.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Hey, what kind of manners is opening your eyes while kissing?!”
“Is thinking about other things manners?”
Grrr, a low rumble shook his throat. I was speechless at the sign that he seemed quite angry. Without giving me a chance to retort, Damian pulled my waist tightly into his embrace.
The moment I placed my hands, which had been wandering in the air, back on the chair’s backrest, our lips overlapped immediately.
“Hmph! …Mmng…. Breath…!”
This time it was to the point where my breath was completely stolen.
His tongue dug deep inside and ravaged my mouth, and each time the tip of his tongue brushed, my body trembled numbly as if sparks were flying.
“…Hngh, wait, ju-just…!”
The moment I instinctively pulled my body back, finding it hard to even breathe, my hand that had been gripping the backrest slipped. Just as my body was about to lurch forward, Damian put strength into holding me in his arms. And just like that, he sat me on his firm thigh.
“…Hik!”
Something like a serpent was felt beneath his thigh. The thought that it was that part all men know sent chills down my spine. Even though my lips were blocked and I couldn’t look down, my nerves kept being pulled downward.
Half wanting to see, half wanting to pretend not to know. The size transmitted through my butt was beyond imagination, and my body froze.
“Mmng, I, …breath….”
My breath tangled and burst, but even in the midst of that, the kiss didn’t stop. His thick tongue continued to ravage my mouth, and when my breathing began to falter, at the end he lightly slurp— sucked on my tongue.
Only after making me exhausted did Damian finally pull away.
“Puha…!”
“Haa…. Ha….”
Since when, my hand had been wrapped around his neck.
Out of breath, I buried my face in his shoulder and gasped roughly. Huk, huk— as I caught my breath and raised my head, Damian’s eyes were looking down at me hazily wet with a completely disheveled gaze.
