Chapter 60

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we need anything. You can take them back.”

“Come on, just buy one! If I don’t sell something, I’m really in trouble here!”

“…No—”

“Hey, Eve. How about this one?”

Just as I was about to get up, uninterested in whatever he was selling, a hand suddenly reached out from beside me and grabbed one of Ahern’s items.

It was the least valuable-looking thing in the pile.

A circular object, woven with threads inside like a dreamcatcher, but overly dark—almost unnervingly so.

It looked exactly like something that would belong in the Demon King’s pitch-black castle.

Both Ahern and the object itself felt suspicious, so I shook my head.

But before I could stop him, Ben was already handing over the money.

“Wait, Ben!”

I tried to stop him, but as soon as I saw Ahern get up, I swallowed my words.

So now there were two people besides Adam willing to throw away their common sense for a traveling merchant?

The saying the enemy is closer than you think had never felt so accurate.

But it wasn’t like I could demand a refund after the deal was done.

I sighed in defeat.

“I’ll go hang this up in the warrior’s room!”

“Be careful. He might be asleep.”

“Yeah, yeah. You worry too much.”

Of course I was worried—he had just fallen for a con artist.

Ben practically skipped out of the reception room.

I slowly stood up from the sofa.

“You’d better not go anywhere weird.”

I warned, my tone sharp.

Abraxas, in a bizarre display of politeness, interjected,

“Aren’t you being a bit harsh?”

What was with him today?

He was practically whining, glancing at Ahern as if he were a restless dog sniffing around for trouble.

I had laughed when Ahern boasted that his good looks could charm anyone, but…

Could they actually work on demons too?

“Ugh…”

Just then, Ahern’s body swayed, and he collapsed back onto the sofa, eyes fluttering shut.

A pathetic act.

I stared at him, unimpressed.

“You can fake passing out all you want—I’m not letting you sleep here.”

“! If he’s that much of a nuisance, I’ll throw him out myself.”

“You can’t even leave the castle gates.”

I shot a glance at Abraxas.

Undeterred, he swiftly scooped Ahern up under his arm, flashing me an awkward grin.

“I’ll just drop him off in front of the gates. If I warn him properly, do you really think he’d be crazy enough to come back inside? He’ll be too busy running for his life.”

Sure.

A normal person wouldn’t dare come back.

But if Ahern had one defining trait, it was his sheer stubbornness—his ability to fixate on something to the point of obsession.

‘Is he just trying to see Adam?’

Even if it wasn’t, anyone sneaking into the Demon King’s castle at this hour wasn’t doing it for a good reason.

“Anyway, this kind of grunt work is my job. Just leave it to me.”

“That’d be nice, but…”

Abraxas winked confidently.

His enthusiasm only made me more uneasy.

But since he was so determined, and Ben’s behavior had been off for a while now, I decided it was better to focus on figuring that out first.

Reluctantly, I nodded, letting them go before heading back inside.

Right then, I ran into Ben as he was coming out of Adam’s room.

“Whoa! When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

Ben grinned.

As we walked up the stairs together, I asked,

“But seriously, why that one? There were way better options.”

At my question, Ben smiled as if the answer was obvious.

“Because the warrior has trouble sleeping because of a curse! So I bought it to help him sleep better!”

“…Curse?”

What was he talking about?

This was the first I’d heard of it.

Just as I grabbed Ben’s shoulders, confused, a thought struck me.

Adam was cursed?

“Ow, that stings!”

Ben suddenly shuddered violently, as if he had been hit by a strong static shock.

Startled, I immediately let go.

He turned to me with a puzzled expression, tilting his head.

“Huh? Why am I here?”

Ben scratched the back of his head.

Watching him, I let out a dumbfounded chuckle.

He must have been talking in his sleep or something, rambling about nonsense like curses.

“Were you sleep-talking while standing up?”

“No… I swear I saw a ghost and—I was holding something and then…”

“That definitely sounds like you were half-asleep. Where’s the ghost?”

“Yeah, I guess… Anyway, where’s the warrior? I tried to come earlier, but my mother kept me at home longer than expected. Do you think he’s already asleep?”

He had plenty of time to greet Adam earlier.

If he really wanted to, he could have left me to deal with Ahern and gone to see him.

Ben had been sticking to my side like glue all evening, and now, all of a sudden, he was acting differently.

“Didn’t you just say you put that dreamcatcher in his room? Didn’t you see him then?”

“Oh? Uh… Hmm… Ah, now that you mention it, I think I did? Why does it feel so foggy in my head…?”

“If you’re that tired, you should just go to bed, too.”

“Yeah, I think I will. My whole body feels exhausted… and my head really hurts.”

He winced as he rubbed his forehead.

It didn’t seem like he was lying.

Since his symptoms sounded oddly similar to what I had experienced before, I told him to rest and stepped outside.

‘That herb…’

I went to the spot where I had last gathered it and dug up a few roots.

Then, out of habit, I glanced back toward the Demon King’s castle.

Adam’s room was dark.

Thankfully, it seemed like he had managed to fall asleep early tonight.

* * *

It was another ordinary day.

Eveline had become such an integral part of his life that her presence no longer felt foreign.

Bringing such a bold and outspoken maid into his home had been purely impulsive.

“Let’s sign a contract!”

Her voice had overlapped with another.

“I would like to sign a contract.”

His own words from the past.

It had only been a few days since Eveline arrived at the Demon King’s castle.

Yet already, the ever-present headaches that followed him had settled in his mind once more.

‘Why is it only that place that shines…?’

Perhaps it had been the Demon King’s preference—every grand hall with large windows had been covered with thick black curtains.

But light, when surrounded by darkness, only shines brighter.

Unconsciously, Adam found himself drawn to the one place where sunlight still seeped through.

Even though he already knew what he would find there, he continued forward.

A small, unexpected guest.

By now, a familiar presence.

He stopped in his tracks and quietly observed the small figure.

“…….”

Her hair, braided in a single plait, had loosened in her sleep, stray strands spilling over her face.

Her pale eyelashes quivered as the sunlight touched them.

Adam muttered under his breath.

“What exactly are you…?”

An odd sense of familiarity washed over him.

She was someone he had never seen before.

She had claimed to be a girl from one of the villages he had saved, but he had saved so many villages—too many to remember each resident.

He was far too exhausted to concern himself with anything beyond survival.

So why had he let this unexpected guest stay?

Had it truly been just an impulse?

Or… was there another reason?

Lost in thought, Adam recalled what had happened that morning, and a quiet chuckle escaped him.

Eveline had plucked small wildflowers—probably from the forest—and woven them into a tiny flower crown, placing it atop Potato’s head.

Compared to the sheer size of Potato’s head, the delicate little crown looked ridiculously small.

Adam hadn’t been able to hold back his laughter.

Perhaps sensing his amusement, Potato had immediately shaken his head, sending the flower crown tumbling to the ground.

When Eveline picked it up and asked brightly, “Isn’t it pretty?” he had found himself unable to look away from her face.

Remembering the careful expression she had worn while tying the flower bracelet around his wrist, Adam chuckled again.

Then, realizing that he had been smiling without even thinking, he rubbed at his mouth awkwardly.

He was laughing over such trivial things.

That subtle, inexplicable change within him stirred something strange—something he couldn’t quite name.

“I almost feel… normal.”

From the moment he could remember, he had been raised as the hero destined to slay the Demon King.

Yet now, he was experiencing the ordinary life he had once wished for.

As much as he liked this change, it also filled him with an odd sense of unease.

Leaving a small lamp lit beside him, Adam closed his eyes and tried to sleep.