~Interlude~
[Nightmare Devil]
*
Helena Dali stood in the darkness.
A man was prostrating in front of her, yet her eyes wasn’t fixed on him but on the small silver coins she had received from the slave trader.
“Please let me go… please… I’m begging you…”
“5…6…7… What, is this all? But he’s robust and healthy!” she spat in anger, but the robed man remained silent, his face downturned. Meanwhile, the prostrating man continued begging with tears streaming down his face.
“I didn’t come to the imperial capital to end up like this. I just wanted to work at the guild to feed my wife and children.”
“…What was that?” Helena abruptly stomped on the man’s head and glared at him, “Were you trying to insult me? For still being unmarried? Hey, answer me.”
“Ugh… I-I didn’t mean—”
Disgust colored Helena’s voice as she pressed her heel into his head. “I never liked you from the moment you entered the guild. You’re just a poor country bumpkin—what gave you the nerve to boast about your kids and wives and rub it on everyone’s faces? I really, really hate you. Ah, hey, we’re not done here! Hey, wait!”
As the slave trader attempted to leave, Helena seized his shoulder and forcefully turned him around, ripping off his hood
Revealed underneath was the frighteningly handsome face of a boy.
*
“E-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”
“Helena… Helena! Are you okay?”
“Haa… haa… haa… it was just a dream…?”
In a certain house in the imperial capital, Helena woke up with a scream. Next to her, her husband Sandoval looked at her worriedly.
“Looks like you had quite a terrible nightmare. Would you like some tea to calm down?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The bedsheets were drenched with her sweat. It had been a really bad nightmare, but she couldn’t seem to recall its details.
Helena rose from bed and washed her face at the sink. Meanwhile, Sandoval boiled a pot of water, poured tea into a cup, and handed it to her.
“Ah… This is soothing. Thank you.”
After taking a sip of the tea, Helena leaned over to give Sandoval a grateful kiss on the cheek, reveling in his warmth. Her life once felt so dull, but then he came and filled it with colors.
Just three short years ago, she couldn’t have imagined such happiness. Looking back, she realized she might have always been trying to fill a void in her heart.
“……”
“What’s wrong, Helena?”
“…Hehe, just wondering if it’s really okay for me to be this happy.”
“Haha, why not? You deserve every bit of it.”
Sandoval sat next to Helena, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“Sure, we both did a lot of bad things in the past. But we’ve changed our ways and are living honestly now. There’s no need to dwell too much on the past.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.” Helena rested her head on her husband’s shoulder. It was as he said, the present was more important than the past. Living with honesty and respectability was what mattered most to her now.
No one had the right to ruin it.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Who could that be? It’s still so early,” muttered Sandoval.
“I’ll get it.”
“No, it’s okay, I’ll get it.”
“Nuh-uh, I will. Or maybe you don’t want me being seen without makeup?” Helena winked playfully.
“What? Even without makeup, you’d turn heads.”
“Hehe, thank you.” Helena kissed Sandoval again.
Knock, knock, knock.
There’s the knock again.
“Yes, yes, coming~!”
Helena responded cheerfully and opened the door.
“……!”
She finally remembered it.
It was this face.
This young, frighteningly handsome face.
It was the face from her nightmare.
The face of the devil.
The face of… Hazen Heim.
“I’m home, Foster Mother.”
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