Theo carefully organized the memories he had recovered so far.
It was embarrassing to say it himself, but he seemed to have been quite an extraordinary person. Only after regaining his memories up to the age of twenty did that fact truly sink in. He had entered the Imperial Academy at fifteen and graduated at the top of his class after only three years, then immediately been selected for the vanguard of the demon-subjugation force. Over the next two years, he had moved from battlefield to battlefield and accumulated achievements both great and small. Then, in the year he turned twenty, he had personally received a medal and territory from the Emperor and gained the title of baron.
All of it felt like a life that did not suit the person he was now at all.
If he wanted to know about Rihen, then he also had to show Rihen who he was. That was only fair. He did not want a relationship where only one of them was interrogated.
Theo took a scarf out of the box. It was made from luxurious material, soft yet sturdy to the touch. He had bought it with the money he had saved little by little while working at the tavern. Now that he remembered he had territory of his own, he thought that someday he might be able to buy Rihen something even better with the money earned there. It was a very vague thought, and that only made him yearn for it more.
“Rihen. It’s a gift. I bought it after receiving my first paycheck.”
Theo wrapped the scarf around Rihen’s neck himself. The moment his hands touched him, Rihen’s face brightened.
“You didn’t have to get me something like this. You could’ve used it yourself.”
He smiled as he stroked the scarf.
“Thank you. It’s warm.”
At those few words, some of the tension in Theo’s shoulders eased.
“And I’ll tell you about the memories I’ve recovered so far.”
Theo told him everything about who he had been, holding nothing back. Rihen listened attentively to the very end without interrupting. Sometimes he nodded, and occasionally his brows furrowed slightly.
When the story was over, Rihen spoke quietly.
“Thank you for telling me. And for trusting me.”
As always, Rihen roughly stroked Theo’s hair. Then, just as he was about to rise from the chair, Theo stood with him and seized Rihen’s wrist. With enough force to surprise even himself.
“Then now it’s your turn, Rihen. Tell me your secret.”
“My secret?”
Rihen blinked as he looked at Theo.
“Are we playing that question-and-answer game you mentioned before?”
Rihen deliberately put on a harmless smile. It was a smile prepared to lower the other person’s guard. But this time, it did not work.
Theo tightened the hand gripping Rihen’s shoulder. It was difficult to control his strength. The thought crossed his mind that he might break it at this rate, but he could not let go. The voice that emerged from his mouth was so low and ominous that even he found it unfamiliar.
“Rihen. Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”
Rihen’s expression stiffened.
“K-Know what…?”
The moment Theo saw that reaction, certainty spread through his chest. Just as he had thought, Rihen was hiding something.
“You’ve been doing shameful things every night without my knowledge. Things I wasn’t supposed to find out about.”
Rihen froze, unable to say anything. To Theo, that silence felt not like denial, but an admission. Through the wrist he held to keep Rihen from escaping, he could feel Rihen’s heartbeat. It was fast and irregular.
A moment later, Rihen raised his head with a sigh.
“I’m sorry. But there’s a reason for all of this….”
Before he could finish, Theo let out a bitter laugh.
“Of course there must be a reason. It must have cost a great deal of money to raise me properly when I’d lost both my memories and abilities.”
Rihen’s eyes widened.
“But even so, selling your body every night—”
“What are you talking about? Selling my body? Why would I do something like that?”
Bewilderment and indignation appeared on Rihen’s face at the same time. The reaction looked so genuine that Theo fell silent for a moment. But he could not back down now. He had already witnessed it himself.
“Are you still trying to deny it? Last night, I clearly saw you enter a brothel.”
The scene from that night remained vivid. Rihen disappearing into the darkness, the strong scent of musk, and all the imaginings that had refused to leave Theo’s mind afterward.
The color drained from Rihen’s face.
“I didn’t go there to sell my body. I went because I had something else to do.”
It sounded like an absurd excuse. Theo shook his head.
“Your clothes were different when you went in and when you came out. And your body was saturated with that strong perfume male prostitutes use.”
Every time he recalled all that evidence, Theo felt as though his insides were being scorched black.
A heavy, sticky silence settled over the room. It was so quiet that even their breathing sounded unnaturally distinct. Rihen said nothing for a long time. All expression vanished from the face that so often smiled. Just as the silence grew too taut to endure, Rihen laughed weakly.
“You caught me….”
He bowed his head deeply like a sinner. His voice sank with loneliness.
“I knew it was something I shouldn’t be doing. That’s why I tried to hide it until the end. I’m sorry for being this kind of guardian….”
Theo instinctively took another step toward Rihen. His golden eyes bore relentlessly into him.
“I’ll buy you.”
“What?”
When Rihen raised his head, Theo’s expression had already reached its conclusion.
“Tonight, I’m saying I’ll buy you, Rihen.”
Even knowing how cruel and twisted those words were, he could not stop. Theo brought his lips close to Rihen’s ear and whispered as though chewing up and swallowing each word.
“If it’s a body you sell to anyone for money, then you can sell it to me for one day too. As for the money… I’ll find enough that you won’t be disappointed.”
***
In this game world, buying sex with money was illegal. Even so, brothels still flourished in secret. As always, the law and reality had little to do with each other.
So, to get straight to the point… if Theo paid money and had sex with me, that would be an evil act. And in this world, evil acts came back as rewards in the form of points. Right. I had already offered souls. What was there left to be picky about now? Selling my body was nothing by comparison.
The important thing was that I could not show any sign of refusal here. The instant I let Theo see that I disliked the idea of mixing bodies with him, the points would disappear along with the opportunity. Theo was a good person, so he would never do anything I might be reluctant to accept.
If I wanted to gather Evil Points through this chance, I had to squeeze my eyes shut and brazen it out. Theo might think I was promiscuous. But if a misunderstanding was the price of saving the world, I could bear that much.
I shrugged and spoke crookedly.
“How much are you going to pay me? You might have territory and a medal or whatever, but right now, you don’t have any money.”
Theo looked flustered by my excessively confident attitude. He shot to his feet and headed toward one side of the room. Then he returned carrying the treasured sword I had given him.
“I’ll give you this back for now. This sword is incredibly valuable, isn’t it?”
He carefully held out the treasured sword Lapiere and continued.
“And later, once I’ve fully grown and returned to my territory… I’ll give you anything there that you want, Rihen.”
My expression hardened as I watched Theo try to give me the sword.
“Don’t ever think about selling that sword, even as a joke. It’s for you. You must never hand it over to anyone else.”
“Th-Then what should I give you…?”
For someone who had declared so boldly that he would buy me, he now looked utterly at a loss. His flushed cheeks practically smelled of innocence. It seemed I really should abandon the plan of taking money from Theo. What would I even do with a child’s hard-earned savings?
When I thought about it carefully, there was no need to establish the transaction with money at all. The fact that a hero and a demon were mixing bodies was already a corrupt enough choice by the standards of this world. Even if Theo did not know my true identity.
Shane’s father had also shared affection with his mother without knowing she was a demon, and had he not received a cruel punishment in return? Then Theo’s act alone should be more than enough to earn Evil Points.
“Forget it. What would I even do with your money?”
I spoke a little more slowly than usual. Even as my lips moved, my mind worked frantically. How could I phrase it naturally? What tone would keep Theo from hesitating to embrace me? I erased and rewrote sentence after sentence in my head, trying to choose a line that would make me sound experienced.
At last, something fairly convincing came to mind. It was difficult to say while sober, but gathering Evil Points came first.
“…As a celebration of you becoming an adult, I’ll take your virginity for free.”
Theo’s eyes opened very wide.
I grabbed Theo, dragged him to the bed, and laid him down. From the way I moved, it must have looked as though I had not hesitated for even a second, but in truth, my insides had gone rigid with nerves. Of course they had. It was my first time having sex with a man. But I could not let that show. Because I… I had more or less forced myself into the role of an experienced male prostitute. Damn it….
I smiled with a relaxed expression and reached for my clothes as though stepping onto a familiar stage. Without rushing, slowly, I took my time with every meaningless movement as though performing a strip show. At least outwardly, I had to look as though I was not trembling at all.
I bent down and brought my lips close to Theo’s ear. When I playfully blew into it, Theo flinched and shuddered. His innocent reaction was cute.
“You want to hold me, don’t you?”
I whispered with a languid breath mixed into my voice. Theo immediately nodded without hesitation. His response was so honest that I was the one who swallowed first.
I slowly brushed my lips beside his ear and along his jawline. The faint sounds of my lips touching and parting spread softly through the room. With my buttocks pressed against Theo’s crotch, I gently moved my hips. Even the insignificant rustle of fabric brushing against fabric sounded clear. Beneath the cloth, I felt a thick bulge. I froze stiff.
Are you fucking kidding me? Why is it so big?
Cold sweat poured down my back. Even if it was to save the world, there was no way I could put something that monstrous inside my body. My head was already beginning to throb. What was I supposed to do next? Would all of that even fit? How would a thoroughly experienced male prostitute act at a time like this…? One thought led endlessly into another.
But did I really need to pretend I was experienced with my ass too?
Rather than maintaining an awkward lie until it caused a disaster, it seemed better to mix half the truth with half a lie. Something like, I sold my body, but I never used my back. If Theo thought it was my first time, perhaps he would be gentler.
“You know, Theo. Actually….”
I slowly exhaled and confessed honestly.
“I’ve… never used my ass before.”