Chapter 76: A Demon’s Guest

I stopped in front of Rose’s door and adjusted the bags in my hand. I still didn’t know exactly what to say, but it was clear that waiting in the hallway wouldn’t help me come up with a better idea.

I raised my right hand and knocked.

KNOCK KNOCK.

Lowering my hand, I waited. There was no sound from inside.

My eyes drifted toward my own apartment door. Despite how close it was, lying down on my couch behind that door felt far out of reach right now.

After waiting a little longer, I knocked again.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

This time, I heard footsteps approaching from inside.

"I’m coming!"

When the door opened, every sentence I had been trying to prepare disappeared from my mind.

Rose was wearing a long, loose T-shirt. It reached her upper thighs, but I couldn’t tell whether she had shorts on underneath. She had changed out of the clothes I had seen her wearing in the elevator only a few minutes earlier.

I quickly raised my eyes to her face.

"H-hi again."

Rose looked at me, then at the grocery bags in my hand. Her brief surprise gave way to a familiar smile.

"Do you want another kiss?"

"NO!"

I had answered without thinking.

Actually, being kissed by Rose again wouldn’t have been so bad. But if I let her think that was why I had knocked on her door, I could guess where the conversation would go.

At least, I thought I could.

Rose must have noticed where my eyes had wandered because she caught the hem of her T-shirt between two fingers and lifted it slightly.

"Or do you want more?"

I swallowed involuntarily.

There were still no shorts visible beneath her T-shirt. When I quickly looked back at her face, I saw her pressing her lips together to keep from laughing.

"I-I lost my key."

The words came out so quickly that we both fell silent for a moment.

Rose let go of her T-shirt and leaned against the doorframe.

"Your key?"

"My apartment key." I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice. "Could I stay at your place tonight?"

Looking at her after saying it was even harder than getting the words out.

She didn’t answer for several seconds. As she studied my face, I tightened my grip on the handles of the bags. I was trying to think of what to say if she asked why I hadn’t called a locksmith.

But Rose didn’t ask that.

Her lips curved into a knowing smile, and she stepped away from the doorway.

"Yes."

I hadn’t expected her to agree so easily.

After standing there for another moment, I dipped my head slightly.

"Thank you."

Rose let me walk past her, then closed the door.

I looked around as I took off my shoes. The apartment’s layout was similar to mine, but the furniture was arranged differently. In the living room just beyond the entrance, a bookcase stood against one wall, a small table sat beside the window, and a low coffee table occupied the center.

A thin blanket on the couch, a bag tossed onto the armchair beside it, and an open book on the coffee table looked as though someone had hurriedly left them there after coming home.

"You can leave the bags in the kitchen," Rose said.

I went where she pointed and placed my groceries on the counter. As I separated the things that needed to be kept cold, Rose opened the fridge. She let me put away the milk and a few other things, then nodded toward the living room.

"Go sit down. I’ll bring us something to drink."

When I sat on the edge of the couch, I realized how tense I looked. I moved my hands off my knees and leaned back a little, but now I felt as though I was making myself too comfortable.

When did I forget how to sit like a normal person?

Rose returned with two bottles of beer.

She handed me one, kept the other for herself, and sat at the other end of the couch. As she tucked her legs to the side, I lowered my eyes to the bottle in my hand.

The droplets on the cold glass left my palm damp.

"Thanks."

After taking a small sip of her beer, Rose looked at my hand.

"Your hand looks good. I’m glad it didn’t leave a scar."

I looked at the fingers wrapped around my bottle. Nothing remained of the cuts from punching the mirror that day. White Snake could heal even much worse injuries without leaving a mark.

Of course, I wasn’t about to tell Rose that.

"Yes, it’s healed." I looked up at her. "Thanks again for that day. I couldn’t have bandaged it properly on my own."

"I didn’t have to make you thank me this time."

Rose studied me for a few more seconds.

"You seem a little different from when we first met."

"Different how?"

"Shyer."

I frowned slightly.

"Well... I’m just a little tired."

Considering my training with Eris that morning, I could say that wasn’t entirely a lie. But tiredness wasn’t the reason I was sitting so carefully on the edge of the couch.

Rose tilted her head slightly.

"Hmm, so you’re not going to hit on me again..."

She paused to look at my expression.

"That’s a shame. I might have let you try something."

I couldn’t decide whether to take a sip or set the bottle on the table.

She was doing this on purpose. The more nervous I became, the more she enjoyed herself. Certain that answering would only make things worse, I turned my attention to the other side of the room.

A small photo frame on the middle shelf of the bookcase caught my eye.

There were three people in the picture. A little girl with black hair stood between two adults, looking at the camera. Her serious expression was nothing like the smile Rose was wearing beside me.

It was obvious who the child was.

Thinking I had found something that might embarrass her a little too, I pointed at the frame.

"Is that you?"

Rose followed my gaze.

"Yes..."

The change in her voice made me turn toward her.

She was still smiling, but the teasing look had disappeared from her face. As she looked at the photo, she slowly ran her thumb along the side of her beer bottle.

"The other two were my mom and dad."

The smile I had been trying to put on my face faded.

I had only asked to change the subject and tease her a little. The comment I had been about to make about how serious she looked in the picture caught in my throat.

Damn this stupid mouth of mine.

When I looked at the frame again, I noticed details I had missed at first.

Two curved horns rose through the man’s dark hair. One hand rested on the shoulder of the human woman beside him, while the other was on the little girl’s head. The woman smiled at the camera, and two smaller horns could be seen among the girl’s hair.

A demon, a human woman, and their half-demon daughter standing between them.

My eyes moved from the photo to Rose.

Between the subject I had accidentally brought up and what I had just noticed, I didn’t know what to say. I opened my mouth, then closed it again when I couldn’t find the right words.

Rose looked at my face and laughed softly.

"Don’t look at me like that. I’m not expecting a speech."

"I... didn’t know."

"Don’t worry. It was a long time ago."

Her voice was gentle. Holding the bottle on her knee, she looked at the photo again.

"They died in an Overlap."

My fingers tightened slightly around my beer bottle.

"I’m sorry," I said.

Rose gave a small nod.

I didn’t ask her to tell me more, and she didn’t continue.

After looking at the label on her bottle for a while, she turned toward me. A small smile had returned to her lips.

"Don’t be so tense, Noctis. You only asked about a photo."

I nodded, though I doubted my expression had relaxed much.

Rose tipped her bottle back. After finishing the remaining beer in a few long swallows, she placed the empty bottle on the coffee table and stood up.

"I’m getting another one."

I watched her walk toward the kitchen.

When I heard the fridge open, my beer was still full. Despite the cold bottle, my palms had started to sweat.

I was in a demon’s home.

More precisely, judging by the photo, Rose was a half-demon. But I didn’t know how much difference that made.

I tried to recall what Noctis’s memories told me about the demons of this world.

They were one of the races that had migrated to this world because of Overlaps. But the name "demon" covered many very different beings. Some lived for only a few years, while others could survive for thousands. Their strength varied just as much, and some of them couldn’t be measured by any normal standard.

They didn’t have a good reputation for getting along with other races. Their tendency toward chaos and habit of acting on instinct were common themes in stories about them.

Elves were arrogant too. But at least they were said to rely more on reason than instinct when making decisions. Demons were much harder to predict.

I looked at the family photo again.

I had no idea which of those traits applied to Rose.

She had bandaged my hand when we first met and had just agreed to let me stay at her place. Now she was in her kitchen, getting herself a second beer. Even so, I realized I was starting to see everything I knew about her in a new light.

I hadn’t even heard her approach me in front of the elevator.

Swallowing, I tugged at the part of my T-shirt sticking to my back.

I had asked to spend the night here myself. On top of that, I had made it harder to back out by claiming I had lost my key.

The sound of a bottle cap being opened came from the kitchen.

I looked at the beer in my hand and silently prayed.

I hope I don’t end up as a demon’s dinner tonight.