CH 9.1

It was already well past 4 PM when I arrived at the mansion. I sent out a maid, who was making a fuss, asking where I’d been, to hurriedly arranged my luggage.

‘It’s good that I don’t have to shut up the attendants.’

It was good that I didn’t have to worry about being caught by Kid despite the attendants’s noisiness, as they would always leave work when the sun went down.

Even if I told Seniel, it wouldn’t hurt me as long as Kid didn’t hear it.

I rummaged through the shopping bag that was roughly placed on the bed. The protective gear in the form of a vest was at the top, so I naturally picked it up first.

‘Is it better to wear it from now on?’

In the novel, Kid doesn’t come out unless he has something to do because he hates the daytime. But after some time, it might be better for me if he often appeared during the day rather than at night.

‘Of course, only after I’ve built a high affinity with the female lead.’

Still, it might be better to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.

‘Why didn’t Kid come out often during the day?’

I looked closely at the vest for torn seams and recalled the character of Kid.

‘Oh, I remembered.’

The reason he didn’t come out during the day could be reduced to two things. First, he hated to see people smiling during the day. Second, there were too many eyes. Because then people would quickly notice Kid’s suspicious behavior.

The probability that the Kid would come out during the day was extremely small, but it was too early to be relieved.

‘Because Kid could control his body at any time compared to Seniel, who had a weak will.’

Maybe it was because he had a stronger desire for his body than Seniel, but Kid could appear whenever he wanted.

‘The fact that I can face Kid while talking with Seniel…’

I knew that the chances of that happening were extremely slim, but just thinking about it gave me goosebumps.

‘Let’s wear it from now on just in case.’

I took off my clothes and put on the vest inside.

From now on, I would only wear clothes that I could wear without the help of a maid. It didn’t matter much if the maid caught me wearing protective gear, but I thought they’d bother me in many ways because they were worried about why I was wearing protective gear.

‘I don’t want to think about troublesome things other than Kid.’

I had to save my physical and mental strength as much as possible.

I put the electric shocker—or, to be precise, the holy power shocker—under my fluffy pillow and then pulled it out again.

‘They might throw it away while cleaning.’

I decided to put it on my desk for now and would move it under my pillow right before I went to sleep.

‘I hope Kid won’t go through my bedroom so thoroughly.’

Putting the holy power shock device in the desk drawer didn’t feel safe. In the original story, I hadn’t seen Kid rummaging through Vivi’s room, but he didn’t seem like someone who wouldn’t do that, so I couldn’t be relieved.

‘Still, it would be better to get caught than not have any. At least I can hold on to something and make a fight.’

Finally, I squatted by the bed to hide the fake ID. I picked up the glue I bought from the store and put my hand under the bed. Then I affixed the ID card to the bottom of the bed.

I bowed my head and looked under the bed. If one didn’t deliberately look at the bottom, there seemed to be nothing from the surface.

‘This is perfect.’

I brushed off my hands, thinking I would collect evidence of Kid’s murder as soon as I woke up tomorrow.

Exhausted, I sat down on the ground.

‘How can I survive tonight?’

In preparation for Kid’s arrival at night, I put together lines in my head to explain what kind of affection behavior I’d had with Seniel. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to speak when I saw Kid, so I had to memorize the lines in advance.

‘But what if he asks for evidence?’

There was no evidence of seducing people, but he was the kind of person who’d ask for evidence even for such a thing.

I got up from my seat with my hands on the floor.

There were pretty flowers in the flower bed, but I should pick one and bring it to Seniel.

***

While Vivi was preparing for the war, Seseniel also arrived home from work at the temple. The time was already 6 PM. He wiped his face dry with a tired look.

[I’ll be honest with you. I said nothing happened yesterday, but it almost happened. I don’t care who you kill. I just want to live in peace.]

He couldn’t concentrate on work all day.

[Don’t do anything and stay still.]

She immediately told me not to do anything and that I shouldn’t get away from her. She was confident, as if she knew everything.

‘Do I really just have to stay still…?’

It was nonsense. But he couldn’t help but follow it.

‘Maybe she’s Kid’s accomplice.’

There was no way she’d tell him to stay still unless she was an accomplice.

‘… Even if she’s an accomplice, what can I do?’

Seniel was well aware of his incompetence. If he had the patience, he would try to overcome this situation, but he didn’t even have the strength to fight Kid because he was so tired of the old fight.

Thinking of Vivi, he even thought—

‘It’d be better if she’s an accomplice. At least she won’t be killed by Kid.’

He no longer wanted to see the people around him die.

What’s even worse was that sometimes Kid felt the intense euphoria of killing, and there were times when Seniel felt the joy. He didn’t want to feel that kind of terrible pleasure, even if the victims had been tormenting Seniel for a long time.

He held his feeble hopes as he headed straight to the dining room to keep his promise to her.

‘Maybe she’ll tell the truth over dinner.’

By the way, did I ever tell her when I got off work?

Thinking of her waiting for him, he realized he’d never promised her when to have dinner. Belatedly, he was worried that she might have been waiting for him in the dining room.

Seniel walked briskly into the dining room that had not been used in over a decade.

Under the blaring chandeliers, food from land, sea, and air glistened on the table. It had not been long since they were served, so the steam was still rising. Although the table had not been used for several years, it was still as clean as new as it had been carefully maintained.

A glass of the same price as a commoner’s monthly salary was tilted along her hand. As she drank water, their eyes met.

The innocent, mysterious bright red-eyed woman swallowed the water at once and smiled belatedly. Her hair was tied up in a simple ponytail, swaying as she waved her hand. She greeted him, who couldn’t even say hello, first. “You’re here? Come to think of it. You didn’t say exactly when we would eat.”

“Since when have you been waiting?”

“I don’t know. It’s been a while. Do you always leave work at this hour?”

“… Yes.”

“You must be hungry. Have a seat.”

Seniel looked at Vivi and sat down. It’d been a while since he had a meal with someone in the dining room like this. After casually calculating how long it had been since he had talked about everyday things leisurely, he soon quit. It was all useless.