Chapter 187 - 23: Let’s Be Roommates

Chapter 187: Chapter 23: Let’s Be Roommates

"Help me evade the search. In exchange, I can do anything for you."

Selas felt he must be sick, or perhaps he had been alone for so long that he had lost his basic sense of judgment. Even in an extremely dangerous situation like a stranger suddenly appearing in his room, he didn’t feel on guard. Instead, he subconsciously considered the terms being offered.

"Evade... the search?" Selas spoke, his voice much quieter than he expected. It wasn’t because of nervousness or fear, but from cold and hunger. He pursed his lips, trying to make himself look less pitiful and weak. "What do I need to do?"

"You don’t need to do anything." The female voice was so close it felt as if she were speaking right next to his ear. "Just stay here and be good."

Selas froze. Just stay here and be good? Was it really that simple? Usually, when others used him, they demanded his constant sacrifice without giving anything in return. His mother wanted him to become exceptional, hoping to attract the gaze of her imagined lover back to her. Count Beaumont wanted him to be Caius’s scapegoat, going so far as to alter his body to transfer Caius’s injuries and illnesses onto him. Even Lady Beaumont, who loathed him, and the servants of the Earl Mansion wished they could drain his blood and devour his flesh. They carved out his pain to satisfy their own hollow or sycophantic hearts. They had never once mentioned the word "exchange," yet they unhesitatingly took from him with reckless abandon.

Yet, this monster that had suddenly appeared, this entity who was the first to ever propose a trade with him... actually only needed him to "do nothing"? This realization left Selas standing there in a daze, unsure of how to react.

Lilia didn’t need him to react. Earlier, when she passed by the Beaumont Earl Mansion and sensed familiar Demonic Qi inside, she immediately thought of Selas. Based on her experiences from her previous two loops, without external interference, no matter how many times she started over, the main storyline would always follow its predetermined path. Lucian would remain obsessed with revenge, making his way from Lien back to Ovis. Victor would travel to the Light Kingdom to conduct research related to Demons. Caius would seize power using the power of Demons, and after becoming the Monarch of the Lien Kingdom, he would wage war against Light and Ovis.

Consequently, Selas’s fate would not change either. In every loop, he would merge with a Demon and become a weapon in Caius’s hands—a blade with no emotions and no sense of self.

Therefore, Lilia wasn’t surprised at all to find Selas in the Beaumont Mansion, tainted with the aura of a Demon. The only thing she hadn’t expected was for this timeline to be pushed so far back. Judging by his appearance, he was only about six years old. If he was already involved with Demons at this age, didn’t that mean she had been living with a suspected Demon during her first loop? While she was attending school with Caius, Selas had been locked up in this attic? For some inexplicable reason, Lilia felt a complex wave of emotions.

Her ethereal body pressed against the child’s frame, bringing a refreshing, faint fragrance and a negligible trace of warmth. A Demon’s body wasn’t supposed to have any temperature, but Selas’s current body temperature was far too cold. He was as chilly as rain and as cold as ice. Even the remnant body of a Demon, composed of a cloud of mist, felt more human than he did right now.

As she drew closer, Selas was almost entirely enveloped by that mist. Their auras rapidly melded together, tangling indistinguishably. Selas’s body stiffened. His muscles pulled taut, and he couldn’t help but lighten his breathing. He could feel the gentle warmth enveloping him, like the warm sunlight he hadn’t seen in half a year. Swathed in the mist, his body miraculously warmed up. He subconsciously tightened his fingers, but all he grasped was the freezing corner of his own shirt.

The next second, a chill colder than rain shot up his spine. Selas’s eyes widened drastically as he suddenly realized what the so-called "search" was. He didn’t know what Investigation Magic was, but he could clearly sense the scrutiny and killing intent hidden within that chill. It felt like a cold blade pressed against his throat. His lips parted, wanting to ask if these were the people hunting her, but afraid that speaking up rashly would cause trouble for Lilia, he could only shut his mouth again.

The Investigation Magic swept back and forth across him. Once. Twice. The caster seemed somewhat confused by his presence, unable to confirm his identity yet unable to completely rule out his suspicion. Selas’s heart pounded wildly, THUMP, THUMP. Even though the one who would suffer if caught was this entity who hadn’t even shown her face, he was so nervous that his breathing nearly stopped.

Just as the Investigation Magic was about to sweep over him a third time, the fluctuation of Magic Power was abruptly interrupted. Selas froze for a moment, holding his breath and focusing carefully to sense his surroundings. After a long while, there were no further movements from the other side.

Just as he wondered what had happened, the bed behind him suddenly dipped slightly, as if a heavy object had been placed upon it. Immediately after, the female voice, much clearer than before, rang in his ear. "They should be gone now."

"...Gone?" Selas asked. Having gone too long without speaking to anyone, his voice was somewhat stiff and slightly hoarse.

"They were stopped by the people in the front hall," the voice behind him said. It was clear and sweet, carrying a lively briskness unique to young girls. "This is an Earl’s mansion, after all. What would it look like to have a group of Mages barge in and search it as they please?"

This was also the reason Lilia had been so certain that she could evade the search simply by hiding here. Count Beaumont was raising a child connected to Demons in his backyard, a fact he definitely didn’t want the other Mages in the Capital to discover. He would help cover it up.

Selas fell silent for a moment before slowly turning his head.

Behind him, sitting extremely close, was a girl. She was petite, looking only six or seven years old, with pitch-black hair cascading down to her waist. Her bright black eyes stared back at him like an eternal night twinkling with stars. Selas’s pupils trembled. He hadn’t expected to see a girl of his own age behind him.

Meeting his gaze, Lilia saw her own reflection in his pupils. She blinked, then lowered her head to look at her hands, her eye twitching slightly. She had figured her appearance might revert to a more petite state after her Magic Power was depleted, but she hadn’t expected to regress this far back. Didn’t this mean her current strength was even weaker than when she was first born?

Fortunately, Lilia was a Demon who had seen her fair share of storms. She quickly adjusted her mindset and raised her head. "My name is Lilia. What’s yours?"

Even though she knew his name, this was the first time they were meeting from Selas’s perspective. She still had to go through the proper motions.

"Selas," the boy softly murmured, just as she expected. "Selassie Abaddon."

Abaddon? Not Beaumont? Lilia realized that during her first loop, in everyone’s eyes, the Beaumont family had only one heir: Caius. Obviously, Count Beaumont had never treated Selas as his own child. Naturally, he wouldn’t bestow the "Beaumont" surname upon him.

"Selas," Lilia said, nodding gently. "I’ll remember that. Barring any accidents, we’re probably going to be roommates for a very long time."