Chapter 19

Chapter 19

‘I didn’t come here to watch this kind of foolishness.’

However, as noon passed, the demons wiped the friendly smiles off their faces and became quite serious.

Sitting under the tent alongside Argen, Valen sensed the subtly changed atmosphere. He rubbed his chin as he rested his elbows on his knees.

‘What is this? Why did those guys, who were as cheerful as boys on a picnic with packed lunches, suddenly change their attitude? Could the human army have pushed close to the Demon King’s castle?’

No, that’s not it. Just two months ago, there was a large-scale battle. It was too short a time to even recover from the damage, let alone reorganize.

Are they about to start serious training? After all, it’s the army of the Demon King’s castle; they wouldn’t act like kids on a perpetual outing. As Valen subtly stood up, Argen followed suit.

“You’re not a chick, so why are you following me around like that?”

Valen pressed her shoulder and made her sit down. If Argen got too close, those guys would undoubtedly cause a fuss, treating her like a beloved youngest little sister. He couldn’t afford to miss the important information and just watch an embarrassing spectacle.

Valen quietly approached the soldiers, concealing his presence.

“…The situation isn’t good.”

“If this continues, it’s really the end. Everyone, rack your brains. Are you sure we don’t have a better plan?”

The snippets of conversation he overheard were alarming. Everyone’s facial muscles were stiff, and deep worry was evident above their eyelids.

What could it be? They, who had been scattering petals like cherry blossoms in full bloom, now seemed to be suffering from a sudden harsh cold. Could it be an invasion by another race, if not humans?

His thoughts flowed naturally, recalling the past. The demons he remembered never felt threatened, even on the brink of battle. Whether it was one human soldier or ten thousand, they always blocked the attacks with a composed demeanor.

But what about now? A thick layer of anxiety was clearly painted on their faces like ink. The only race that could make demons this tense would be the Celestials.

However, as far as Valen knew, the relationship between the Celestials and the Demons wasn’t particularly bad. They couldn’t coexist due to their inherent incompatibility, but this very fact helped maintain peace between the two races.

The Celestials loathed lands filled with demonic energy, and the Demons felt the same. In lands overflowing with divine power, they would pinch their noses, claiming it smelled like rotten eggs.

Because their pursuits were different, there was no need to fight over territory. While the Celestials desired to rule humans, the Demons preferred a highly secluded life.

If it’s neither humans nor Celestials, then who…

“The mind of a spider is truly unfathomable.”

…A spider?

As someone sighed deeply and muttered, Seinrich agreed.

“It’s not just any woman, it’s Lady Arachne.”

“I heard she sent a spiderweb bouquet to Lord Finn…”

“Shh. Don’t you have any tact? Why say such things to someone who’s already upset?”

Valen, who had been closely following behind them, turned away with eyes colder than frost in midwinter. Of course. He felt foolish for expecting to gain any useful information.

War? What war? It was a pointless love consultation. Who discusses love affairs during training? If it were his men, he would have beaten the crap out of them to make sure they would have learned their lesson thoroughly.

“Ah? Mr. Anonymous Number 38.”

But just before Valen could completely withdraw, Seinrich spotted him first. Several pairs of eyes, like arrows, were suddenly fixed on him. Valen had the intuition that if he reacted now, he would get entangled in an annoying situation. He tried to ignore them, but Seinrich blocked his path.

“What the hell? Won’t you bugger off?”

“Come to think of it, aren’t you the only married man here!”

An exclamation of ‘Ohh’ arose from the crowd. Could it be considered marriage if one was kidnapped and forced into a ceremony? Moreover, the marriage vows were not properly formed since Valen had kept his name a secret.

However, the demons here didn’t care about such trivial reasons.

“Who’s a married man?”

“Is it because you’re young, or are you just shy? There’s no need for that in front of us.”

“I know you’re crazy, but cut the crap…”

Wait. Suddenly, a pointless curiosity crossed Valen’s mind. He had heard that the lifespan of demons was more than ten times that of humans. To them, Valen, at twenty-eight, would be no more than an infant.

But what about Argen? She spent nights with him every three days, and each time, she shed painful tears while impaled on his manhood. Although their nights continued due to a transaction, if one had to determine who held the upper hand, it was Valen.

Moreover, he hadn’t considered that Argen might be older, perhaps because he appeared more mature. As a fully grown demon, she was likely older than him.

How old could she be?

“Lady Argen? She is celebrating her 301st birthday this year.”

Three hundred and one years old? The vast age difference made Valen feel sick.

Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come from reading books. With time, one becomes seasoned, and varied experiences enable diverse thinking. Based on this simple logic, Argen should be nearly ten times wiser than him.

However, seeing her occasionally display shockingly simple-minded behavior, one could believe she was born yesterday.

So, does Argen seem like a naive younger sibling to him? If asked, Valen would find it difficult to answer. Perhaps it was because her usual tone towards him was so gentle, as if soothing a sulking child.

His disapproving gaze seemed to pierce through Argen.

“Lady Argen is indeed lovely. If we find her so, how much more must you, her husband, adore her?”

There wasn’t a single word from the demons worth listening to. Among them, Valen would unhesitatingly choose the nonsense Seinrich was currently spouting as the most absurd.

Lovely? Husband? Adorable? There couldn’t possibly be such affectionate words between Argen and himself.

“Wait. Did I ever ask you about her age?”

“Sometimes, a look can be more telling than words. Since I’ve satisfied your curiosity, you should also…”

“No.”

He cut him off coldly. But Seinrich was not one to be easily intimidated. Valen had thought he was merely a pretentious commander, but it seemed the inherent stubbornness and persistence as a commander also clung to him.

“Don’t be like that. Among us, you’re the one who knows women the best.”

Valen doubted his ears. His life had always been a path of thorns. He had fought fiercely to survive at every moment, spending more than half of his life on the battlefield. There was no room for the luxury of romance. He had faced countless temptations, but he never looked back. He wasn’t particularly interested, either.

On the other hand, the soldiers would build relationships with women in every village they passed, boasting about it as if collecting stamps. To them, Valen was an appallingly indifferent man. They all thought if he was going to neglect his looks and body, he might as well hand them over to someone else.

Had Valen’s lips ever parted to call out a woman’s name? No matter how much he rummaged through his old memories, he couldn’t find a trace.

He was a man in a desolate history, and now they were asking him for help with romance. They had come to the wrong person by a long shot. However, Seinrich’s eyes were shining brightly with expectation and certainty.

“Please!”

“Look for someone else.”

“There’s no one with your level of experience.”

Seinrich leaned in closer and whispered cautiously.

“You spend the night in Lady Argen’s bedroom, and embarrassing sounds echo out of the door.”

“…What?”

“The maids guarding the main hall were in an uproar. And when I saw Lady Argen, I realized it wasn’t an exaggeration. Even now, it’s the same.”

Her skin looked like it was afflicted with a terrible disease.

Valen’s gaze fell on her exposed white neck. The bruise-like marks were so dense that no healthy skin was visible. The moment they seemed to fade, new ones would appear, and the strong, dark marks would repeat themselves.

It wasn’t as if he did it with Argen every day, but he saw her face constantly, so much so that her disfigured skin had become familiar to him. He couldn’t even think it was strange.

…He didn’t have memories of pushing her that far.

It was because Argen’s flesh was weak. Her body was like it had no muscles at all, and if you touched her, marks would remain on her soft, dough-like skin. That’s why it ended up like this.