When Ruan opened his eyes, he was in his bedroom and Marcel was looking down at him. For someone viewing his master who’d collapsed and woken up, his gaze was rather insolent.
“I’ll ask first, but you weren’t attacked, were you? The physician said it wasn’t a curse or poisoning.”
“……I just collapsed on my own.”
Marcel let out a breath that sounded exasperated as soon as he heard the answer to his own question.
“Yes, how fortunate.”
Even at the sarcastic tone, Ruan couldn’t say anything and just sat up clutching his head. Even to himself, it was absurd to the point of inviting ridicule.
“Where’s Beni?”
“Do you like him that much?”
“……”
When he first saw Beni, it was true he’d fallen for him purely based on his appearance. Beni’s first impression had been shocking enough to make him wonder how something that looked like this could be living in this barren and harsh Demon Realm.
However, as time passed, Ruan began to be drawn to other things about Beni as well. His kind heart that tried to help someone despite being timid, running around here and there, his innocence that quickly opened up even to him, and purity so transparent you could see his inner thoughts despite his clumsiness.
Throughout his life, Ruan had never harbored such soft and tender feelings for anyone. He’d thought this would never change, but the moment Beni appeared, it completely changed.
“I just want him to be happy.”
At the sound that flowed out quietly like a murmur, Marcel sighed inwardly. He really never thought he’d see Ruan like this.
It wasn’t that it was pathetic or disappointing. Such disloyalty was an emotion he shouldn’t harbor toward the master he served, but aside from that, he felt relieved in a way. Ruan had lived tenaciously in an abandoned castle far from the Demon King’s Castle solely to bring down the previous Demon King since childhood.
He’d made it this far surviving assassins from the surface and high-ranking demons who came to kill the Demon King’s child while he was still young, along with constant harsh training.
Though there would be much to do as the Demon King going forward, Marcel hoped his master would live a more peaceful life than before. He just hadn’t expected that wish to be fulfilled like this as soon as he became Demon King.
He’d heard that when you wish for someone’s happiness, the wisher becomes happy too. Marcel looked at Ruan leaning against the bed headboard. The sharp edge he’d always had was definitely more relaxed than before. Seeing that, Marcel’s own prickly mood also rounded, and somehow he didn’t feel like continuing his nagging.
“Still, please be careful so this doesn’t happen again. The timing being what it is, it could be life-threatening if you’re not careful.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Though he wondered if being careful would help, it was also true that he couldn’t faint every time Beni did something like this. But that had been too unexpected a scene. Recalling it again made his heart seem to throb.
“Shall I call the Spirit? He seemed very shocked that Your Majesty collapsed.”
“Yes. He must have been very shocked.”
Since Ruan had collapsed because of Beni, Marcel examined him once. Unlike earlier when he’d been deathly pale, his complexion had almost completely returned. Just how much did he have to like someone for his heart to beat to the point of mana backflow without anything even being done? It was a phenomenon Marcel couldn’t understand.
“Yes, then I’ll call him.”
Marcel turned and left the bedroom.
* * *
“Your Majesty!”
Beni, who looked neater than the last time he’d seen him, stopped at the entrance and looked at Ruan desperately. Unlike his eyes that wanted to enter immediately, Beni couldn’t easily move his feet and glanced at Marcel standing beside him. Only after he said, “You may enter,” did Beni approach the bed almost at a run.
“Don’t act rashly……”
Marcel, who’d been about to give a warning toward Beni making a commotion in the Demon King’s bedroom, closed his mouth. Because Ruan had raised his hand and glared. As if he’d expected as much, Marcel quietly closed the door and left.
Confirming the door had closed, Beni asked with a more relaxed air.
“Are you alright, Your Majesty? You suddenly collapsed and I was really shocked. Is it because of me?”
Ruan flinched but shook his head. Even Ruan had some sense of shame to tell Beni that he’d fainted because he was so happy seeing him grab his sleeve and look up desperately.
“I think my body was just a bit unwell for a moment. You don’t need to worry, Beni.”
The softly smiling Ruan somehow looked completely drained of energy. Well, having lost consciousness, it couldn’t just be slightly unwell. What was wrong with him—Beni fidgeted and examined Ruan this way and that. Though Ruan wasn’t actually sick, he liked Beni’s worry-filled gaze so he let his shoulders droop slightly.
“I think I’m still a bit dizzy……”
Beni, who’d become teary-eyed, finally climbed onto the bed and grabbed both of Ruan’s shoulders.
“Lie down, Your Majesty. When you’re sick, you need to rest well.”
Not content with personally laying the Demon King down and arranging his pillow, Beni pulled the blanket up to Ruan’s neck and covered him. Though Ruan felt like he’d start sweating soon from the heat, he didn’t make a peep and stayed still obediently. He was just fantasizing in his head that if he married Beni later, moments like this would become everyday life.
“The weather’s getting cold but the blanket seems too thin.”
It was much lighter than even the winter cotton blanket provided at the servants’ quarters. Come to think of it, last night too, the Demon King had come out wearing just a shirt and robe and walked around outside for a long time. Recalling that moment, Beni realized the Demon King being sick was his fault.
The clothes had been thin—very thin—but he’d dismissed it lightly, only listening to his words about having a lot of body heat. Why was he so oblivious? Beni looked down sadly at Ruan, who truly seemed unwell, reproaching himself. Now that he looked, cold sweat was even beading on his forehead.
“Your Majesty, your face seems to be getting red.”
Ruan had always seemed strong. He’d never imagined him being sick, but seeing him struggling like this, even sweating, Beni felt more upset. Beni carefully took out his handkerchief and clumsily patted and wiped the Demon King’s cheek.
Beni had never received nursing care from anyone, nor had he nursed anyone. He might have received nursing care when his mother was alive, but the memory was hazy.
“Your fever has risen more. Shall I bring the physician?”
“No. Instead, I think I’ll get better if Beni stays by my side.”
“……Me?”
Himself, who was no help at all? Beni thought it seemed much better to call a physician no matter how he thought about it, but Ruan refused to the end. Beni had no choice but to stay by the Demon King’s side, placing a cold handkerchief on his forehead that grew hotter and hotter. And after staying like that for a while, his own eyes began to droop closed without him knowing.
I can’t sleep. I need to watch so His Majesty doesn’t get worse.
He tried to collect himself, but it wasn’t easy. Was it because he’d run around the greenhouse ceiling all morning—drowsiness rushed over him rapidly. It was the moment when Beni’s body finally slumped forward. A hot hand supported Beni’s chest as a low whisper was heard.
“You can sleep, Beni.”
With those final words, Beni muttered “I’ll just sleep a little, I’m sorry” and fell asleep.
Some time passed, and confirming Beni had completely fallen asleep, Ruan laid Beni on the large sofa, covered him with a fluffy new blanket, then hurriedly left the bedroom.
Ruan’s body that had come out to the 4th floor hallway flashed, and before long he appeared in the airspace above Lake Belluard, the massive lake surrounding the Demon King’s Castle.
Then—splash—he plunged into the lake.
White snow had piled on the mountaintop the Demon King’s Castle backed against, and the climate was harsh enough that bone-chillingly cold wind blew. In the midst of this, Ruan who’d fallen into the lake.
“Ah…… I’m alive.”
His expression was more refreshed than anyone’s. White steam rose in wisps around him. His body that had been hotly feverish gradually cooled.
The Demon King, who’d floated in the thin-ice lake for quite a while, was discovered by a boatman carrying cargo and returned to the castle.
