Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 85

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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 85

“…No.”

A slow denial came from Adam’s mouth.

Iselda said “I thought so” while greeting us and heading to the back.

“The door is on the opposite side…”

“I know. But why would I bother going down the stairs one by one?”

But the stairs were made for going down, weren’t they?

“But why are you going to the window? The dust isn’t my fault, there’s someone who does the cleaning… Wait a minute!”

Before I could stop her, Iselda flung open the window and put her leg on the windowsill.

As if she was about to jump right out, I approached her, and she waved her hand.

“Bye bye.”

And then she jumped right out.

‘No, this is the third floor!’

I’d experienced this from our first meeting, but Iselda seemed to just hate taking the long way around.

She probably would have carried me and jumped out the window even if there hadn’t been a fire creating an urgent situation.

With a more haggard face than before, I was about to complain to Adam about her eccentric behavior, but when I turned around, Adam was looking at his left hand with an ambiguous smile.

“Hero?”

“She’s a person who hasn’t changed at all. It’s a bit surprising and amusing.”

“Even though you remember her like that. Last time you said you’d met in the past, so why did you pretend not to know when Iselda acted familiar?”

“I thought she wouldn’t remember even if I told her.”

I approached him while closing the window Iselda had left open.

It was something I’d been curious about but couldn’t bring myself to ask while Iselda was with us.

“But…”

As I approached, Adam, who had been briefly lost in thought as if recalling the past, met my gaze.

I felt good when I was reflected in Adam’s eyes like this. It was a mysterious feeling. Before we parted and I returned to the village, I’d been upset because he wouldn’t even make eye contact with me. But this time, he was looking at me intently.

I looked straight back at him without avoiding his gaze and said.

“What was the gift the Emperor sent? That’s what made you send me back to the village, right?”

“…Yes.”

Unlike before, with shadows cast over his face, Adam obediently gave me an answer.

“Can’t I see it too?”

I looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

Now that I was confident Adam wouldn’t drive me away, I could make such requests.

And he was in a more generous mood now.

But Adam spoke as if troubled.

“That… I burned it long ago.”

“The gift?”

I gaped in shock.

Even if the sender’s name wasn’t written as the Emperor, Adam knew it was from him.

There was probably an imperial seal stamped on it or something.

Yet I gaped at the shocking move of burning the gift.

“A gift… It was a gift that served as a wake-up call.”

“What was it?”

I recalled the flute that Judith had forced on me, pretending it was a gift.

If he gave me something he’d already been using, that meant Judith had already played it.

Remembering the flute that I didn’t want to use even after wiping it thoroughly with a handkerchief because it felt so disgusting, I could understand his attitude a little.

Anyway, like father like son, he probably gave similar trash.

Adam silently grabbed my arm and pulled me.

I ended up in Adam’s embrace.

I could hear someone’s heart beating rapidly.

Without realizing it, I held my breath.

Otherwise, my breathing and heartbeat would be too audible to Adam.

That would surely be the same for Adam too.

Adam, who had been quietly listening to the heartbeat with his eyes closed, spoke in a small voice.

“It was a doll that resembled Eve.”

“…?”

I opened my eyes wide in his embrace.

It was a very unexpected gift.

A doll that the Emperor had personally ordered to be handcrafted…?

I couldn’t even imagine it properly and just felt disgusted.

“It was an elaborate doll. If Eve hadn’t brought it, I would have thought it really was Eve.”

How much could a doll really resemble a person anyway.

I didn’t think much of it.

Though it felt unpleasant to think of a doll made to resemble a real person, it didn’t seem like something that would make Adam send me away with such a pale face.

However, Adam didn’t stop his explanation there.

He voluntarily provided additional explanation that he normally wouldn’t have given.

“I wondered why he called me during the ball… The attendant who supposedly brought Eve was probably the doll maker. The doll was wearing the dress from the ballroom.”

I recalled the attendant who had looked at me as if examining me while drawing something during the dress fitting.

He had been planning to pull this stunt from the beginning.

“That bastard seems to have been keeping an eye on Iberis since the hunting competition. So…”

Adam clenched his mouth shut as if recalling that time.

Ah, he just gritted his teeth. That’s not good for dental health.

I looked up at Adam’s tightly clenched jaw.

And deliberately spoke in a bright voice to give my impression.

“Hmm, it’s disgusting that it looked just like me.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

At Adam’s obedient agreement, I lifted my head and froze.

Adam’s expression was still hardened. His already jade-white skin was pale.

The arm holding my shoulder tightened a bit more.

It didn’t hurt.

As expected, it wasn’t an ordinary doll after all.

I recalled what I’d glimpsed when Adam opened the box that day.

‘…It looked like there was red dye on it…’

Could it be blood?

Even though I wanted to dismiss it as needless worry, I couldn’t bring myself to voice it because of Adam’s dark expression.

I chose to just stay quietly in Adam’s embrace.

Of course, only my body stayed still, while my thoughts cursed the Emperor.

‘Why torment someone who sacrificed their entire life to even kill the Demon King for you!’

When the hunt is over and you try to boil the dog, the dog might just bite your throat. Beware of fierce dogs, you know?

If I continued thinking like this, he would probably leave again, thinking it was dangerous.

I grabbed his arm and brought up a new topic.

“Come to think of it, the Demon King! I think I heard last time that the fire was related to the Demon King, is that true?”

“No. It was an elderly man nearby who set the fire, but since he seemed to know Iberis, I couldn’t punish him… If Eve wants, I’ll go back and make sure he receives proper punishment.”

“Hmm, it’s okay…”

If I had really been Iberis, would I have been hurt by the Elderly Former Hunter’s actions?

Surely much more than I was.

However, what stayed with me more than the hurt the Elderly Former Hunter gave me was that other people had taken my side.

…And Adam too.

In my original world, no one had ever taken my side.

Not at school, not in society, not at home… Those eyes that treated me like unnecessary trash or looked at me as a useless child.

I almost became gloomy for a moment, but they weren’t here.

“The villagers won’t leave Elderly Former Hunter alone either! You saw it, right? How everyone took my side?”

“If that puts Eve’s mind at ease, then that’s fine.”

Adam nodded with a faint smile.

And so I returned to the Demon King’s Castle.

* * *

I had returned to the Demon King’s Castle. The floor of the castle that I was stepping on again after just a few days felt like it had been ages.

“More importantly! Why are you so distant with Iselda?”

Seeing Iselda again in bright light, she was an incredible beauty. Even someone as stoic as Adam would turn to look at her at least once. Yet he wouldn’t even make proper eye contact, gave half-hearted responses, and then suddenly made threats.

“I have absolutely no interest.”

Strange.

In other cycles, he definitely seemed to be on friendly terms with Iselda.

It seems the problem is that in this cycle, he didn’t make her his companion.

When I mentioned Iselda, he made an openly displeased face.

“Why don’t you like her?”

“That’s…”

Adam trailed off and avoided my eyes.

“…Then why does Eve like Iselda?”

And then he obviously changed the subject.

“Like when you were writing letters. Eve has never even met Iselda in the first place. Why should I be interested in Iselda?”

“Well… I heard a lot about her through rumors! She saved me… and she’s strong and beautiful, so it’s natural to have favorable feelings toward Iselda!”

“Then does Eve like anyone who’s pretty?”

“…Hmm.”

I should have said no, but my mouth just clamped shut.

‘To say no would be a lie, but to say yes… Adam looks like he’s about to cry?’

The longer I delayed my answer, the darker Adam’s expression became.

Then he muttered in a small voice.

“…Do they have to be pretty?”

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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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