Chapter 10.

The prayer sounds became increasingly clear in her ears, and Shuvien was simply dumbfounded by this sacred atmosphere.

“Your Majesty, no matter how I think about it, this doesn’t seem right!”

Shuvien twisted her body, trying to escape, but Bellian held her firmly and stubbornly resisted.

“I’m not really going to do it. I’m just pretending. But closer than I thought.”

“But!”

“You made a promise to me. That you wouldn’t run away. That you would become my Empress.”

‘Right. I’ve prepared myself. And he’s not really going to do it anyway.’

Shuvien nodded with a solemn expression and surrendered herself to him.

No matter how much she repeated in her mind that it was fake, her heart pounded and her body temperature rose.

The memory of that night, which she thought she had forgotten, floated through her mind, awakening the dizzying sensations of that time.

Shuvien repeatedly swallowed her increasingly hot breath, and Bellian felt her breathing move up and down dramatically as the corner of his mouth involuntarily curved deeply.

“I must have been decent among your countless men. Seeing how your body remembers so quickly.”

‘When you say it like that, it makes me sound like some man-crazy femme fatale!’

Bellian’s touch firmly gripped Shuvien’s precarious collar as he whispered into her ear one last time.

“It’s okay. You just need to fulfill your duty according to the consummation procedure.”

‘Oh, whatever. I’ve come this far already. Is a two-night stand really harder than a one-night stand?!’

Shuvien squeezed her eyes shut, and Bellian buried his lips in her nape just to lightly kiss her.

But the unexpectedly sweet scent and soft touch pulled at his reason.

Bellian’s gaze gradually became more intense, and soon his breath and touch on her began to reach intimate places more deeply.

Shuvien also felt something change in his movements and raised her head abruptly.

“W-Wait, Your Majesty. You clearly said you would only pretend……”

“…I too. Seem to have not forgotten.”

“What?”

“That night.”

Just as his lips, which had almost but not quite touched hers, suddenly parted her lips and were about to draw in her breath.

Bellian’s movements heaved greatly and his breathing began to roughen.

Shuvien instinctively sensed something wrong with his breathing and cupped his face.

“Your Majesty, why are you suddenly like this? Look at me. Your Majesty?”

But strangely, Bellian kept his head down, trying not to face Shuvien.

“…Don’t……”

“Your Majesty, your body temperature is dropping. Are you sick? Let me see you!”

At that moment, his black pupils suddenly turned blood-red, and a blue-tinged madness flashed.

“Your Majesty?”

Shuvien flinched greatly, and Bellian, turning pale, pushed her away and left the bed.

He ran to the corner and trembled painfully, covering his face with one hand.

Concerned about his suddenly changed appearance, Shuvien carefully opened her mouth.

“Are you really sick? Let me take a look. You know I have some medical skills……”

“Stay away……”

“Your Majesty?”

“Get out!”

A thunderous sound shook the space, and then the oil lamps shattered, completely extinguishing all light around.

“Haah……”

An eerie sensation, as if the world had completely twisted, poured over Shuvien.

She couldn’t move, her gaze fixed on one spot.

In this moment where light and sound became distant, a strange being at the end of her gaze was staring at Shuvien breathlessly.

She immediately understood what was happening.

In the novel, almost no one knew except a few, but she knew very well about his setting.

This was the real reason for the incurable disease hidden in him, the male protagonist of this novel.

‘Devil Heart.’

A monster.

A monster lived in his heart.

“…Absolutely, absolutely don’t come near. Stay away from me. If you don’t want to die!”

Bellian covered his face with both hands and hid his body in an increasingly cornered spot.

But his breathing, breaking the silence repeatedly, grated on Shuvien’s ears.

His agonized breathing felt intermittent, as if it would break off several times.

‘His pupils dilated rapidly from the pain, causing blood vessels to burst. How much pain must he be in to be like that?’

Although she hadn’t completed her residency, even after seeing all kinds of patients in pain as a surgical resident, she had never seen pain like this.

Yet he was enduring without a single scream.

‘Is he used to it? Is hiding it more important than his own pain?’

His setting was that he was the only human who could use magic.

The reason he could use magic was supposedly because he had accidentally obtained a magic sword and was recognized as its master, but that wasn’t true.

The demon god who had tried to destroy this world was sealed in his heart.

Bellian’s entire body acted as a barrier to suppress the demon god.

It was called the ‘Devil Heart,’ and he, with the devil’s heart, could handle the magic power coming from that heart, but was dying because of it.

The demon god’s power was so vast and cruel that his heart could be said to be the demon god itself.

The demon god, who feared nothing in the world, was sealed in a mere human heart.

It constantly tormented Bellian’s senses, trying to make him unable to endure this pain and commit suicide to break the seal.

Once the pain went berserk, no one could approach him.

Because that vile Devil Heart created a barrier so no one could help Bellian.

A barrier that would tear apart and kill anyone who approached.

‘I heard he usually takes medicine to suppress the pain. It seems the medicine is becoming less effective.’

“Ughhhh… Hnngh!”

Crack-!

Suddenly, Shuvien’s nape chilled at the eerie sound of something breaking.

“Y-Your Majesty. What was that sound……”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be over soon. It will end soon… I don’t want to kill you, so absolutely. Absolutely don’t come near. Not getting close to you is what will save you… That’s. The only way. I can treat you well……”

After blinking a few times, the once-dark space became familiar to her eyes, and she could gradually see Bellian hiding in the corner.

His once-proud appearance had vanished, and the sight of him fighting pain alone was almost unbearable to watch.

‘To suffer like that. When I read it in the novel, it didn’t hit me this hard……”

And perhaps because they had spent time together, she had developed some attachment.

Shuvien found it difficult to just stand by and watch.

She walked very slowly. Slowly toward him.

“Ughhhh……”

As she approached, his large back was trembling like an aspen tree.

‘Since when has he endured such pain? Every time. Every moment. Alone like this……”

On the outside, he appeared to be a flawless being, a tyrant called the creator of hell.

No one knows about this pain, that the demon god in his heart constantly threatens to kill him.

‘Because it’s a weakness of the Emperor who must be flawless.’

Moreover, if it became known that his magic came from the demon god rather than the magic sword, he would be treated as a real monster and everyone would turn away from him.

At that moment, something rippling caught Shuvien’s eye.

‘What is that?’

Looking closely at the ripples, they were woven like threads centered around Bellian.

The moment she saw it, she knew it was the barrier created by the Devil Heart.

‘So that’s why they described people who approached having their bodies torn apart. But why can I see this? Should I be able to see it?’

But should I keep pretending not to know? If I acknowledge knowing this, I could really die instantly.

“Your Majesty. What’s really happening? Should I call someone?”

“…Outside, Lloyd will be handling things. You just. Just stay here quiet as a mouse. Ugh!”

His curled-up body convulsed greatly once more.

Shuvien watched with a panicked gaze, and a thought slightly raised its head.

‘Will I really die if I approach? Since I’m not from this world. Maybe my medical skills could help.’

But what if I die? Should I just close my eyes and pretend not to know? But how long will he suffer? He’s not going to be like this all night, is he?

‘This feels like watching a gore movie in real-time surround sound!’

At that moment, the sound of something breaking was heard clearly once more.

And Shuvien, being close by, was shocked to realize what this eerie sound was.

“What are you doing? Y-You’re breaking your finger bones? Are you crazy!”

“I’m making it. So I can’t use my hands. In case I go more berserk here. I might hurt you. It would be safest to send you outside, but I can’t do that now……”

Shuvien firmly grasped his trembling fist.

‘To protect me, his fingers. Even though he’s already in pain, now he’s…’

“Who’s worrying about whom!”

She couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore.

Shuvien swallowed a trembling breath deeply.

‘This barrier is definitely only visible to my eyes. Then it’s all or nothing. It might not work on me.’

Oh, whatever. At times like this, I should use this famous line.

‘If you can’t eat it, at least taste it!’

Bellian raised his head, worried about the suddenly quiet Shuvien, and his eyes changed.

“What are you doing? Don’t come. Don’t come, I said. I don’t want to kill you too!”

But then an impossible warmth touched the back of his hand.

Shuvien was firmly holding Bellian’s blood-covered hand.

Bellian stared at Shuvien as if he’d seen a ghost, unable to believe it.

“H-How……”

“I’m fine, so from now on, just worry about yourself. You’re a complete emergency patient now, code blue.”

Bellian’s vision blurred for a moment.

Until now, Shuvien was the first and only person who had broken through the Devil Heart’s barrier.