THTSN 31

Chapter 31

“Was meeting the Saintess actually to get purified?”
“She’s a demon.”
“I told you I’m a great demon! You said I was super strong last time!”
I thought she was just bragging because her introduction was so long.

He plopped down next to me, and Joshua wriggled out of my arms to crawl toward the boss.
“Our kid here’s so spoiled. Right, honey?”
“…Cut it out.”
“Hehe.”
“…You happy now?”

He’s so funny.
Even when I crossed the line with my teasing, my kind boss only got irritated — never once told me to get lost.

This time I held a cold grape up to his lips. When he put it in his mouth, my fingers went in too. He flinched and quickly drew his head back.
“Why are you squeezing my hand?”
“I was just trying to help you spit out the skin easily.”
“I don’t need that. Please, just stop doing weird things…”

The tips of his ears turned red. I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment — but I decided to assume the latter.
“Because I’m so lovable?”
“Annoying.”
“Geez.”
“Give me another grape.”

When I held onto the grape and refused to let go, he seemed to get competitive — and bit down gently. The juice burst out, and the flesh slipped right into his mouth.

As I was about to pull my hand away, his tongue brushed the grape skin and lightly sucked on my finger.
“…Boss?”
“The juice is good.”
“Still, that was kind of—”
“Don’t start with your dirty thoughts again.”
“You’re the one who made it sound dirty!”
“I was just eating.”

Even when he never lost a single argument, I couldn’t hate him. When I popped a grape into Joshua’s mouth too, he bit my finger hard.
“Owwww!!”
My poor finger!
The sound of him crunching even the seeds was terrifying. He glared at me while crying.
“Leave me alone with Jer!”

What’s wrong with everyone in this house?
Are they all that obsessed with the boss?
Then again, with how he looks… I couldn’t really blame them.

“I don’t want to. I want to be alone with the boss too.”
“I’m hurting!”
“If it’s about purifying demons, there’s not much choice, is there…”

Everyone here — me, the boss, the servants — knew Joshua wouldn’t do anything bad.
But from the Saintess’s side, caution was only natural.
A single moment of carelessness could bring disaster.

As long as he was in the human world, more than half of Joshua’s immense power had to be sealed.
“What you said makes sense, but can’t you at least comfort me a little?”
“You’ve had a tough time.”
“Are you reading from a book?!”

Joshua screamed, and I stuffed a cool, soft peach into his mouth.
“Tasty…”
You happy now?
That’s what we call a small happiness.

“So that’s why you went at dawn? To purify yourself when no one was around?”
“Yeah. If they found out, it’d be bad for both them and me… It would’ve been nice if His Holiness wasn’t sick.”
“The Pope’s a good person?”
The Saintess was famous for being kind, so it was hard to believe.

Joshua turned away primly.
“You don’t need to know.”
Fair enough.

“I thought purification was a one-time thing.”
He explained it wasn’t really about erasing demonic energy, but about weakening its surge and temporarily containing it — so he had to visit the temple again before that barrier broke.
He went roughly once every two or three months.

“If the boss’s curse is lifted, wouldn’t it be better for you to return to the demon realm?”
“Hmph!”
This demon clearly had no intention of going back.

“Grape.”
Feeding another grape to the boss, I asked,
“For someone who’s that sick, you’ve endured for two years… Aren’t demons a race of betrayal?”
“Well, yeah, but I’d never betray Jer! He’s my everything!”
“So everyone’s after the boss, huh? Can I join the list?”

He frowned deeply.
Guess that’s a no.

“What exactly did the boss do for you?”
“What would you like me to do for you?”
“At first, I liked the money. Now, as one human to another, I just… like you.”

It’s weirder not to grow fond of someone you live with.
He gave me a curious look.
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. I do have some ulterior motives, though.”
And some impure ones, too.

He seemed to think for a moment, then clicked his tongue.
“Your words always make me overthink things.”
“Then you’ll be thinking about me more often.”
“She’s always trying to seduce Jer whenever she gets the chance!” Joshua shouted — like a line straight out of a soap opera.

“You and Veilt both have an unhealthy attachment to the boss.”
“Jer saved me from committing more sins. He’s my savior.”

A demon talking about sins — ironic.
Still, if Joshua had been forced into sinning against his will, it made sense. He must have suffered, and the boss saved him in that moment.
That’s probably why he clung to the boss, trying to lift his curse.

Usually, salvation’s the job of the male and female leads.
But it turns out you don’t really understand until you experience it yourself.
In the original story, the boss barely cared for anyone but the heroine — yet now, he was kind enough to even save a demon.

“Our boss could be a Saint himself.”
“I’m not making Jer do that.”
“You used to tremble just touching him, and now you’re cuddling in his arms?”
“After purification, my body’s all clean, so it’s fine.”

Joshua rested comfortably against the boss.
The boss didn’t push him away — he must’ve been used to it. Soon after, soft snoring filled the air.
“He’s snoring.”
“You’re louder.”
…No comment.

The boss laid Joshua on the bed and went back to his desk.
Watching him focus on work again, I had a sudden thought: maybe he was the real protagonist, saving other people’s lives without realizing it.
“Boss, you’re amazing.”
“Are you teasing me again?”
“I mean it.”
He looked at me, and I didn’t look away. His lips parted slightly — then closed again.

The next morning, my heart fluttered as the boss and I opened the door wide. Joshua and the magician were beside us.

Joshua and the boss both stared at my feet, then slowly lifted their gaze into the distance. When their eyes met at a certain point, they exchanged a look.
“That far? You see it too?”
The boss nodded slowly.
“Unbelievable!”

Overwhelmed, Joshua jumped up and down in place.
“When there’s more physical contact, it grows faster and farther! Kiss him!”
“I’ll do it, boss! For your curse!”

The boss lightly dodged as I ran toward him, and I slid across the carpeted floor.
Thankfully, I wasn’t hurt — the room was filled with soft research materials and thick carpet instead of marble.

“You don’t need to be that aggressive,” he said, backing away in alarm.
“TT, don’t lie there. Come stand here.”
I’m not lying down!

Despite my tiny protest, Joshua waved me over urgently, and I obeyed — standing at the doorway, right at the border of the boss’s curse.
The magician brought over a chair to sit beside me, while Joshua clung to the boss’s back, pressing his face into the shoulder where the snake tattoo was.

“At that distance, you shouldn’t even be able to see anything.”
“Jer, let’s go out there.”

The boss and Joshua stepped outside, and Lollie held my fingertips to test for traces of divine power.

When they had walked some distance, Joshua shouted,
“Stop!”
But the boss had already stopped on his own — as if he’d sensed something.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t go farther.”
“Oh, that’s the boundary limit?”

The two of them turned around slowly, looking at me with complicated expressions.
Joshua’s voice trembled.
“We can’t go any further. The range definitely expanded, but…”
“You can feel that?”
“Yeah. If we cross it, someone will die.”

Then the boss reached his hand toward me. Without hesitation, I took it.
He looked at me, half exasperated.
“…You just grab it without asking what it’s for?”
“Huh? You held it out, so I grabbed it.”
“You don’t even doubt me?”
“Why would I? What’s there to doubt about you?”
“…Nothing. Just asking.”

Once our hands touched, the magician and Joshua immediately sensed my divine power — but it was faint and fading fast, much weaker than before.
At that moment, the boss gripped my hand tightly and said:

“I think we can make it.”