## Chapter 198 – Aser’s Decision (3)
A brief silence followed, and Ryu, while getting dressed, said to Hilda,
“Hilda, could you give us a moment alone?”
The words she had longed to hear finally came. Hilda quickly gathered the clothes scattered on the floor, then left without looking back. Whatever happened inside was now beyond her control. Hilda thought so and quickly ran to her room.
Left alone, Ryu and Aser didn’t say a word.
Aser spoke first, sounding disgruntled.
“I know I no longer have the right to stop you.”
“Pardon?”
“Now that you’ve received official status and are no longer a slave, you can live freely as you wish, right?”
The element of slavery that had connected Aser and Ryu until now had disappeared. As she said, even if Ryu left the 7th District and lived freely, there was no way to stop him.
“Th, that’s…”
She didn’t mean to say these words. But once the emotions started to overflow, there was no way to stop them. Aser began to pour out all the emotions she had kept bottled up in her heart.
Love sometimes diminishes oneself. Her vulnerabilities were mixed with lowered self-esteem and unavoidable self-loathing.
“You’re kind to everyone. If you search this vast district, there will be someone who cherishes you more. Even if it’s not the Demon King of a district, a regular citizen might be your destined partner. I wonder if I’ve been restricting you from being happier for the simple reason that I found you first? I’ve been thinking that lately.”
Aser didn’t give Ryu a chance to speak, continuing to pour out her emotions.
“And thinking that I’m the one you love the most… I hate myself for wanting to make you embrace other women, for wanting to prove your love in that way… I’m disgusted. You can’t possibly like a bad woman like me…”
Her face was already a mess with tears. No matter how much she wiped the flowing tears, they continued to run down her face and drip onto the floor.
“But even so, every time you look at me and smile, every time you tell me you love me, every time we share love, I hate how relieved I feel. I doubt the feelings you give me, and I want to keep proving them in strange ways…”
“Isn’t it strange? The more years I live, the more I feel like I’m acting like a child.”
She wasn’t the only one who couldn’t be proud. Ryu looked back on his past, where he had embraced several women, making excuses and rationalizing himself. Even while always thinking that Aser was his priority, he had embraced others by sympathizing with their emotions.
It was a cowardly act.
Aser had already shown her sincerity towards Ryu countless times. It was solely Ryu’s own licentious attitude that had made her insecure. Ryu gently wrapped his arms around Aser, who was sitting on the floor trembling, and said softly,
“No matter which woman I embrace, even if I go to another Demon King’s district, my heart won’t change. The difference in status, whether it’s slave or Demon King, hasn’t mattered to me for a long time. I just liked Madam as a man.”
There was not a single lie in what he said. Ryu looked up at Aser, who was looking at him, smiled, pointed to the ring, and said playfully.
“You haven’t forgotten our promise, have you?”
“How could I forget…”
“Even when I went to the 2nd District, I never took this ring off for a single day. I’m here because of the bond and memories I’ve built with Aser-nim.”
“I won’t deny the feelings I had for a moment. There were definitely times when I thought someone else was attractive. But in the end, you were always by my side in my vision. I won’t leave you. So, there’s no way I’ll ever dislike Aser-nim. Never.”
After hearing Ryu’s answer, Aser barely opened her mouth with a slightly changed look in her eyes.
“I still like you. I don’t care if you embrace other women. I know it’s for the sake of the greater good, and I know you won’t cross the line. But no pregnancy. If there’s a woman who has your child, I want to be the first.”
“A, a child?”
Ryu’s face flushed at the unexpected words. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been using any particular contraception and had only been ejaculating inside, so it wouldn’t be strange if she got pregnant. He hadn’t thought much about the reason why she wasn’t pregnant, but hearing it from Aser’s mouth made him realize it.
“Aser-nim and my child… just thinking about it makes me happy.”
Aser looked at Ryu’s face, wiped away her tears, and hugged him tightly.
“Yeah… I love you.”
As if waiting for them to pour out all their pent-up emotions, Charlotte opened the door and entered.
“Is everything over?”
Aser frowned as if nothing had happened and spoke in a tone mixed with annoyance.
“If you’re going to come up with strange plans like this, at least tell me in advance.”
Charlotte knew that she wasn’t genuinely angry, so she shrugged and answered nonchalantly.
“Isn’t everything fine as a result? Now you know that Ryu’s heart won’t leave you even if he has sex with other women, right? And don’t worry too much. Do you think he’ll have sex with just any woman? If he needs the strength to fight, he’ll at least do it with a professor from the academy or a executive of a Demon King, or even a Demon King… someone with that much power.”
“That makes it easy to narrow it down.”
She had vowed not to care anymore, but she was still curious about who the other person was. The Demon Kings of the other districts… there was one who was crazy and annoying, but the others were all of good character.
“Still, how likely is it that a Demon King from another district would fall for Ryu?”
At Aser’s words, both of them flinched.
“Why are you reacting like that?”
It wouldn’t be good to hide it any longer. Ryu lowered his head and honestly revealed what had happened with Jane. Aser’s brow furrowed very slightly, and her eyebrows drooped slightly.
“Je, Jane is fine, right.”
Unlike her words that she was fine, her deep breathing looked uneasy. Aser reached out her hand to Ryu, who was sending her worried glances along with the words that she was fine, and said as if she was okay.
“Ah, no, I’m fine… I’m just a little happy…”
What part of this conversation made Aser feel happy? No matter how much Ryu thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.
“Jane is honestly quite pretty, right? When I went to the 3rd District in the past, I was worried that I might actually lose you. But the fact that you came back to me yesterday even after that happened honestly makes me happy.”
He couldn’t fully understand the emotions she was feeling, but Ryu was relieved to hear that she was okay. Aser stretched out as if to relieve her negative emotions and recalled a story she had forgotten.
“Shall we go on that vacation I mentioned before now?”
“That’s not a bad idea. Once Ryu goes to the 2nd or 1st District and starts that work in earnest, we might not have this kind of leisure again.”
“Right? Our district seems pretty stable now, and if we’re only gone for a few days…”
Ryu, who had been listening to the two, carefully offered his opinion.
“Still, shouldn’t we tell Lou-nim before we go? She might be waiting…”
“You say that, but you’re going to have sex with Lou again and come back tomorrow, right?”
There were already many precedents, so Ryu couldn’t make any particular excuses. Aser smiled at Ryu, who was looking at her, and stroked his hair.
“I’m just kidding. We decided not to care about that anymore, right?”
It didn’t sound like a joke when she said it. Especially in a situation like this.
Charlotte grabbed the doorknob and opened her mouth.
“Then I’ll go contact Clara-nim. Oh, and we’ll need someone to manage the castle and the district while we’re gone, right?”
“It would be nice to have someone. But is there such a person?”
Charlotte’s smile after finishing her words felt somewhat wicked. And that mischievous malice was about to be directed at someone who was resting comfortably in the room.
After Charlotte left, Aser cleared her throat and opened her mouth in an unnatural voice, as if reading a book.
“Ahem, I was planning to take a shower now… but Charlotte isn’t here, so there’s no one to scrub my back…”
Even someone who wasn’t perceptive would understand if she said this. Ryu got up from his seat, took Aser’s hand, and lifted her up.
“Ca, can I be there instead?”
Only then did Aser smile brightly and nod her head.
The two who left the room spent time in the bathroom reaffirming their love for each other.
●
Not long after, Charlotte finished showering and went to Hilda’s room, who was enjoying the night. Hilda, who was planning to read the books she had been putting off, talk to her friends, write letters to her family, or have a happy time with the memories of Ryu as a side dish, felt like she had been struck by lightning when Charlotte suddenly came and told her to manage the castle and the district for the time being.
She desperately shook her head from side to side, denying it.
“Impossible, impossible, impossible! This time, really! Ho, how can I manage the castle and the district while Madam isn’t here? I’m just a maid!”
Charlotte answered nonchalantly.
“I’m a maid too.”
“And the fact that I’m entrusting you with this on purpose means that you’re the most trusted maid in this castle, don’t you like that? You might even get the head maid position when I’m gone in the future, you know?”
“It’s not that I don’t like being trusted by Charlotte-nim, but…”
While Hilda was hesitating, Charlotte proceeded with the story as she pleased.
“Then that’s settled. I’ll assume you’ve agreed. Oh, I’ll buy you a present, so don’t worry.”
“Wa, wait a minute! Charlotte-nim!”
Hilda’s cry had already scattered into the air.
How did things turn out like this? She couldn’t understand why Charlotte, who had been running wild with jealousy in the past, was treating her like this. Hilda was satisfied with just living a normal life as a maid and occasionally sending money to her family in her hometown. She didn’t think this important role suited her.
Daisy, a friend who stayed in the castle with Hilda and worked silently, peeked her head out from the bunk bed and asked with a worried look.
“Are you okay?”
Hilda was kneeling on the floor, supporting her body with her palms. She looked like she was frustrated to anyone who saw her. Daisy shook her head at the sight and hid her face again.
“Looks like she’s not okay.”
It was a night that made her want to drink so much that she would forget her promise with Ryu.
