Chapter 11.1

Chapter 11.1

“Did they make this out of sh!t?”

It was an instinctive reaction, but there was no more honest assessment of the taste. While he had never actually tasted feces, he was well aware of its foul odor. The food emitted a similar smell, and the taste was equally vile. His throat vehemently rejected the food, causing him to retch repeatedly.

It was much better when they simply gave him raw ingredients like potatoes or apples.

This was not food fit for human consumption. However, there was a reason why his suspicion of it being a form of torture did not turn into certainty…

“No need to be overly grateful.”

Nom. The fact that Argen was sitting at the same table and eating the same food as him.

There was no hesitation in her fork movements. She picked up the food, which smelled so foul that if odors had colors, it would be a deep green, reminiscent of dung, and put it in her mouth.

Just before swallowing, she gave a slight retch, but it was only momentary. She always cleaned her plate of the main dish in front of her.

“Why don’t you at least try it?”

In contrast, Valen didn’t touch the food and just bit into an apple.

“Are you serious?”

“The chef will be disappointed.”

Argen quietly muttered to herself.

He thought it might be food torture, but seeing Argen suffer the same way made him reconsider. Yet, calling this a normal meal was too despairing.

When Argen wiped her mouth and stood up, the waiting servants rushed to the table and swept the plates into a large rattan basket. Crash, crash. The sound of plates shattering was piercing. Although he had been witnessing this scene for a week, Valen still couldn’t get used to it.

D@!mn, it really is sh!t. This isn’t clearing away leftover food. Anyone could see they were disposing of garbage.

Is she really unaffected? The servants were feeding her sh!t, yet she remained unfazed.

Well, it’s none of my business. He hastily finished his meal and left the dining hall.

“Is it uncomfortable for you to eat with me?”

Argen, who was walking a step ahead of Valen, suddenly asked.

She doesn’t even consider that the taste might be the issue. However, there was something that bothered Valen more than the food.

Argen.

Ever since the deal to impregnate her, she had sought him out at every opportunity. She would burst into his room without knocking early in the morning, share every meal with him, and sometimes even try to have trivial tea times. Of course, he had never once agreed to any of it.

Valen aimed to gather as much information as possible before returning to the kingdom. Therefore, having Argen constantly hovering around him was extremely bothersome.

They had locked him up for a month. The sudden change in their attitude was puzzling.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Is it time for a recharge?

Valen let out a twisted chuckle.

“How could I be comfortable with the r*pist who assaulted me?”

“……”

Valen instantly fell silent. However, there was no trace of guilt or any similar emotion on her pale face.

It took a long walk from the dining hall to reach Valen’s bedroom. Previously, he had his meals in his room, but ever since Argen started intervening, he had to walk all the way to the dining hall. The walking itself didn’t bother him much. But—

“Rest well.”

What annoyed him was that he couldn’t enter his room until Argen walked back the long distance to open the door for him. The fact that he couldn’t even open a door without her help and that she treated him like a dog being put back in its kennel after their interactions was infuriating.

As if to prove it wasn’t called the demon world for nothing, everything here operated solely by magical power. Even opening a window was impossible for Valen to do by himself.

It was unthinkable for him to easily accept being confined and used merely as a source of energy, as if he were nothing more than a tool for personal gratification.

Argen did not see the stern expression on Valen’s face behind her.

“From now on, I will not join you for your meals,” she began.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard,” he bit back.

“In four days, in the evening, I should be able to make some time. Let’s go for a walk in the garden then. Being outside and looking at the greenery might ease your troubled mind for a while. Gradually finding peace, you might even feel like telling me your name someday.”