Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 75

It was a strange gift box.

A box with no sender, and no one knew when it had been left in front of the Demon King’s Castle.

Could there possibly be a bomb inside?

But it was too light for that to be the case.

Even when I shook the box, no particular sound could be heard.

“‘Happy Birthday’? Is this a birthday gift for the Hero…?”

I read the letter stuck to the box and handed the box to Adam.

The box was so large it blocked my view, yet it was as light as if it contained a stuffed doll.

The box, which was about as tall as me, looked relatively small when Adam stood up.

Adam looked at the box with suspicious eyes before untying the string.

“…”

Adam’s body visibly stiffened after checking the contents.

He stopped moving as if he had become a statue, to the point where I worried whether he was even breathing.

The only thing that moved was his golden eyes.

I unconsciously called Adam’s name and grabbed his shoulder.

Then Adam looked at me with an even more startled expression.

Had he broken out in a cold sweat from seeing the gift?

It seemed Adam didn’t realize how many minutes he had been staring blankly inside.

I called his name again.

“Adam?!”

“…Ah. I’m fine, Eve.”

He recited the same words mechanically with a face that didn’t look fine at all.

Adam’s expression was strangely hardened.

Were the corners of his mouth turned up?

It seemed like he was smiling.

But his eyes weren’t smiling, which gave me an eerie feeling.

When I unconsciously removed my hand from his shoulder and stepped back, Adam smiled and spoke to me.

His mouth barely opened, and what came out was not sincerity but falsehood.

Though he put on his usual expression, his voice was trembling.

“The gift was probably sent by His Majesty the Emperor. Please give me the letter too.”

“Ah, yes…”

I had been about to go look for a paper knife in the study, but I handed it directly to Adam instead.

I was curious about the contents, but his expression was truly, for the first time, so frightening that I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

‘I’ve really never seen Adam make such an expression…’

It was enough killing intent to make me instinctively shrink back.

Even though the energy wasn’t directed at me, it was an instinctive reaction.

Adam keenly noticed my reaction and smiled as if it was nothing, but I couldn’t believe it.

Above the smiling Adam, I could see the clear truth.

Stress – 89%

‘The stress that had barely gone down shot up all at once.’

What on earth was inside that box?

Adam carelessly tore the corner of the letter, took it out to read, then let out a laugh.

“Iberis.”

“…Yes?

My answer came a beat late.

Wouldn’t anyone be scared like this if someone who only called them by a nickname suddenly used their full name?

Especially when the usually gentle Hero was making such an expression.

“I’m sorry, but could you leave the Demon King’s Castle for a while and return to the village?”

“…What?”

I couldn’t bring myself to ask what was wrong.

Because this was the first time I’d felt such an intense desire to leave Adam’s side.

I remembered the forgotten memory of that night.

Seeing Adam’s eyes strangely rippling, I had to grit my teeth and overcome the urge to step back.

“This is what I should have done from the beginning. I should have sent you away right after leaving the Imperial Palace…”

Adam, rarely showing his back, muttered.

“…How foolish of me.”

It seemed like a solid wall was being erected again on the line we had barely crossed.

I erased the thought of wanting to run away and hurriedly blocked his path.

So suddenly?

He had never really accepted me in the first place.

He was always someone who pushed me away, saying the person by his side would die.

Though I didn’t understand his defensive attitude, hadn’t it softened considerably recently?

Rather, he had been hovering around me, acting as if he was tearing down walls.

‘I thought he had finally opened his heart!’

A line was drawn as if it had all been a lie.

I bit my lip anxiously at Adam’s changed attitude, as if he had flipped his palm.

“Until when?”

Adam didn’t answer.

“How long do I have to stay there?”

“…I don’t know.”

At Adam’s evasive attitude, I chewed my lip and said.

“What about the contract?”

I mentioned the contents of the oath that could never be broken.

He had definitely said he would allow me to stay at the Demon King’s Castle.

But he couldn’t send me away like this.

[While Iberis stays at the Demon King’s Castle, she will prioritize helping the Hero above all else, and the Hero cannot refuse this.]

“Right now, Eve not being here would help me.”

I couldn’t say anything in response to Adam’s firm voice.

It felt like all my efforts so far were being denied.

In reality, his stress hadn’t gone down at all.

It had actually increased.

‘Am I really an unnecessary existence to Adam?’

No, that shouldn’t be the case.

Otherwise…

‘I’d lose my excuse to stay by Adam’s side.’

Surely Adam had suddenly become strange after seeing the box the Emperor sent?

But unfortunately, the box was closed again and placed behind Adam, and I didn’t have the confidence to open that Pandora’s box.

And Adam’s words continued mercilessly.

“If I’m not at the Demon King’s Castle, it has no effect. And right now, I’m recommending that you return to the village temporarily.”

It was Adam’s cold reaction that I hadn’t heard in a long time.

His voice was so cold that I jerked my head up in surprise.

It wasn’t the voice he usually used to call me.

But I didn’t want to look at Adam’s cold eyes, so I lowered my head again.

I chewed my innocent lip and pressed my eyes firmly with the back of my hand.

I shouldn’t be hurt.

I should have quickly folded my heart before being hurt by such an expression.

After taking a short deep breath, I could lift my head and face Adam. Even without looking in a mirror, I knew my face must be a mess.

“Hero, you’re really a bad person.”

“…”

Adam didn’t answer.

“Once I leave, I’ll never come back again. But if you tell me honestly, I’ll listen. So can’t you just open up and tell me?”

“….”

At the words that she wouldn’t return again, Adam unconsciously turned around.

Ridiculously, his expression looked more pained than mine.

Adam was the one pushing me away, so why was he making that face?

“…Please go back.”

With those words, Adam didn’t turn around again.

* * *

‘He’s suddenly treating me like this?’

Iberis sat down in frustration.

What should I tell Ben? He had already gone down to Dainil Village saying he was going to meet Violet.

From his perspective, he had suddenly lost his workplace. No, maybe they were only refusing her approach and ridiculously might let Ben inside.

Thinking of this remote possibility, Iberis let out a self-deprecating laugh.

Was it serious that she was more concerned about the expression Adam had shown than explaining to them?

Adam wouldn’t have done this deliberately to test her.

Iberis carefully retraced Adam’s reaction as he coldly turned her away.

‘Is that gift the problem after all?’

He knew it was sent by the Emperor as soon as he saw the gift.

Even though the imperial emblem could be Judith’s doing or someone else’s with different motives, he acted calmly as if he knew the Emperor would do such a thing.

‘Rather, his face looked regretful as if he knew this would happen.’

She wasn’t unaware of the hostility the Emperor showed toward him. Surely there was something inside that could hurt and torment Adam.

Yes. There must be a reason why Adam had no choice but to act that way.

However, Iberis didn’t return to the Demon King’s Castle.

After saying all that, he wasn’t even trying to hold her back.

If he had confessed the truth and asked her to just go back to the village for a while, she would have readily agreed. Even if she was a little hurt, she would have eventually understood him.

But despite her pleas, Adam didn’t open his mouth until the end.

Whenever it was disadvantageous or he didn’t want to show his feelings to others, Adam would shut his mouth.

Iberis roughly wiped away the tears that were gradually welling up with her arm.

‘Even if he grabbed my legs and begged me to come back, I wouldn’t return!’

She belatedly remembered the Quest, but it was no longer her concern.

‘Adam is being uncooperative, so what am I supposed to do?’

Maybe if she stayed away for a few years and then reappeared, only then would Adam realize her importance.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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