Chapter 165: The Loneliest Ruler

“Sometimes, I got angry too.”

“Why…?”

The kind Seon Jaeyul answered as he handed me the last piece of yukhoe.

“I couldn’t understand why he went that far, or why no one else ever showed their faces.

So, in my own way, I punished them.

After fighting Jin Sehyun, I made sure to wipe out one human residential area each time.

Creatures that cowardly hide behind a single person just to prolong their lives disgusted me.”

Fight, get hurt, fight again, get hurt again.

No matter how many times he tried to talk to him, Sehyun barely responded.

He charged in recklessly, as if he had a thousand lives to spare.

“Then one day, it hit me.

Ah, so this guy just wants to die.

I could picture the situation clearly.

All humans must have been staring only at Jin Sehyun, piling pressure on him.

If things didn’t go their way, they’d spew abuse again.

Using him, discarding him, exploiting him, threatening him.

That’s all humans are good at.

Just like the ones I dealt with.”

By then, the world was already no different from being destroyed.

Only the kind Seon Jaeyul’s final choice remained.

Even if the ending was the same, the timing could have been adjusted.

A clean, swift death, or a delayed death filled with false hope.

“That day, my mood was terrible.

For no particular reason, my nerves were on edge.

Luckily, Jin Sehyun came and spent some time with me, so I felt a bit better.

But his condition was awful too.

His soul was already dried up, like that of a dead person.”

Now I finally understood why Sehyun had always spoken of humans with such hatred.

If every monster in the Demon Realm hid behind me and told me to fight the ruler alone, I would have run away long ago.

…I miss Sehyun.

I want to hug him tightly.

Even with the kind Seon Jaeyul stroking my back, it wasn’t enough.

It had to be my pet human’s arms….

“My mood suddenly turned foul, so I decided to wipe out the largest human population center.

But that lunatic blocked my path.

I tried to stop the attack in surprise, but it didn’t go well.

No—

I should say it went very badly.

I ended up piercing Jin Sehyun’s abdomen.”

“Why…?”

The kind Seon Jaeyul looked at me as if puzzled by my question.

As if asking what I was even asking.

“Why did you try to stop the attack?

You were going to kill all humans anyway.

Sehyun dying would’ve just been part of the process…

Why was that a mistake?”

“You little… you really have a talent for putting people on the spot.”

He didn’t answer for a long time.

His eyes wandered back and forth, as if he were thinking deeply.

“I don’t know.

Maybe it was pity when I threw Jin Sehyun into the dimensional rift.

Telling him not to die so meaninglessly, to enjoy another life, even briefly.

Honestly, I don’t remember the exact reason.

Right after that, I wiped out all humans and sat on Earth, passing time—

Then suddenly, I got angry.

Wondering why I’d spared someone like him.

Since I gave him that time, I decided to come here and end it myself.”

I could tell from his voice and expression that the kind Seon Jaeyul cared deeply for Sehyun,

but I didn’t say it out loud.

“But when I came here, what a sight it was.

I sent him off to enjoy himself, and instead he was raising me.

I was shocked.

He must have known that the young Seon Jaeyul would grow up, destroy the world, and become a villain who’d kill him.”

“…Because of Sehyun, even Idiot Seon Jaeyul….”

My pet human Jin Sehyun truly has an incredible talent.

He changed a merciless human slaughterer,

me, who never cared about approval,

and even a future mass murderer.

“He’s kind too.

He’s a good human.”

I’m not siding with the idiot, okay!

I just don’t want to cause Sehyun any sadness.

“That’s exactly it.

Hah… that bastard was never cut out to be a villain.

Pathetic fool.”

“Yeah, he really is pathetic.”

“So you understand him well too?”

At last, I’d found someone I could truly agree with.

“This is a secret, but when the idiot was in elementary school…”

Hehe.

I’ll trash-talk that idiot to my heart’s content.

And don’t forget the half-body bath later!

“Do you like the human world?”

The kind Seon Jaeyul asked suddenly while brushing my fur.

“No.

I just like being with Sehyun—

I mean, I like beef jerky, and chicken too…

Come to think of it, braised beef…”

“That’s enough.

So you like a lot of things, then.”

He was right.

I thought I stayed in the human world solely because of Sehyun,

but now that I thought about it, there were quite a few things I didn’t want to give up.

Food, of course, but also televisions, refrigerators, supermarkets—

thanks to them, I could enjoy a comfortable life impossible in the Demon Realm.

Even with the world on the verge of collapse, compared to the Demon Realm, this place was practically heaven.

“Jin Sehyun says he liked the time he spent here too…

and so does that idiot.

It seems I’m the only one who couldn’t feel it.”

He seemed strange today.

Nothing was outwardly different, but my instincts felt uneasy.

Like when Idiot Seon Jaeyul put on that disgusting act in front of Sehyun.

Ah—no, not quite that.

No matter what, nothing is as creepy as the idiot.

“…You’ll spare Sehyun, right…?”

I’d asked this question several times already,

but he never gave me a clear answer.

‘I’m thinking about it positively.

He’s been on my mind.’

‘Why should I spare someone like that?

If he’s enjoyed life enough, he should die.’

‘He’s kind…

and it’s pitiful that he suffered all his life, so I’ll think about it.’

‘I should kill him.

Yes.

I won’t spare a single human.

Jin Sehyun is no exception.’

He only showed mood swings like a pubescent Seon Jaeyul,

never giving a definitive answer.

Kill or spare—

I couldn’t tell.

I asked again, hoping he’d decided by now.

“To have been by my side all this time and still not notice—

you really do resemble that halfwit Seon Jaeyul.”

What does that mean…?

All he’d done was destroy parts of the human world and send monsters around.

“I should get going soon.”

After exhaling deeply, he stood up.

He walked lightly, like he was heading out for a stroll, then turned back.

“Poppy.”

“Yes?”

“It’s time for you to go back.

I left a small gift in the next room, so take it with you.

Thanks to you, I had fun for the first time in a long while.”

“L-leave…?”

“Yes.

Whether you go back to Sehyun or return to the Demon Realm, you’re free now.

Still, if possible, live here.

You don’t belong in the Demon Realm.”

This sudden freedom left me flustered.

Honestly, I’d even forgotten at times that I’d been kidnapped.

Who ever heard of a kidnapping with delicious meals, endless snacks, half-body baths, and fur grooming?

After living like that, being told to go home out of the blue was naturally bewildering.

The kind Seon Jaeyul finished speaking and walked away again.

I didn’t take my eyes off his back until it disappeared.

Something about it bothered me.

Like he might trip and fall at any moment…

dangerously unsteady.

“Wait, live here?

That means…!”

He definitely told me to live in the human world.

Does that mean he’s stopping the massacre?!

A completely ruined human world would be nothing more than a massive prison.

A place where you can’t connect with anyone, surviving in the most literal sense.

There’s no way the kind Seon Jaeyul meant for me to live in a place like that.

More than anything, my instincts kicked in.

I should’ve noticed when he started asking those strange questions!

The kind Seon Jaeyul had clearly already prepared to stop the slaughter.

Once I realized that, my heart felt completely light.

I could finally set aside the fear that Sehyun might die.

With a spring in my step, I headed to the next room.

I couldn’t contain my curiosity about the kind Seon Jaeyul’s gift.

After all, it was finally my turn to receive a present instead of just the idiot getting them from Sehyun!

So exciting.

“…Oh.

Oh… oh….”

I opened the door casually, and my brain short-circuited at the unbelievable sight before me.

Because stacked all the way to the ceiling were beef jerky,

dried chicken beside it,

and even a rhino bone toy.

All of this was my gift?!

My chest swelled until I could hardly contain it.

As expected…

I like the kind Seon Jaeyul more than the idiot!

I packed the gifts into my secret pocket, munching on them one by one as I stepped outside.

After spending days with the kind Seon Jaeyul, moving alone felt strangely awkward.

Is this how one gets used to captivity and starts enjoying it?

The sunlight was nice, the breeze was nice.

And my mood was good—nothing was lacking.

If I could just see Sehyun again, everything would be perfect.

While heading toward home, I passed by the battlefield where the kind Seon Jaeyul and the idiot were fighting.

If nothing else, I couldn’t miss a good fight.

I transformed into a puppy and headed closer to where the battle raged.

“What the hell!

Who brought a damn mutt here, f*ck!”

I came alone, you bastard.

I bit down hard on the hand of the human who tried to hit me.

“Aaagh!

Let go, let go!”

Only after feeling my teeth sink in did I release him and run.

I got my revenge in a moment of anger, but drawing attention here wouldn’t do me any good.

I found a good spot, settled in, and watched the fight while alternating between beef jerky and dried chicken.

Knowing that the kind Seon Jaeyul had no intention of destroying the world, I felt no tension at all.

It felt like watching a perfectly choreographed sparring performance.

They were really pretending to fight fiercely—

actors, all of them.

I realized how completely wrong I was moments later.

“Look at that!”

A blindingly fast beam of light shot toward the kind Seon Jaeyul, then split into two.

One vanished in a completely different direction,

and the remaining beam slammed straight into him.

At the moment of impact, I saw it.

The kind Seon Jaeyul knew the attack was coming,

yet he didn’t react at all.

As if accepting it was the natural course of events.

With his bare body.

A blinding light filled everything, then dispersed.

What appeared afterward made my thoughts abruptly cut off.

The kind Seon Jaeyul collapsing, one entire side of his torso completely gone.

I couldn’t understand what had just happened,

but my body moved on its own.

I returned to my true form and sprinted with all my strength.

With every step, strange memories flooded my mind.

“Does it not taste good?”

“That’s why I need to save you.

An innocent monster like you shouldn’t die alongside humans.”

“You eat well.

Here’s another.”

“Cute little thing.

Tonight, I’ll even give you a half-body bath with natural ylang-ylang oil.”

I’m sad.

Even though I can’t cry,

I can feel the emotion just the same.

Only now did I understand the meaning behind his actions.

The kind Seon Jaeyul had been terribly lonely.

He was just a human who couldn’t endure solitude and emptiness.

He must have longed for companionship so deeply that he grew attached even to a monster like me.

“Thanks to you, I had fun for the first time in a long while.”

I never imagined those words would be his farewell.

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