Chapter 83: The Price of a Promise

Sagyeol, arms crossed, began to ponder seriously. ‘If I add a few conditions… no, it would still be difficult… Wait, no, I should make the conditions harsher. Oh. Hmm.’

Yeowon walked ahead, leaving him to his kaleidoscope of expressions. He doubted anything good would come from Sagyeol’s lips.

“Come with me.”

He chuckled, catching up to Yeowon. Only then did Sagyeol finally offer an answer to the question asked earlier.

“Hestia will be disbanded. The Hunter market might falter for a few days, but the collapse of a mere guild won’t cause any major catastrophe.”

Only Sagyeol could refer to Grisha’s second-ranked, colossal guild as ‘mere.’ When Yeowon stared at him in disbelief, Sagyeol simply shrugged.

“And that Returnee? There’s an incredible scramble for them right now. Of course, we’re so pretty, outstanding, handsome, and capable, it’s almost an insult to compare us to them…”

“Enough. I get it, just stop.”

Sagyeol suddenly wiped the smile from his face and spoke.

“If you want, I can bring them to Credit. We have both the capability and the justification.”

“……”

Yeowon recalled the events of a few days prior. The situation had begun when a Hestia Returnee, who had sought refuge with the Association, asked to see him. A Returnee, by definition, was someone who had journeyed to the Demon Realm. While his curiosity was piqued, he never imagined it would be a familiar face.

‘My—my lord!’

‘…Winslot?’

There stood the civil servant, always clad in a trailing robe and burdened with mountains of documents. Back then, Yeowon had taken them for an undeniably frail demon.

‘To think my lord was human all along.’

Winslot felt the same, though their shock was far greater. They had barely clung to life, toiling as a mere document-processing s*ave, yet the one who commanded those terrifying demons had been a human?

‘Could they truly be the same species as me? At this point, even using the word ‘same’ feels like an insult to the very concept.’

All these thoughts were clearly etched upon their face.

‘I wondered why I hadn’t seen them since a certain day. So they had come to the Human Realm.’

Winslot’s face cycled through shades of white and blue. Yeowon belatedly remembered that in the Demon Realm, any castle’s s*ave or civil servant who served like one and then fled would face immediate execution.

‘I—I—I wasn’t trying to escape!’

Yeowon raised a hand.

‘No—’

‘Gasp. Ugh. Hiiik!’

‘……’

His raised hand slowly fell back down. Once Winslot had calmed somewhat, Yeowon spoke again.

‘I am no longer a lord. Therefore, you have no reason to fear punishment.’

Sagyeol interjected.

‘For all that, you two certainly look like a vassal and a lord having a conversation.’

Sagyeol’s eyebrow twitched slightly. He disliked how subtly Yeowon’s tone had shifted, and even more so, how natural it sounded. Yeowon turned his head to look at Sagyeol.

Sagyeol, receiving that indifferent gaze, thought to himself, ‘If he’s forgotten I’m even here, I’ll stir things up for him tonight, in more ways than one.’

‘Good boy. Behave.’

A hand suddenly reached out, ruffling Sagyeol’s hair. Though Yeowon’s eyes remained indifferent, Sagyeol could see it: the nascent playfulness within them.

‘Playfulness.’

‘Playfulness? Yeowon just played a prank on me?’

Sagyeol sputtered like a broken cat. It felt as though sweet rock candy had burst open in his chest. Yeowon had played a prank on him. His heart, excitedly replaying the implications, felt like a child’s.

While the softened Sagyeol was half-intoxicated by this flutter of excitement, Yeowon tried to resume his conversation with Winslot.

‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry!’

Winslot suddenly burst into tears, begging for forgiveness.

‘…As I just said. I am no longer a lord.’

He meant that he no longer held the power of life and death over them. Yet, hearing those words, Winslot trembled even more, their gaze darting to Sagyeol.

‘I—I—I said it. When I saw your lord’s picture, I was so glad that I accidentally called them ‘my lord’ in front of Bae Gil-su, that bastard…’

Only then did the puzzle pieces click into place. Yeowon swallowed the sigh that threatened to escape. If Bae Gil-su hadn’t been infested with a parasite, Winslot’s words wouldn’t have posed such a problem. While it was ambiguous whether it was Winslot’s fault, too many people had died or been injured. As Yeowon looked troubled, Winslot began to shed tears profusely.

‘I’m so sorry. If only I hadn’t been so tactless…’

‘Indeed. You were so tactless, your gravestone might as well read: ‘Died for lack of tact.”

Sagyeol, as if he’d been waiting for the opportune moment, popped out with a sneer. Despite his light tone, his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

‘…Hiccup.’

Yeowon awkwardly patted Winslot’s back as they began to hiccup, then looked at Sagyeol. He merely shrugged.

‘Who said anything about killing? It was just a figure of speech.’

‘No. You were serious.’

As Yeowon cast him an indifferent look, Sagyeol grinned, taking hold of his fingertips.

“If I can bring them, I want to bring them.”

When Yeowon finished his recollection and replied, Sagyeol, still holding his fingertips, instantly adopted a fierce gaze.

“You really want to bring them? Why? What part of that person is so appealing?”

His eyes glowed a vivid blue. It wasn’t a metaphor; it was real. Uncontrolled magic surged, and one by one, ice flowers began to bloom in the air. This was a habit that had vanished after Sagyeol learned Yeowon disliked it.

In other words, Sagyeol was so agitated that he had forgotten even that.

Asking if it was jealousy had merely been a joke.

Yeowon had felt a quiet pride, thinking he could now make jokes too, but facing those icy blue eyes, he deeply regretted how foolish he had been. Sagyeol spoke, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“They said you were lord and vassal. So, when you were in the Demon Realm, perhaps…?”

“It’s not like that.”

Yeowon shook his head.

“Winslot was a capable civil servant. If you accept them, they will certainly be of help to you.”

“So, it’s purely for my sake?”

As Sagyeol spoke, the corridor ended. The two took the elevator down to the underground parking lot. As soon as the doors opened, a car waiting for them came into view.

The car’s interior was quite spacious and comfortable, but with two large men inside, it inevitably felt cramped.

“I still haven’t heard your answer.”

In that confined space, Sagyeol pressed against him, almost lunging. Yeowon was pushed back, crumpled into the corner. He looked up at Sagyeol, whose eyes, though slightly softened, still held a trace of suspicion. Yeowon hesitated before speaking.

“I need to focus on Black Mist going forward.”

‘And?’

“Still, they know a lot about life in the Demon Realm, so having them around would make them a good advisor.”

“Are you perhaps doubting me?”

“Rather than that… I’m worried you might get hurt.”

Swoosh.

Yeowon slid his hand into the narrow space between Sagyeol’s body and arm. As his hand reached Sagyeol’s back, it became an embrace from beneath. Sagyeol, uncharacteristically, went rigid.

A large hand slowly explored his firm back. Careful fingertips traced his shoulder blades and spine, as if discerning the shape of his muscles beneath his clothes. When Yeowon pressed on his lats, Sagyeol involuntarily tensed. Somewhere on his body, he felt a tickle. He couldn’t discern if it was where Yeowon’s fingertips brushed, or deep within his chest.

That sensation vanished like smoke the moment Yeowon opened his mouth.

“This area was completely gouged out, as if your bones would be exposed. It was charred black, blood pouring everywhere… I truly thought you were going to die then.”

For Yeowon, it was a remarkably long sentence, one that perfectly conveyed the depth of his emotions at the time. His usually indifferent eyes had settled into a heavy, profound gaze, like deep-sea fish swimming serenely through water warped by immense pressure.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

‘Don’t throw yourself away to save me. Don’t diminish yourself.’

His eyes, holding the gaze of a deep-sea creature, spoke those words. To answer them, Sagyeol had to sink to the same depth. Descending lower, and still lower, Sagyeol captured Yeowon’s lips.

“I can’t promise.”

He slipped the words in during the brief moments their lips met and parted.

“Even if I say I won’t do it now, if the same situation comes, I’ll do the same thing.”

“Sagyeol.”

“I like you.”

The words, casually dropped, held a vivid meaning that pierced through him.

“So don’t tell me to simply watch when you’re in danger.”

Sagyeol kissed Yeowon’s palm, then gestured with his eyes towards the driver’s seat. The driver, who had been covertly observing the situation in the back, pressed the partition button with an impassive face. Indeed, he was the capable talent Lee Hyun-su had found.

Yeowon’s face hardened as he realized what was about to happen.

“You’re not planning to do it here, are you?”

“I’m going to do it here, and I’m going to do it at home, too.”

“……”

The muscular hamster, finally realizing it had been bitten by a snake, attempted to resist.

“Oh, my back is aching.”

His arm, which had been trying to push away the snake’s tail, paused.

“It doesn’t hurt much, but if someone pushes me away, it might hurt a bit.”

Sagyeol feigned discomfort, glancing at Yeowon. He immediately saw Yeowon’s exasperated expression. Sagyeol smiled slyly.

Yeowon knew. It wasn’t real pain; it was just Sagyeol acting spoiled. Yet, knowing this, he couldn’t help but indulge him. He was strangely weak to affection and demands. It was a minor misfortune that Sagyeol had discovered this.

Sagyeol was a man who would conjure means out of nothing to achieve his goals. Using existing methods was effortless for him.

“Just this once. Hmm?”

He put on the most pitiful act imaginable. Knowing full well what Sagyeol was doing, Yeowon couldn’t push him away and sighed.

“…Just this once.”

Strength drained from the firm, resilient body. The snake hissed, smiling innocently. It thought that if the price for this scene was merely a sore back, it would gladly pay it countless times over.

The snake’s body, driven by nothing but desire from top to bottom, slowly began to coil around the muscle hamster, whose thoughts were far too complicated.

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