Chapter 33
…A few seconds? Hours? Days?
How much time had passed in that ungraspable flow?
Therion lightly tugged on my hand.
It felt like he had pulled me up from the depths of a dark ocean—but in truth, he’d only given my hand a gentle pull.
Barely a few seconds had gone by.
I blinked once in the pitch-black darkness.
As if I’d just been dragged out of deep water, I gasped for air, shoulders rising and falling. Therion patted my back, watching me carefully.
“Maybe I should’ve said something before doing that. Sorry.”
“…Huff… ha… what… what was that…?”
I forced the words out before even catching my breath. When I finally steadied it, he simply closed his mouth and smiled faintly.
The hand patting my back stopped.
“Still, this is the first time I’ve seen you flustered, Lady Edith. Hm, no—that’s not true. You looked just as startled when those humans said they wanted to have a barbecue, remember?”
Well, I had been surprised back then too… mostly out of disbelief.
“……”
Wait a minute. Therion wasn’t even there then.
“How do you even know—”
“Therion.”
“……”
He repeated his own name—“Therion”—with deliberate emphasis, then guided me to sit down.
I had no strength left in my body, so I sat first and then realized what I was sitting on. It wasn’t a chair—it was an altar. Great.
Therion bent down to pick up a fallen lamp, muttering like a sulky child.
“I told you to call me Therion. Come on, Lady Edith. We’ve already signed a contract, and you’re still being all distant, calling me ‘you, you’ all the time?”
“…Fine. Therion. How do you even know all that?”
“I know all that is unspeakable and unknown.”
…So basically, he can eavesdrop on everything.
He placed the lamp beside me, and his expression came faintly into view—some mix of strange emotions.
…I thought he’d look more excited or even overwhelmed after seeing my memories. Maybe even turn hostile.
Instead, he spoke with a curious, hesitant tone.
“About your memories, Lady Edith… I only had a little taste today, but…”
“Ah.”
Sorry.
I cut him off abruptly and jumped to my feet.
The moment I saw the light, something important struck me.
“Ethan Behemoth!”
“You… what?”
The serious atmosphere Therion had been building completely shattered.
But I didn’t care. I had something far more urgent to deal with—Ethan Behemoth!
I’d completely forgotten about him!
“He might be waking up by now! If someone finds out I made a contract with a demon in a suspicious underground cavern, I’ll be locked away for decades—if I’m lucky enough not to be executed!”
“…Are you afraid of being accused as a witch?”
“Afraid? More like horrified. Anyway, I need to check on him right now.”
I flexed my ankle—it didn’t hurt to walk.
I headed quickly toward the start of the cavern, Therion following right behind me, looking mildly displeased.
“I was about to tell you something important, you know…”
“Didn’t you say your goal was to help me finish this life properly? Then stick to the contract. What could possibly be more urgent than this?”
“But it was really important…”
I didn’t care.
Just in case, I added over my shoulder:
“Oh, and hide your appearance.”
“…I do have some sense, you know.”
He sounded offended, but I knew better.
I was an expert at telling fake complaints from real ones.
Moving quickly, it only took a few minutes to reach the cavern entrance this time.
And Ethan Behemoth was still there—
“Phew.”
Thank goodness—he was lying exactly where I’d left him.
Therion stood beside me, looking down at him, then asked flatly:
“Should I get rid of him?”
“Can you take him outside the cavern instead?”
“I could do that too, but…”
He knelt down, pressing his hand lightly against Ethan’s neck without hesitation.
“I meant like this?”
“…Therion. Take your hand off him.”
My tone dropped coldly.
He withdrew his hand, eyebrows drooping in annoyance.
“That would’ve been simpler.”
“Do you have any idea how many people Ethan Behemoth saves later on? He becomes a hero. He needs to live to become that.”
“But isn’t just you enough?”
…What?
‘Just me?’
I blinked at him, trying to understand, but he added softly—
“This world doesn’t even deserve someone like you, Lady Edith.”
“That’s because you’re a demon, Therion.”
Honestly.
I clicked my tongue and knelt down where he’d been, checking Ethan’s condition.
‘…This is bad.’
He hadn’t even reacted to the killing intent earlier—he was deeply unconscious.
After exhausting himself like that and being left alone this long, it made sense.
Maybe it was also the backlash from taking a monster core too young.
‘…I shouldn’t have told him about that.’
I’d shared that knowledge out of goodwill, but seeing him like this left me feeling oddly heavy.
I turned to Therion and held out a hand.
“Do you have an elixir?”
“…What?”
“An elixir. You do know what that is, right?”
“Of course I know. Here—”
“Thanks. I’ll pay you back later.”
I’d given my only one to Camilla and Jan earlier, since they needed it more than me.
‘I hope they’re still alive…’
I let that fleeting thought pass and took the elixir from Therion. Gently, I opened Ethan’s mouth and poured it in bit by bit.
I watched his throat move as he swallowed, then carefully rested his head back down.
“That should help for now. …Ah, Therion—you said we can get out of here, right?”
“Of course. …But you’re bringing Behemoth too?”
“Obviously. What’s the point of giving him an elixir just to leave him behind? Come on, let’s go.”
At my urging, he obediently extended a hand. Apparently, we needed physical contact to leave the cavern.
‘Might as well take advantage of that.’
I placed one hand on Ethan’s shoulder, then reached out and took Therion’s hand with the other. He closed his eyes to use magic…
…then suddenly stopped and opened them again.
“Lady Edith.”
‘What now?’
“…Is something wrong?”
“No, not exactly. I just wanted to ask something.”
“Ask what—”
He looked down at me, expression blank, as if genuinely curious.
“You’re saving Behemoth because he can save others, right?”
“If you want to put it that way, yes.”
“I see.”
“Why do you—”
Before I could finish, he blinked once—and we were outside.
A thick, dark wave of demonic power surged through me, spreading and dissipating.
‘…Definitely different from the barrier I felt before.’
So who’s the real owner of that curse?
“Ugh…”
By now, dawn had broken—the blood-red night giving way to sunlight spilling between the cliffs.
The light stung my eyes.
“The sun…”
I murmured, almost in awe, forgetting to even shield my face.
Then Ethan Behemoth groaned from the ground beside me.
“Ugh…”
‘He’s waking up?’
“Ethan! Can you hear me?”
“……”
Maybe he was conscious… or maybe not.
His brows furrowed like carved stone, and he muttered something faintly.
I couldn’t make it out, so I leaned closer.
Focus…
Finally, I caught the words—
“Edith Crowell…”
…My name?
A chill ran down my spine.
Why was he whispering my name like that while half-dead?
Don’t tell me—was he going to regress too?
‘…No, I gave him an elixir. He won’t die.’
I rubbed my arms to calm the goosebumps.
‘Still… this feels unsettling.’
Pulling my hand off his shoulder, I called out hastily—
“Therion, could you help me get Ethan up?”
“Once I finish what you asked.”
Therion removed his hood, smiling faintly.
The sunlight caught in his silvery hair, scattering like divine dust, radiating an almost holy aura.
‘Wow…’
Even knowing what he was, I found myself staring, entranced.
Until he tilted his head, hand brushing his cheek, and teased—
“Do you like my face, Lady Edith?”
“Ah—no. Not at all.”
I quickly turned away and sighed.
‘That face should be illegal…’
