<Episode 9>
“Why are you laughing?”
“No reason. Just got lost in thought.”
“Hah.”
Eden gave a cold, bitter chuckle.
“Of course. You’re not taking this seriously. Typical nobles. You’re all the same.”
“Huh?”
“So when you said you’d help me escape, was that just a momentary whim too?”
Eden glared at me with his golden eyes.
For someone his age, that expression was surprisingly fierce…
‘His fur’s all puffed up.’
Why does he keep reminding me of a wild cat?
‘Is it the yellow eyes?’
Seeing Eden as a cat was a problem. A real problem.
‘Comparing a cute creature like a cat to this psychopathic kidnapper is an insult to cats!’
And “psychopath” wasn’t just a metaphor.
Eden was born with a cursed heart — a setting in the game where he literally couldn’t feel emotions.
How fitting for a game called The Demon King’s Companion — the guy had a full-on demon king backstory.
A cursed heart, huh…
Unconsciously, I glanced at Eden’s chest. Of course, there was nothing visibly wrong.
Well, yeah. Curses don’t usually show up physically.
‘Come to think of it… I wonder if I could lift that curse?’
Sure, Eden was a brat now, but he wasn’t quite at “emotionless psychopath” levels just yet.
I mean, look at the way he’s glaring at me — that’s definitely “anger.”
So the curse hadn’t completely consumed him yet.
‘If I could lift Eden’s curse… if I could stop him from turning into a full-blown psychopath male lead…’
Then maybe — just maybe — this empire, which would someday crown him as its emperor, might enjoy a real golden age.
“Still spacing out?”
Right then, the cat— no, I mean Eden — snapped at me again.
“Calm down, first of all.”
I raised both palms and went, “Whoa, whoa.”
“And don’t worry. I’ve got a plan. A full-on master plan.”
“Hah.”
Another cold scoff from Eden.
But his pupils dilated slightly — clearly interested.
His face said “whatever,” but the reaction was obvious, and it made me want to laugh again.
‘Nope. Hold it in. He’s gonna blow up again.’
“Look, I know it’s hard to imagine, but getting you out of here is a full-scale project, okay?”
“……”
“You can’t just hop on a regular carriage. What coachman would come all the way to a sketchy place like this? I’d have to hire one. And if I told them to come here, they’d freak out and demand ten times the hazard pay. You got the money for that?”
“……”
Eden clamped his mouth shut and stared at me silently.
I patted him on the shoulder.
“It’s no small task. But lucky for you, this big sis has a plan. All you need to do is trust me and wait patiently for your freedom.”
“…If it’s really that difficult.”
Eden spoke quietly.
“Why are you going so far for me?”
“It’s not for free.”
I tilted my head and grinned.
“You have to pay me back when you grow up.”
“…Grow up?”
“Yup. When you’re an adult. I’m pretty good at reading faces, and you’ve got the look of someone destined for success. So pay me back then. Cash only.”
I plan to run far, far away with big sis Eloise to a secluded island and live happily ever after — so just wire me the money later.
Humming to myself, I turned back to Rossi and began to daydream.
“Hm, hmm~”
I had a good feeling. This “reformation project” was going to go well.
The first color the boy remembered in his life was red.
The screams of people being torn apart by monsters. Cries of despair. Agonizing moans.
For a child abandoned with no parents, the slums were a near-impossible place to survive.
If the monsters weren’t after him, then it was people.
He once gnawed on a monster corpse out of hunger, and people stoned him, calling him a cursed child.
Every night, he went to sleep without expecting to wake up again.
He was alive — somehow — but he knew this cruel streak of luck wouldn’t last.
He had never once imagined a future for himself.
Children grow into adults — that’s just how time works.
But the boy knew this world wouldn’t gift him that much time.
“Children become adults eventually.”
“As long as they don’t get eaten by monsters or stoned to death before then.”
To him, becoming an adult was a ridiculous joke.
Until—
“You have to pay me back when you grow up.”
A noble girl cracked that ridiculous joke.
“You’ve got the look of someone destined for success.”
Arrogantly, like she actually knew something. Just like a noble — full of pride.
It should’ve been laughable, but for some reason… he couldn’t laugh.
Then, suddenly, a recent memory surfaced.
That massive woman barging into the noble girl’s room with a switch in hand.
And the girl, kneeling without hesitation before her.
Or more specifically — the familiar resignation in her expression.
At that moment, a dark, murky violet smoke began rising like a mirage from the boy’s chest.
— You’re not actually feeling sorry for that girl, are you?
The mirage hissed with sinister whispers.
— A runt like you? Aha…hahaha.
— Pity only works between equals. Even if that girl’s just a glorified maid’s daughter, she’s still a noble living in a fancy palace. You’re just… filthy trash.
— Trash. Half-breed.
Voices tangled within the smoke in a chaotic chorus.
“Shut up.”
Growling low, the boy raked his chest with his nails until it bled.
— Aww, that’s mean! Heehee!
— You know you’ll never get rid of us. Don’t you?
— No matter how hard you try, you’ll always end up with us. Because you can’t survive without us… Ahahaha!
No matter where he went, the voices followed.
In the slums, in his nightmares after getting beaten half to death, even in this luxurious palace.
Just like they said — there was no safe place.
No safety. Anywhere…
And then, like a lie, another voice pierced his mind.
“I said I’d get you out. To somewhere safe.”
The girl’s cheerful voice played in his ear like it was stuck there.
“Not the slums, not this palace — somewhere else. Where monsters won’t chase you anymore.”
That kind of place couldn’t possibly exist. The boy didn’t believe it.
But the look on the girl’s face when she said it — so utterly sincere, so free of doubt — it made it hard not to believe, if only for a second.
He knew it was a lie, and yet…
“Hah!”
His heartbeat, which had slowed like he was dying, began to speed up.
Breathing heavily, the boy clawed at his chest even harder.
— Grrraagh!
The smoke let out a shriek, then dispersed silently like a dream.
Gasping for air, the boy looked around.
The voices — completely gone.
The voices that always tore at his mind until they were satisfied — gone.
“Huff… huff…”
He stared blankly down at his chest.
The ominous purple haze was still there, swirling gently.
But the fact that the voices had vanished — even for a moment — was what mattered.
The boy let out a hollow laugh.
He couldn’t believe those persistent voices had gone quiet just because of what that girl had said.
As if her words had somehow become a source of strength.
But it had to be coincidence.
‘It’s not like I ever actually believed that girl’s nonsense.’
Right.
Not for a second. I never hoped. I never leaned on that foolish bluff…
Even if, just maybe — it had been the first time anyone had ever offered him… hope.
As silence wrapped around him like a miracle, the boy nearly drifted off to sleep.
If it weren’t for the noise coming from outside the door.
“Is it true?”
A real voice — human — came from beyond the room.
“Another match is being held?”
“Yeah, starting soon.”
“Let’s go! Lillian’s probably competing, right?”
“She’d better. If not, the head of house will toss her out without a second thought.”
“Wonder if she’ll flop again? Last year she couldn’t even kill a minor monster and ended up sobbing and yanking her hair out!”
“Kekeke! That was hilarious!”
It was the servants — gossiping as they passed.
“Who knows…”
One of the kids giggled under their breath.
They spoke softly, but Eden’s sharp hearing picked it up easily.
“She might actually die this time.”
Eden suddenly froze in place.
