## Chapter 150 – Jane. Confession
Jane grabbed Number 25’s wrist and headed into a back alley.
The back alley, untouched by the eyes of artists, didn’t even have a single graffiti. One might feel curious about the situation, which was the complete opposite of other cities, but there was no time to afford such leisure now. Jane lightly pushed Number 25 against the wall, placed her palm next to him, and looked down at him.
Jane’s green hair, dangling down and tickling Number 25’s face, exuded a strange fragrance and pheromones. Her desire, as if she would pounce on Number 25 at any moment, was spreading throughout the back alley.
“I don’t have experience, but I know it from what I’ve heard.”
Awkward silence filled the air as she finished her sentence with difficulty. Number 25 couldn’t find a suitable response either, and just kept his gaze towards the ground. Then, Jane swallowed once and spoke again.
“The end of a date is when a man and woman share love… something like that.”
Her words trailed off, her cheeks flushed red, and she couldn’t make eye contact properly.
Jane was showing a completely different side of herself than before. She, who had been completely self-centered and unpredictable, was now wearing the face of a pure girl. Number 25 wasn’t uncomfortable with her, but it was difficult to deal with her in this different way.
At this rate, he would be taken by Jane, regardless of his plans.
The atmosphere had a power stronger than individual will. It manipulated the situation at will, creating a situation that an individual could not escape. Number 25 was in exactly that situation.
Jane’s hand came up to Number 25’s cheek and began to caress his cheek as if handling something precious. He never dreamed that she, who would curse harshly and wouldn’t hesitate to do terrible things when her work didn’t go her way, would show such a touch.
Each time the affectionate touch, comparable to Aserna, Charlotte, and Row, brushed against his skin, his body helplessly reacted.
But he must never let things proceed this way. Now he had the right to choose a woman according to his own will. If he gave his body easily just because someone was nice to him, wouldn’t he be no different from the common prostitutes in District 6?
While Number 25 was thinking, Jane had already brought her face close and was about to cover his lips. He felt like his mind would melt from the sweet fragrance, but Number 25 desperately maintained his reason. Only his feelings for Aser were the only pillar supporting Number 25’s emotions right now.
“Wait a minute!”
Number 25 pushed Jane’s lips away with his finger and desperately raised his voice.
Jane tilted her head with a flushed face.
“Why? Didn’t you expect this to some extent when you came this far?”
She wasn’t wrong.
He had expected it, but that was only in the worst-case scenario. It wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t do anything about it yet.
“That’s true, but it’s too early.”
It was the most resistance Number 25 could offer, but it seemed cute to Jane. She smirked and smiled, then stroked his head as if it was okay.
“Ah, are you perhaps embarrassed?”
“That’s not the problem.”
After finishing his words, Number 25 bit his lip and clenched his fist tightly. He would no longer be swayed by her pace. The only way to overcome this situation was for Number 25 to harden his heart.
“There’s something I’ve wanted to say since earlier.”
Only then did Jane move slightly away from Number 25, cross her arms, and watch him.
“What is it?”
Number 25 straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and looked straight into Jane’s eyes. Unlike before, her eyes, which had calmed down to some extent, told him that she was in a state where conversation was possible. If not now, there would be no chance. He had to tell her everything he was feeling now.
In this situation, there was only one thing to say, and Number 25 went straight to the point.
“Why did you fall for me in the first place?”
“Why did I fall for you?”
Jane repeated Number 25’s question and wore a thoughtful expression for a moment.
“Well? I just suddenly started liking you at some point. Is that strange?”
It wasn’t strange. Love could grow greatly from a single trivial trigger and make you think only of that person. Number 25 had experienced that feeling enough. But there was no justification. All Number 25 had done with Jane so far was walk around the city, talk about the past, and help her with her work. He hadn’t done anything that could spark love between a man and a woman.
“It’s strange. We don’t even know each other well yet, do we?”
Jane retorted with a playful smile.
“I think we can get to know each other well enough on the bed?”
He was sick and tired of this kind of joke now. No, he didn’t know how much of it was her true feelings. Did she really like him? Weren’t all her feelings derived from sexual desire? Maybe she was embarrassed that she had no experience with men at her age, afraid that the fact that the Demon King was a virgin would be revealed, so she was trying to grab onto the easy target, him, and sleep with him once? Once suspicion spread, it even led to such thoughts. The uncontrollably growing suspicion also affected Number 25’s words and actions.
Number 25 avoided eye contact and spoke in a thorny, sharp tone.
“The feelings you have for me, are they not the feelings you have for a lover, but rather the feelings you have for an easy-to-handle artistic subject? Everything from A to Z? We don’t call that love. We just call it possessiveness.”
Jane, who hadn’t expected Number 25’s words, barely answered after a moment of silence, her voice trembling.
“…What?”
Once empowered, words focused only on hurting the other person, inflating their size regardless of the speaker’s will.
“It’s strange. You’ve only seen me a few times, but you like me so much that you’re willing to cut off your relationship with your friends? It’s been like this from the beginning. I’m simply going to be used for your desires, noona, no, Demon King.”
Number 25 lowered his gaze as if he was fed up. There were definitely good memories of being with Jane, but that was only when he was helpful as part of her work. If she didn’t like something even a little bit, she would use strange magic to arbitrarily restrain him, say absurd things, and ultimately make remarks that would be enough to trouble the relationship between Aser and Number 25.
Just remembering that fact made the time he was spending with Jane feel endlessly unpleasant. Even at this moment, Aser was probably waiting anxiously.
Number 25 steeled his heart and was about to say something again, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it when he saw Jane’s appearance. Anyone other than Number 25 would have shown the same reaction.
Jane, who had moved away from Number 25 at some point and was leaning against the opposite wall, didn’t seem to have any intention of wiping away the tears that had begun to flow. Number 25 swallowed as he saw the tears dripping and wetting the floor, and thought back to what he had said.
No matter how much he thought about it, he had never said anything wrong. He had only said the right things about what he had suffered so far, but he didn’t know what to do when she cried like that. They say a woman’s tears are a weapon, but he didn’t know he would see it so soon.
Jane didn’t move at all, her gaze only directed downwards, and then she carefully opened her mouth.
“Well, it would be strange.”
“Ah, no, it’s not strange…”
Number 25, who had been swept up by Jane again, completely forgot what he had just said and began to focus on comforting her.
He never knew that the Demon King of a district would shed tears so easily.
“I’m strange myself, so what would it be like if other people saw me? It would be endlessly strange.”
Jane wiped away the tears that had begun to flow and spoke in a voice that was calmer than before.
“I’ll be honest. I don’t even know what this feeling is. I just have fun when I’m with you, and I don’t want to be apart. I want this time to continue forever. It’s different from when I liked those people in the past, but it’s also somewhat similar.”
She looked straight at Number 25’s face with eyes that were red from crying.
When she opened her mouth next, she had a faint smile.
“Clumsy, right?”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, me. Unlike what you see, I’m quite clumsy. Does this sound a bit arrogant if I say this?”
He didn’t know what she was suddenly talking about, but he decided to just go along with it for now.
“I’m seen as perfect on the outside by other people, but in reality, I’m a bit of a klutz. If it weren’t for the maid who keeps helping me, I would make mistakes several times a day, and I don’t even eat properly. I pursue perfection when it comes to my work, but I often forget my tools or forget the inspiration I had. I said that I try to suppress my feelings as much as possible because I hate seeing people suffer from my abilities, but things like what happened earlier still happen from time to time. I’m just a common woman you can see anywhere, wearing a crown that doesn’t suit me, just decorating the outside.”
Number 25 didn’t say anything and listened carefully to everything Jane said in a calm voice.
“I’m clumsy with love too. I’m clumsy with life too. All I can do is draw and sculpt, but even then, I don’t even know what I truly want to create. I’m a complete idiot.”
At some point, Jane came up to Number 25 and gently held his hand.
“But you know what? Even this idiot isn’t so stupid that she can’t even grasp her own feelings properly.”
Immediately after finishing her words, Jane moved Number 25’s hand to near her chest.
The throbbing of her heart felt beyond her petite chest represented the feelings Jane was feeling.
“I like you. This is the answer I’ve come to.”
