MHHC Chapter 25

Heat Rising

The moment she felt the heat pooling in the man's eyes as he gazed at her, her body trembled as if seized by chills, though she wasn't cold at all.

If demons were beings that bewitched others and made them lose their reason, then her husband was indeed a demon. Once her gaze was captured, she couldn't tear her eyes away.

As if his heat had transferred to her, her stomach clenched tight. The unfamiliar desire she felt in her own body sent goosebumps prickling all the way to her toes.

'Why, why is this happening...?'

When she struggled in fear that something was about to begin, the gown draped over her shoulders slipped off. She couldn't believe she was standing before another person wearing only a single layer of clothing as thin as a dragonfly's wings, husband or not. Adelheid's face flushed bright red with unbearable shame.

If only her hands were free, she would have covered her face. But both her wrists had already been captured by him.

"D-don't look at me like that..."

Adelheid squeezed her eyes shut as she pleaded. Even to her own ears, her shrill voice sounded pathetic. Valentin pressed her in a low, sinking voice.

"Want to... keep... looking. All of... you."

She couldn't believe what he was saying. Did he want to see more of her trembling like this? Why on earth? What was there to see in a shabby woman like her...?

"You're... my wife, aren't... you."

His voice was teasing as he brought his lips close to her ear and whispered. After kissing her round earlobe several times, he lightly bit her ear. Adelheid gasped in surprise and snapped her eyes open.

The moment their gazes met, he immediately smiled, narrowing the corners of his eyes. As if he had expected her to open her eyes. He kissed Adelheid's cute nose bridge once more.

"Pretty... Very."

"Ngh..."

"Always... dreamed of... this."

If he were a demon, this wouldn't be possible. He wouldn't look at her with such longing and yearning eyes. Demons couldn't enter paradise or feel emotions.

"My Adelheid."

Why was it? Whenever he called her name, she somehow felt a sense of longing. Her thoughts rolled sluggishly, as blurred as her tear-clouded vision.

"Ah..."

When he put a bit more strength into his knuckles, Adelheid's small fingers spread to their limit. The moment she parted her lips, he tilted his head down obliquely and took her lower lip between his. All her nerves sensitively focused on that thin piece of flesh.

It was as if he held moist fire. Gently savoring it, his sharp canines bit and chewed her lower lip. Her breath caught in surprise. Her slender chin trembled.

'I need to... pull myself together...'

With a hazy mind, she was having foolish thoughts when Valentin's spine, which had been casting a shadow over her, suddenly stiffened rigidly.

"...Kh, nngh."

The moan sounded like a single scream. For an instant, it seemed as if immeasurable pain had tortured him before passing. Valentin buried his forehead in Adelheid's nape and barely caught his breath.

His spine, curved like a drawn bow, trembled like an aspen tree in winter.

She felt the strength gradually draining from Valentin's large hands that had been firmly pressing down on hers. As his upper body collapsed, Adelheid reflexively embraced his back.

Valentin's breath scattering across her cheek and nape was shockingly weak.

"Your Grace?"

"Don't... come."

Perhaps worried that Adelheid would be crushed under his sturdy frame, Valentin squeezed out his remaining strength to push her out of his embrace. His arm that had barely been supporting his body buckled, and his forehead dropped onto the soft bed with a thud. He seemed to have fainted just like that.

Adelheid, who had been pushed away by Valentin's force, hurriedly crawled across the bed and placed her hand on his cheek. His sweat-beaded forehead was completely on fire.

"Good gracious..."

His limbs, which had been tensing several times as if trying to endure, finally went limp. Not a trace of vitality could be felt from his pallid face.

Adelheid hurriedly brought the back of her hand to his nose. Fortunately, she felt faint breathing.

She pulled the sheets to wrap around Valentin's body.

'His body is cold, but his forehead has such a high fever... Why is this happening so suddenly?'

She immediately realized the reason. It was as if someone had whispered the answer in her ear.

'Earlier, the maid applied sacred oil to my lips. Just applying it to the body is lethal to demons, and he directly took it in his mouth. Ah, how could I have forgotten?'

She anxiously clasped her hands together. In her head, she knew this was the opportunity to make everything certain. According to the original plan, she should stab Valentin here.

But how could she do such a horrible thing to a patient burning with such high fever? Adelheid bit her nails nervously.

'If something really goes wrong at this rate...'

Fear rushed over her. The reluctance to bring a blade to a sick person was considerable, but she was more afraid because she might be wrongly accusing an innocent person of being a demon.

What if him losing consciousness wasn't because of the sacred oil but just a coincidence?

'...He won't forgive me.'

She looked at the unconscious Valentin's profile. She should have been afraid, thinking that a terrifying demon lurked inside that splendid body, but somehow it wasn't easy to think of it so definitively. She had glimpsed deep loneliness in Valentin as he craved her affection.

'It's strange. If he really is a demon, he shouldn't have emotions.'

Demons whose souls were taken by God cannot feel emotions. Naturally, they cannot feel fear, terror, pity, loneliness, or solitude. Was it because of that incompleteness? Demons instead craved blood and flesh obsessively.

Young demons sometimes possessed wild animals like goats or sheep, and there were cases where entire families were slaughtered after unknowingly bringing them into their homes. It was a rampage that occurred when the demon, having assimilated with the possessed beast, couldn't endure the hunger.

'Just look at the Nassau Castle massacre—they say it was a demon's doing.'

Even recalling that horrific incident where everyone in the castle was killed on the same day at the same time, her heart still wavered, unable to find direction. Were 'the Shadow' that committed that incident and Valentin before her eyes truly the same being?

Adelheid carefully brushed back Valentin's bangs that were stuck with cold sweat. Even unconscious, his brow was furrowed as if he felt pain.

'He looks exactly like just a person...'

Well, it's not as if demons go around with "demon" written on their foreheads. Especially this case—she couldn't openly request investigation or support from the Order. Rather, if it became publicly known that he was a demon, that would be more problematic.

'The priest's blessing, holy water, even Morig's Veil that Ansgar was so proud of... none of them worked.'

Truly, no one dared suspect that Valentin was a demon. Their eyes were blinded by faith that the priest had blessed him. In this situation, even if she revealed that Valentin was a demon, only faith in the Order would be shattered to pieces.

It would be no different from catastrophe for the northern people who maintained their daily lives in this barren land through that faith.

'The excuse that he's a strong demon won't work. Great chaos will arise. There might even be riots... So I must confirm as quickly as possible. If he is a demon, I need to find a solution somehow.'

Once today passed, she would have to wait a full 30 days until the next full moon. If the demon couldn't endure its hunger before then and went on a rampage, Ansgar would be finished. Adelheid steeled her resolve.

She quickly pulled out the basket she had hidden under the bed.

When she removed the cloth covering the basket, the medicine bottle and small dagger that Padre had given her revealed themselves. When she pulled the cork stopper of the medicine bottle, it came out with a pop.

'Slowly.'

She tilted the bottle and soaked the cloth thoroughly with the medicine. The green medicine gave off an unbearably foul smell. Adelheid carefully applied it to the blade of the dagger.

Now the preparations were complete. All that remained was to roll up Valentin's sleeve and draw blood.

When she climbed back onto the bed after finishing all preparations, Adelheid found herself panting without realizing it. Her disheveled hair obstructed her vision, and cold sweat slightly dampened her palms.

"......"

Valentin lay sleeping with a much more peaceful expression than before. Adelheid rolled up Valentin's sleeve a bit. During that time, he didn't even twitch.

Moonlight poured over his exposed forearm. Adelheid could clearly see the part she needed to stab. She gripped the dagger's handle tightly with both hands.

'Don't be nervous. You're doing what needs to be done. Maybe this will save His Grace from dishonor. He said I don't need to draw much blood. Just a little bit is enough.'

She tried to steel herself, but to no avail—her hands trembled violently. She would rather be stabbed by someone than bring a knife to a person—it was a horrific thing. The revulsion was extreme.

Adelheid tried to recall Padre's soothing voice.

'Think of it as lancing a boil. If you don't lance it and squeeze it out, it will completely block His Grace's insides, consume his mind, and eventually take his life.'

'But, Father Padre.'

'Adelheid. You are saving His Grace. Not harming him.'

'...Then promise me one thing, Father Padre.'

'What is it?'

'If drawing blood from His Grace's body is the only way to confirm the Shadow, and if only I can do it... I don't want to take this kind of risk multiple times. I wish I could finish all confirmations in this one time.'

'......'

'Can you promise me in Morig's name?'

Why did Padre's eyes, which had gleamed strangely as he answered her, come to mind at this moment?