## Chapter 38 – Hilda. Friends?
Petals scattered from the bouquet that fell from Number 25’s hand.
The saliva he held in his mouth was sweeter than any alcohol he had ever tasted.
If he could, he wanted to savor this taste all day long.
But now it was time to return to reality.
Number 25 stared at Hilda, who had stolen a kiss from him, with a bewildered expression. He didn’t know where to start.
“Hil…da?”
Hilda snapped back to her senses when she heard her name uttered in Number 25’s trembling voice. Her eyes widened, and she stepped back.
The warmth that still lingered on her lips told her that it wasn’t a dream.
And that was the problem.
‘What have I done?’
He’s the Demon Lord’s man. Or maybe the head maid’s.
She had been swept away by the moment and forcibly stolen a kiss from a man she couldn’t dare to covet.
Wasn’t this no different from the women who had violated Number 25?
Hilda buried her face between her knees and regretted her actions.
If Number 25 told Aser, it wouldn’t end with just a scolding.
In the worst-case scenario…
She didn’t even want to think about it.
But Number 25 didn’t scold Hilda, who was consumed by guilt and remorse. Instead, he placed his hand on her back and awkwardly stroked it. The gesture seemed to say that it was okay, even for a sinful woman like her, and Hilda couldn’t bring herself to look up.
Hilda abruptly raised her head and bowed deeply to Number 25, belatedly offering an apology.
“S-Sorry! I must have gone crazy for a moment!”
She wanted to escape this place. She couldn’t bear to face Number 25. Hilda got up from the bench and tried to run straight into the building.
However, Number 25 grabbed Hilda’s wrist, shaking his head as if to say no.
“I’m okay.”
Before she knew it, Number 25 was speaking informally again.
Hilda froze in place and asked back.
“Okay?”
Number 25 picked up the bouquet that had fallen on the ground, dusted it off, and opened his mouth.
“Yeah. I was a little surprised, but if it’s Hilda, this much is okay.”
Her heart, which had finally begun to calm down, started racing again.
What did “okay” even mean? Did it mean she could do more? Or did it mean that he had been so thoroughly used by other women that a kiss was nothing to him? Were all men like that?
All sorts of thoughts swirled around in Hilda’s head.
Why was he leaving room for her with words that made it seem like they could develop into something more than friends? Did he really want something more?
Hilda didn’t act rashly like before, but cautiously asked a question.
“What do you mean, ‘if it’s you, it’s okay’?”
The words had already left her lips like an arrow. Hilda waited for Number 25’s answer, trying to calm her frantically beating heart. But Number 25 tilted his head with an innocent expression.
“I mean it literally… Can’t friends do this much for each other?”
The atmosphere, which had been heating up, instantly cooled down. The pounding of her heart gradually slowed.
Number 25, who had lived as a slave, didn’t have proper knowledge. So, he had come to the absurd conclusion that he wanted to do anything for a close friend.
Hilda was the only one agonizing over it, mistaking his kindness for the budding feelings of a romantic relationship.
She felt pathetic for getting excited and thinking it was a good opportunity, even for a moment. Hilda scratched her head roughly, then looked at the moon and took a long breath.
She sat back down next to him. She felt like there was an invisible distance, a distance that only applied to Hilda.
Number 25’s lips, glistening with her saliva, kept catching her eye, making it hard to concentrate, but there was something she had to tell the innocent Number 25.
Hilda couldn’t be Number 25’s only friend forever.
The longer he stayed in the castle, the more relationships Number 25 would form.
“Friends can do this much for each other”—didn’t that mean that if he made other friends, he might kiss them too, or even give them his body? If they knew that, even the women who only thought of Number 25 as a friend would inevitably start looking at him with sexual intentions.
Hilda couldn’t stand the thought of the lips that had taken her first kiss being used so carelessly.
“I shouldn’t be saying this after kissing you first, but you need to value your body more. You’re a guy, right? You should only do things like that with someone you like.”
Number 25 smiled brightly at Hilda’s words.
“Then it’s okay. I like Hilda too.”
It was impossible to maintain her composure when he said things that could be misunderstood while smiling like that.
Hilda blushed and looked down. She pouted, kicking aimlessly at a small stone with her foot.
“I-I mean, you shouldn’t say things like that so carelessly…”
Number 25 didn’t understand Hilda’s reaction. Number 25 wiped the smile off his face and glanced at Hilda’s slender profile with a sullen expression.
“Do you not like me, Hilda?”
Startled by Number 25’s direct question, she stammered more than usual as she desperately replied.
“N-No! If you ask me if I like you or not, of course I like you… I wouldn’t do something like that with someone I didn’t like in the first place.”
“Then isn’t that enough? We’re doing it because we like each other. It’s different from those other people.”
His sense of morality was different from that of ordinary people. Who on earth had made this innocent man like this?
If she continued this conversation, she really felt like she would cross the line. There was a limit to how long she could maintain her reason. Hilda got up from her seat before she committed the worst accident of ravishing Number 25 and slapped herself hard on the cheek.
A sharp “smack!” echoed in the yard. A red handprint was clearly visible on Hilda’s face.
Number 25 couldn’t understand why Hilda was suddenly harming herself. Hilda, who had barely regained her senses through the external pain, reached out her hand to Number 25.
“Okay, that’s enough. You seem to be doing better now that you’re talking. I’ll take you to your room, so let’s go.”
Number 25 took Hilda’s hand and stood up from the bench.
The chilly night air had become quite warm with the arrival of spring.
Her heart, which had been burning with worries, had calmed down.
Number 25, who had arrived at his room holding Hilda’s hand, let go of her hand and offered his thanks.
“Thank you for today.”
It was a word with many meanings. Hilda nodded lightly.
“Yeah…”
Hilda blankly watched Number 25 wave his hand and close the door.
Not long after Number 25 went inside, soft breaths escaped from outside the door. However, Hilda couldn’t leave the front of that door for a while.
●
Charlotte went to Number 25’s room from the morning and knocked on the door.
Like Aser, Charlotte was also affected by the sudden appearance of Orca. She took half a day to calm her disturbed mind. She hadn’t been able to see Number 25 during that time, so she felt a void in her heart.
Number 25 quickly came out when he heard the knocking. Charlotte hugged him instead of greeting him.
A small warmth that started in her chest spread throughout her body. Now, there was only one person who could soothe her body. Charlotte tightened her arms around Number 25 as if she didn’t want to let him go again.
Number 25 didn’t refuse and entrusted himself to her embrace.
After about a minute of hugging in silence, Number 25’s face, which had fallen from Charlotte’s arms, was different from usual. Charlotte was startled and knelt down to examine Number 25’s face closely.
“What’s wrong with your face? Did something happen?”
She stroked Number 25’s gaunt cheeks, which had become thinner in the time she hadn’t seen him.
“Ah, no…”
Charlotte, who was quick to notice things, didn’t believe those words. But Number 25 had a look on his face that he didn’t want to talk about, and she didn’t want to hurt him by trying to force him to tell her, so she decided to pretend to be fooled for once.
Even Charlotte couldn’t imagine that a violation would occur in a castle where the Demon Lord was present.
“Is that so? You have to tell me right away if anything happens.”
Number 25’s heart ached as if he was being stabbed by a dagger at Charlotte’s smile.
Although he had belatedly received help from Hilda, it didn’t erase the fact that he had been gang-raped. What would Charlotte’s reaction be if she knew that he had been through something like that in the bathroom? She would definitely be sad, and that sadness would turn into anger towards the perpetrators, eventually leading her to kill them.
Was his body worth enough to determine the lives of others? Number 25 didn’t want to create another victim, so he could only gloss over it with a smile.
“Yes, I will definitely do that.”
At that moment, Aser walked towards the direction where Number 25 was. Aser stopped when he saw Number 25 and Charlotte together.
“What’s this? Why are you two together from the morning?”
Charlotte calmly replied to Aser’s suspicion.
“Is there a problem? I was originally in charge of Number 25’s care, wasn’t I?”
It was a tone that made Aser seem like someone who was having strange fantasies.
Aser drew out his words and twisted his lips.
“That’s… right. You’re right.”
Yes, it was because he had been temporarily sensitive because of Orca. Charlotte was originally guiding Number 25, so it was common for them to be together from the morning. Aser concluded that and looked at Number 25 and Charlotte with a changed gaze.
Yes, there was the head maid and a slave in that spot. It was definitely not the image of a man and woman whispering love to each other.
Above all, Charlotte, who knew the Demon Lord’s inner thoughts the best, would never do something like stealing Number 25 from him without his knowledge.
“Did you sleep well?”
Number 25 approached Aser and greeted him with a bright voice to smooth over the somewhat stiff atmosphere.
Aser’s mood quickly improved at Number 25’s greeting, and he stroked his head and smiled slightly.
“Did you sleep well too?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, that’s a relief. I’m sorry about yesterday. Were you scared because of Orca?”
“It was okay because the Demon Lord was by my side.”
How could he say each and every word so beautifully? If there weren’t so many eyes watching, he wanted to hug him tightly all day long.
While Aser was having happy fantasies, Charlotte spoke.
“Demon Lord, didn’t you come here because you had something to say to Number 25?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“To me?”
What could it be that Aser, who usually went straight to the dining hall without stopping anywhere else except the bathroom in the morning, had come all the way to his room? Number 25 looked up at Aser with eyes mixed with anticipation and worry.
“We’re going to District 6 soon, so prepare for it in advance from now on.”
