TWMM 27

 Chapter 27

An uncomfortable cohabitation for a month.

Back then, I thought he was a man with nothing to do.

“Well… just like you said, I am still alive.”

Why did you say something like that back then?

And why are you sitting beside me now with such a gaunt face?

For the first time, I suddenly found myself curious about what Shubel was thinking.

I stared at him intently, and in that appearance—like a masterpiece carefully painted by a master—I found a single flaw.

A wound?

Seeing that his lips were split and tinged red with blood, I frowned.

What did he even do to get like that?

For some reason, it bothered me, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Perhaps noticing that I had woken up, Kaiseus spoke.

[Human! You’re awake?]

Thankfully, the wedding ring that had turned into a parasol had quietly returned to the ring finger of my left hand.

I took my eyes off Shubel and fiddled with the ring as I asked,

“Yeah. Can you explain the situation? I don’t know what happened after I passed out.”

[The North almost got destroyed.]

…No, don’t summarize it like that. I barely saved things—what do you mean “destroyed”?

After pressing Kaiseus for details, I heard that after I collapsed, Shubel lost his reason and went on a rampage.

Mana rampage… I heard it’s dangerous, but that much? Shubel is an A-rank mage. Couldn’t his father stop him?

[…A-rank?]

Kaiseus responded with a strange tone before adding,

[Well, I guess so. Anyway, when you collapsed, you golden human, that black-haired human completely lost it. He smashed potions with his bare hands. He even tried to kidnap a priest!]

The slight suspicion I had from his tone when he said “A-rank” completely collapsed at “black-haired human” and “golden human.”

I knew Kaiseus had a childish side, but every time, the gap between that and the fact that he was that demon dragon Kaiseus felt surreal.

I steadied my drifting thoughts and organized what he said.

He broke potions? He must’ve been trying to treat me.

I hadn’t noticed earlier in the chaos, but now I saw that Shubel’s left hand was wrapped in white bandages.

My condition wasn’t an illness of this world but a side effect of possession, so it wouldn’t have helped.

Still, it felt like a sign of his desperation, and it left me with a strange feeling.

And he tried to kidnap a priest?

I looked at Shubel again with fresh eyes. With that innocent-looking face, there’s no way he’d do something like that.

It must’ve been a misunderstanding out of urgency.

[You’re being fooled, I’m telling you?!]

Kaiseus shrieked, but compared to a useless baby dragon, the gaunt face of a handsome man felt more convincing.

Also, Shubel had never acted violently in front of me.

And they said he was trying to treat me.

Humans are sly—if something is done “for your sake,” it softens your heart.

Thinking that, the split on Shubel’s lips I had barely ignored came back into view.

…At this rate, it’d be better to just deal with it.

I took out some ointment from the drawer and squeezed a bit onto my fingertip.

As I leaned toward him to apply it while he was asleep—

“……”

“……!”

Flinch.

Right before my eyes, the man’s eyes slowly opened.

A clear gaze, with no trace of drowsiness.

Unlike usual, his face without a smile was cold and expressionless, like the gray-white ridges of a snowy mountain.

I froze like a statue, my index finger still resting on his lips.

“Ah… well, it looked like you were hurt.”

“……”

“Weren’t you asleep?”

Embarrassed, I tried to pull my hand back—

Grip.

My wrist was suddenly caught, and I was pulled toward him.

W-what?

It was my first time being pulled into someone’s arms while fully conscious, so I froze instead of pushing him away.

At such an intimate distance, Shubel—whose eyes had been lifeless until then—showed a hint of confusion for the first time.

He moved his lips softly.

“This hallucination feels especially real.”

“…Hallucination?”

“Yes.”

He spoke gently.

“My wife is still asleep. She wouldn’t look at me like this for so long… nor would she take care of me so kindly.”

In other words, he had been awake from the start but stayed still because he thought it couldn’t be real.

I flinched internally when he glanced at the ointment at the word “kindly.”

Was I really that cold to him…?

Thinking about it, I might have been.

For some reason, I always felt like I was being pulled into something with him.

Still, I didn’t think I had treated him badly enough for him to mistake this for a hallucination just because I was applying ointment.

While I felt wronged inside, Shubel slowly blinked, as if savoring the moment, and whispered,

“I think… it would be fine to stay like this forever.”

No matter what, how long is he going to treat this as a hallucination?

Annoyed, I slapped the back of the hand holding my wrist.

“Get a hold of yourself. Calling a perfectly alive person a hallucination is rude, you know?”

At my words, Shubel froze completely.

Not just his limbs—his blinking, his eyelashes, even his silent breathing all stopped.

A faint ripple appeared in his once unfocused eyes.

Light returned to his pupils, scattering as it passed through doubt and caution—until it reached certainty. His eyes widened enough that I could see my reflection clearly.

Those who haven’t seen it would never know.

The miraculous moment when eyes that were once murky and opaque like thick oil paint regained their original clarity and brightness.

In his eyes, I saw beautiful violets bloom, and I silently admired it.

He asked in a trembling voice,

“…My wife?”

“Yes.”

“Are you really… my wife?”

“What, still can’t believe it? Should I just go back to being a dream then?”

I replied a bit spitefully, and I saw his Adam’s apple move slowly.

The man who would normally joke back now had tension filling his shoulders.

Was it that shocking?

Well, anyone would be startled if someone coughed up blood and collapsed in front of them.

Feeling awkward about our position—and thinking it might help if I showed I was fine—I pushed him away and stood up.

Shubel let himself be pushed back and slowly stood as well.

“No.”

He gently lifted my hand.

“Please don’t leave me.”

Then he took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped away the ointment still on my fingertips.

Why did that feel like something born of desire?

I deliberately kept my eyes on his, avoiding the faint trace of ointment still left on his lips, and spoke.

“Leave you? What are you even talking about? You’ve been saying strange things for a while now. Do I look like someone who would break a contract so easily?”

We were in a contract marriage, and until Lunein repaid the debt—until I destroyed the original story, by my standards—I had clearly said I wouldn’t leave.

Only then did Shubel smile like usual.

“My wife is a fair person.”

“Hmph. Flattery won’t get you anything.”

If I kept looking at him, I felt like I’d remember the soft sensation that had touched my fingertips, so I quickly turned my back.

I was about to walk toward the sofa—

But before I could take even one step, my body suddenly lifted into the air.

“Ah! W-what are you doing?!”

“You mustn’t move yet. If there’s somewhere you wish to go, I’ll take you. Of course, outside the room is not allowed.”

“Forget that—put me down!”

He was lifting me like I weighed nothing!

No matter how much I hit his shoulder in shock, it was useless.

Shubel moved briskly, clearly intending not to let my feet touch the ground even a centimeter.

In the end, I nagged him until he carried me to the window.

Ah… I’m exhausted.

After struggling with him, I slumped into the hammock chair, completely drained. Shubel looked at me with unsteady eyes.

“As expected… your condition is still very bad.”