Slam.

The door grimly closed behind me, and I slowly sat down on the spot.

Then, I held my knees and sobbed unbecomingly.

I tried to keep my voice down, but even so, my tears kept flowing, warmly soaking my knees.

—I’ve hurt Shal so badly.

That fact felt like a sharp blade piercing through my heart.

I was expecting to get showered with praises when I walked through this door where I just came out of.

Just a little while ago, I was so excited and even rushed to come here at this hour.

But now, I bit my lips and held back my tears as I walked out of the room with a heavy heart crying out in pain.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way.

At first, when I told him he could go outside, Shal truly thanked me with a gentle voice as if he had gathered all the kindness from this world and put it into words.

Just how happy was he with that?

I tried to get across and closer to his heart, little by little, every day. However, I broke his heart by staining it red.

I was too conceited. He smiled, so… that’s right. I convinced myself that he liked his days here and liked spending his time with me.

But the truth is, he couldn’t help but detest me.

I was the ruler of mankind’s enemy, so he came here to kill me, but I injured him, putting him on the verge of death. Then, I brandished the rules of demons and imprisoned him here, leaving him the only human in a world full of demons.

I… always admired my benefactor from before and wanted to stay by his side, even though it was just for my own satisfaction. I didn’t even know if he remembered the past.

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t stop my tears. I didn’t mean to be so cruel.

I was just glad and embarrassed to be able to watch him at first and allowed him to stay here on my own accord. That’s why, I just thought I wanted to do whatever I could to help.

And that was when he smiled at me so gently, thanked me as if it was just the natural thing to do, called me by my name, and worried about me.

There were days when even small things piled up like petals.

Even though I took his sword away, sealed his magic, and locked him in a place where there were no other humans…

He was that kind of man who would ask for a job so that he could give me something in return as gratitude.

When I told him I couldn’t let him do that, he was that kind of straightforward man who would offer himself without hesitation.

He was that kind of benefactor. Yet, the thought of him getting away made my mind turn black, and I felt a ferocious possessiveness surging through me.

I didn’t understand that feeling. It wasn’t the debt of gratitude I had been holding on to for a long time.

It wasn’t admiration or anything. For the first time, the feeling I had was as violent as a raging stream and was beyond my control.

As a demon who had lived for a long time, it was hard for me to understand and digest such sudden changes and uncontrollable waves of emotions.

Before I knew it, I found myself selfishly shouting about things I couldn’t get to the point of. I even tried to restrain him by threatening him, digging my unsightly, pointed fangs into Shal’s smooth and bright skin.

I bit down hard to scare him, and the warm blood continuously filled my mouth.

I usually just sucked a bit of it, and with that alone, it gave a mellow fragrance enough to make me dizzy—a sweet, rich, and thick blood.

Ba-thump.

An elated heartbeat rang out.

I knew that humans from another world were exceedingly delicious. In addition to that, I felt my inexplicable thirst for possession and desire to control being satisfied.

As if I were driven by heat, I sucked in deeply and felt the luscious blood clinging to my tongue, enough to captivate me. I felt the familiar sensation of it going down my throat.

“…n…gh… a…”

Close to my ears, I could hear a lustful sound mixed with Shal’s voice groaning in pain.

His voice aroused more excitement. I rubbed my head against him as if demanding more, devouring him with beastly vigor and dwindling sanity.

The taste was so rich, so divine, and irresistible that I would never tire of drinking. It was the finest blood.

Aah, it’s so good. I want to drink more.

I want more.

More.

“Nn… Ha…. It’s really, really delicious…”

“Gh… I’m…. glad… to hear… that.”

I didn’t realize that he was starting to weaken until I felt his soft cheeks gently brush against mine.

And, when I did…

I realized I had foolishly drunk so much blood that an ordinary human being would have lost consciousness long ago.

“…”

“Ah…!”

When I pulled out my fangs as if they were plucked, Shal raised his voice and twitched.

A deep red stream of blood gushed out of his wound, which had lost its plug, and I hurriedly sucked on it to cover the wound.

As I came to my senses, a splitting sound rang painfully inside my head.

—I’ve done it… I’ve done it! Why didn’t I stop? All I wanted to do was scare him a little and make him give up!

—Now Shal is going to reject me completely!

My mouth was dyed red with Shal’s blood. On the other hand, Shal lay limp, with his pale skin exposed to the moonlight.

His hand, which seemed to be gripping my chest, fell down weakly as if its thread had been cut.

Had I been so shamelessly enjoying such a delicious meal that I didn’t even notice his clinging hands?

“S…top… Don’t… touch me…!”

I was too flustered that I wasn’t even sure what to do after realizing that. Then, Shal drove me out with an unusually firm tone.

It left me with the pain of being struck with a burning iron stake, turning my overflowing regret into tears.

The blood was delicious enough to make me lose control of myself—the blood of my most important person.

I wiped my mouth repeatedly. There was no more blood on me, but I couldn’t wipe away the crime I had committed. I loved blood, but I was never that crazy about it.

“H-Hic… Shal… Shal… hic… ngh…”

Now that the barrier had been lifted, Shal would surely leave this place tomorrow.

There was no way he was going to stay around someone that devoured him like that.

I was sure he was frightened, held a grudge, and hated me.

If I forced him to stay like I did earlier, he would hate me even more. I couldn’t do that.

I felt sad, lonely, and so painful that my heart was being torn apart by the situation I had brought upon myself. Uncontrollable emotions flowed endlessly from my black eyes.

I didn’t know why I felt so lonely. Not long ago, we hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

I had only just returned to him, and yet, I felt so sad that I couldn’t control the thought of Shal hating me.

I couldn’t save the train of thought from falling into the abyss. I left the door without wiping away the tears that flowed one after another, walking in a hollow manner.