Chapter 5

The girl, who I thought had come to the Demon King’s castle due to getting lost, suddenly confidently introduced herself, leaving him with a bewildered expression.

Well, it’s understandable. After all, he didn’t know there was a new maid.

“…? I haven’t hired any maids.”

Seeing the hero’s face, which seemed to be questioning the absurdity of the situation, I pounded my chest twice.

“Yes! I came here voluntarily. A prepared talent! That’s me, Eveline.”

As I passed through the forest, I realized that I couldn’t be responsible for his happiness in the short term.

Being happy once doesn’t make life beautiful, and being unhappy once doesn’t turn life into a rotten mess.

Maybe I should periodically take care of him and watch over him.

“Please tell me anything to do. I’ve been doing various odd jobs in the village since I was young, so I can do anything above average!”

“….”

In response to my bold words, the hero wiped his face with his hand. Then, he approached me again with a courteous smile.

“Ah, I see. Miss Eveline. Which village are you from?”

Oh? He understood more easily than I thought.

“I’m from Dainel Village… Uh, why are you writing so fast?”

“Oh, just because.”

‘Just because’? That doesn’t seem right. He’s writing something down at an incredible speed.

“Dainel Village… It was a small village nearby, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

I didn’t expect the hero to remember. From his perspective, Dainel Village was just one of the many villages he saved.

“You seem to remember everything, sir?”

“I’ve heard the name of the village enough times to find it boring.”

Indeed, the Demon King’s castle and Dainel Village were close. Therefore, although the village was once a top priority for monster attacks, those worries disappeared completely after the hero killed the Demon King.

I peeked at the interior of the Demon King’s castle across Adam’s shoulder. Even though Jinseogu, who was on Adam’s arm just moments ago, disappeared, I was too preoccupied with observing the hall behind Adam to notice.

“Eveline.”

“Yes? …Uh!”

At that moment, I felt like someone was pulling me from behind. When I looked back, I saw that same monster from earlier holding onto my bag.

Then, a low, menacing voice echoed from behind.

“I clearly told you to leave.”

I couldn’t believe it was the same voice as the one I was conversing with earlier.

It was just as terrifying and cold.

As he muttered quietly, the monster tore the bottom of my bag, grabbed some food, and retreated.

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine.”

Adam took a step closer to me with a determined expression. This shouldn’t be happening, but I couldn’t help but be captivated by his face. It’s fortunate that it’s dark around us; his flushed face won’t be easily visible.

And what’s more important than his handsome face.

‘He’s really standing right here, after all.’

It was a higher figure than I had imagined.

“Stress – 49%”

If I can bring that down to ‘0%’, then I can go home. For some reason, I was under a lot of stress. It was when I was staring blankly at the number hovering above his head.

Adam flicked his finger, drawing my attention.

“More importantly, Eveline, do you see the chandelier above the ceiling behind you?”

“Huh?”

I turned my head towards where Adam was pointing with his finger.

And it was pitch black.

‘Ack! Is this brat forgetting the favor I did him and knocking me out?!’

Chirp chirp. Looking outside, I saw sparrows happily chirping away, oblivious to my plight.

“Eveline, are you awake? If you are, eat this.”

Still rubbing my sore neck, I looked at Violet, who was pushing a bowl towards me. I naturally put some in my mouth and asked.

“What’s this?”

“I brought this porridge just in case your throat hurt. You got so startled when you came clinging to the hero’s side…”

“…”

I don’t know if she’s being kind or if she has a bad personality. Offering to be a free helper, but knocking me out from behind?

I’m the one who cleared the hidden route of the notorious game called “he Awakening of the Hero”.

No one can surpass me in terms of determination and perseverance.

I quickly spooned the pumpkin porridge and stood up.

“Will there be another unexpected letter with your name on it flying in at dawn? Will you be hearing from the hero again? What on earth happened?”

I chuckled and mumbled my response.

“Violet, I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Surely you’re not going back into the forest again, are you?”

Violet asked with a worried tone.

Perhaps I just made excuses, saying it’s the forest instead of mentioning the Demon Castle. I decided to graciously accept the unknown kindness.

“Hehe. I just left my bag in the forest. I’ll just go find it and come back!”

“Ah, this kid…”

Since I raised him so diligently, what’s the hero’s is mine, and what’s mine is the hero’s.

“Anyway, Eve, I know you’re bored, but don’t mess around with food.”

“Huh?”

With the determination to prepare myself to return to the Demon Castle, I chuckled at Violet’s sudden remark.

“Yesterday morning, Ben made some strange food. Oh my, I almost collapsed after taking a bite. If we had eaten properly, it would’ve tasted like death for all three of us.”

“…”

I slowly recalled the memories of last night. After seeing off the last guest, Ben and I started cooking.

Ben, who was only assisting verbally, started dozing off halfway through, and when I asked him which spice was correct, he just randomly handed me something and went inside to sleep.

Liar!

I should have suspected something from the beginning when he started mumbling.

“How much spice did you put in? Ben was acting strange when I asked him, don’t get confused. You didn’t give it to anyone else, did you?”

“I didn’t give it to anyone.”

Thank goodness.

Yes, it’s really fortunate. I couldn’t even take out what I had prepared for the hero because I fainted right away yesterday.

“…Oh, the demon probably ate it.”

Still, even if it’s a monster opposing the hero, it didn’t seem like it would die from just one dish.

With half worry and half determination to meet the hero, I dashed back to the Demon Castle.

Still, because I had been there once before, I was able to save half the time compared to the first attempt.

Even in the mid-morning sun, his surreal appearance remained the same. Ironically, under the bright sky, Adam seemed somewhat divine.

“Good morning, Hero!”

I greeted him with a sunny smile.

“…You’ve come again. I escorted you home, didn’t I?”

Adam greeted me with a solemn expression.

My eyes widened as I saw the large object under his feet.

“This is the one from yesterday…”

The ominous glare, as if it were going to devour me, disappeared, and the monster collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

When the Demon King existed, the monsters usually lived in the nearby forest of the Demon Castle and attacked anyone who entered there.

However, recalling the hero’s actions yesterday, the monster was following his orders. It was probably because of the obedience collar, just like the Demon King used.

As long as the obedience collar was there, the monster was just an ordinary animal in the hands of the hero.

Seeing the once proud monster now writhing on the ground, I couldn’t help but kneel down and stroke its fur, a habit I had developed during my days as an herbalist with Eve’s memories.

“Where does it hurt? Is it okay if I leave it like this?”

“Oh, it’ll probably die soon.”

Unlike Adam, who replied nonchalantly, I panicked.

‘Could it be because of my food?’

Or maybe I put in a spice that the monster shouldn’t eat.

Since it looked like a massive creature, I was even more worried. I had seen videos of animals suffering after eating human food.

I approached the monster slowly. It only made small groaning sounds of pain. I gently opened its closed eyelids with my fingers and started to open the bag I had brought to give something to the hero.