Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

Having achieved a victory with many scars, I turned my back on the burning heat without any regrets.

Then, with my shoulders drooping, I trudged to the place where Paimon instructed me to remain at quietly.

It’s my duty…

Who knows if they will spread rumors of me having an affair after trying to prevent my adoptive son from killing his brother?

I didn’t even have the energy to continue standing. Paimon appeared after 10 minutes as I was lost on the dirty ground. And with a smiling face too.

[“Eve! I’m done with what I did! Hehe!”]

I reached out to Paimon.

Knowing that I was calling him, Paimon rushed towards me.

[“What’s the matter? Pull you up?”]

Instead of answering, I stretched out my hand, and Paimon leaned down and said.

[“I did well, huh?!”]

At that moment, I grabbed Paimon’s hair.

I grabbed it and shook with all my might.

“You really want to die! How can I face Aedis!”

[“Eve?! Didn’t I come back after doing well?”]

How can you say you did well after spreading rumors of the Grand Duchess having an affair!

I punished Paimon, who was dumbfounded.

“You should die along with Gilbert’s aura too!”

When I retaliated with the momentum to pluck out all of his hair, Paimon felt upset.

[“Okay, wait a minute! What did I do so wrong?”]

“This damn spirit! Who would not misunderstand if you say something like ‘to spend the rest of your life together’!”

[“I said that while thinking of you, Eve……!”]

“I know that, so do you think that it’ll end with just plucking your hair out!”

Paimon meekly gave up his hair, but his lips fluttered.

[“But, since this is a transformation, my hair is also made of magical power, ahhh! Even if you give me a headbutt, Eve, only you will get hurt?! Anyway, I’m sorry!”]

***

I think it was just past midnight. It was nice to sneak back into the Cyclamen castle through the window.

But just in front of the hallway, I was at a loss.

And it was exhausting.

It was Paimon who burned the aura, and Paimon who brought me here, but only I was exhausted.

What do I say to Aedis?

Don’t be surprised if rumors of the Grand Duchess having an affair suddenly spread.

That the other person was Paimon who transformed into the First Grand Duke?

I felt like I was going to cry, so I rubbed my eyes.

“Aedis’s magic, how can I get through the night safely?”

[Note: Maevia is speaking to the key that hold Aedid’s magic]

As I moaned while holding the key that gave off a blinking light, the dragon-shaped spirit, who had shrunk to the size of a gargoyle stone statue, took a quick look at me.

Even after being hit by me like that, Paimon said he didn’t want to separate and stuck to me.

[“Hey, Eve. Did I do something so wrong? I really said that because you were the first precious person I ever met……”

It was very pitiful to see the spirit begging until now.

I couldn’t criticize Paimon any more and gave a faint smile.

“It’s okay. If the spirit lives for more than 500 years, that might be the case. Come on, let’s pray that Aedis’s heart will be as wide as the sea.”

[“Hey, Eve? Did something happen to your eyes?”]

I stroked Paimon.

Even the vague touch that was neither comforting nor beating seemed to be pleasing to Paimon.

Paimon murmured, “I don’t know,” and put his body in my hands.

After stroking Paimon for a while, I managed to walk to Aedis’s bedroom.

It took me a while to gather my courage to knock on the door, but I finally knocked anyway.

“Aedis, are you here? Can I come in?”

I carefully grabbed the doorknob.

The door opened and I pushed my head in first.

Aedis greeted me with a slightly puzzled face.

“I thought you weren’t coming back today.”

“Ahahaha……”

I walked into the room very slowly.

I didn’t have the confidence to make eye contact with Aedis.

Watching my humbly bowed head, Aedis asked a question.

“So, how big of an accident did you cause to be so hesitant?”

“That’s……”

[“Don’t trouble Eve, you demon king!”]

All of a sudden, Paimon gathered the courage the size of my magical power and shouted.

Aedis’s eyes slid in Paimon’s direction for a moment.

Paimon was startled and hid behind my back.

Hey, it’s you, Paimon, who troubled me the most today……

“Are you going to keep standing like that?”

Aedis called me, who was still crouching at the door.

It was a pretty…… gentle voice.

There was no sign of anger.

Then someone knocked on the door.

Ah, that surprised me.

“Your Grace, I have brought you a meal.”

Meal?

It was Sarah’s voice.

Paimon dropped an ornament on the floor and hid in a corner.

I was just in front of the door, and opened it.

Sarah, who was waiting outside, widened her eyes.

“Oh, Your Grace? I heard you went out for a while. When did you get back?”

“Just now.”

I paid attention to the food Sarah brought.

The smell of well-cooked meat almost made me faint.

But why did Sarah bring a meal at this time?

Wasn’t Aedis having dinner with Regen?

But it turned out that Sarah’s target was me.

“Sit down, Your Grace! It’s a little late, but you should have something. I’m worried because you look weak.”

Sarah made sure I was seated, set a light meal at the table, and then she backed away.

The words were simple, but to me, who skipped dinner and suffered a great psychological shock, it was a true feast.

Aedis said in a voice that made it obvious that he wanted to laugh.

“Please eat.”

I wouldn’t refuse, but I tilted my head.

“How did you know I was starving?”

“Your steps were slow.”

It must have been that he paid attention the moment I returned to the castle.

Ho, did he even hear the conversation with Paimon?

I put the meat in my mouth, experiencing both the tingling in my heart and the cooling of my stomach at the same time.

Paimon, who had been vigilant in the corner until Sarah left, sprinted towards me again.

[“Eve, is it that good?”]

Maybe it’s because he’s short, and Paimon, showing off his tearful eyes, looked so cute.

It felt completely different from when his body reached 15 meters in length.

Even the scales now look lovely.

You must never transform yourself into the first Grand Duke again.

It must have been a strong impression, but the image of the first Grand Duke that remained in my mind was nothing but ragged muscles.

“Paimon, would you like one too?”

[“Ah no. Eat a lot, Eve.”]

Since Paimon is a spirit, he had no problem living even without food for hundreds of years, so he rejected the favor and sat down at my feet.

Ooh, that’s really cute.

Thanks to Paimon, who gave me the disease and the medicine, my tension subsided a little.

I mustered up my courage and looked at my husband, who was sitting like a classic masterpiece.

Aedis didn’t ask anything, waiting for me to speak first.

“Um, Aedis?”

“Yes, Eve.”

The way he smiled at me was no different than usual.

I put down my fork and said.

“I asked Paimon to burn Gilbert’s aura. I thought it might be a more moderate solution than cutting his limbs.”

“Is that so?”

“I thought it would be better for me to do it than to ask you to. It will be the same for Regen.”

The blue-eyed man, whose depth cannot be judged, stared at me.

Even without any explanation, Aedis understood what I meant.

“Wife doesn’t have to be the villain.”

Someone must stop Gilbert, and that inevitably becomes an act that hurts Regen.

So I decided that if there was no choice but to have someone hurt Regen, it would be better for that someone to be me and not Aedis.

I thought it was a…… reasonable decision.

It will hurt less if a bond that has been built for only a month or two breaks compared to a bond that has been built for 8 years.

There was a risk of the spread of the unexpected affair of the Grand Duchess, but it was fortunate that I had succeeded in deterring Gilbert at least.

When Gilbert, who has lost his aura, returns to Cyclamen Castle, he would want me to present Paimon, who had transformed into the first Grand Duke. Well. Of course I won’t give it to him.

Even if I gave Paimon up, there was no way for Gilbert’s aura to return.

The irreconcilable destruction that Paimon caused was like that.

I heard that it is a very special ability that has been a hot topic for a while even among the spirits.

When Aedis was about to say something more, I opened my mouth.

“And I had an accident.”

“…”

My heart beat faster.

By not hiding my trembling, I appealed as much as I could that this was really an accident I did not expect.

“When Paimon burned Gilbert’s aura, um, he briefly changed into a human form.”

“…”

“A human, but a man of an older age.”

Aedis’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s understandable.”

“…”

“He must have changed into the form of the first Grand Duke Kalakis.”

“Gasp.”

[“Gasp.”]

Paimon and I inhaled at the same time.

How did he know?

“I would have been unable to choose what to say or not to say on such a subject.”

“Gasp!”

[“Gasp!”]

……No, Paimon, why do you keep getting surprised just like me?!