Roy quickly realized the misunderstanding Elsa had about him.

He could’ve explained to salvage his image.

But the mischievous boy had no intention of doing so.

Instead, he simply nestled against Elsa’s soft, warm chest.

He closed his delicately outlined eyes.

Pretending to drift into deep slumber, utterly exhausted.

Handsome. Weary. Relaxed.

Elsa blushed, gazing at the boy’s sleeping face.

She suddenly realized her own wild thoughts.

The boy hadn’t meant anything like that at all.

*Idiot*, she scolded herself silently.

Gently, she wrapped an arm around Roy’s slender waist.

Her hand glided over his narrow back—a back that carried far too many burdens.

Solid. A back that could, at times, offer others support.

Her gaze softened like melting water.

Along with the milky scent of hormones, it enveloped Roy’s body.

*Goodnight*, she whispered in her heart.

Sleep finally crashed over her.

Had her eyelids not been drooping so fiercely,

she’d have kept admiring Roy’s handsome sleeping face a while longer.

Instead, she surrendered to slumber, closing her eyes.

Soon, her breathing grew slow and even.

At that moment, Roy’s alluring violet eyes flickered open in the darkness.

A trace of amusement—and surprise?—glinted within them.

*True, I didn’t use my Succubus powers*, Roy mused.

*But Elsa actually resisted touching me while I "slept"...*

It almost made him doubt himself.

Or did Elsa prefer passivity over initiative?

Did she like being on the bottom more than on top?

*Next time, I’ll take charge*, he decided with a faint smile—a night-blooming cereus in the dark.

Earlier, Roy had coaxed out Elsa’s past.

The sisters’ history.

On the surface, it seemed like two kindred souls huddling together for warmth.

But Roy had another purpose beneath his genuine empathy: gathering intel.

In his past life, he’d known every Hero’s background.

He knew Elsa’s parents were once famed members of the Dawnbreak Adventurers on the Divine Blessing Continent.

Yet Elsa and Airi remained oblivious.

President Enlil of the Adventurer’s Guild—who took them in—must’ve had deep ties to their parents.

He’d hidden the truth to steer them away from their parents’ path.

What Enlil never imagined:

Elsa hadn’t followed her parents’ footsteps.

She’d chosen the path of a Hero—a path even her parents could only dream of.

Roy replayed Elsa’s words.

One detail stood out: during the Demonfolk attack, the sisters were separated.

Elsa stayed indoors with their mother; Airi was outside.

Suddenly, the world shook like an earthquake.

A roar—part wolf, part eagle—split the air.

Elsa’s mother paled. She ordered Elsa to hide in the basement while she searched for her husband and Airi.

Elsa waited there until her mother returned, dragging an unconscious Airi.

Bleeding heavily. Dying.

Elsa wept soundlessly, helpless.

But she vowed to protect her sister.

Later, President Enlil told Elsa the official story:

Their farm was attacked by werewolves.

Their parents fought bravely to save them…

Elsa believed him.

Airi stayed silent.

Roy’s instinct screamed: Airi was hiding something.

Or rather—she mistook it for a nightmare.

A nightmare tied to the Demonfolk who killed their parents.

Airi…

Had likely witnessed it all.

And suffered a terrible curse.

That’s why she couldn’t walk normally.

Why she saw herself as a burden.

Why she grew so withdrawn and insecure.

Lately, Roy had used "massages" as an excuse to heal her with his magic.

Progress was slow—but real.

Before, with crutches and sheer will, Airi could shuffle half a room’s length.

Just enough to wash up or use the toilet alone—though it drained her entire day.

For a girl nearly bedridden, time wasn’t precious. It was agony.

Now? She could take one or two unsteady steps without crutches.

Roy still remembered her excitement that day.

And the tears streaking her face afterward.

She’d swayed into his arms.

He held her. For a long, long time.

No words were spoken.

Yet everything was said.

………………

No one wants to part from those they love.

Especially not through death.

Since disguising himself as a human boy, Roy had formed unbreakable bonds with Elsa and Airi.

So now—whether for duty or his own heart—he refused to accept a future where "Airi dies and Elsa awakens as the Hero."

There was only one choice:

Save Airi.

Find that mysterious Demonfolk.

And end them.