## Chapter 243 – Malice (7)
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I stared blankly at the door that slammed shut with a bang.
Ryu couldn’t say a word. In the spot where Veronica had disappeared, only her hammer remained, a lonely sight. Staying here wouldn’t solve anything. He cleared his confused thoughts and went outside, where Claire approached him with a bewildered expression.
“I just saw Veronica-nim crying… I’m not imagining things, am I?”
It wasn’t her imagination. Claire saw it correctly. A Demon Lord of a district, streaming with tears as she stormed out. It was a situation that could easily diminish her dignity, but Claire figured she must have her reasons.
Ryu went to the living room and plopped down on a chair, explaining the whole story to Claire, who sat next to him. Claire’s expression, as she listened, began to contort like someone trying to suppress laughter. He could even see her turning her head away to snicker every now and then.
Claire cleared her throat and put on a composed face again.
“So, that’s what happened.”
If it had ended there, Veronica’s disgrace could have been kept a secret, but just then, Rowe, who had finished her bath, saw the two sitting blankly in the living room and slowly approached, tilting her head.
“What’s wrong…?”
Ryu subtly avoided her gaze. Should he tell Rowe, who could be seen as the cause of all this, the truth? If it was something that would be found out eventually, there was no reason to hide it. Ryu told Rowe everything that had just happened, and Rowe, upon hearing the story, burst into laughter. It had been a while since he’d seen her laugh out loud.
“I see, so that’s what happened.”
Rowe stroked Ryu’s hair as if telling him not to worry, and said gently.
“I’ll explain things to Veronica, so you don’t have to worry too much…”
She seemed to have an idea of where Veronica was, and was about to leave without hearing any further details. Rowe stopped in her tracks, turned her head, and spoke again.
“And you must be tired today, so go inside and get some rest.”
As Rowe said, his body felt quite heavy. Nothing particularly eventful had happened since coming to District 4, but perhaps it was because of the unique heat? Even just standing still made him feel like he had shackles on his body, draining his energy. He was newly impressed by the people of District 4, who wielded hammers and worked with steel in this place without any problems.
Fortunately, apart from the brief commotion with Veronica, nothing else happened that day.
When he woke up in the morning, her aide, Reina, was preparing breakfast. Even so, the meal wasn’t anything grand. Because of the environment of District 4, the table was filled with simple, quick meals that could be eaten before the food spoiled.
After finishing the somewhat meager meal, Reina spoke before anyone else could open their mouths.
“The Demon Lord got up early in the morning and went to the smithy. She looked like she didn’t sleep well, I wonder if something happened?”
Reina, who had no idea what was going on, was genuinely worried about Veronica. This had never happened once during her time serving Veronica. Rowe shook her head as if to say it was okay.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I had a little chat with her yesterday.”
Only then did Reina nod, looking convinced.
“That makes sense.”
After quickly finishing their meal, the three of them headed back to the city with Reina, and felt an atmosphere that was quite different from yesterday. Yesterday, people had greeted Rowe happily, and the crowd was so dense that it was hard to even take a step, but today it was quite relaxed.
As if she knew the question Ryu had in mind, Rowe said in a firm tone.
“If the same thing that happened yesterday happened every day just because I came, there would be no reason for this place to exist…”
After hearing the answer, Ryu turned his head back to look at the city.
“That’s true, but it’s definitely hotter than other places.”
Perhaps because of the scorching heat, it was common for the people of District 4 to wear sleeveless tops that exposed their midriffs, like Veronica, or to go topless. In the past, he would have been at a loss for where to look, staring at the ground when he saw women walking around with their breasts openly jiggling, but now seeing women’s breasts had become as commonplace as eating a meal.
Only a few relaxed people who had finished their work showed interest in Ryu.
“Rowe-nim, hello! I’ve been wondering since yesterday, but who is this?”
In Aser’s case, he would have been wary and blocked anyone who came near Ryu due to the intense jealousy that felt like it would sting if you got too close, but Rowe pulled Ryu closer to her and proudly introduced Ryu to them.
“He’s my son.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the attention of the people who had been focused on their work was drawn to them, and they stared at Ryu as if their eyeballs would pop out.
“Rowe-nim’s son?!”
Rowe replied with a benevolent smile.
“Of course, he’s not my biological son… but I love him even more than that. He’s worth giving everything I have.”
The people of District 4 had known Rowe for quite a long time, but they had never seen her make such an expression. That meant that Ryu’s existence was special to Rowe, and the people recognized that at once. Rowe dismissed them by saying she had business with Veronica, and moved forward again.
As yesterday, they entered the smithy that spewed flames, and Veronica was sitting in the innermost part, waiting for them. She glanced at Rowe, wiped away her sweat, and stood up.
“You’ve arrived. It was noisy outside, what happened?”
“It wasn’t anything special.”
Veronica nodded briefly and started talking about work with a different look in her eyes than yesterday.
“There’s one problem with making the item Rowe-nim mentioned yesterday, it’s a little difficult to get the materials.”
“Really? What’s the problem?”
Veronica scratched her head roughly with a frustrated gesture.
“That bastard, the Outer Spirit, has taken up residence inside the cave. He’s stronger than I thought, so I can’t entrust it to anyone else, and I can’t leave my post, so it’s a problem.”
“Really? Then I’ll get the materials, so you guys stay here and help Veronica.”
As soon as Rowe finished speaking, Claire stood up and replied.
“Rowe-nim, can I come with you too?”
“It doesn’t really matter, but…”
A hint of doubt could be seen in her eyes. Claire glanced at Veronica, who was looking at Ryu with an unfavorable gaze, and said.
“I think it would be more helpful to Ryu-nim if I wasn’t here.”
“I guess my eye for people is still accurate…”
Veronica stopped Rowe with a flustered expression.
“Ah, no! I wouldn’t want Rowe-nim to go to such trouble…”
“It’s okay. Think of it as a reward for your hard work.”
Only then did Veronica change her mind.
“If Rowe-nim says so, I can’t help it.”
“Then I’ll be back soon, so get along well in the meantime…”
Left alone in that place, Veronica let out a deep sigh and looked at Ryu with an unwelcome gaze. When he felt her venomous eyes scanning his body, Veronica grabbed Ryu by the collar again. It was a somewhat familiar situation, and he wasn’t even flustered anymore.
“You… you didn’t tell anyone about what happened yesterday, did you?”
As Veronica raised her arm high, Ryu looked like he was dangling with his feet off the ground. Even so, there was no wavering in his voice.
“I’m sorry. I told Rowe-nim everything.”
In an instant, Veronica’s eyes began to cloud over with a dull energy, like someone who had lost the world. Her hand lost its strength, and Ryu slipped and fell to the floor with a thud. After dusting off the dirt on his clothes and getting up, Veronica was resting her hands on the hot anvil, lost in despair.
“Ah…”
Ryu wondered if he had gone too far. The malice Veronica held towards him stemmed from the various variables that arose from the birth of a Demon Lord and from monopolizing Rowe’s affection. She had no personal grudge against Ryu.
He felt like he had to say something to ease the atmosphere.
“So… how did Veronica-nim meet Rowe-nim?”
Veronica only turned her head to glare at Ryu. Hate could be seen beyond her tearful eyes, and she spoke in a tone that seemed to shoot him down.
“Why do you need to know!”
Having met many Demon Lords with various personalities, Ryu had learned to see people, and there was one thing he had become certain of here. He had thought she was similar to Orca because of the atmosphere of District 4 and the memory of her scolding him before. But the reality was that she was an extremely vulnerable Demon Lord who used a defense mechanism of expressing anger and hiding her true feelings when things didn’t go the way she expected.
Ryu said in a nonchalant tone.
“Then I guess I’ll have to sleep with Rowe-nim tonight and ask her.”
He put extra emphasis on the words “sleep with,” and as soon as he finished speaking, Veronica widened her eyes and grabbed Ryu’s wrist.
“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you, so stop going to Rowe-nim…”
Veronica made a resentful expression and gave Ryu a chair, then began to retrace her memories.
