## Chapter 255 – Malice (18)
“Ugh… It’s getting cold. Let’s go inside.”
Veronica stood up first, dusting off her clothes. She stared at Ryu, then averted her gaze and offered him her hand. Her ears were bright red.
“Instead of just staring, why don’t you grab something?”
Ryu smiled faintly, took her hand, and stood up. She no longer felt difficult or like an evil person. It was a familiar feeling, like an older sister from the neighborhood. Was it because he had heard Veronica’s inner thoughts and understood her a little better?
Back in the cabin, Veronica threw herself onto the plush bed, sprawled out, and took a deep breath. Her face was free of worry, and she seemed to be genuinely enjoying the moment.
“You told me to sleep with you, but how can I when you’re taking up the whole bed?”
Veronica smiled playfully, clearing a space on one side of the bed. She teased Ryu with a mischievous tone she would never have used before.
“What, you wanted to sleep with me that badly? I guess I have no choice.”
Ryu chuckled in response, lay down next to her, and pulled up the blanket. The blanket, freshly taken out, had a gentle scent of sunshine. If this was a space created by Lowe, had she been managing it all alone? Ryu pondered for a moment and then quietly closed his eyes.
He thought he would fall asleep quickly, but Veronica kept tossing and turning, making it difficult. Ryu gently asked Veronica, who couldn’t stay still for a moment, as if her feet were on fire,
“Is something wrong?”
Veronica was startled by Ryu’s question and quickly blurted out,
“What? Do you think I’m nervous because there’s a man next to me?!”
“No one said anything like that.”
He could see her face reddening in the dim candlelight.
It was late, and she should have fallen asleep quickly after being out all day, but she had never been in bed with a man, back to back, so her heart was beating strangely fast. Veronica was taken aback, wondering if she had such a vulnerable side.
Veronica turned her back and said in a seemingly angry voice,
“I can’t sleep because you keep talking! Just go to sleep!”
Of course, he knew from the time they had spent together that there was no real anger in her words. Veronica spoke harshly, but she was still restless in bed, unable to fall asleep, as if tension still gripped her.
At this rate, neither of them would be able to sleep. Eventually, she spoke again.
“Haa… I can’t sleep. I can’t even remember the last time I rested like this.”
Unable to sleep either, Ryu decided to keep her company for a while. Ryu asked about Veronica’s unusually obsessive attitude toward work.
“Why do you work so desperately?”
Veronica scoffed at Ryu’s question.
“Why? What reason is there not to work desperately? If a person doesn’t pour passion into proving their worth, then the time they don’t spend doing that just flows by meaninglessly.”
“Oh…”
“‘Oh’ what… I just feel like my value is fading if I don’t do this. It’s not that grand.”
“Your value wouldn’t fade just because you don’t work for a while. Other people don’t think that way either.”
“Other people’s thoughts? No, that’s not important. I just want to prove it to myself. That I’ve grown this much, that I can stand on my own two feet without anyone’s help.”
Veronica’s eyes looked somewhat bitter as she said that.
“Now it’s my turn to ask.”
Veronica opened her mouth with a sharp look, as if nothing had happened.
“What exactly are you? I think I heard it roughly, but I’ve forgotten it all. Tell me in detail from the beginning.”
“It would take too long to tell you everything.”
“So what? We’re trapped here, so all we have is time, right?”
Ryu raised the corners of his mouth in a faint smile.
“That’s true.”
He took a deep breath and told her everything, from meeting Acer in a small prison where he didn’t even know what hope was, to the present… without leaving anything out.
Veronica lay in bed, looking into Ryu’s eyes and listening to his story. She showed various reactions each time she heard about his life, so Ryu enjoyed talking so much that he forgot about the time.
When she heard about his first meeting with Acer and what happened with her, she reacted with surprise, saying, “Really…? Acer showed that side of herself?”
When she heard about what happened with Orca, she cursed angrily, as if it were her own business.
“What?! That crazy bitch, I knew she’d do something like that someday. I want to stomp her to death if I ever see her again.”
He had talked to all the Demon Lords, but he felt relieved to see Orca not getting a single good word from them.
Furthermore, when she heard about how he listened to Jane’s concerns in District 3, solved them, and developed a strange relationship, she blushed and covered her mouth.
“Are you kidding? That weirdo showed that side of himself in front of you… Ah, no wonder you seemed so happy when you won the tournament and got to spend time with him, even though you were pretending not to be.”
When she heard about what happened with Clara, she looked genuinely surprised.
“I never thought you’d get into that kind of relationship with Clara… There might be quite a few people who are jealous enough to come and kill you?”
Considering what happened as soon as he went to District 5, her popularity, and the morbid affection of her followers, Ryu felt a chill. Veronica had been laughing and talking until then, but she put on a serious expression and said,
“So, you ended up here because of that ominous energy that came out when you sparred with Clara?”
Of course, she had a slightly jealous expression when the story of Lowe came up, but fortunately, Ryu’s story ended without any major problems.
After hearing everything, Veronica returned to the present, gently stroked Ryu’s hair, and said with sincerity,
“You’ve had a hard life too. By the way, you’re like Lowe-nim’s child or something… I never had a chance to get in there in the first place.”
“Lowe-nim also thinks of Veronica-nim as precious.”
“You’re saying you can tell from a parent’s heart when you’re next to them?”
“Well, something like that.”
Veronica didn’t get angry at Ryu’s playful answer. She just lightly flicked his forehead and smiled faintly. That smile soon crumbled at the next words.
“You… you’ve been holding out well with that kind of energy? The power of people’s malice.”
Ryu replied in a somewhat different voice.
“I hated it at first. Having this kind of energy in my body… I was worried that I might hurt the people around me. Those uneasy thoughts kept gnawing at me.”
Anyone would think so. Veronica was sure that she would have similar concerns if she were in that situation, so she quietly listened to him.
The next moment, Ryu opened his mouth with a changed look in his eyes.
“But I finally realized. This power is also a part of me. Bearing people’s expectations requires the courage to embrace all their anxieties. Acknowledging that fact first was the first step in resolving this situation.”
Veronica showed him a look of genuine admiration for the first time.
“I thought you were just a guy who knew how to sleep and tease, but you’re quite thoughtful, aren’t you?”
“Just a guy who knows how to sleep and tease? I think about things too, you know.”
“Yeah, right, what do you think about? Huh? Even now, you’re looking at me….”
Veronica playfully slipped her hand into Ryu’s pants and grabbed his dick, perhaps to ease the stiff atmosphere. In a situation with no sexual atmosphere at all, there was no way he would get an erection just from grabbing it. Of course, that was if it ended with a single touch.
Veronica, perhaps annoyed that she was the only one who was nervous when they first lay down in bed together, began to play with Ryu’s still limp dick in her hand. As it began to grow in her hand, she looked flustered.
“So, there’s this much difference in a man’s thing.”
Veronica seemed fascinated by the sensation and began to stroke it up and down, unknowingly starting to caress it. Ryu was already breathing heavily, and Veronica swallowed hard, watching his reaction.
“I, if you hold it like that….”
The fact that this bold little kid was showing such a defenseless appearance just from having his dick stroked made her want to tease him even more. Veronica bit her lip tightly, made a mischievous face, and shook his dick even harder.
“How is it? Do you like it when I do this?”
“I, I like it.”
Veronica was also breathing heavily like Ryu, with a face that seemed to melt away.
But she realized that this wasn’t right and quickly let go.
Veronica, realizing what she had just done, turned red to her ears and covered herself with the blanket as if running away. Ryu looked as if he didn’t understand Veronica, who had started it first and then hid, but he didn’t force her.
Veronica tried to ignore what she had just done.
‘I, I’m crazy. Yeah, I’m just temporarily insane… There’s no way I would do something so slutty otherwise.’
Unlike her head, which was constantly denying what had just happened, it still felt like the heat of his dick remained on her hand. Veronica put the hand that had held Ryu’s dick inside her underwear, barely soothing her regretful feelings.
