Chapter 21: The Dark Overlord’s Intuition

Only after confirming that Lamia’s mind had settled significantly did Wade truly sigh in relief, gently releasing her from his embrace. Lamia tiptoed lightly out of Wade’s arms, a mischievous smirk still playing on her face, seemingly a remnant of the recent experience.

“…”

Wade glanced sideways at Lamia, who was scrutinizing him. He felt an icy chill run down his spine.

‘Heh heh… it seems my plan has succeeded spectacularly!’

‘That White Knight, to utter such romantic, yet somewhat cheesy and sickening words, he must surely be captivated by me!’

“…😟…”

Hearing Lamia’s thoughts, Wade felt a pang of sadness.

‘Cheesy and sickening? I’ve been trying so hard to be a good man who can speak pleasing words.’

‘But speaking of which, he now knows we’re husband and wife. And he’s acting this way, flaunting his power with me. Could it be—is he preparing to procreate with me?’

“—Huh?!”

“…Hm?”

Wade, listening to Lamia’s thoughts, was so startled by her sudden mental swerve that he exclaimed aloud. On this secluded path, where only the two of them walked, his outburst even made Lamia jump, prompting her to cast a puzzled glance his way.

“…”

Realizing his blunder, Wade quickly pursed his lips in embarrassment, pressing them into a tight line. His eyes darted awkwardly to the side.

“…My apologies… I accidentally bit my tongue.”

Wade didn’t know how to explain his sudden outburst. He could only offer such a clumsy excuse, hoping Lamia wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

This Dark Overlord—was it because her way of life differed from humans? While she lacked common sense, her intuition was unexpectedly sharp, always able to grasp the essence of things in a unique way.

Was this an innate talent of a Demon Lord? More primal than humans, she possessed an even keener intuition.

‘…That’s practically cheating.’

‘Still… there shouldn’t be any problem.’

‘She shouldn’t have any inkling about mind-reading. No matter how much she suspects, she wouldn’t connect it to this. After all, I was extremely discreet when I used it—’

‘…This guy, he’s really strange.’

—Hm…?

But then, Wade heard Lamia’s bewildered thoughts.

‘I just feel like something isn’t right… This guy’s attitude seems a bit erratic. It’s as if he’s guessing my reactions, then formulating countermeasures based on them…’

“—!”

In that moment, Wade felt as though the sky had collapsed.

Cold sweat streamed down his back, yet he could only pretend nothing was amiss, walking beside Lamia, feigning ignorance of her thoughts.

‘What? Was I that obvious? How did she figure that out?’

‘I thought I’d been doing well enough all this time. How could she possibly discover it—it’s only the second day!’

‘Even though it feels like so much has happened, it’s only their second day together!’

‘Or is it… because this person is exceptionally cautious?’

‘She is the Dark Overlord, after all. It’s possible she’s just being cautious.’

After all, Wade knew that his identity had already been exposed to Lamia, so she was likely to treat him with even greater caution.

‘What should I do? Should I just try to bluff my way through?’

‘No, that won’t work. Right now, she’s probably only making initial conjectures. She’s merely guessing that I’m “trying to anticipate her reactions.” The definition of that behavior is still quite different from mind-reading. I just need to pretend I know nothing—’

‘…Hmm… Could it be…’

‘Does this guy have some ability to see through thoughts?’

‘—No, how did you jump to *that*?!’

A moment ago, Wade had felt like “the sky was collapsing.” Now, it felt like half of it had already fallen, crashing down on him.

‘No… no.’

‘I was concentrating on reading her mind just now, right? Did I miss some crucial deduction? How did she instantly jump to this conclusion?’

Wade’s heart pounded with anxiety. He truly hadn’t expected that in just two days, they had already engaged in several rounds of mental sparring.

‘Was this even considered sparring? Others engage in peak intellectual battles. Are we engaged in a mad intellectual battle? Where’s the intellect in this?’

The Dark Overlord was like a wild beast. Her intuition was terrifyingly accurate; Wade had observed this during battles.

Countless times, she had used her instincts to evade his attacks, eventually forcing Wade to resort to mind-reading against her. Only then could he fight her on equal footing, even gaining a slight advantage by understanding her thoughts and launching unexpected, varied attacks.

Yet, despite this, her powerful intuition and rapid reflexes still allowed her to devise countermeasures, ensuring their combat records remained closely matched.

‘…Such a keen individual. She truly is troublesome. It made Wade’s heart leap into his throat.’

‘But… to what extent does it go? Is it reading thought patterns, or a mind-reading ability that hears inner voices? Hmm… I’ll just have to test it.’

As Lamia pondered this, she chuckled softly, walking beside Wade. Her arm linked through his.

While it appeared to be a common gesture between lovers, if Wade had tried to move, he would have realized Lamia was gripping him with considerable force, as if intent on pinning him to her side.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

Wade could only feign ignorance, lowering his gaze to Lamia with a puzzled expression.

“Nothing, I just wanted to link arms with you like this. Don’t most people do this?”

Lamia continued to smile cheerily, but her demeanor only amplified Wade’s inner tension.

‘…She wouldn’t actually take this chance to rip off my entire arm, would she? No matter how powerful I am, I’m still human. If I were to suffer a bodily mutilation, I might not be able to grow another limb back quickly…’

“Hm… I suppose so. That’s fine.”

Wade couldn’t think of anything else to say. He could only go along with Lamia’s words; his attention, however, remained fixed on Lamia’s thoughts.

‘Alright… let me test you, White Knight.’

Lamia even deliberately called out the White Knight’s title in her thoughts, testing Wade. It seemed she was trying to provoke him by revealing her knowledge of his true identity.

Fortunately, Lamia appeared unaware of the precise range of Wade’s mind-reading ability or how long he had been using it on her. Thus, her probe didn’t overly affect him.

‘No reaction from him? Hmph… What if he’s just pretending to be calm to deceive me? Hmph… then I’ll try a different approach.’

‘White Knight—I’m going to attack you.’

As Lamia thought this, the smile on her face couldn’t help but morph into a mischievous grin.

‘Did you hear that? I’m going to attack you. I’ll attack you with extreme speed. We’re so close; if you can still dodge it, then you must definitely be using some thought-reading power on me!’

“—!”

Wade struggled to maintain his composure, but inwardly, he was consumed by intense nervousness.

‘An attack?’

‘What kind of attack…?’

‘What will she do to me? Kill me outright? Or actually dislocate my arm?’

‘This is human territory, the Royal Knights’ domain. While none of these knights are stronger than Wade, if they were to use a human wave tactic, with all these elites risking their lives, it wouldn’t be impossible to take down the Demon Lord.’

‘Moreover… the Dark Overlord finally got this chance to infiltrate human territory. She shouldn’t expose herself so quickly.’

‘She probably won’t do anything too bloody or violent. At most, she’ll just kick me like last night.’

‘Alright—fine!’

With this thought, Wade steeled his resolve.

‘Just like that, I’ll take her blow!’

‘With my physique, even if she hits me, I’ll—’

‘Heh! 😋🤜🏻🥚🥚’

“…?! 😨”

But the next second, Wade dodged.

Because Lamia’s punch wasn’t aimed at anything else, but at Wade’s manhood.

It was almost instinctual, a blow he dodged without even thinking. By the time he regained his senses, he had already retreated half a step, bending at the waist to evade it.

‘—This is bad! My instincts! 😱’