Chapter 55
Alice was doing her best to hide Gremory’s absence.
As Isollen, unaware of anything, began searching for Gremory, Alice rushed over in a panic.
“Where’s Mori? If we were hosting a party together, she should be here!”
“Oh-ho-ho, she said the party was boring and went to inspect the estate.”
“What? Suddenly? Sigh, she probably went to the convent again. Sometimes I really can’t understand her.”
Isollen ended up continuing the tea party alone.
Whether she knew it or not, Gremory didn’t appear until sunset, long after the party had ended.
Cheshion couldn’t sleep. He was worried that perhaps the witch-hunting team had been chasing Mori, or maybe something had happened that prevented her from coming back.
Just then, a small shadow appeared in Cheshion’s bedroom. A cat with ruby-like eyes was sitting on the windowsill, staring intently at him.
“Mori! Why are you only just now here?”
Though Gremory could have opened the window and entered herself, she waited for Cheshion to open the door. When he did, she jumped into his arms and into the bedroom.
Cheshion lightly scolded her while gently stroking her favorite part of her face.
“I was worried. You should have come back earlier. Hmm?”
“Cheshion…”
“What is it?”
“If, just if, what if I’m not exactly who you think I am… what would you do?”
“What do you mean?”
Cheshion stopped stroking her and looked at her seriously.
“What if I’m something else wearing a human disguise… would you abandon me?”
Gremory’s eyes subtly trembled. Although she tried to act unaffected by Marbas’s words, she couldn’t help but be troubled. Demons had a strong, hypnotic ability in their words.
‘As Marbas said, I’ve killed many innocent humans. The witches forced me, but the fact that I spread the plague remains the same.’
The turmoil in her heart wasn’t easy to settle. Guilt and fear bubbled up inside her.
Gremory, who had been suffering alone outside until now, finally decided to return home. She thought it would be better to reveal everything today and settle it once and for all.
‘If the Duke’s family rejects me, I’ll leave. If they still accept me, I’ll stay. Either way, it’s better to tell them now than for them to find out later.’
Cheshion remained silent for a moment, slowly gazing into Gremory’s eyes.
After reading her thoughts, he gently smiled and patted her back.
“It doesn’t matter. No matter what happens, no matter who you are, I’m not going to abandon you.”
“Really? Even if I’m a monster?”
“Yeah. You just have to be you.”
Gremory hesitated. Should she show Cheshion her true witch form? Her wings, horns, fangs, glowing red eyes, and claws? Would he still react the same way if she showed him everything?
Should she show him everything right now?
“I just have to be me?” Gremory asked softly.
“Yeah? That’s good to hear.”
“I could still live with you, even if you thought I was a monster.”
“I’d still live with you too, Mori.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t care what kind of past you have.”
Cheshion vaguely assumed that Gremory must have had a painful past she was afraid to reveal, fearing she’d be rejected by everyone.
“Mori, everyone has a past or a dark history. I’m no different. I may seem like a good guy, but I’ve done plenty of bad things.”
“Like what?”
“After stopping the witch hunts, I had to deal with many political enemies. The nobles who had benefited from the witch hunts didn’t like me. I had to use all kinds of underhanded methods to deal with them. I even handled people connected to my enemies who weren’t directly guilty.”
“That was inevitable. You and your family had to survive.”
“Yeah, Mori. Sometimes people are forced to do things they don’t want to. So don’t blame yourself too much. I’m sure you had no choice.”
“…How can you say that?”
Gremory, who had curled up, buried her face in Cheshion’s chest.
‘Why did I spread the plague back then?’
It was probably because of the demon’s rampage. For some unknown reason, the enraged demon suddenly overturned the demon realm, and many witches were hurt and starving. They needed the despair and suffering of humans to survive.
The image of the hellish demon realm and the faces of the witches crying out still haunted her. The witches who wanted to survive ultimately broke the taboo. They raided the demon king’s treasure chest, stole a ring, and created a temporary rift to the human world.
‘The witches wanted me to spread the plague through that rift.’
The witches pulled the young Gremory from her cage and forced her to spread the plague. At that time, Gremory was the only one who had the ability to spread the plague on such a large scale.
Some were furious that she wasn’t spreading the plague fast enough, while others begged her to spare them. At that time, Gremory felt no emotions toward them.
She just didn’t want to spread the plague. Why would she save the witches who had treated her like cattle?
Most of all, when she saw the peaceful humans laughing as they strolled through the streets, she couldn’t bring herself to harm them. The image of a happy family made her feel something she hadn’t felt before, a faint twinge in her heart.
And that was the last memory she had. She’d been caught off guard by an upper-level witch with mind-control abilities. When she came to, the plague had already been spread. The witches used the rift to drink in the suffering of humans.
“Cheshion, you have no idea what I did, what I am.”
“I don’t care about that. You have no idea how cruel and disgusting I can be either.”
“I’m worse than you.”
“Mori, I don’t know what happened to you, but I won’t ask. And I’ll keep treating you the same way I always have.”
“Why? We agreed not to keep secrets.”
“This time, let’s make an exception. Let’s keep our secrets. Because I’ll also keep my ugly past hidden from you. Now, we both have secrets.”
Gremory cautiously lifted her head and met Cheshion’s warm gaze.
“You might regret this later.”
“Then I’ll regret it when that time comes. For now, I’ll ignore it. Because I want to focus on the present.”
“…Really?”
“The you I know now is a good person. I’ll focus on that. I don’t care what your past is.”
Gremory’s lips slowly parted, revealing her sharp fangs.
Her heart throbbed. It felt like a soft wave passing through her.
‘I can’t help it. I’ll have to stay by this man’s side.’
If Cheshion is really like this, what else can she do? She would have to stay here and fend off the witch-hunting team, making sure the Duke’s family doesn’t suffer.
“Cheshion.”
“Yeah?”
“The you I know now is a really good person. Every moment with you is happiness.”
Cheshion’s face began to turn red.
“Did you just confess?”
“Confess? What does that even mean? I was just saying it.”
“Just saying it… Oh my god, Mori. Don’t say stuff like that to other men, okay? Please.”
“Why?”
“If you don’t understand, just don’t talk to other guys. Only talk to me.”
Cheshion, his face bright red, avoided Gremory’s gaze. Gremory, who was chuckling, buried herself in his embrace.
“I won’t talk to other men. I’ll only talk to you. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Now, go to your bedroom.”
Cheshion hurriedly placed Gremory down on the floor. But Gremory didn’t go to her room. Instead, she claimed a spot on Cheshion’s bed.
“Just for today. I really want to be with you.”
“…Okay.”
Cheshion, who had turned into a cat, carefully stroked Gremory as she fell asleep. Without any guilt, Gremory slept deeply.
The next morning, in Cheshion’s office.
Gremory reported to Cheshion about what had happened the previous day.
“From now on, you don’t need to worry about the missing vagrants and unregistered people.”
“Why?”
“It was a demon’s trick. I took care of the demon.”
“…Keep an eye on it, though.”
Even though Cheshion didn’t believe her.
Just as Gremory, transformed into a cat, was about to leave the office, Cheshion called her back.
“Mori. I got an invitation to Count Marbellion’s wedding. Want to attend with me?”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“There’s a lot of things you’d like there.”
“Like what?”
“Count Marbellion loves his future wife so much that he’s bringing all sorts of beautiful things to the wedding. I think you’ll like it.”
‘He loves her so much…’
Love.
Why did her heart flutter at that word all of a sudden?
