Romei asked again, unable to see his reaction as normal under any circumstances.

“Aren’t you angry?”

“Why should I be angry? You’re pressing me like someone eagerly waiting for my anger.”

“…But you used to get angry before. You absolutely forbade me from taking naps.”

“…”

Barmas’s expression stiffened momentarily before he replied with feigned nonchalance.

“Perhaps I reformed while you were sleeping.”

“…”

Romei was speechless.

If there was a word most incompatible with Barmas in this world, it would be “reformed.” Claiming he had suffered a head injury would have been more believable.

One thing was certain, though—Barmas showed absolutely no intention of getting angry with her.

‘This isn’t right… I need to be discarded by Barmas for being useless to gain my freedom.’

Barmas, who had been quietly observing Romei’s increasingly darkening expression in the dim light, asked a question that struck directly at the heart of the matter.

“Why? Are you disappointed because I’m not raging and throwing you away for being useless?”

Her gaze, which had briefly dropped, returned to Barmas. She was surprised he had figured out her intentions, but not overly so.

Barmas was a devil, after all, and must have found some way to discover her plan while she slept. But Romei didn’t care whether her intentions were exposed or not.

“I’m not sure ‘disappointed’ is the right word, but I do think this works out well.”

“…What does?”

Barmas’s voice dropped an octave, seemingly detecting an ominous premonition.

Romei said:

“I plan to become the most useless existence to you.”

“…”

“I won’t follow any of your orders, nor will I act cute or try to please you. I’ll continue refusing food and medicine, and I’ll sleep until I die—something you absolutely detest.”

“…So?”

“Discard me.”

Romei concisely conveyed her wish to Barmas. This approach would save them both unnecessary trouble.

When no response came from Barmas, Romei suggested an alternative.

“If you find it wasteful to simply throw away my life energy, you can kill me through excessive s*x. That was your original plan anyway, wasn’t it?”

With each word she spoke, Barmas’s expression grew increasingly cold. Unable to bear the pain that felt like it was gouging his chest, he sighed deeply and rubbed his face with his hands.

Then he said:

“…I have absolutely no intention of discarding you.”

“…”

“Even if you don’t follow orders, refuse food and medicine, and do nothing but sleep, I won’t throw you away. Don’t even dream about dying through excessive s*x.”

“…”

“I’ll grant any wish you have, but above all else, I need you by my side…”

“But didn’t you kill your other familiars?”

Romei, who had been listening to him, cut in with a puzzled question. For a moment, Barmas’s eyes wavered.

She continued:

“Why do you kill familiars when they displease you, but not me?”

“…”

“You could kill me too when I displease you. If you brought me here to consume my soul, I don’t understand why you say you won’t kill me.”

Barmas’s face contorted momentarily. Bile rose in his throat. He swallowed dryly, suppressing the rising nausea.

When his churning stomach had somewhat calmed, Barmas broke the silence. Romei quietly waited for his answer.

“I don’t want to eat your soul, and I don’t want to kill you.”

“…”

“But why are you so determined to be abandoned by me?”

Barmas asked. This was one of the things he had wanted to ask her when she woke up.

Romei blinked slowly. The shadow of her eyelashes appeared and disappeared beneath her eyes in the orange light illuminating her face.

Eventually, a clear and distinct voice flowed from between her lips.

“Because I mistakenly thought I could handle things that were beyond my capacity.”

“…”

“I have nothing left but you, and I belatedly realized that I neither want nor can endure a life serving you.”

“…”

“And anyway, Barmas, you’ll soon turn your back on me too. If spilled water can’t be gathered again, I believe it’s right to end things here.”

“Why would I turn my back on you?”

“I resented you for something that wasn’t your fault. I hurt your pride by saying I couldn’t feel much during our intimate moments, and I used you for my own selfish desires.”

Barmas quietly closed his mouth at Romei’s matter-of-fact response. The corners of his mouth subtly drooped while he listened to her words.

Completely unaware of this fact, Romei continued speaking.

“Moreover, I took naps which you despise terribly, and now I’m telling you I’ll become useless to you. Isn’t there no reason to keep me alive?”

Every word she uttered pierced Barmas’s heart like thorns.

While Romei had been rotting inside, he had been intoxicated by her performance, and now the consequences were unfolding before his eyes.

Barmas felt utterly miserable, like his insides were twisting, making him wish for death.

After repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fists, Barmas reached out and grabbed Romei’s hand. Then he poured out his true feelings.

“I’ll say it again—I have not the slightest desire to kill you. Maybe I did at first, but not anymore.”

“…”

“At some point, I wanted to possess you. I wanted to make you mine and couldn’t tolerate anything that interfered with making you mine. That’s why I behaved like such a goddamn bastard.”

“…”

“When I got angry with you, I truly was… worried about you. I worried you might die. When you bit your tongue trying to win our bet, when you slept excessively, even now… I…”

Barmas couldn’t continue. He tightly closed his eyes for a moment.

Though he had turned on the light, the room remained dim, so Romei couldn’t be certain whether his shoulders were trembling. However, she knew some kind of emotion was welling up in him because the hand holding hers was shaking slightly.

The red eyes that had been briefly hidden beneath his eyelids were revealed. Those crimson eyes, which had always gleamed with sadism, now held a faint moisture.

Romei quietly gazed into his eyes.

“You can curse me as a good-for-nothing scoundrel, or resent me for ruining your life. I don’t expect any affection, and I’ll do whatever you ask. If being with me torments you, I’ll try to make it less painful, so…”

“…”

“Just stay by my side.”

“…”

“Don’t die…”

Saying this, Barmas hung his head and pitifully trembled. This time it was clearly visible even in the darkness.

If Romei hadn’t been in her current state of having given up everything—if she had still harbored even a small hope of returning to where she belonged, or if this had been before she resolved to die—she might have felt compassion for him.

Despite knowing how cunning a devil he was, she might have believed in his remorse or sincerity, at least a little.

But what Romei wanted now had nothing to do with his remorse.

“…So ultimately, you’re saying you won’t discard me?”

That was her only takeaway.

Barmas stopped his silent crying and raised his head to look at Romei.

Despite his heartfelt confession, Romei remained cold. More precisely, she showed no emotion whatsoever. She simply didn’t care.

This shocked Barmas even more—not because his sincerity wasn’t accepted, but because she seemed interested in nothing but death.

And indeed, that was Romei’s state of mind.

“What would make you kill me? What would make you want to kill me?”

“Please, Romei…”

He clutched both her hands, pleading. The arrogant Barmas who always mocked, ridiculed, and insulted her was nowhere to be seen. There was only a man begging her not to die, promising to do anything.

Romei gazed impassively at his tear-stained face and said:

“I don’t resent you or want to curse you. You were simply doing what you do. I’m the weak one.”

“No. That’s not true…”

“I don’t understand why you’re clinging to me like this, but instead of exhausting me and wasting your energy, why not just discard me? You said you’d do anything I asked.”

“No. That’s the one thing I absolutely cannot do. Anything else is possible, but not that. You might as well ask me to tattoo ‘selfish, rotten garbage’ on my forehead. I’d prefer that.”

Romei had tried to reason with him gently, but Barmas stubbornly shook his head like a petulant child. It was an uncompromising, resolute refusal.

‘Why does he have to make this so exhausting…’

His crying face—something she’d never seen before—his hands desperately holding onto hers, his eyes earnestly begging her not to leave—all of it drained Romei.

She couldn’t understand why her death was so important to him that he would be this stubborn.

But Romei had already resolved to die, and in that moment of decision, she had tasted a small happiness that she didn’t want to lose.

So she decided to propose another approach.

“Shall we make a bet?”