Chapter 19: Be Conscious

Viola’s favorite scene is right there.

Among those surrounding the large table in the grand hall and at its center, Nox wears a serene expression, though he remains quiet. For Viola, who had been asleep for so long, it doesn’t feel like such a distant memory, but some are moved to tears. It feels strangely emotional.

“Honestly, I never thought I’d be so well-liked here.”

“You have a firm grip on the stomachs of the residents of the Demon King’s Castle.”

Lester, standing next to Viola and watching the scene, smiles wryly.

“Complaints about the kitchen have flooded in since you stopped waking up.”

“Was my cooking really that hard to replicate?”

“At that time, it wasn’t about learning your recipes; I was just being your hands and feet. Even if I cooked, it didn’t taste the same to a palate accustomed to your flavors.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Besides, when the Demon king… No, let’s drop it.”

“If you cut me off there, it just piques my curiosity.”

Maybe this is a chance to ask.

Viola, looking up at Lester from the corner of her eye, calmly inquires, “Don’t you find Nox’s behavior strange?”

“Strange, you say?”

“Yes. It’s like he’s a different person.”

“A different person… could it be that he’s unaware of it?”

Viola panics, thinking she might have said something strange, seeing Lester fall into an indescribable expression of silence.

“…What am I being asked?”

“Did I say something weird? It’s obviously odd. Don’t you think Nox seems strange?”

“I don’t think so, but if I say anything more, I’ll be scared of the Demon King. Spare me.”

Turning away, as if to say no more probing, Lester sighs and disappears into the kitchen.

Viola gazes at him, pursing her lips. Everyone is like this. Whenever she tries to inquire about Nox’s suspicious behavior, people clam up like clams. They either ask her to talk to the Demon king or simply say they’re scared of the Demon king.

“Viola.”

Suddenly, a voice startles her, and Viola looks up to find Nox leaning against the wall next to her as if it were the most natural thing. When did he get there? Until just now, he was quietly competing with Arnold for a piece of meat.

“Nox.”

In response to Viola’s slightly tense voice, Nox shrugs his shoulders.

“Did I do something to make you so wary of me?”

“It would be strange if I weren’t wary after that.”

“I just behave as I always have, following my heart.”

“That part of you hasn’t changed.”

In response to Viola’s words, Nox, smiling happily, extends his arm.

Leaning against the wall, Nox stops moving, creating a posture that surrounds Viola. Viola’s heart skips a beat as he looks down at her from a close distance, feeling like the air is getting heavy.

Weird. Truly, weird.

“Your face is red.”

“It’s just your imagination.”

“Well, don’t be so stubborn.”

“I’m not!”

Nox lifts a strand of Viola’s hair and brings his face close to her chestnut-colored hair. Making deliberate sounds as he kisses, the man sends a languid glance.

Knowing full well the impact it has, Nox continues, making it truly unsettling.

Blushing cheeks. Ears that seem like they might catch fire .Viola has never experienced being approached by a man like this before. She is unfamiliar with such a heated gaze, almost begging for something.

“Viola, come on, be aware of me.”

a whisper that makes her knees weak. Lips briefly moistened, and there was a disappearing red tongue .Viola doesn’t want to hear the next words, and the next thing she knows, her vision turns pitch black.

“――!”

Viola delivers a headbutt to the man’s chest in front of her and takes advantage of the opening to escape. The men who were dumbfounded watching Viola dash out of the grand hall turned their gaze slowly back to Nox, the apparent culprit.

Everyone pretends not to have seen anything.

There stands Nox, placing a hand on his chest where he received the headbutt, smiling leisurely with a complete predator’s gaze.

◇

“Hah… haa…”

She ran. It was probably the most she had ever run in her life.

Blaming the pounding sound of her heart on running too much, Viola sits down exhausted. Somehow, it feels like something similar has happened before.

When she raises her head, her eyes meet the familiar bust.

“Bust-san, long time no see.”

Vibration. Speaking towards the bust might be strange, but without any sign of surprise, the bust accepts Viola’s presence. Viola tilts her head. She hadn’t visited for a good five years. She feels like she should be a bit more flustered.

“I don’t have any food today. I ran away from Nox.”

With dissatisfaction, the bust sways. Sitting down next to the bust and leaning against it, Viola mutters.

“I don’t know what Nox is thinking.”

There is no answer. Without worrying about it, Viola mutters to the bust as she used to.

“He started paying attention to me so suddenly… and kissed me. He called it a therapeutic act, but there’s no way it was just that.”

He had such a happy expression. There’s no way it was a straightforward therapeutic act.

“Hey, Bust-san, do you know what Nox is thinking?”

The bust blinks. However, Viola is no longer deceived. If she had closed her eyes at that time, she would have been thrown onto Nox’s bed out of nowhere.

It would have been fine at that time. However, if she were to be thrown onto Nox’s bed now, she genuinely feels like her chastity is in danger. After all, the current Nox emits an incredibly dangerous aura.

Frustrated by Viola’s refusal to close her eyes, the bust blinked irritably. Viola glared back, determined not to close her eyes.

On one side, there is a stone statue. On the other hand, a living human .The outcome is already known.

Her eyes dried up, her muscles strained desperately, she twitched for a moment, and Viola’s eyes closed. In that instant, a familiar floating sensation enveloped her body.

When that sensation disappeared and she felt a soft touch beneath her body, Viola realized that her worst fear had become a reality.