My Childhood Friend the Demon Knight Hates Me - Episode 44: Final Edit
44 Final Edit
Translator: Lioness
Editor: Arya
“Su, ria?”
Reiss finally woke up, he blinked for a moment, and then jumped away from me.
He moved like a wild cat.
“Why… why are you still here!”
“Why not? I’m coming home with you.”
I was proud to say, “I already know everything you hid from me,” and when I picked it up and told the story, Reiss’s bright red eyes went wide open.
The ruggedness on the whole was fading, and the devil in him somehow understood that he had not awakened yet.
But it was only a matter of time.
I explained to Reiss the plan I had made with the Queen and he was kneeling on the ground and kept his distance from me.
“Okay? I’ll never let the Demon possess you anymore. From now on, you just let the demon go. Temporarily surrender your body to the demon. The Queen and I will take care of the rest.”
“Huh… What are you talking about,…?”
“‘Let the demon kill me’. It’s the only way to separate you from the demon.”
The strategy was this.
If the time arrived when the demon had to leave Reiss’s body, it would be when the contract was completed.
In other words, ‘when my life was in the hands of the devil.’ Once he had my soul, he would leave Reiss’s body.
But, of course, I didn’t intend to die either.
I would be using my life as a decoy to draw the demon out of his body. The queen would be catching the moment when the demon emerged from Reiss, just before he was about to get its prey.
The Queen’s power would get in the way of dragging the demon out, so I’d asked her to remove its presence for now, but once the demon’s fingertips were out, the Queen would grab ‘just the demon’ for me.
This was a very dangerous way. …One wrong move and I’m dead.
If Reiss took his own life and kept me protected from the demon in his body for a long time, I would just give him the same life.
I was here with that kind of determination.
“You’re so stupid! I won’t let you do that!”
As expected, Reiss immediately objected.
The consciousness that he had been confused about was slowly being restored, and the first thing he did was to look at my eyes.
“What? If it’s the only way, then you have to do it!”
“No! I told you that I don’t like you at all. This is my problem. You have nothing to do with it!”
“What?”
Are you still trying to push me away with that?
Knowing everything meant that I understood Reiss’s true intentions.
I sat down and gave him a wild look.
He really loved me, but what was he saying?
“… Well, the stage of you enduring alone was over. It’s over! The time when Reiss was alone and fighting a lonely battle with the demon is over!”
“Now!”
“Leave it to me, and you should acknowledge your feelings for me and then give your body to the devil!”
While glaring at Reiss, he pointed his finger at him and created a strong tone that made him say nothing.
However, it seemed that Reiss could not give up his body to the demon, so he put one hand on the sword at his waist, suffocated, and then argued that he would bite.
“How can you allow such recklessness?! You’ve always acted too selfishly!”
“I’m not acting selfishly!”
“Even in the kidnapping case, I would have jumped into the devil myself! You were the one who were always reckless!”
“You can’t blame me for the incident! And what do you mean by ‘always’?”
“You once lost your house key, tried to get in through the window, unfortunately you fell and severely injured your leg! Have you forgotten that your mother scolded me for that? And how much.. I was scolded at that time!”
“You’ve always been too much in charge of everything yourself, you know! Who was it that worried me when you fell ill with a cold and didn’t tell anyone?”
“Don’t compare me to your recklessness!”
“I hate carrots, and I have been sneaking them out of the house! I’m going to tell Uncle Alan!”
“When did this happen?”
“You were the one who brought up the past!”
We exchanged words without interruption.
Perhaps it was the fact that we were both leaning forward to engage in a battle of tongues, but before long we were so close that I could clearly see Reiss’s beautiful, well-groomed face.
Reiss was now moving his mouth as if the demon was hiding in the form and the surprise of a lifetime was coupled with it, as if they were out of bounds.
The two of them echoed their emotions and it was reverberated adorably through the trees of the forest.
When I think about it, when was the last time I had a face-to-face and honest conversation with Reiss like this? The words that have accumulated over the years of our differences seem to be coming out of both of our chests at once. It was strangely comforting to know that if you challenged someone with all your heart, they would respond with their true feelings.
—- Oh, I forgot.
Regardless of the demon, this was the face of Reiss when he talked to me in the past. This was the kind of guy who could sometimes raise his voice and show his childish side.
And he was rather stubborn, wasn’t he?
“Besides, I’ve been horrible to you. I hurt you. You don’t need to risk your life to save me.”
When he suddenly turned his face down, he muttered something like that in a small voice that was lost even in the sound of the rustling leaves.
It had been discovered that that attitude was to suppress the devil so as not to kill me. Of course, it was true that it hurt me, but wasn’t it? Reiss thought I haven’t forgiven him on that yet?
The low, boyish voice trembled slightly.
I didn’t know the expression covered with long bangs, but it seemed that Reiss was still more concerned than when I ranted.
I mean, I’m getting more and more frustrated.
“From now on, you can go back to the church of the royal capital alone. Forget about me …”
“Ah, it’s too noisy!”
“Good..!”
The original bit of patience was broken, and I clenched my fist tightly, lifted my hips and slammed it into Reiss’s abdomen.
I’m going to go easy on you.. as compared to before.
“If you’re so concerned, all you have to do is say you’re sorry now! Then I forgive you and the dragging is over! We don’t have much time, okay? Now, go ahead and apologize!
“It’s that simple..”
“It’s that simple! I’m sure it is! So apologize!”
“It’s…”
“What?”
“… I’m sorry.”
“Keep your voice down!
To Reiss, who shouted “It was bad!” Again, I put on my golden brown hair and nodded “OK”. Then, aiming for a sudden hit, I hugged Wraith tightly from the front.
He stiffened his manly limbs and she quickly put her arm around the back of the guy who was trying to move away and firmly grabbed the knight’s uniform.
I won’t let you go.
“Hey, Reiss. You’ve been doing your best for me even after reuniting with me after our two years break up. You’ve been protecting me through all the pain and suffering. Isn’t that right?”
“That.. is..”
“Then I’ll take care of you this time. I won’t let you do something stupid like die with the devil. You can ask for help now. You can cling to me. All you have to do is say, “I want to live.” You can tell me. I’ll make all your wishes come true. That’s why…”
Burying my face in Reiss’s shoulder, I bit my lip lightly once.
The feeling of the overlapping sounds of his heart. The body was cold, but the rawness of his heartbeat was definitely here.
What I feared more than anything was to lose this sound.
And that you would reject me again, Reiss.
“… so don’t ever say ‘I hate you’ to me again, even if it’s a lie.”
My voice, tinged with pleading and sounding surprisingly weak even to myself, quietly shook Reiss’s eardrums and the clear forest air at the same time.
I could see the Reiss gasp up close.
After all, it seemed I’d been dragging it out too.
That day, on the nightmare birthday, I heard Reiss say, “I hate you,” and it still reverberates in my ears. Like a thorn that won’t come off, my heart aches whenever I remember it.
I want you to repaint that word, please.
“I’m not soft enough for you to kill me. Trust me. …… And please, tell me. And please, tell me how you really feel about me, in your own words.”
“I am……”
If you raise your face, my eyes would intersect with your red eyes at a close distance.
A crimson look swaying with confusion and anguish.
It was no wonder he was conflicted, because if he acknowledged my feelings and verbalized them in words, he would release the demons he had suppressed for so many years.
Perhaps soon, the demon would wake up.
It was up to him to decide whether to throw me out here or to tell me the words and trust me to say them.
Once more, I called his name, “Reiss,” as if to encourage him.
After a few moments of hesitation, —- Reiss revealed his emotions, his face twisted in grief, and hugged me back tightly with his arms.
“I’m…! I’m actually…”
“Yeah.”
“Suria. …Suu.”
―― I love you so much that I want to kill you.
The breath that hung around your ears and the desperate voice that was blurred.
I couldn’t afford to repair my trembling body, and Wraith hugged me with all my might and told me to sneak.
It was the moment when the feelings he had endured for a long time, stored up, and crushed reached me.
I definitely felt the black shadow inside Reiss stirring.
(TL: I definitely ate some dog foods here ah…)
Author’s note:
The next time I update this story, I plan to post the final story in one go.
I hope you can stay with me for a while longer.