I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 189

Chapter 189

Distant Tranquility

***

Fearing that disappearing without a word would cause a huge commotion, Lian left a letter in the small drawer next to the Demon King’s bed, explaining that he was leaving before they could search for his body.

He thought that if he didn’t show up, they’d search the room first, so he placed it in an easily noticeable drawer… But judging by the looks of things, it seemed like the letter hadn’t been found.

‘If I had handed it over directly, this wouldn’t have happened, but I would have been locked up in the room…’

Every time he had hinted that he might leave someday, the Demon King’s eyes would sink coldly, making it highly likely that he would have been confined.

Lian could still vividly recall the image of the Demon King stacking transparent glass bottles in one corner of the room, perfect for trapping a slime. The memory of that fear made his body tremble slightly.

Like a baby clinging desperately to their mother, not wanting to be separated, the Demon King held onto Lian with all her strength, making it impossible for him to move without her noticing.

“Don’t… don’t go.”

The Demon King mistook Lian’s trembling as an attempt to push her away, tightening her arms around him even more. Her voice, barely audible and trembling at the end, sounded even more desperate.

As if such contact was not enough to reassure her, she began to cling to Lian even more frantically. Seeing the Demon King rushing toward him, trying to press her entire body against his, Jess growled and approached, attempting to separate them.

“Wait… just a moment, Jess.”

“Whimper…”

When Lian raised a hand and signaled Jess to step back, she retreated with a whimper, her ears drooping.

Jess moved back to a spot where she was out of Lian’s sight, glaring fiercely at the Demon King with sharp eyes. Her fangs, bared between her lips, looked ready to tear into the Demon King’s throat.

Though a ferocious killing intent seemed to surge from within Jess, it didn’t fully erupt. She wanted to unleash her fury on the Demon King, but she held back, fearing that Lian might get caught in the crossfire.

While Jess’s pupils dilated like those of a predator eyeing its prey, Lian was busy trying to calm the Demon King, who was clinging to him desperately.

Unable to stop her, as if she were a dying person in a desert who had just found an oasis, Lian had no choice but to sit her on his thigh.

Her long legs wrapped around his waist, and her arms encircled his shoulders. Naturally, their upper bodies pressed together, and a soft, warm sensation enveloped him.

‘Elensia is a patient. She’s still wounded from the recent death of her father… She’s just clinging to the only friend she has left—the slime…’

If he hadn’t repeatedly reminded himself that “Elensia is a patient” like a mantra, it would have been a fatal blow, enough to make him bleed from the nose more than the Demon King’s blood.

With every breath the Demon King took in and out, the pressure on a certain part of his body fluctuated. Lian quickly tried to divert his thoughts to something else to avoid focusing on it.

‘I don’t think I’ve done anything that significant. Why is she clinging to me so desperately?’

It wasn’t that he didn’t know the reason at all. The mysterious death of her father, the Outsiders’ overwhelming presence, and the constant torment from those Outsiders.

He understood that in such a painful situation, any helping hand would be gratefully welcomed. But that was all.

He hadn’t uncovered the truth behind the unjust death of the previous Demon King, nor had he resurrected him. He hadn’t even driven out the Outsiders.

All he had done was smack around a few immature Outsiders and become her emotional support, like a cherished doll.

‘Could she be thinking that I’ve done things I haven’t?’

When Lian had been smacking the Outsiders around, the Demon King had not yet obtained her slime form, so she only knew of Lian’s presence but hadn’t seen him in action.

Not having witnessed it firsthand, she wouldn’t have known exactly what Lian had done or where his involvement began and ended. Perhaps the Demon King’s blind obsession stemmed from a misunderstanding.

‘That has to be it.’

But he couldn’t easily jump to conclusions. Just as a small favor can feel enormous to someone in need, what Lian thought was insignificant might have felt monumental to the Demon King.

‘I don’t know.’

In the end, after his thoughts had bounced around in all directions, the conclusion was simply ‘unknown.’

Why? For what reason?

The unknown was the realm of curiosity.

The question that floated up in his mind grew larger, as if it would burst out of his throat.

Normally, his internal alarm would have gone off, telling him to comfort the crying beauty in front of him, but today, for some reason, only curiosity swelled within him.

The feeling of ‘curiosity’ was completely out of place in such a serious situation. It was almost akin to the cruelty of a child who unknowingly commits harsh acts out of ignorance.

Lian threw another question into his mind.

Why was he feeling curious in this situation?

Why was this something he found interesting?

Unlike the questions about the Demon King, this was a question Lian could answer himself. As the word ‘why’ circled in his mind, a clear answer suddenly appeared.

He wanted to know more about the Demon King, about Elensia.

The beginning of understanding and empathy comes from ‘knowing.’ Without knowing anything, one cannot understand or empathize. To truly comfort her, he needed to uncover the root of her emotions, which had no clear source or depth.

He slowly raised his hand, which had been patting her back, and carefully brought it toward the Demon King’s face. As Lian’s hand approached her neck, the Demon King, who had been burying her face in his shoulder, lifted her head sharply.

Her slightly reddened eyes exuded a precarious atmosphere.

The moment their gazes met in the air, the world fell silent. It was as if only the two of them existed, and everything else became meaningless.

‘Ah…’

An unspoken exclamation echoed faintly in the Demon King’s mind. Her thoughts turned blank, and her mind drifted into an overwhelming daze.

It was as if she had been thrown into a world where water replaced air. It seemed painful, yet her mind was so distant that it felt peaceful.

The soul, which had grown by consuming Outsiders, quietly gazed at her in the silence. Without exchanging words, Lian could feel it.

What she liked, what she disliked. How much despair she had felt over her father’s death, and how much joy she had experienced because of Lian’s presence.

It was as if her emotions had become a part of him, so vivid and clear. The boundary between them disappeared, and she felt like ‘him.’

He immediately understood why she had been so obsessed with him. Lian, completely synchronized with her emotions, found himself unknowingly hugging her so tightly that it was hard to breathe.

***

The Demon King, feeling as if she were being scrutinized down to every corner of her body, couldn’t even breathe properly.

His eyes were calm yet confused, dazzling yet composed. They were warm and kind, yet there was something eerie about them, as if she shouldn’t be facing them.

Realizing that endless tranquility was no different from death, a creeping fear began to rise within her. Just as her eyes were about to tremble in terror—

“…!”

Lian hugged her tightly, so tightly that it was suffocating. The warmth of his embrace, which was almost too tight, quickly soothed her anxious heart, like a child finding comfort in a parent’s arms.

“I’m sorry.”

For some reason, his emotions felt as clear as her own.

Though Lian’s words were just a simple apology, the emotions behind them were far deeper. The Demon King’s heart, which had been frozen, began to melt under the weight of those emotions.

She shifted her gaze to look at Lian’s profile. His downcast eyes, the slight trembling of his eyelashes, and his jet-black hair that seemed to swallow the shadows.

It was a face she had stared at endlessly, trying to memorize from the moment they first met, yet it felt unfamiliar, as if she were seeing it for the first time.

To her, Lian was both her ‘savior’ and the ‘symbol of hope.’ Because she had viewed him as a ‘symbol’ rather than an equal being living in the same world, this was the first time she had truly faced Lian.

‘…!’

The soft, flowing black hair turned white, and the dark eyes transformed into a breathtakingly beautiful shade of gold. The face, once exuding decadence, changed in an instant to a gentle expression, as if switching masks.

End of Chapter