At that fact, one corner of Theorde’s heart rippled strangely.
Suddenly, he wanted to see him.
Was it because he remembered the gukbap he’d cooked?
Was it because he recalled the face that had greeted him with a bright smile?
Or was it because he remembered the figure who had lifted his spirits with somehow lively gestures—he didn’t know the reason.
…However.
‘Take care!’
It must have been a common greeting just seeing someone off, but strangely, it wasn’t easily erased.
Looking back, in his life there wasn’t a single person who had told him to “take care.” What called him was always orders, what anticipated his return was the empire, and the object of waiting was always only missions.
Was that why? That short, ordinary remark lingered especially in his heart.
A smile that even Theorde himself wasn’t aware of crossed his lips.
Whatever it was, one thing was certain.
When the mission he was currently on ended, he wanted to return to that inn first.
…To that inn where the innkeeper Sion would be.
***
Damian’s skinship became bolder with each passing day.
Trying to steal my lips at any time was basic, and sometimes he’d cover my butt with one hand while looking at me as if gauging something.
Each time, I’d press my lips firmly shut and slowly slip away to escape. But there was no way I could win against that bulk.
In the end, I was caught and once again clashing lips inside the kitchen.
Smack— chu-up, smack.
“Haup…. Hup, don’t bare your teeth!”
The already thick tongue blocked my throat every time, making me breathless, and every time his fangs grazed the tender mucous membrane, goosebumps spread like waves beneath my skin.
When I barely pushed against his chest, Damian let out an excited breath.
He licked my saliva that had run down my chin with his tongue tip and spoke. Somehow that voice was hazily wet.
“Strange. It’s not even sweet, but I keep swallowing it. Sion, does your saliva have an effect that induces thirst?”
“Heu, how could that be?!”
Between gasping breaths, his thigh brushed against my legs. At the hot heat transmitted all the way to my lower abdomen, I shouted with a horrified face without realizing it.
“A-are you in heat or something?!”
“……”
A brief silence flowed. It was because no answer flowed from Damian.
…Wait, why?
I stared blankly at Damian, who kept silent with his words blocked, then swallowed a cough for no reason. This silence was somehow ominous. Normally a snort would have come back, but to have no reaction like this.
Could he really be in heat?
That thought belatedly crossed my mind. Come to think of it, Damian was a canine demon. If he was a beast, it wouldn’t be strange to have a heat cycle, and if he was a demon, there would be even more aspects that couldn’t be measured by human standards….
Could it really be that kind of time?
While all kinds of imaginations followed one after another, making my head dizzy, Damian’s red eyes slowly turned toward me. His gaze, subtly trembling as if shaking, pierced straight ahead.
“How long has it been since I came here?”
“What? …Uh, about 2 weeks? If you count from when you were injured and became a demon, about a month….”
As Damian’s expression hardened in an instant, I trailed off without realizing it and looked at him.
After a moment, Damian slowly got up without saying anything. And stopping at the door, he sent his gaze that way as if penetrating the Boundary Line spread beyond the door.
“I need to go to the forest for a bit.”
“What? Suddenly?”
Thinking he was finally leaving, I reflexively asked back, and Damian turned his head to look straight into my eyes.
“I’ll come back.”
“Can’t you just go and not come back?”
Huk. My true feelings slipped out of my mouth without me knowing.
I quickly covered my mouth, but it was already too late. Whether Damian didn’t hear or pretended not to hear—probably the latter—he turned his head without any change in expression.
Then he silently opened the door and went outside.
…He really left, right?
But soon, at the sound of footsteps, I turned my head to look out the window, and far from leaving, Damian was slowly circling around the inn.
What’s he doing?
Unable to hold back, I followed after him.
“What are you doing?”
“Marking.”
“What?”
“It’s a sign that this is my territory.”
Marking?
Isn’t that what dogs do when they go for walks, peeing?
…Don’t tell me, he’s looking for a place to pee?
Without realizing it, my gaze fell downward.
That thing with a big presence that occasionally touched me brushingly during kisses.
This—if he pees wrong, won’t the building collapse?
Suddenly, a scene was drawn in my mind of Damian lifting one leg and nonchalantly peeing, then the inn collapsing with a crash. Just imagining it made my spine chill.
Of course, just because that, that’s big doesn’t mean his pee stream is strong, but you know, aren’t there stories like that? Urban legends of the believe-it-or-not type, like breaking down a wall with a pee stream.
Eventually, with horrified eyes, I blocked Damian’s path and reflexively spread both arms wide.
“Ahhh! You can’t!”
While Damian hesitated, I shouted almost like a scream.
“This building is old! If you pee here, it’ll really rot and collapse!”
“……”
Though I screamed loudly, Damian didn’t bat an eye. No, rather he looked down at me with a slightly pale face.
After looking at me silently for a moment, he slowly shook his head as if he couldn’t understand. Then without saying anything, he started circling around the inn again.
That appearance was somehow unsettling, so I followed behind without realizing it. While desperately hiding my anxious heart that he might pull down his pants at any moment.
Had we gone around once? Damian returned to where he’d first stood and stopped. Then he raised his head to look beyond the boundary for a moment before speaking.
“I’ll be back in about a week.”
“…Take care?”
At the greeting that slipped out carelessly, Damian smiled, baring his teeth as if pleased.
While I just blinked blankly at that reaction, Damian reached his hand toward me then hesitated for a moment. Then with his index finger, he poked my cheek—poke.
“……?”
A slightly hot fingertip touched and immediately fell away.
Damian rumbled his throat and laughed again, then without leaving any more words, walked out beyond the boundary. Though he looked back here and there while going, he eventually became small as a dot and completely disappeared.
I looked at the spot where he’d disappeared while touching my cheek for no reason.
“What? What does that mean?”
He said he’s going back to the demon forest, so why specifically say he’ll come back?
And why specifically say it’ll take a week?
It was a feeling I couldn’t understand or explain. With one corner of my chest left uncomfortably like that, I shook my head back and forth.
“Let’s just work.”
I started the inn work as usual with familiar self-talk, but the inn with not a single visitor was excessively quiet. With even Damian gone, the entire inn was quiet as if holding its breath.
“Goodness me…”
Just because that one big shadow disappeared, to be this empty…
It seemed I’d become accustomed to him without knowing it.
***
The next day, and the day after that, there were still no customers.
And today was the third day since Damian left. During that idle time, I tried this and that saying I’d solve the inn’s secret, but the harvest was nil.
I placed the calculator I’d summoned earlier on the counter and stared at it for a long time, then sighed.
“I can’t exchange it for money, can’t sell it. What am I supposed to do with this?”
Summoning was really half-baked.
Objects I imagined did appear, but the size was arbitrary, and if I didn’t stop, it could become a disaster.
Once, I carelessly shouted “A huge lump of metal, fall!” and was horrified to see the air actually split and something like a lump of metal start to come out, so I screamed to stop.
Fortunately, after confirming that the lump of metal floating in the air disappeared without a trace, I firmly resolved never to summon things as a joke after that.
If that had fallen just a little more, this inn would have instantly turned to powder.
So during those three days without Damian, I focused on fixing the interior of the inn. I organized old tables, replaced creaky chairs, and installed cozy lighting by the windows.
And today was the turn to decorate the counter interior.
I was in the middle of summoning and arranging several decorative items including the calculator….
Ding-a-ling—
The bell rang.
I stopped organizing and raised my head to see the vegetable shop owner ahjussi come in.
“What’s all this?”
He looked around the inn and widened his eyes. Sparkling lights, tables polished to a shine, and even the neatly organized kitchen.
“Suddenly the inn’s become bright inside. Did you fix it up?”
“Well, you know, business was pretty good. I invested a bit in the inn.”
At my words, the ahjussi narrowed his eyes, then smiled as if impressed. As if seeing a ‘young man who doesn’t spend his earnings carelessly.’
“You’re diligent anyway. It was quiet, but you did all this while there were no customers?”
“Hahaha….”
I only gave an awkward laugh at those words.
Of course, in reality I hadn’t spent a single penny. The inn had just changed its appearance on its own as if responding to my call.
Even if a situation came where I had to spend money, I had no intention of getting attached to this place. Because this inn was the first place I’d have to abandon if war broke out.
