‘It shouldn’t be here…’

Romei tilted her head, doubting her eyes yet unable to look away from the familiar book sitting primly on the display cabinet.

After contemplating for a moment, she finally asked a nearby servant to bring her the book. The servant paused what they were doing and handed it to her.

Romei immediately checked the title upon receiving it.

“How the Bold Maid Seduced the Prince.”

Though somewhat childish, the title clearly conveyed the book’s content and was extremely familiar to her. It was the romance novel that a maid she had been close with had lent her.

“Why is this here…?”

Romei mumbled in confusion rather than delight at unexpectedly finding a book she had quite enjoyed reading.

Finding it in Barmas’s bedroom in the demon realm was strange no matter how she thought about it.

‘Barmas couldn’t possibly have read this…’

While Romei sat motionless on the bed, gently stroking the book cover with a puzzled expression, Barmas returned after changing his clothes.

“Sorry. Did you wait long…?”

Barmas began to apologize but trailed off when he saw Romei already dressed in outdoor clothes waiting for him. He had spotted the book in her hands—one that shouldn’t have been there.

“No…”

“Oh, you’re back.”

Before Barmas could explain, Romei greeted him while setting the book down beside her. She had noticed his return belatedly, lost in thought.

The timing for an explanation had passed, but he couldn’t ignore her greeting either.

In the end, Barmas chose to acknowledge her greeting rather than save face.

“Ah… yes. I just got back. Did you wait long?”

“No. Not that long.”

“The clothes? Do you like them? Not too heavy?”

“They’re not particularly heavy. I like the clothes too. They just feel unfamiliar since I haven’t worn them in a while.”

Romei added this small observation with a faint smile that looked like it might disappear if rubbed.

Though Romei had just made a casual remark, Barmas immediately stiffened and said, almost like making a personal vow:

“It’s alright. I’ll make sure you wear them often enough to get used to them.”

“…”

Romei merely blinked slowly while looking at him, offering no response. Her silence communicated that trying to win her favor this way was futile.

Barmas knew this but chose not to mention it. Instead, he changed the subject, revealing his unwavering determination that wouldn’t be broken so easily.

“Shall we go to the garden then?”

“…Sure.”

With Romei’s permission, Barmas strode over to her and carefully supported her back and the backs of her knees as he lifted her. Romei naturally rested her head against his chest.

With the cloak and skirt hem fluttering beneath his thick arms, Barmas began walking toward the garden.

* * *

“My goodness…”

Proving that his claim about creating something jaw-dropping wasn’t an exaggeration, Romei involuntarily let out a soft exclamation of wonder at the spectacular view before her eyes.

Her closed lips parted, her eyes widened, and her head kept turning to take in her surroundings.

This reaction was understandable—the entire vast field was filled with blue roses.

Each time the wind blew, the roses swayed with the breeze, sending waves of fresh rose fragrance toward them. When she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, refreshing, fragrant air filled her lungs.

‘…This feels good.’

Romei felt happiness blooming deep within her heart for the first time in a long while. She found it remarkable that she could still feel happiness while nearly at death’s door.

Barmas, who had been watching with a satisfied smile as her face brightened and her clear eyes sparkled, asked:

“Do you like it? I worked hard on it.”

“It’s so… so beautiful.”

Romei, seated with Barmas’s arm as her chair, expressed her honest appreciation. Her answer clearly conveyed her surprise at the unexpected scenery.

“I’m glad you like it. I thought you might be disappointed that it’s not just a flower bed.”

“…I was never disappointed. I was just astonished that you created a garden just for me.”

When Barmas spoke teasingly with a playful tone, Romei responded primly. Then she turned her head from looking around at the garden to look down at him.

Barmas was supporting her almost entirely with one arm, yet showed no signs of strain. Instead, his carefree smile made him look quite happy.

“But I was right, wasn’t I? It sounds absurd when you hear about it, but you actually like it when you see it.”

“…I suppose so.”

Romei didn’t want to admit it, but she had no choice. She had never beheld such a beautiful landscape in her life.

“It sounded ridiculous when I heard about it, but seeing it in person is completely different.”

“Right?”

Barmas looked up at her with a triumphant smile. It was a smile full of confidence and pride, knowing she couldn’t help but like it.

Then, carefully moving to ensure she wouldn’t fall, he pointed to various parts of the garden with his fingertips, explaining how he had created it.

“Like I said, since there wasn’t space for a garden, I had to expand the castle walls, which was quite a challenge. I had to mobilize all the familiars I had. We also needed to prepare for potential enemy invasions.”

“…Did you build it yourself?”

“Not directly. I temporarily disabled the magic circle laid in the underground so it wouldn’t activate during construction. That’s why all the familiars were mobilized.”

“Ah…”

Romei nodded at his detailed explanation.

What Barmas pointed to was closer to building new castle walls than mere expansion. It would have been more efficient to use the method he described rather than carrying bricks one by one to build the walls.

“After securing the space by building the walls, the next part was even more problematic.”

“Why?”

“I brought in and planted a massive quantity of flowers to decorate the garden, but they wouldn’t grow.”

“…”

“Truly, they didn’t grow even a single centimeter. I thought they would grow well just by planting them in the ground, like plants in the demon realm.”

Barmas, with a serious face, frowned at the memory, conveying how baffled he had been when the plants didn’t grow at all despite his expectation that they would flourish naturally once planted.

His bewilderment was so palpable that Romei couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft.”

“…”

“Of course. How could they grow vigorously when you just planted them?”

Barmas stared blankly at Romei, forgetting what he was about to say, captivated by her smile.

While her smile was beautiful, the greater emotion washing over him came from the fact that Romei had finally smiled. It felt like he had taken a step closer to his past promise to make her happy, even if that might have been selfish on his part.

Noticing Barmas’s gaze belatedly, Romei asked:

“What’s wrong, suddenly?”

“…”

“Did I say something strange?”

“No. That’s not it…”

Barmas shook his head dazedly. His red eyes seemed somewhat unfocused.

He moved his lips several times, seemingly choosing his words, then continued:

“Just… seeing you smile after such a long time makes me feel strange.”

“…”

“If I had known this would happen, I would have built a hundred gardens, but I didn’t have enough time.”

Barmas said this with a smile. It was half-joking, but half-sincere.

Romei silently took in the sight of him.

She blinked very slowly, gazing at his face melded into the landscape of blue roses, and stared into his red eyes filled with complex emotions.

His earlobes had turned bright red.

An indescribable feeling once again knocked at Romei’s heart.

“So I watered them, spread fertilizer, and caused quite a commotion. I don’t think even a battle would have created such chaos.”

“…”

“Plus, their growth was so slow that I became increasingly anxious. I gathered my familiars to discuss it, and someone even suggested that we might as well find similar plants from the demon realm and pretend they were roses.”

“…”

“Still, perhaps because I’ve spilled so much blood and left many corpses on this land, they grew reasonably well for plants from the human realm. Thanks to that, we can enjoy the garden together right on time, so it all worked out.”

Romei, who had been staring at Barmas as he recounted his struggles to create a proper garden, finally spoke up.

“But why did you make the garden?”

“Hmm…?”

Barmas frowned slightly and tilted his head, seemingly not understanding her question. So Romei elaborated:

“You said you made the garden for me.”

“That’s right.”

“Why did you think of making a garden?”

At Romei’s seemingly casual yet penetrating question, Barmas fell silent. His gaze remained fixed on Romei sitting on his arm.

‘Why, she asks…?’

Barmas pondered her question for a long time.

When he first saw Romei, Barmas wanted to devour her soul. After bringing her here, he wanted to corrupt her by drowning her in pleasure.

When she smiled, he wanted to possess her, and when he finally thought he had her completely in his grasp, he believed he had nothing more to desire.

But now, Barmas yearned for something he had never felt for anyone before, and the garden, amusingly enough, was created to fulfill that yearning.

“…I thought it might make you happy, even just a little.”

“…”

“That’s why I made it.”