Ch.270Chapter 270: Somewhere Between Unfamiliarity and Familiarity (2)

I don’t know what expression I should make. Not like it’s just some cliché phrase.

I truly don’t know what expression I should make toward Imperfectio, who shows no hostility toward me.

As for the current situation, I fought with all my might against someone presumed to be a new demon god’s agent, was captured after my strength gave out, and was dragged here like a prisoner.

Then, as soon as I regained consciousness after passing out, I found myself face to face with Imperfectio, who showed a strange interest in me.

Curiously enough, whether they forgot to disarm me while bringing me here or didn’t feel the need to, my dragon sword remained intact at my waist.

For someone like me who grinds my teeth even in my sleep when it comes to anything related to demon realms, the situation was practically pushing me to cross blades with my opponent.

“Hehe…”

The big problem was that I had no will to do anything as I watched Imperfectio smiling faintly while looking at the holy sword in her hand.

The fighting spirit that should have been boiling without exception against beings of the demon realm had sunk so deep it couldn’t even produce a bubble from the bottom of a calm lake surface.

My brow, which should have furrowed in displeasure just from facing this person, not only failed to furrow but relaxed so gently that I could sense its softness even without looking in a mirror.

Even my voice, which should have been sharp and full of hostility toward my opponent…

“…”

I couldn’t find the words that should have come out.

I truly had no idea what I should do here.

If there was one fortunate thing…

“…”

Imperfectio, who had shifted her gaze from the holy sword back to me, seemed to have little interest in speaking to me.

“…”

She was just silently looking at me, so at least I didn’t have to waste unnecessary emotional energy.

Since I was aware that my physical condition wasn’t fully recovered, it was actually beneficial that I could spend time regaining my strength without needlessly provoking my opponent.

“…”

However, it didn’t seem easy to figure out the true intentions of Imperfectio, who occasionally showed a strange fondness toward me while maintaining her presence.

“Sigh…”

After letting out a light sigh without any particular meaning,

“I suppose if it’s the same whether my eyes are open or closed, it might be better to close them.”

I closed my eyes, returning the exact words Imperfectio had spoken to me from behind earlier when she entered the room.

As my eyes closed, the anxiety about what I could do with my unprepared body in the dwelling of an awakened demon god subsided like falling asleep.

Setting aside the uneasiness, I would just rest now to prepare my body for what needed to be done in this enemy territory.

That’s all.

…But…

My physical condition is really… not good.

How can sleep come… as soon as I close… my eyes…

#

“I suppose if it’s the same whether my eyes are open or closed, it might be better to close them.”

The moment Kal Ranos’s eyes slowly closed after saying those words,

Imperfectio, with a pleasant resonating sound, sheathed the holy sword she was holding and attached it to her waist.

The movement was extremely fast and so silent that not a sound could be heard, and after it was done,

Since the gaze watching her had disappeared, she was free to do whatever she wanted.

And it was also the moment when her true nature could be fully revealed.

“…”

Imperfectio’s eyes, which had briefly gone to the holy sword before turning back to the now-closed eyes of Kal, revealed only a calmness almost indistinguishable from being closed themselves.

Facing Kal, who had his eyes closed and was lost in thought without taking any action,

The divine warrior who belonged to the demon realm and whose duty was to slay designated enemies with the demon sword bestowed by the lord of this place, chose only to watch.

If Desire, who for whatever reason had made her his agent, had seen this scene, he would undoubtedly have shown a reaction filled with various emotions.

“…”

Imperfectio, silently watching Kal, kept her mouth closed.

‘It’s the… same.’

She sorted through the feelings rising within her as she looked at him.

Emotions began to form in her blue eyes that had been only calm before.

At first, her eyes held a faint nostalgia, but as time passed, various emotions bloomed and withered like flowers.

It was as if she was expressing something through her gaze alone, without uttering a single word.

But because these emotions changed more rapidly than flowers blooming and withering, it was difficult to identify anything beyond the initial nostalgia.

However, when Imperfectio’s eyes closed briefly and reopened to gather her rising emotions, the feeling that appeared was quite clear, no less distinct than the initial wistfulness.

Although it was extremely difficult to put into words the emotions revealed through the colors forming in her eyes,

If someone appropriate were called to define the emotion in Imperfectio’s eyes right now, everyone would likely describe it this way:

Her blue eyes, which until just before closing had been bright and beautiful but somehow slightly clouded,

Reopened slowly after closing once, with all the cloudiness gone.

They had completely returned to a blueness reminiscent of the sea.

But the sea contained in that bluish sight,

Drip, drip

Was the image of sorrow, with ripples caused by heavy rain falling unexpectedly from the sky.

It was a scene that any minstrel who regularly handled instruments like lutes or mandolins would describe in such a way.

“…?”

Perhaps noticing that tears had suddenly fallen from her eyes,

Imperfectio, keeping her gaze fixed on Kal, raised only her right hand to her eyes and gently wiped them.

It was by a hair’s breadth.

If she had been even a little late, the tears formed at her eyes would have rolled down her cheeks and naturally hit the obsidian floor.

If that had happened, Kal, whose senses were sharpened even with his eyes closed, would have discovered that she was crying.

Imperfectio continued to wipe her tears with her right hand, relieved.

Although there was no mirror in the private chamber,

Even with just a little light, it would have reflected her appearance with reddened eyes more brightly than a mirror.

She wanted to express the urgency she had just felt by letting out a sigh of relief,

But Imperfectio restrained herself.

She sensed that with just one sigh, she might lose the ability to properly appreciate the sight of Kal with his eyes closed, which she could now freely indulge in.

The blue eyes of Imperfectio, which had been filled with inexplicable sadness and tears, became cloudy again.

Although she showed no signs of reaching out, embracing, or any actions driven by the desire to possess something,

The strangely glistening eyes revealed the word “desire.”

The transformation of emotions was remarkably swift.

From tearful poignancy, regret, and sadness to an unbridled possessiveness toward the other person, hiding nothing.

It was impossible to know what caused such kaleidoscopic emotional changes in the eyes of this new agent of the demon realm.

But the constantly changing emotions in Imperfectio’s eyes finally showed some consistent pattern when:

*Nod*

Seeing Kal Ranos, who had closed his eyes not long ago, suddenly drop his head downward as he succumbed to drowsiness,

“…!!”

Imperfectio’s eyes widened in surprise.

The first emotion that formed in her eyes was surprise.

It was because she saw Kal, who had just woken up and had been speaking to her in a relatively energetic voice, suddenly fall asleep after merely closing his eyes to avoid conversation.

The second emotion was bewilderment.

It was because she saw Kal’s upper body, which had been upright with arms crossed after rising from the bed, now tilting to one side while his head drooped downward.

The third emotion was urgency.

Because this cold obsidian palace was created by shaping rough volcanic obsidian with immense divine power,

She was determined not to let Kal’s tilting body tumble onto the ice-cold obsidian floor.

Therefore, before a fourth emotion could form in her eyes following the urgency, Imperfectio took action.

She carefully extended both arms to hold Kal’s shoulders as he tilted,

And after handling his sturdy body very carefully through her hands,

She placed the back of his head on her thigh.

For some reason, Imperfectio, the demon god’s agent, seemed unwilling to let the man before her touch the obsidian floor.

Perhaps that’s why, after confirming that Kal’s breathing had changed to that of someone asleep with his head resting on her thigh,

“Whew…”

Finally exhaling a sigh of relief,

And ending the kaleidoscopic changes of emotion with the fourth feeling—the wistfulness that had first appeared when she looked at Kal with his eyes closed,

Imperfectio’s gaze remained fixed on Kal Ranos, never losing that wistfulness.

Wistfulness could, in some ways, be synonymous with lingering attachment.

It was impossible to know what caused the demon god’s agent to harbor such feelings.

But one thing was certain:

The longer she gazed at the sleeping Kal before her,

Imperfectio.

No…

The woman who once bore the name Lilliansis Proxian in some unknown place where, unlike the ongoing present here, a certain conclusion had been reached—the wistfulness and lingering attachment in her gaze gradually faded,

And over time, a feeling of relief took its place as a new color.

Unlike her eyes, her lips, which had maintained a straight line all along, now curved into a gentle smile.