CH 53

(3rd person pov)

The main hall was quiet.

Even considering that it was late at night, there was no sign of anyone breaking in.

Lucia muttered as she stepped onto the red carpet in the middle of the hall.

“It’s too quiet. Are you sure someone came in?”

[That’s right. There were already one or two demons who were beaten.]

“What?”

Hearing Deran’s words, her fast-moving footsteps came to a halt.

She turned her head to look at Deran with an expression on her face full of disbelief.

“What do you mean? Are you saying that the battle has already started?”

[I don’t know if I should call it a battle or something else… Because everyone passed out without fighting back properly.]

“…Really?”

[Yes. It was said that the demons weren’t killed, just stunned in one hit. Besides, the intruder hasn’t touched a single hair except for those who attacked him first…]

“Stop. You don’t have to explain any further.”

Lucia interrupted him. She then pressed her hand against her throbbing head.

It seemed that the situation was worse than she had expected.

‘For what reason?’

Even if she thought about it over and over again, there was no benefit that an ordinary human could gain by invading the Devil’s Castle.

Aiming for the mahone stone?

She wondered if he was a human with a story similar to Shud. But since Shud’s attempt to kidnap Tina in the beginning, nothing much has really happened.

‘Or maybe…’

Lucia thought about that, then shook her head to shake off her thoughts.

Now is the time to think about solutions rather than attempting to find a reason for the break in. She turned her head and gave the order to Deran.

“First, take the upper-middle-class demons to stop the intruder. If the damage seems to be severe, I will go stop him myself.”

[Even so, since we just delivered the news to the entire castle, everyone must be following us.]

“Okay. If anything happens, come straight to me.”

With that order, Deran withdrew. Lucia waited, without escaping, at her royal throne just in case the intruder came to her.

‘It’s been awhile. This situation…’

Lucia thought as she sat down on the empty throne.

She was in a similar situation two years ago when she fought the Warrior one-on-one.

‘Even then, the other guys were busy roaming the castle, and I sat here alone, waiting for him.’

The difference from back then was that she covered her face with a mask, and now she didn’t.

She awkwardly stroked her exposed face. The memories of her past slowly colored the inside of her head like a haze.

[Mawaaaan!]

However, breaking her thoughts, several black, round, small creatures ran towards her.

They rushed forward with their small bodies and quickly grabbed onto Lucia. Suddenly, she embraced them with both her hands.

“Titato?”

[Devil, there is an intruder in the castle! He’s a scary guy!]

[Ugh! We almost died! How did he do it that quickly!]

[Maaaang – I’m scared.]

The three of them tightly clasped her arms and trembled. Lucia tried to pull them off, but they didn’t budge as they clung onto her even tighter.

“Why are you like this…”

She stopped her speech.

A shadow shone through the open door in the distance. Either way, it was a human shadow.

The shadow did not stop and was slowly approaching the throne where Lucia was.

She blinked her eyes blankly and fixed her gaze onto the shadow.

‘…Shud?’

No. It wasn’t Shud.

The atmosphere she felt from afar was very different from Shud.

The unknown shadow stopped walking for a moment after stepping towards the throne.

A man wearing a robe that completely covered his face was illuminated by the faint light. Other than that, there was only one sword worn around his waist.

The man lifted his head and stared at her. On Lucia’s side, the robe shaded his face, so she couldn’t see him properly.

“…”

The two looked at each other silently for several minutes.

She couldn’t say anything. As Lucia stared blankly at him, he began to approach from the other side first.

[Maang! Hey!]

Titato in her arms tried to get her attention, but Lucia was still watching the shadowy figure approaching her quietly.

Her hands trembled, and her body was telling her not to attack instinctively.

Meanwhile, her intruder came closer to her.

“Lucia.”

A low voice she had not heard in a long time rumbled in her eardrums.

She slowly raised her head and looked at his face. When she met his deep purple eyes, she felt her breath begin to suffocate.

He leaned forward slowly and knelt down on one knee at her feet.

Then he took her hand that was quietly on the chair and kissed her politely.

“Long time no see.”

Haron looked up at Lucia and half smiled with his eyes closed.

Lucia was stunned. His well-folded eyes, bright smile, and his lips pressed against the back of her hands… It was hard to believe that he was the same person as before.

There was only one thought floating around her dazed mind.

‘…I didn’t know he could smile like that.’

~*~

[Hey, you crazy bastard!]

Riggs ran wild in his mind.

[You are crazy. Really completely crazy! This is the first time I’ve ever met a person like you in my life, you idiot!]

Haron lightly glossed over Riggs’ words that resonated in his head.

In fact, it has been that way for several years, but now he is indifferent to Riggs’ chatter.

[Yes, I did encourage you. No matter how much I said that… I didn’t mean for you to leave like this!]

Even if there was no answer from Haron, Riggs exploded with his own anger.

However, Haron, the owner of the body, did not respond. He just leaned into the darkness and constantly kept his feet moving forward.

He had been moving diligently without sleeping or eating for several days.

He had only one destination.

‘Fortunately, it was not as difficult a journey as I thought.’

Haron muttered as he watched the Devil’s Castle slowly getting closer from the other side of his gaze.

He was riding a horse, and his horse had collapsed from overworking in the middle of his ride. Then he walked barefoot until he found another horse again. It was a very simple and ignorant journey.

It was only natural for Riggs to find it absurd when he saw Haron doing that, even though he knew it wasn’t difficult for him to do so.

The way Haron crossed the barrier of the Devil’s castle was also very simple because the barrier didn’t stop him in the first place.

[The Devil must be really crazy too, to just let the Warrior go beyond the barrier.]

Rick’s grunting voice echoed in Haron’s ears.

He’s only been there once, but it was a familiar place as if he were used to it. His footsteps naturally headed in one direction. He had a bunch of attackers, but he slapped them away lightly.

‘It’s almost over.’

A light was leaking from the end of the hallway.

He moved his feet step by step towards the light.

‘There.’

At the end of his gaze, he saw Lucia.

Just like then, she was sitting on the throne and looking down at him.

‘It’s over there.’

It has been a long time since he forgot about the hard journey of five days. No, what is five days? All the memories of rolling on the battlefield for two years have disappeared from his head.

It seemed that he had only lived for this moment.

He quickly approached her. He thought an attack could fly out, but the desire to see her made his legs move faster than such useless worries.

Fortunately, she didn’t attack him in the end.

“Lucia.”

It was a name that he uttered out of his mouth after such a long time.

The name which he sang endlessly inside and wrote repeatedly in his letters. She was really right in front of him.

“Long time no see.”

‘I’ve missed you.’

Swallowing that sentence back, Haron once again buried his lips on the back of Lucia’s hand.

At that moment, a strong stimulus stirred him all throughout his body, and a sense of tranquility came.

He felt comfortable as if he was walking on a cloud.

He didn’t want to fall and wake up from this dream.

[Wake up, you idiot. Did you forget why you’re here?]

‘Why did I come here?’

In a dreamlike situation, Haron barely managed to move his head in this hazy state.

[Go and check. After all, is that girl doing nothing more than taking advantage of you? I wonder if it’s more than just pampering you here and there.]

But at the same time, she helped him. Thanks to her, the honor and reputation that had originally been stuck onto the floor rose up again.

[Of course. That way it will be easier for her to use you as her chess piece. Isn’t that the same method that the Duke who you hate uses? What is the difference between that Devil and your stepfather?]

Every thought that came to Haron’s mind, Riggs refuted each thought one by one. As the same story continued to be injected, the dreamy mind naturally got caught up in it.

‘Is it really like that?’

The reason he didn’t come so far was that he felt guilty and ashamed of trying to kill her, but at the same time, she never called him over first.

Haron raised his head and faced Lucia, who was still looking down at him with surprised eyes.

He saw a puzzled look that he had never seen on her face before.

‘Oh, how cute.’

The corners of his mouth went up unknowingly.

Red and round eyes were staring straight at him, stained with various emotions. The feeling of pouting a little bit at the sight faded away like sand.

‘You’re pretty.’

[Oh, you idiot.]

While kneeling, he slowly lifted himself up.

Then he leaned towards Lucia.

“I’ve missed you so much.”

‘It’s okay to say that you’re using me. I can accept it, even if it was a way for you to relieve you of your boredom.’

“Was I not supposed to come?””

He leaned down and put his forehead against Lucia’s. Snow was still falling outside.

“…Come here.”

At that moment, Lucia reached out and hugged him tightly.

Haron’s body trembled lightly at that unexpected response.

He felt a warm thrill in his arms as if he was dipping his whole body in lukewarm water.

“You did great.”

He felt a hand stroking his back. It was only then that he felt his exhaustion after hearing her words and so he closed his eyes. (T/N: ABOUT TIMEEE)