There was a vast and beautiful field of vegetation surrounding a big lake.
People sat around a mat that was filled with all sorts of luxurious foods and drinks while looking nervously at Balrog and Lilith.
No, to be more precise, they were looking at Balrog, who was over five meters tall, cautiously.
"Fufu, I feel like this is my first time talking with everyone. Nice to meet you. My name is Lilith. I supported Mr. KangWoo for a long time while in the 9th hell," Lilith said with a smile on her face and a glass in her hands.
Kim ShiHoon, Chae YeonJoo, and Cheon MooJin looked at her in confusion.
"You're a demon within the body of Kurosaki Yurie?"
"Yes."
"Then what happened with Kurosaki Yurie?"
"She's... asleep for the moment."
Lilith placed her hand on her chest.
"She fused with a demon, so she hasn't come back to her senses, but as time goes on, we're naturally going be able to share a consciousness."
"Hng..."
"A demon and a human sharing a body...?"
Cheon MooJin looked troubled.
He couldn't help but feel sorry for Kurosaki Yurie, whose body had been taken over by a demon, but blaming her didn't seem right.
It wasn't that she'd taken Kurosaki Yurie's body because she wanted to. Not only that, she had no connection to her from the beginning.
She also hadn't lost her consciousness completely, so although it didn't feel right, he couldn't say anything.
"Then, just like Mr. KangWoo, these people..."
Gaia nervously turned her head.
She was the incarnation of Gaia, so from her perspective, it wasn't easy to accept them.
KangWoo spoke in a serious voice.
"It isn't that they were able to overcome demonic energy itself like me, but they're going to be helpful in defeating the Demon of Prophecy."
"I... see."
Gaia nodded in confusion.
KangWoo had thrown away the body of a demon and accepted the Hero God's energy inside him, but were pure demons trustworthy?
'Maybe Mr. KangWoo is also being deceived?'
There's no way such a thought wouldn't cross her mind.
[You don't need to worry.]
Gaia heard Balrog's voice.
[I've offered my soul to the King. I'll do anything for him.]
He sounded confident.
Gaia felt that there wasn't any hesitation in his voice.
She grabbed her skirt and opened her mouth.
"Mr. KangWoo isn't the Demon King anymore... so are you still loyal to him despite that?"
[Hahaha!]
Balrog laughed.
[Of course, after losing to Satan, he's lost the position as Demon King. But at least for me, he'll always be the King.]
"..."
Gaia remained silent.
He didn't sound like he was telling a lie.
Gaia smiled.
"Okay, I'll believe in you, Mr. Balrog."
[Hahaha, unlike before you seem quite calm,...]
"Kyaa! Sh-shh! Silence!"
Gaia's face reddened.
KangWoo opened his mouth while he looked over everyone laughing.
"I asked everyone to come today to present to you my two underlings and to relax a little bit. We haven’t had a chance to relax like this since Guardian was built. Think that you've come here to have a good time and enjoy it."
"Hyeongnim, thanks for arranging a meeting like this."
Kim ShiHoon smiled.
It seemed like he liked the idea of being there with Gaia and KangWoo.
KangWoo smirked and grabbed his chopsticks.
"Seol-ah did the cooking, so say thanks to her."
"As expected from sister-in-law! How did you prepare so much food?! It's also all very delicious...!"
"Ah, I… I just made it because I wanted to!"
Han Seol-ah's face reddened.
A smile blossomed on her face.
Echidna grabbed a kimbab with her chopsticks while sitting on KangWoo’s lap.
"KangWoo, aah!"
"Hmm?"
The kimbab approached his mouth.
KangWoo smirked and opened his mouth.
He liked the taste of cheese mixed with the other ingredients of the kimbab.
"Is it delicious?"
"Yes."
"Hngh! Hngh!"
Echidna snorted as if she were waiting for something.
KangWoo grabbed a kimbab and gave it to her.
"Crunch. It's delicious. As expected, Seol-ah is the best.'
"Fufu. Echidna also helped."
"The ones I made exploded," Echidna said while pouting.
Han Seol-ah couldn't handle how cute she looked and took her from KangWoo and hugged her.
"KYAA! How can you be so cute?!"
"Seol-ah, I can't breath."
Echidna struggled as if she were being suffocated by something big.
It was as if he were looking at sisters or maybe a mother and daughter.
"Fufufu, the atmosphere is better than I imagined."
Lilith approached him while smiling.
Flinch.
KangWoo trembled a bit.
He remembered the trauma from the previous day and dripped cold sweat while his face paled.
"Mr. KangWoo, ah~"
"Ah, aah."
* * *
He wasn't sure if he was exclaiming in fear or eating food, but a kimbab entered his mouth.
He mechanically chewed.
"Ugh..."
Kim ShiHoon gulped while looking at him in envy.
'Huh, why?'
Did he begin liking Lilith?
"H-hyeongnim…"
'What?'
"Ehem. I… I'm just doing this because of the atmosphere."
'What atmosphere.'
"Say, ‘aah’."
'What the fuck?'
Kim ShiHoon approached him while blushing.
He turned his head as if he were embarrassed while he grabbed a kimbab with his chopsticks.
'Don't be embarrassed, you idiot.'
KangWoo's expression paled.
"I'm tired of kimbab..."
[Fufu. It seems like you don't know the King’s tastes, human.]
'Don't make things even more complicated.'
As Balrog joined Lilith and Kim ShiHoon, he felt pressured.
He extended his hands to Han Seol-ah, who was hugging Echidna, but it seemed like she couldn't see him anymore.
'Dear...'
The distance between Heaven and Hell was but a meter, but Balrog and ShiHoon were bothering him.
"What does that mean...?"
[Just like you've heard. I heard you also swore loyalty to the King... but it's still lacking.]
"Nonsense."
"Hey, guys… We came here to get along..."
[Well, we served the King for a different amount of time, so I guess there's nothing that can be done. Hahaha! It's hard to get to know him in such a short span of time.]
"Ha, you're talking like you know everything about Hyeong KangWoo."
"Excuse me? Can you hear me?"
The atmosphere intensified.
Kim ShiHoon and Balrog were looking at each other with sharp eyes.
WHOOM. Their energies that could easily cut a demon from the 9th hell clashed.
The ground shook a bit.
[I'm going to tell you about the food that the King likes!]
'But you don't know.
Balrog used his giant hands to stab something with a chopstick—it was the sashimi set that Chae YeonJoo had brought, more specifically, the head of a fish used for the spicy stew.
[The King enjoys the heads of beings like this!]
'Not at all.'
[See? Look how happy he looks!]
'I'm not happy at all.'
[Hehehe. Come on, eat this, my King.]
'That isn't something that should be eaten, you son of a bitch.'
He pushed away the fish head.
A fishy smell spread through their surroundings.
"H-hyeongnim… Rather than that, eat this!"
[My King!]
"Ah..."
He wished both of them would just shove off.
KangWoo covered his face with his hands and buried it between his knees.
* * *
"M-Mr. KangWoo..."
Han Seol-ah looked at KangWoo running from Balrog and ShiHoon.
'I also wanted to do it...'
She used the chopsticks to turn the kimbab around.
"Fufu. Did everything work well yesterday?"
"N-not… yet..."
"Hngh. You're lacking courage. Still, I wished for your success."
"..."
Han Seol-ah remained silent and carefully opened her mouth.
"Uhm... Is Ms. Lilith okay with that?"
"Yes? What?"
"I mean... If... Mr. KangWoo and I… w-work well..."
She couldn't easily express herself.
Lilith laughed.
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes?"
"A King is supposed to have multiple women."
"..."
It was a way of thinking that she couldn't easily accept. After all, she was born and raised in Korea.
"Fufu, I was joking."
"Ah... Right?"
"Yes. I'm going to be honest…"
Lilith smiled bitterly while looking up at the sky.
"I thought I would be okay if anyone could make the King feel less lonely."
"..."
"Ms. Seol-ah, have you heard about anything the King went through when he was in Hell?"
"No."
She shook her head.
Lilith kept talking with deep, sunken eyes.
"He now talks as if it was nothing... but he really experienced a lot of pain."
"..."
"Fufu. Although he talks like that, he's quite affectionate. Do you know why the King engaged in a war against the archdukes?"
"No."
"It was because of that massive guy."
"Mr. Balrog?"
Lilith nodded while making a bittersweet smile.
"To save him... He made all the archdukes his enemies—that's how affectionate he is, so..."
He had probably hurt a lot.
What she felt was hard to express in words.
Han Seol-ah remained silent.
She felt envious.
It was as if she knew a KangWoo she didn't know.
"Fufu. I hope you succeed today."
Lilith got up and waved her hands.
Han Seol-ah stood up while looking at her walk away.
'Not anymore.'
She didn't want to hesitate any longer.
She realized she'd begun the race way later than her and took a breath before turning around.
'I'll probably fail.'
Obtaining KangWoo's heart…
After talking with Lilith, she realized how hard that was.
'She's so pretty and thinks about Mr. KangWoo so much, yet...'
If Lilith hadn't been able to obtain KangWoo's heart, she didn't think she had a chance.
But…
"I want to make sure he at least knows..."
Han Seol-ah walked toward where KangWoo had escaped while her eyes were shining.
As she walked into the forest, she saw KangWoo taking a break and laying on a tree.
"Mr. KangWoo…"
"Ah, yes? Did something happen?"
"Th-there's something I want to tell you…"
Han Seol-ah closed her eyes and felt her head spinning.
'H-how should I tell him?'
She'd received love confessions numerous times, but it was her first time trying to make one.
'First…'
She spread her hands and grabbed KangWoo's.
"Hmm?"
"I… I..."
Her eyes flittered about, and her head felt fuzzy.
'Wh-what Mr. KangWoo likes… H-how could I use that…?'
Her lips moved the best they could.
"I want to make kimchi stew for Mr. KangWoo for the rest of my life."
'You stupid idiot!!!'
Why did she propose that out of the blue?
No, it wasn't even a proposal—it was closer to a joke.
Han Seol-ah wanted to scream in embarrassment.
'He'll probably think I'm a weird woman. He'll probably say, ‘what are you saying so suddenly’?'
All sorts of negative thoughts crossed her mind.
Han Seol-ah wanted to escape.
Then…
"Ehem."
'Hmm?'
"Sniff. Fuck... I'm glad I was born. Sob"
KangWoo collapsed on the floor and talked in a moved voice.
She saw tears in his eyes.
"I'm going to make you happy, dear."
"..."
He looked into her eyes while grabbing her hands.
She remembered what Lilith had told her…
- It won't be easy. I tried to move the Demon King's feelings for a long time... but I failed.
'What?'
‘Is it really this easy?’
