Slave of the Demon King’s Castle 134

## Chapter 134 – Jane. The Perfect Subject

Aser, mirroring her anxious heart, fidgeted with the teacup in front of her and asked Jane,

“So? What’s the method?”

The information she could only obtain after parting with her most precious possession was incomparable to anything else and of utmost importance. She wanted Jane’s lips to open as soon as possible, but instead of answering, Jane sipped her coffee and gazed out the window in silence for a moment.

Aser’s anxiety grew with each passing moment.

Just as her patience was about to reach its limit, Jane opened her mouth with a faint smile.

“Method? Aser, you didn’t think I’d tell you right away, did you? When did you become so soft? Is it because of that boy by your side?”

“What are you…!”

Aser slammed the table again and stood up from her seat at Jane’s words that she couldn’t give her the information right away.

The attention of the people around her was drawn to her because she raised her voice, but she didn’t care. Her gaze was fixed solely on Jane.

Jane scanned Aser, who looked like she would run wild at any moment if she didn’t calm down, and then spoke again as if to appease her.

“Calm down a little. I didn’t say I wouldn’t tell you, did I? I haven’t achieved what I want yet. Can I be sure that you won’t take that child and run away after only hearing the information?”

“What do you take me for…!”

“Yes, I know you’re not that kind of person. But you know what? People in love sometimes do things that are hard to understand.”

Aser looked at Jane, who maintained a consistently calm attitude, and, as if having calmed herself, sighed deeply and sat back down.

She also didn’t want to worry Number 25, who was watching her with concern. Aser took Number 25’s hand, caressed his palm, and spoke to Jane.

“Okay, if that’s what you want, let’s start right away. I want to finish it as soon as possible.”

Having heard Aser’s confirmation, Jane smiled and stood up from her seat.

“Good idea.”

Jane left the money for the coffee on the table and headed outside without looking back.

Jane didn’t glance anywhere else and returned to her castle, from which she had just come. Her steps were lighter than before.

Her slightly quickened pace gave the illusion that she was flying.

The residents, who had only ever seen Jane looking tired, were amazed by her changed appearance. Everyone who saw Jane walking down the street widened their eyes and opened their mouths in shock.

Without exchanging a word, the three headed to the castle in a subdued atmosphere and stopped in front of the main gate.

Before Aser could feel any doubt, she opened her mouth directly.

“Let me just say one thing in advance. Don’t interfere while I’m working.”

She wouldn’t have thought of doing that even if she hadn’t said it. There probably wasn’t anyone daring enough to bother her while she was working.

Jane’s eccentric personality wasn’t limited to the Demon Kings or District 3; it was something everyone who had even a little interest in her knew.

Aser nodded and turned her gaze back to the main gate.

Although it was called the Demon King’s Castle for convenience because it was the space where the Demon King resided, Jane’s residence, which was closer to the form of a mansion than a castle, had a beautiful appearance that gave the illusion of being a work of art, but the garden was separate. Looking at the cracked statues here and there, the statues scattered around in a half-destroyed state, the paint smeared on the walls, and the torn drawing paper, it looked like ruins where no one had lived for years.

However, since it was a familiar sight now, she didn’t bother to question it. Aser entered the mansion and naturally headed to Jane’s room, but Jane shook her head from side to side as if that wasn’t the place.

Aser thought she would naturally head to her room, but Jane gestured for her to follow and stood silently at the end of the hallway, staring only at the floor. Aser tilted her head in doubt and asked,

“What are you doing? Weren’t we going to your room?”

“No, my room is just a space for drawing whatever comes to mind from time to time. If I’m going to do a proper job, I need a place that’s suitable for it, don’t I?”

Jane pressed her finger on a wallpaper with a distinctly different color, and with a loud rumble, the wall began to rotate.

“I never thought the day would come when I’d use this place again.”

The side of Jane’s face as she opened her mouth like that was filled with the same innocence as a child about to open a new toy.

As they headed underground on a spiral staircase, a suffocating dust covered their noses.

Number 25 stuck close to Aser’s side, carefully taking steps in case he fell, and when they finally reached their destination, Jane snapped her fingers, making a cheerful sound.

At the same time, the atelier, which suddenly lit up, was filled with sculptures and paintings that Jane had worked on to her satisfaction.

Number 25, overwhelmed by the breathtaking sight, only turned his head back and forth like a broken doll.

“You don’t have to be so nervous.”

Number 25 wasn’t the only one who was nervous. Aser was also mesmerized by Jane’s atelier, which she was visiting for the first time, and her heart was beating faster than usual when she thought that Number 25 would be subjected to something unknown here from now on.

Jane noticed him, put her hand on Aser’s shoulder, and said in a soft voice,

“I won’t do anything weird. You can watch from the side if you don’t believe me, okay?”

Of course, that’s what she was going to do, and Aser leaned against one wall, crossed her arms, and watched Jane. Jane took off her gown, hung it on the wall, and then spoke to Number 25 this time.

“Stand over there.”

What Jane pointed to was a circular platform.

Number 25 hesitated, stepped onto it, and looked around, giving Aser a faint smile as if to tell her not to worry.

Number 25 took a deep breath and looked at Jane, opening his mouth.

“What do I do now?”

Jane replied indifferently.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and take it all off.”

The first to react to the indifferent words that came out of Jane’s mouth was not Number 25 himself, but Aser, who was standing next to him. Her face, which had already turned red, shot forward like an arrow.

“What?! Absolutely not!”

Jane sighed as if she didn’t understand Aser’s violent reaction.

“Why? What’s wrong? You agreed to it, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t hear anything about taking off clothes. I just said I’d be a model, right?”

She had been having a headache because there were so many people targeting Number 25 recently, but she didn’t know that Jane would make such a request.

Seeing Aser, who showed no signs of backing down, Jane put her hands on her hips, looked at the ground, and sighed again.

And then, the situation changes in an instant.

Bang!

Jane grabbed Aser’s shoulders and pushed her against the wall.

Aser, who couldn’t even react properly because it happened so suddenly, blankly stared at Jane’s face.

The strength, which was hard to believe came from Jane’s thin arms, who was taller than Aser but had a slender build, completely bound Aser and fixed her to the wall.

Aser couldn’t understand the situation in her head, even if she tried to move a finger.

Was the power that Jane possessed this strong?

Perhaps more than Orca, who only had strength.

Aser looked straight into Jane’s eyes with a bewildered look.

Her eyes had already gone beyond the realm of normal people.

“We already promised, didn’t we? Don’t even think about going back on your word now. Do you know how I feel? The feeling of having the material I’ve been chasing for my whole life right in front of me!? That guy is the subject I’ve been wanting so badly. He’s perfect, isn’t he? Those horns, that line, that expression, those features. Everything contains the ideal I’ve been wanting!”

Fanatical obsession, or perhaps something beyond that.

What was lingering in Jane’s faded gray eyes wasn’t an emotion that could simply be dismissed as madness.

Human madness, the origin of humanity, something that seemed to stimulate somewhere, perhaps something transcendent that went beyond all of that.

Aser couldn’t say anything and only swallowed her breath at the sight of her eyes, which seemed to have found her ideal.

Is the woman in front of her really the friend she knew? No, where did it go wrong? Bringing Number 25 here? Asking Jane for help? Or perhaps from the moment Low took Number 25 away?

Her head was confused.

Regardless of Aser’s confusion, Jane, as if she had already finished preparing herself, tapped her on the shoulder and took a step back, holding a carving knife in her hand and speaking in a calm voice different from just now.

“Watch quietly. The work that blooms from my hands.”

Having finished speaking, Jane grabbed the end of the cloth covering the object towering in the center of the atelier and pulled it down.