Valen was engulfed by a shock as if a huge ball of fire had slammed into his chest.
His vision blurred instantly, as if he’d been struck by a sudden unexpected blow.
No, to be precise, all colour vanished from the world except for Argen.
It was as if all the world’s vibrant hues had been absorbed into her.
Damn it, what’s wrong with my eyes?
Valen squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.
“You?” Her face was inches from his.
Her white, round forehead shone with an unusual radiance, her small nose, her cherry-like lips.
Everything that made up her form was so unbearably close he couldn’t gather his wits.
Argen’s small hand rested on his shoulder, and the legs that had naturally become entangled felt as if flames might erupt at any moment.
Every nerve in his body was focused on the points where she touched.
Valen looked down at Argen with eyes filled with bewilderment.
At that moment, he blinked slowly.
“You’re bleeding from your nose.”
“……”
“Both nostrils.”
When Argen tried to wipe Valen’s face with her sleeve, a startled Valen pushed her away and hurriedly rose from the sofa.
Splatter.
As he moved abruptly, drops of blood splattered onto Valen’s chest.
“Are you stricken with the plague?”
The worried voice swirled in Valen’s head.
He hastily clamped his hand over his nose.
Yes, this was sickness.
The aftermath of the curse clearly lingered in his body.
Otherwise, such a sudden physical reaction wouldn’t have occurred.
“You’re bleeding too much.”
“Don’t come closer.”
It was just as Argen tried to rise to follow Valen.
He stretched out a hand to stop her from approaching.
“Talk there.”
“Why?
Why can’t I approach you?
I don’t understand.” Argen asked, genuinely perplexed.
Then, she interlaced her fingers with Valen’s outstretched hand.
A hand soft and supple, without a single callus, overlapped Valen’s rough palm.
In that instant, Valen’s heart began pounding dangerously hard.
Even sprinting up a steep mountain peak and back down wouldn’t make his heart race like this.Valen’s face flushed bright red, as if it might burst.
Staying here any longer felt like his head would truly explode.
Damn it, damn this curse!
Finally, Valen snatched his hand away from Argen’s grasp and fled from her bedroom.
Unable to control his raging emotions, he walked aimlessly when, one by one, demons in nightgowns began appearing in the hallway opposite him.
“Good morning, Lord…”
Valen walked on, staring straight ahead without even glancing at the demons offering greetings.
The demons, used to having their greetings ignored day in and day out, merely scratched their backs in embarrassment.
Then, seeing the long trail of bloodstains where Valen had passed, they froze.
“…Weren’t you supposed to be healed?”
“Treat it immediately.”
Valen headed straight for Nadol’s office.
Nadol, who had been meticulously embroidering a fur-turtle’s coat, jumped at the sudden loud voice.
Seeing Valen’s state, he was startled again.
“You… look like hell!”
Blood smeared around Valen’s mouth.
He’d roughly wiped away the blood streaming from his nose with his hands.
His face, usually cold and distant, was unusually flushed.
He grabbed Nadol roughly by the collar and pulled him toward him.
“Ugh, why are you doing this all of a sudden!”
“That curse or whatever it was.
It really left my body completely, right?”
“I don’t sense any curse energy from you.”
“Then why is my body like this?
You can’t tell because you’re a quack goat doctor, right?”
“A, quack doctor?!” Nadol jumped at the insult.
But he couldn’t strongly refute him.
Even to his own eyes, Valen’s condition was abnormal.
Valen had been perfectly fine just this morning, not needing any treatment.
He couldn’t understand why Valen had returned covered in blood in such a short time.
He briefly wondered if Valen had been beaten up by someone else and was using the curse as an excuse out of embarrassment, but he quickly dismissed that thought.
What kind of insane demon would throw a punch at Valen?
Nadol pushed away Valen’s hand, which had grabbed his collar.
“I’ll examine you again, but first, clean the blood off properly.”
Valen nervously scanned his surroundings, then grabbed any cloth he could find on the table and rubbed it under his nose.
“You can’t wipe it with that-!”
But it was already too late.
Valen tossed the cloth aside without a care.
It was the little turtle’s coat he’d spent a month crafting.
It would have been finished with just his initials embroidered on it… but now it lay pitifully on the floor, smeared with Valen’s blood.
Whether Nadol screamed while clutching the turtle’s coat or not, Valen could think only of Argen.
‘Because I want to cherish you.’
Her dry voice swept through Valen’s insides with tremendous destructive force.Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The thought of Argen’s face made the stopped nosebleed start flowing again.
Valenn grimaced irritably, clutching his chest.
I want to vomit.
I want to spew out all this sudden chaos that’s invaded me.
Valen underwent his medical examination with more diligence than ever.
But beyond the diagnosis that his lost muscle mass was returning and his stamina was recovering at an astonishing rate, there was nothing else.
Yet the strange symptoms persisted.
“Why won’t you look at me?” (Argen)
Whenever his gaze met Argen’s, something swelled unbearably within his chest.
The sensation of it filling him so tightly it made him retch was intensely unfamiliar and strange.
“Why do you retreat ten steps for every one I take toward you?”
“It was nine steps.”
“No.
I counted precisely.”
Valen took just one step toward Argen, closing the distance.
‘Now it’s nine steps, right?’ he shrugged, only to sink into immense self-loathing moments later.
He was casually doing childish things the original Valen would never have done.This was a problem.
A truly serious problem.
Yet the quack goat kept misdiagnosing him, insisting, “There’s nothing wrong with your body, I tell you?!
You’re perfectly normal!
Blood pressure, pulse!
Not even a single cavity!”
Valen was anxious.
Perhaps his vitality had waned due to his unconscious state lasting too long.
Driven by unease, he doubled his already substantial exercise regimen.
He’d head to the training grounds at dawn, drinking only water as he drilled until past midnight.
The demon knights, suddenly deprived of the training grounds, were cowed by Valen’s terrifying intensity and could only sit in the shade.
“Should we train with that guy too?
We seem to be slacking off too much.”
“Look at that expression.
Get too close and you’ll be chopped to pieces.”
“…I’ll just peel some tangerines.”
Because of that damn abnormal condition, negotiations with Argen kept getting postponed.
If he hadn’t suddenly gotten a nosebleed when they last met, they would have finalised what to do about their temporarily suspended contract.
The escape from the Demon King’s Castle had failed, but that didn’t mean he had to remain trapped there forever.
Valen had a place he needed to return to.
Leto.
To his younger brother, who must be waiting anxiously for him.
If escape was difficult, then he had to at least finalise the contract to get out of this place.
He couldn’t afford to waste time like this, making no progress.
He knew this wasn’t the time to be complacent.
He knew it…
“…..”
Valen stared at the door with tense eyes, not even turning on the bedroom light.
Soon after, the click of the lock disengaging sounded.
Lying on the bed, Valen hurriedly straightened his head and closed his eyes.
“You.”
“…..”
The door opened, and light spilled in from outside.
Valen played dead, or rather, pretended to be asleep, like a hiker who’d encountered a bear.
Hoping the high-risk individual would pass by.
But contrary to Valen’s hopes, the soft footsteps grew louder and louder.
They drew nearer and nearer, then stopped beside Valen’s bed.
He felt eyes looking down at him.
His nose began throbbing again.
Bleeding here would be ridiculous—his entire act of pretending to be asleep would be exposed.
Just as Valen was summoning every ounce of patience to steady himself.
“…!”
He nearly let out a pathetic scream!
Because Argen had pulled back the blanket and slipped between his legs.
What… what are you doing?
Argen didn’t stop there; she pulled down Valen’s pants.
Heat rapidly gathered in his lower body.
Don’t get hard.
Don’t get hard, you bastard.
He whipped himself mercilessly, but his lower half, oblivious to its master’s will, steadily swelled in size.
Soft hands stroked the rigid member, now standing firm above his navel.
“…Hmph.”
A shuddering pleasure shot to the tips of his hair.
Valen hastily stifled a moan threatening to escape between his teeth.
Finding little resistance from Valen, her touch grew increasingly bold.