Dekan’s Dream of the Holy Country
A few minutes later.
The aurora lingered like a faint wisp of smoke in the starry sky, unmoving for a long time.
The moonlit night was cool, all sounds silenced, as a gray-haired youth strolled along the mountainside without ever looking back.
He moved forward, the bright moonlight generously illuminating the flower bushes beside him.
Behind the lord’s mansion stretched a cliff adorned with a sea of flowers.
At the end of it stood an ancient towering tree.
His destination was there.
Under the tree sat a red-haired girl, her face slightly weary.
His silent steps crept through the grass, unexpectedly shattering the rare tranquility of the flower sea.
At the coincidence of wind, she awoke, opening her eyes to look toward the waves of the grass illuminated by the surging moonlight. She slowly stood up against the tree, her face holding a friendly smile as she looked at the solitary gray figure across from her.
The gray-haired youth furrowed his brow, seemingly unable to comprehend why she was smiling.
Just as the gray-haired youth was about to say something,
The red-haired girl lifted her hand gently, placing her index finger against her lips, signaling him to be quiet.
The gray-haired youth swallowed the words that were about to leave his lips, his expression somewhat frustrated as he walked over to the girl.
The red-haired girl looked at the gray-haired youth as he stood before her, a smile on her face as she asked,
“Delroyce, I imagine you want to ask me now, am I smiling out of kindness or malice? Or neither?”
Delroyce shook his head:
“Milady, you know I cannot understand human kindness or emotions, so why torment me further?”
He didn’t understand this girl.
Her name was Claudia, the daughter of the local lord.
Their first encounter with her and her father was about three years ago.
At first, it was merely out of curiosity that he happened to save a lord who was on the verge of death due to betrayal. His intention was to study this forlorn middle-aged man who had such a desperate yet stubborn look in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, this lord, who possessed unique insight, saw through his true demon nature beneath his disguise.
When Delroyce was about to kill this lord to silence him,
The lord instead proposed a contract to him.
The lord promised to teach Delroyce more about humans and how to perfectly disguise himself, while Delroyce would lend him his power.
Furthermore, in the final part of the contract, the lord willingly entrusted his life to Delroyce.
Perhaps intrigued by some fascinating emotions and traits in the lord, like the belief that some humans were even more evil than demons,
Delroyce gladly accepted the contract.
After the contract was sealed, in a few months, he completed all the lord’s commissions, learning much from him during their time together.
For Delroyce, originally, their contract was over.
He should have taken the lord’s life according to the agreement and then left.
But things always change faster than planned.
In the eyes of Delroyce, who loved studying human nature, the lord’s red-haired daughter was like an outlier.
Delroyce found himself utterly perplexed by her thoughts and feelings.
She was like a riddle collection that confused Delroyce greatly.
Originally, he had intended to leave this land long ago.
Yet because of this girl, he stayed for two more years,
Living like a real human for two years.
Though the first few months Delroyce spent doing mostly dirty work of eliminating ruffians,
In the following two years, he helped the lord accomplish many virtuous deeds.
This was extremely absurd for a demon.
Any other demon would have gone mad with this kind of saintly test of virtue.
But for Delroyce, he believed all of this was worthwhile.
If one day he could understand this girl’s thoughts, he would surely have taken one step closer to understanding the great academic pursuit of human emotions.
Unfortunately, Claudia suffered an incurable disease of this era and her days were numbered.
He didn’t know if he could understand her before she passed away.
But it didn’t matter.
Once she died, he would no longer have a reason to stay in this domain.
He would be able to proceed to the next destination with peace of mind.
Delroyce thought, his face gradually restoring the perfect fake smile he wore.
However, before Claudia could say her next sentence,
Her expression turned pale, and she swayed uncertainly.
It seemed that the energy she expended standing up just now completely drained her.
Delroyce quickly moved forward and supported her.
Not because he cared,
But as a reflex of an excellent butler.
At the moment he touched her, Delroyce realized how frail and emaciated she had become, seeming like a feather that could vanish at any moment.
Perhaps those chosen by death grow finer and more graceful, as if death itself were superior to life.
There wasn’t any trace of sorrow on her face.
Only a warm smile that could disperse even the moonlight.
For some reason, Delroyce felt that she was more beautiful than any work of art he had ever seen.
“I might not have much longer… The answer you sought, I may not be able to give to you.”
Claudia said weakly.
She was gradually losing the strength to stand,
Letting Delroyce embrace her, without any hesitation, nestling into Delroyce’s embrace.
“It doesn’t matter. This is an unexpected bonus outside of the deal I had with the lord. I will not be disappointed by your death, nor can I feel the same sorrow the lord did.”
Delroyce’s words sounded very malicious.
Yet everything he said was genuinely true.
Demons cannot feel the sadness of human farewells.
However, these words did not sadden or anger the red-haired girl. She seemed accustomed to this gray demon friend.
She continued,
“Although this is what you say out loud and what you think in your heart, aren’t the memories of the three years we spent together still in your mind?”
Delroyce: “Yes.”
Upon hearing Delroyce’s affirmative answer, the red-haired girl smiled faintly,
“I’ll tell you. People’s thoughts change with time. Perhaps one day when you remember me, you’ll have different thoughts about me.”
Delroyce frowned.
He seemed even more perplexed.
“I can’t understand. Just learning to differentiate between what humans call good and evil has taken me years. Your strange words are even more incomprehensible. After all, I can never become a true human.”
The girl helplessly smiled and shook her head, seeming ready to change the topic by asking:
“If there’s a chance to become a human, would you rather be a good person or a bad person?”
Delroyce didn’t mind exchanging thoughts with her, as long as she asked, he would answer.
As long as she kept posing mysteries,
His interest in her wouldn’t fade.
If he had five or ten more years, perhaps he really could find the answer.
So Delroyce thought for a while and replied:
“…I don’t know, but according to what the lady and the lord expected, doing the righteous deeds they entrusted me with would classify me as acting as a good person.”
“Then would you like to continue being a good person?”
The red-haired girl quickly followed up with this question.
Delroyce was startled.
He had never thought that there would be a naïve human asking a demon if it wanted to be a good person.
Even if the answer was yes,
Would anyone believe it?
The question itself and the potential response sounded like a joke.
He initially intended to answer casually.
But looking at Claudia, realizing this interesting girl would die soon,
Her gaze seemed to anticipate him sticking to this idea of being a “good person.”
It was laughable.
However, he, a demon dedicated to studying humans, had no right to criticize her.
To reach this strange scenario, it required both a peculiar human and a strange demon.
Half of the reason why the story came to this point was his persistence in studying humans, imitating humans, and learning humans.
Since that was the case.
According to human logic, he seemed to be obligated to comply with her wishes. It was reasonable.
End-of-life care?
Yes, that concept.
So Delroyce mulled it over and replied,
“If that’s what you hope for, I don’t mind continuing as a ‘good person’, since to me, whether it’s a ‘good person’ or an ‘evil person’ makes no difference. However, I will only act or portray a human according to your instructions. I simply don’t know how to become the ‘good person’ as you define it.”
“Delroyce, let me teach you.”
The corner of the girl’s mouth raised into a gentle smile.
As if whispering to herself, “You’re so clueless.”
The end of wisdom for demons, who were intelligent and rational, indeed seemed to be the same as the clumsiness of humans.
But regardless, she was delighted by Delroyce’s answer.
“If you cannot comprehend benevolence but are striving to understand human emotions, then stand opposite to evil all the time, forever and ever, and that makes you a good person…”
“…”
Delroyce fell silent.
He suddenly realized.
He seemed to have made an extraordinary promise.
“When you truly understand it someday, you won’t regret your previous actions…”
The girl’s eyelashes trembled slightly, her gaze becoming fuzzy as if succumbing to drowsiness. She continued speaking faintly.
She knew demons could not feel remorse or be troubled by conscience.
But she trusted Delroyce.
One day he would understand.
Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be there to see it.
Her last wish she made to the goddess was that when that day came, she doesn’t want Delroyce to feel distressed.
“I see. As you wish, let this be my tuition fee.”
Delroyce sighed as if comprehending, like someone conceding defeat.
Despite the tone being as cold as forming a contract,
This emotionless statement reassured the girl.
“But selfishly, I also hope that you never understand the human heart…”
The girl’s face, as carved from moonlight, seemed to have a teardrop sliding down from the corner of her eye.
“Why?”
Delroyce, puzzled, looked at the girl and asked.
Despite the many things he couldn’t fathom over the two years of interacting with her,
What perplexed him the most was always what she said about the human heart.
“Because your heart will break…”
The red-haired girl cradled in his arms slowly closed her eyes.
It seemed she had slept for a long time, never to wake up again…
…
Dekan jolted awake.
Sitting up on the bed, gasping for breath.
Recalling the visions in his dream.
In that dream, he had forgotten who he was.
Only remembered that his heart remained completely unmoved throughout.
Yet the moment he woke up, remembering the red shadow that vanished like an illusion,
He felt completely disoriented. His heart ached as if breaking into four pieces, like losing half his life.
Dekan lifted his paw, only to realize he was still in his cat form and that this was not his room.
By his side, Cornelia seemed to have woken up as well.
She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and upon seeing the little gray cat, immediately broke into a smile.
“Did you sleep well?”
Cornelia gently stroked the little gray cat, her voice soft.
Dekan said nothing.
He transformed out of his cat form.
Returning to human form, he embraced Cornelia.
Though startled, Cornelia nonetheless placed her hand on Dekan’s back, gently patting him.
Unlike the cold, weak hands in the dream, Cornelia’s hand was warm and reassuring.
“Sorry… those weren’t my sincere words…”
Dekan’s voice was filled with anguish and self-reproach, broken and fragmented.
“What words?”
Cornelia asked in confusion. Then, as if she thought of something,
“Was it when the cold Delroyce told Claudia ‘her death doesn’t matter’?”
“Did you have the same dream too?”
Dekan asked in surprise.
He tried to push Cornelia away to question her properly but found her grip unwavering; he couldn’t push her off.
There was too great a discrepancy in strength between them.
“Indeed. Also, let me tell you, Claudia said she wasn’t mad, but her heart ached nonetheless!”
Cornelia’s tone was unreadable.
It seemed she was grinning in secret.
“Sorry…”
Dekan slumped again, giving up the resistance.
In Cornelia’s hug, he was like clay, easily molded.
He had already tested this before.
“It’s not necessary to apologize to me. You aren’t Delroyce, and I’m not Claudia. You’re Dekan, the one who cares about me the most.”
Cornelia rested her chin on Dekan’s shoulder, her head leaning on him, her eyes closed, speaking softly.
Gradually,
It seemed Dekan’s mood stabilized.
…
At this moment, outside Cornelia’s bedroom window,
A black cat deftly hopped around and skillfully opened the window to leap over the curtains.
“Cornelia meow! I’m back! Tell me what’s going on…”
The Teacher Cat, as if freshly released from prison, enthusiastically shouted.
But before it could finish speaking,
It saw the sight inside the room.
Both people were silent.
Dekan’s expression was complex, his lips tightly pressed together, but his eyes conveyed more relief and gratitude.
Cornelia, meanwhile, was sleeping with a smile, as if happy to see a long-lost friend.
Silently hugging each other, they forgot the passage of time.
“Meow? Meow meow?!! Meow meow meow!!!”
It immediately rolled its eyes, overwhelmed by excitement and fainted.
A transparent cat-shaped ghost seemed to be about to pop out at its lips.
Teacher Cat had been mysteriously harmed.
