“Stop…”

“It seems like I could reform a demon with this approach. Instead of fighting over vulgar clothes, perhaps I should have taken this path from the beginning?”

“Please stop…”

Romei finally intervened to stop him. Though her expression was serious and firm, her face had turned bright red, making her look more adorable than dignified.

Barmas smiled and said:

“I only stated the obvious. I don’t understand why you’re suddenly so embarrassed.”

“…What you just said wasn’t a compliment but blasphemy.”

“I’m a demon, so that level of blasphemy doesn’t matter.”

“…”

Romei had no response to Barmas’s retort. What she couldn’t understand was why he, being a demon himself, would compare her to a deity or an angel.

However, she decided against asking further questions, fearing even more outrageous remarks might follow.

Turning away from Barmas, Romei faced forward. Then, quite unexpectedly, she began to find her hair, now reaching past her waist to her buttocks, rather bothersome.

‘It’s grown too long…’

Romei thought while touching her hair.

She hadn’t avoided growing her hair before. However, this was the first time it had grown so long.

In truth, Romei had always found her long hair cumbersome during training. Yet whenever she asked her friends if she should cut it, they unanimously opposed the idea. They would then try to persuade her using various arguments.

Finding it difficult to completely ignore her friends’ opinions, Romei had ultimately maintained her long hair.

‘But now…’

Romei slowly closed and opened her eyes, lost in melancholy.

The fact that she could no longer hear her friends’ opinions or meet them again pained her heart.

Thinking of Aron’s silhouette standing blankly before her gravestone in the deep darkness of night evoked indescribable emotions.

Though still sad, she had somewhat come to accept the reality that she was dead somewhere in the world.

“What’s wrong?”

Barmas approached and asked, breaking through her contemplation.

Romei looked up at Barmas, who had somehow drawn near. Mysteriously, concern filled his crimson eyes.

“You look pale. If you’re feeling unwell like yesterday…”

He was about to suggest she rest in bed for a while and offer to bring medicine. But Romei shook her head.

“I’m not sick. Just…”

“…”

“How would I look with short hair?”

Though quite random, it was an understandable question. After all, Romei’s hair was now so long it barely touched the chair she sat on.

After a moment’s consideration, Barmas asked:

“Hmm. How short would you like it?”

“About this length. Short.”

Romei roughly indicated a position slightly below her shoulders, around her collarbone.

With sharp eyes, Barmas checked the spot she pointed to in the mirror. Then, after examining the real Romei sitting before the mirror once more, he answered:

“…That wouldn’t look bad.”

“…”

“Are you cutting it now? If so, I’ll have the servants prepare.”

Romei stared at Barmas with surprised eyes, not expecting him to approve of short hair unlike her friends.

He had simply answered honestly thinking that’s what she wanted, but Romei’s intense gaze made Barmas flustered.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, it’s not that… You’re fine with me having short hair?”

“What on earth does that mean?”

Barmas frowned, completely failing to understand Romei’s question.

Romei calmly explained:

“I’ve heard men generally prefer long hair. And everyone told me I’m not the type who suits a bob cut. That I would definitely look strange if I cut it.”

“Who would say such nonsense?”

Barmas responded angrily to the absurd statement coming from Romei’s mouth. He looked ready to bring in whoever said those words and give them a thorough beating.

Though using violence for trivial matters wasn’t right, Romei somehow found his reaction reassuring.

“I wonder if those fools even have functioning eyes. Saying a bob cut wouldn’t suit you, what stupid nonsense. They must not even own a proper mirror at home.”

“…”

“Let me be clear, in case you’re wondering, don’t mind what those idiots said. Cut it if you want to. They may do stupid things occasionally, but they style hair quite nicely.”

Speaking thus, Barmas nodded toward the servant standing beside her. Romei’s gaze naturally shifted to where he pointed.

While she didn’t particularly doubt the servants’ hairdressing skills, the fact that the fastidious Barmas was satisfied with their work meant they were trustworthy professionals.

“Thank you for saying that. Then I’ll cut my hair. It’s too cumbersome.”

“Good. I’ll have them prepare.”

Barmas, smiling at Romei’s thanks, immediately ordered the servants to cut her hair.

The servants quickly gathered hairdressing tools and prepared to cut Romei’s hair.

They placed a smooth cape around her neck to prevent cut hair from sticking to her clothes. Then someone promptly brought scissors and a comb.

“Could you please tell us again how short you would like it?”

“Just slightly below the shoulders.”

“I understand.”

After confirming the length Romei indicated in the mirror, the servant made a couple of practice snips in the air before beginning to cut her hair.

Snip, snip.

Perhaps because she had thick hair, it felt like something substantial was being removed from her body. Yet rather than feeling regretful, she felt refreshingly lighter without the heavy weight of her hair.

“I’ve cut it to the length you requested. Please check.”

Along with the servant’s polite request for confirmation, the cape around her neck was removed.

Romei examined her appearance in the mirror.

Contrary to her friends’ insistence that a bob cut would look strange on her, it didn’t look bad at all.

In fact…

“I like it.”

“I’m glad you’re pleased.”

A faint but definite smile appeared on the face of the servant who usually maintained an expressionless, stiff, and businesslike demeanor.

Feeling pleased, Romei returned the smile and glanced at Barmas who was watching her from a step behind.

“What do you think? I find it refreshing and lighter. I really like it.”

“It suits you well. I don’t know who said otherwise, but don’t listen to such stupid comments anymore.”

He spoke with irritation, seemingly reigniting the annoyance that had briefly subsided after her haircut.

Toward Barmas, who was fuming about people with such poor taste, Romei spoke:

“Actually… it was my friends who said it wouldn’t suit me.”

“…”

The briefly shortened distance between Barmas and Romei awkwardly widened again.

Romei was cautious, as this was the first time her friends had been directly mentioned in conversation since she had confirmed their well-being after completing the bet with Barmas, while Barmas was clearly disconcerted.

The servants standing nearby also tensed, keeping their eyes lowered while carefully observing the two.

However, Romei knew that despite the current discomfort, this topic couldn’t be buried forever.

“I asked if I should cut it because it was getting in the way during training. But they all unanimously insisted I shouldn’t cut it, trying hard to persuade me that I should just trim it. They also said a bob cut wouldn’t suit me.”

“…”

“But looking at it now, I think they just liked me having long hair. Regardless of whether it suited me or what I wanted.”

“…”

“Still, they were good friends to me. Good enough that I wanted to save them even if it meant throwing away everything I had. Though to you, they were nothing but vermin.”

Listening quietly to her words, Barmas felt a heaviness pressing down on his solar plexus like a massive stone.

Because it was Barmas himself who had pressured Romei to throw away everything.

Blinded by jealousy, he had committed an unforgivable sin that ultimately drove Romei to her death.

It was entirely Barmas’s fault, with no one else to blame.

And Barmas knew this was the moment to confess his ugliness that he couldn’t speak of anywhere else.

Standing close behind Romei, who was seated, Barmas reached out and touched the area around her right collarbone.

Then he quietly began:

“…Those friends of yours, they knew about the mole on your right collarbone.”

That was certainly the beginning. That fact had driven him mad with jealousy.

Romei silently waited for the words that would follow his soft voice.

Barmas continued his confession:

“So I became momentarily enraged. When I realized your relationship with your friends was more intimate than I had thought, I couldn’t control myself.”

“…”

“Of course, you said they were just close friends, and that you’d never received a confession from anyone, but I was so jealous of them that even those facts were erased from my mind.”

“So that’s why you looked so displeased then.”

Romei finally understood the real reason why Barmas had been in such a bad mood that day.

—

T/N: Barmas has now evolved to his ultimate form: a simp. (we love to see it)