Chapter 3: CH 3

“Adandito, she is a fiancée.”

With those words, Adandito woke up from his sleep.

“Oh, gasp!”

Sweat dripped from his entire body, and a chilling shiver ran down his spine.

However, contrary to the scene he had seen a little while ago, he was enveloped in warm bedding, buried so deep that it felt like he would sink into the clouds.

Only after feeling that strange sensation did Adandito realize that he had been dreaming.

He had been having the same dream repeatedly for a whole week.

“…Already a week.”

Adandito was a trusted servant who was filled with the love and trust of the gods.

Because of that, he received divine guidance like breathing and made efforts to fulfill the will of the gods.

But this time, he couldn’t easily do so.

‘The ‘fiancée’ that the god mentioned.’

He knew better than anyone what this meant.

‘Does it mean that the woman in my dream is my companion?’

Most of the priests were supposed to live a single life, but there were occasional exceptions when they would form a bond. It was only in cases where the gods designated a companion for them.

To someone like Adandito, who had assumed he would live a lifetime as a single, it was a great trial and source of anguish.

That’s why he had been pretending not to notice, even though he had been entrusted for a whole week.

But if the will of the gods was really so…

‘I can’t delay it any longer.’

Afterward, Adandito made his preparations and immediately set off for the Demon King’s castle.

And there, he met someone who looked exactly like the woman he had seen in his dream.

Siara is an ancient language that meant “fairy of spring.”

She was just as lively and lovely as her name implied.

It was the first time he had ever felt the emotion of “loveliness.”

The feeling of his heart dropping to the floor.

Feeling so dizzy that he couldn’t do anything, becoming powerless and laughing at any rude behavior, reaching the point where he had to forcefully bite his cheeks to regain composure.

‘Is this what it means to have a companion?’

A designated companion by the gods. He had resolved to devote his life to whoever the other person may be.

But even if Siara was not the intended choice of the god, she was someone he couldn’t help but feel that way about.

“……you said it was definitely my fiancée.”

His golden eyes sparkled and shone brightly.

* * *

Life in the temple was prosperous.

The luxurious bedroom, which couldn’t be compared to the ancestral mansion back home, was so extravagant that it never got boring to admire, and the bedding was as comfortable as being buried in clouds.

Furthermore, there were numerous divine statues and relics throughout the temple that one could freely admire.

Sometimes, Adandito would even take me to the vault and say,

“Feel free to take anything you like.”

Of course, I didn’t simply accept his favor.

I was still pondering what Adandito’s ulterior motive might be.

‘What’s up with him? Is he planning to torment me later and make my life miserable?’

Is this a new form of harassment from a priest?

Is he testing me?

I had no idea if I would turn into a monster if I touched the relics.

Or perhaps all those items were traps.

‘Did he think I would fall for his scheme?’

I had no intention of obediently doing as Adandito wished.

Therefore, I deliberately avoided the vicinity of the vault. Instead, I roamed around the temple, exploring every corner.

At the same time, I was testing how far I could move freely.

Fortunately, the space Adandito allowed me was spacious.

Sometimes, when the faithful gathered from outside, there were restrictions in place, all for the sake of safety.

‘Why is everything going so smoothly?’

It seemed like he didn’t suspect me too much.

Or maybe he was just letting his guard down, waiting for my true intentions to be revealed.

As evidence, he even cooked three meals a day for me, despite being busy.

He, who had the role of a dedicated secretary-like attendant, cooked meals for me.

Even if it was part of his duty as a member of the punitive force, there was no need for it at the moment.

Moreover, he didn’t even know that I was his comrade.

It was suspicious in many ways.

‘Clearly, he frequently watches me and observes my reactions.’

So I always faced him with a sense of vigilance.

But all Adandito did was serve me three delicious meat dishes, observe my reactions, and ask what I wanted to eat next.

‘Maybe Adandito had dreamed of becoming a chef.’

By this point, I even had thoughts that he might be cooking for the fun of feeding me.

If it was just a matter of observing without causing any trouble, I was willing to play along to some extent.

‘But when will the reward come?’

Preparing a solid gold ingot for the reward would probably take some time, right?

Since Adandito had promised to provide it, I was willing to wait. After all, I couldn’t return empty-handed after his efforts.

‘Once I receive the reward, how will I use it? I should find a place to live first.’

As I immersed myself in these thoughts, I heard Adandito’s voice.

“It’s mealtime.”

Afterward, he quickly prepared the food.

In no time at all, the room was filled with an assortment of dishes.

“Wow, what is all this?”

I was speechless as I looked at the feast laid out in front of me. It was the first time in my life that I had seen so many different types of food all at once as if they had magically appeared from the sky.

‘Even during my birthday parties, it wasn’t like this.’

I couldn’t close my mouth.

During our previous meals, I had complained to Adandito about him only serving small portions of meat dishes. I had told him to “take better care of me!”.

No wonder, then, that he had brought out a variety of meat dishes this time. There were all kinds of meat: beef, pork, horse meat, duck meat, rabbit meat, and even snake meat.

And there were various cooking methods too. Grilling, boiling, stir-frying, braising—every possible cooking method seemed to have been employed.

Of course, I had yelled at him quite loudly, but it seemed a bit excessive.

‘Think about it, Siara. Did Adandito prepare all this for you? Adandito?’

My head involuntarily shook.

The Adandito I knew was never the type of person to prepare a grand feast made entirely of meat for someone else. On the contrary, he was the kind of person who would snatch away the meat, barely saving himself, and make such remarks.

‘This kind of thing is not good for your health. It’s all confiscated.’

When I heard those words and told him to stop his empty talk and leave, he must have burned all the perfectly good meat.

After that, Adandito and Hierian had a fierce argument.

Recalling their brutal past, I felt like I could understand Adandito’s true intentions. Perhaps he didn’t even realize that he might be teasing me with the food in front of me.

‘In that case, let’s eat before we get high!’

With so much food available, protecting a plate was nothing.

I had spent years competing with the voracious male leads during meals. Whether it was long or short, I had become a master at guarding my plate in a relatively short time.

Adandito’s tactics were especially obvious. He was a sneaky guy who would snatch away whatever he could while making all sorts of excuses. Especially the meat!

‘This time, I won’t let you take it!’

As I steeled myself, Adandito asked me as if wondering why I was acting that way.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

At that moment, I pointed behind him and said,

“Huh? There’s a distraction!”

“What? No way…”

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, I grabbed a plate filled with crispy fried chicken and started devouring it aggressively.

“…!!”

It had been so long since I had tasted meat like this. The tender, juicy meat melting in my mouth and the greasiness coating my palate brought tears to my eyes.

Though I knew I didn’t have time to be amazed, my oil-coated tongue, after a long time, wanted to praise the fried chicken. I was relentless in my enjoyment.

‘Oh, this shouldn’t be happening. I need to eat quickly.’

There was still space next to my right molar. In this situation, I needed to put something in my mouth as soon as possible, even just one more bite.

Certainly, that’s what I should do…

But for some reason, Adandito doesn’t take away my plate. He just looks at me with a pleased expression.

‘This can’t be happening.’

Confused by the situation, I looked up, and he looked at me with a sympathetic expression.

Then he reached out his hand and wiped the oil from my mouth with his hand.

“You can eat slowly.”

“…Huh?”

“Here, hold this.”

Adandito kindly handed me a fork. Without thinking, I accepted the fork, and he tried to take the plate away from my embrace with a gentle touch.

In an instant, I stood up from my seat and shouted,

“As expected! Did you think you could fool me?”

I ran to a corner with the plate still in my embrace.

But contrary to my expectations, Adandito didn’t follow me.

He simply raised both hands as if surrendering and let out an innocent laugh.

“Relax, it’s okay. I won’t take it away.”

“Why…?”

“Well, because I made it for you.”

“Why…?”

“I wanted you to enjoy the meal. I put effort into cooking it for you. So take your time and enjoy it to your heart’s content. If it’s not enough, just let me know.”

His soft voice was soothing, like trying to calm a child.

In the end, I couldn’t overcome his kindness and sat back down, starting to eat my meal.

Throughout the meal, Adandito just watched me eat.

A cold smile remained on his face as if he was extremely satisfied and couldn’t hide it.

‘What’s going on?’

With a trembling face, I picked up the fork and took a bite of the fried chicken.

It was so delicious that tears welled up, but something didn’t feel right.

It felt like something was going wrong.

* * *

The meal ended without any issues. However, despite the satisfying meal, I still felt confused and unable to make sense of the situation.

“…What is this situation?”

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

Why did ‘that’ Adandito prepare numerous meat dishes for me? Moreover, he just watched me eat with the kindest expression in the world.

It was an unbelievable situation, whether I had lost my memory or not.

‘Could it be that he’s playing a prank on me?’

Even if the male leads had terrible personalities, they wouldn’t play such a prank.

If it wasn’t a prank, there was no reason for the male leads to treat me so well.

“If he truly didn’t remember me, he would have interrogated me about how I ended up in the Demon King’s castle.”

Feeling a pang of doubt, I decided to test him.

* * *

Adandito returned to his quarters after finishing his work. As soon as he entered the corridor, his heart, which he had been suppressing all day, began to make its presence known.

Amid his busy day, he couldn’t help but think of her. His fiancée.

Was it because she was his fiancée, or was it because it was a destiny determined by the gods?

He had never experienced anything like this before in his life.

Adandito found himself repeatedly lost in thoughts of her throughout the day.

He didn’t quite understand what it meant.

The one thing he was certain of was that he couldn’t dismiss his interest in Siara.

Even now, Adandito absentmindedly turned back to look at the bedroom where Siara was.

‘Is she already asleep?’

He had an impulse to ask about her well-being, even though he rarely spoke idle words unless they were work-related. It was an uncharacteristic thought.

As soon as he realized this fact, Adandito swallowed the impulse and smiled foolishly.

Then he looked out the window along the corridor. The muscles on his face, which had relaxed, tensed up once again.

It was a pitch-black night outside. The work had kept him occupied, causing time to pass excessively.

For an ordinary person, it was time to sleep and leave others undisturbed. It would be impolite to seek someone at this hour.

Adandito swallowed his regret and resumed walking.

Step by step, he walked cautiously along the quiet corridor, careful not to wake anyone.

And it was while passing Siara’s bedroom that it happened. The door of the room right in front of him suddenly opened, and Siara appeared.

Surprised and taken aback by her sudden appearance, Adandito was asked by Siara,

“Why are you only coming now? I’ve been waiting.”

“…Are you referring to me?”

“Yes.”

As she spoke, Siara let out a muffled laugh.

It was a dangerous smile filled with inexplicable curiosity.

‘Suspicious.’

‘Dangerous.’

All sorts of warning signals surged within him, but Adandito couldn’t even blink for some reason.