~Chapter 65~
“It’s exactly as I said.”
Damien added his explanation in a calm, even tone.
“At least once a week, we sleep in each other’s arms for a whole night, and then you consume a curse.”
What kind of ridiculous statement was that?
“Y-you mean… that basically means we have to sleep together, right?”
“Yes.”
So that meant what used to only happen on our “shared night” would now have to happen every week.
As if to make it perfectly clear, Damien added,
“Think of it as having a shared night every week—”
“Ugh! Wait! You don’t need to explain any further, I get it!”
Just imagining it made my face burn, while Damien stayed completely calm.
He patiently waited for me to cool down.
When I seemed a little calmer, he began speaking in an even voice.
“I’ve heard that a Swallower won’t appear if they regularly consume curses. You need to take in curses.”
“I… I do understand the need now after this last time.”
The moment I swallowed the lowest-grade curse Damien had given me through his lips, my condition had improved.
If I had made an effort to take in even small amounts before, maybe this whole incident wouldn’t have happened.
But the thought of raising Ruhi—a low-grade curse—and then eating the same kind of being still gave me resistance.
“Still… I think my reluctance to eat curses is stronger…”
“I thought you might say that, so I prepared something.”
Damien pointed to his mouth with his long fingers.
“Watch closely.”
His throat moved, and then he spat something into his palm.
Something between a pitch-black liquid and a lump.
It was smaller and less defined than the low-grade curses I knew.
“This is the curse I gave you last night.”
Last night, because of the Swallower’s rampage, I had barely been conscious when I ate it.
I’d gotten my memory back, but it was hazy, so I couldn’t clearly remember what it had looked like. Now Damien was showing me directly.
“These are beings even lower than Ruhi and other low-grade curses. They’ve just begun forming by attaching themselves to tiny fragments of human fear.”
True, even low-grade curses could make sounds or speak, but this thing didn’t. It just quivered faintly in Damien’s palm.
“It’s hardly worthy of being called a curse, but it contains enough of the energy that a Swallower desires.”
“But… won’t these turn into curses later?”
“No. These cannot form into curses.”
Damien looked down at the trembling lump in his hand as he explained.
“They’re more like leftover scraps of curse energy. Normally, they just fade away.”
“Oh…”
The lump started to clump together, forming something like a head, shivered, and then scattered back into liquid.
“Oh.”
Then it turned into black dust, just like the curses I’d erased before, and disappeared.
“Did it disappear?”
“Yes.” Damien flipped over his empty hand, then looked at me.
“This is why physical contact is necessary when transferring curses. These lowest-grade curses inside a Maledictus scatter quickly once they leave the body.”
He gently took my right hand.
“The energy of a Maledictus is different from the outside world. But look at this.”
Still holding my right hand, Damien breathed onto my left hand.
A trembling lump appeared in my palm—like before—but this time, it didn’t immediately scatter.
“If I cover you in a Maledictus’s energy through physical contact, the curse scrap survives much longer. The longer the contact, the longer it lasts.”
“Oh…”
Hearing it explained like that, I could accept the reason for physical contact when eating curses.
“B-but… do we really have to spend the whole night in the same bed…?”
Even just once a month on our shared night was enough to make me flustered. Now we’d have to do it every week?
At this rate, my face will overheat every week.
Just imagining it made me blush again.
But Damien persisted in convincing me.
“We have to. Without that much contact and time, you can’t safely take in curses.”
“But this curse scrap is still ali—”
Before I could finish, the lump in my hand scattered into the air.
“Oh.”
So just holding hands wasn’t enough.
“There’s another reason we have to spend the night holding each other.”
“Yes?”
“I found out a Swallower can survive somewhat just by absorbing curse energy—not the curse itself.”
Hearing that, I immediately understood his point.
“Oh, so… if we increase physical contact, I can absorb the curse energy from you?”
“Yes.”
Damien nodded.
“If even these scraps are hard for you to eat, you can instead absorb curse energy to minimize the actual consumption.”
His reasoning was so sound I couldn’t argue.
“By regularly absorbing curses each week, we can also lower the chance of the Swallower rampaging. Even when its active period comes every three months, it’ll be less intense.”
And besides his reasons, I had another.
It’s almost time to prepare the second stage of the soul contract.
Keeping constant contact with Damien would help with that too.
If we slept together once a week, it would help.
There was really no reason to refuse.
I can’t let embarrassment stop me from doing something important.
So what if it’s embarrassing?
We’re married.
Married couples… do all sorts of things together, right?
In the end, I made up my mind.
“Alright, let’s sleep together once a week.”
Light sparked in Damien’s amethyst eyes.
“Really? You agree?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
For some reason, he immediately took off his jacket and loosened his tie.
Huh?
I had no idea why he was suddenly doing this. Then, wearing just his shirt, he came toward me.
“Then let’s start tonight.”
“What??”
“Come on, let’s go to bed.”
Before I could react, I was in his arms, being carried to his bedroom.
Wait— is this right?
Damien placed me on his bed and began getting ready to sleep, looking completely unbothered.
“Since you ate a curse yesterday, just absorbing the energy tonight should be enough.”
Wait. Wasn’t this moving too fast?
Just like on a shared night, Damien turned off the light, got into bed beside me, and faced me.
Suddenly, his face was far too close.
W-wait…!
Before I could resist, I was tucked into his arms.
“Alright, I’ll release the energy now.”
His breath touched my neck.
Ah.
I felt it immediately.
Curse energy was flowing out of his breath.
For some reason, I started to feel calmer.
Much more than at first, when my body had been stiff with tension.
Finally, Damien pulled back.
“Are you alright?”
As always, he was watching my condition closely.
I nodded.
“Yes… I feel strangely at ease.”
He smiled, satisfaction clear on his face.
“Good.”
Then, next to my ear, he whispered,
“Let’s keep doing this.”
Huh?
Startled, I looked up, only to see him wearing a mischievous smile.
“I’m joking. Of course, if Ruby wants to do it more than once a week, I’d welcome it.”
My mouth fell open at the bombshell, but Damien went on as if nothing happened.
“Since we’re done for today, play with me tomorrow.”
I was still stunned into silence.
“This time, I’ve prepared an unreleased new work by the author Frightening. How about it?”
Looking at Damien, faintly blushing and eyes sparkling, I clenched my fists.
Clever.
He’d acted like someone who didn’t know how to deal with women at all at first.
I’d thought he was a fellow introvert like me.
And yet here he is, shaking my heart like this.
Still, I puffed out my cheeks and stayed by his side as usual.
Because I couldn’t hate a man who knew all my secrets, didn’t push me away, and even found a way to help me.
But…
I started to feel unusually sleepy.
Maybe because absorbing his curse energy made me feel secure.
My eyes finally closed.
“…Asleep?”
Damien’s quiet voice reached me.
“Actually, I don’t have to sleep together with you… just an arm around your shoulder is enough…”
He mumbled something, but I couldn’t make out the words.
I fell asleep before I could hear the rest.
It had been about five days since my secret had been completely exposed.
After hearing Damien’s reassurance, I’d felt safe knowing I didn’t need to leave.
But sometimes…
Does he really want to live with me forever?
I still had doubts.
I wondered if he could truly feel nothing after seeing me, taken over by the Swallower, looking like a monster.
But when Damien smiled brightly at me, those thoughts disappeared instantly.
Just as they were fading again today—
Crash—
A loud noise came from outside the door.
Startled, I ran to the door.
“Ah, Ruby. I brought you a present.”
Damien stood there, smiling brightly—his face covered in blood.
Damian is really clever ❤️