Even an Old Maid Feels the Spring Breeze (1)
Whiplike rain poured down endlessly. Each droplet hammered the ground like bullets, as if the sky itself had a hole ripped open. The Raging Flames Demon King had fallen. Perhaps because her authority was severed, the black flames that had scorched everything in sight began to flicker and die out bit by bit. Even under the relentless downpour that had boasted its unyielding might, the inferno now weakened, extinguishing before their eyes.
Mooooooooh!!!
A black monster charged in. Bursting through thick steam and lingering black flames, it crashed onto the scene where the Demon King had been slain. It was Borhes, one of the Demon King's kin. The hulking Minotaur, known as the black monster, thundered forward on heavy hooves and scooped up Sabnack.
Confirming her survival, Borhes realized she was still breathing, however faintly.
"Your Highness! Demon King Highness!!"
Borhes bellowed. Sabnack, stripped of her immortality and riddled with fatal wounds, looked like a cold corpse. But she lived. In a state so critical that death could claim her at any moment, she clung desperately to life. Ignoring the fallen Yushin, Borhes prioritized rescuing his liege.
"...She's... alive...?"
Yushin muttered in shock. Trembling in Allen's protective embrace, he forced his shaking hand toward the sword hilt.
Sabnack had lost her immortality. The one who had pushed the Libria Peninsula to the brink of annihilation was now so weakened that even ordinary elves could slay her. This was the moment. If he let her slip away now, she'd return as a horrific calamity once more. Gritting his teeth, Yushin tried to rise despite the strain.
"H-Help... me... up...!!"
He writhed desperately, attempting to stand over and over. He had sworn it—to himself, his disciples, his subordinates. He would fell the Demon King. He would sever Sabnack's lifeline.
But he had failed. His swing from the brink of death hadn't fully connected. The incomplete sword stroke missed her vitals, and the wayward blade path granted her a miraculous escape.
* * *
Word spread far and wide: Demon King Sabnack had been defeated by the Diablo Slayer and fled the field.
The elves cheered the Diablo Slayer's name in ecstasy, while the demons, hearing of their king's rout, fled in terror. Though the battlefield lay in ruins from the spread of black flames, and the demon army had held the advantage, news of Sabnack's duel loss crushed their morale. In the end, the "Libria Peninsula Hegemony War" concluded with an elven victory.
"Thank you. We won because of you."
Ardena spoke. Gazing at the man deep in slumber on the pristine hospital bed, she murmured to herself. He slept so peacefully that anyone watching couldn't help but smile warmly. What dream held him so content? A faint smile played on his lips—clearly a pleasant one.
I never had a chance to study his face like this... What a handsome man. By human standards, of course—and even ours.
Ardena beamed, her pale cheeks flushing softly. She looked like a bride on her wedding day, brimming with joy and shy delight. Staring so intently at a sleeping man's face was a first for her. Propping her chin on her hands, she savored the happy moment watching Yushin lost in his dreams.
"The Diablo Slayer."
"I heard. He took down Sabnack—someone even all the war captains together couldn't touch."
Nurses tending patients in the hospital gathered in clusters, whispering what they thought were quiet words. But Ardena's keen elven ears, far sharper than any human's, caught every syllable.
"Should we make a move once the captain leaves the room?"
"I hear men stay potent even in comas. Their breeding instincts supposedly kick into overdrive to leave offspring."
Elf beauties in nurse uniforms evoking angelic visions licked their lips, stealing glances at the deeply sleeping Yushin. Duty to protect their patient forgotten, they schemed to bed him, now stabilized by the priestesses' care. They even played rock-paper-scissors to decide the order.
Foxes, all of them... Nothing's too low for the man who saved our nation by slaying Sabnack! They should be thanking him endlessly!
Ardena bristled at the nurses' intent to "thank" him with their bodies. Step away for a moment, and Yushin might end up saddled with unwanted fatherhood nine months later. Like a guardian totem standing sentinel over a village, she sat rigidly by his bed, eyes on the nurses.
But the nurses weren't the only threats. Female doctors in white coats eyed him with dark intent too.
"Nursing isn't easy. Comatose patients need full care—even bodily functions. Leave him to me, Captain."
"I can handle it. We'll call if issues arise."
Ardena shooed away the doctors threatening the Diablo Slayer's virtue under the guise of care. Crises abounded; it was no exaggeration to say every medic coveted him.
"Everyone's so driven by base desires...!"
Ardena was a romantic at heart. She'd devoured human romance novels as a girl and still snuck peeks at them, yearning deeply for pure love between man and woman. Love born of filthy lust and instinct wasn't true love. Only bonds that cradled souls, cherished one another, and shared spiritual communion—that was real.
She dreamed of sharing true love with Yushin someday, so she wouldn't sully it with carnal folly.
Yushin's a hero who saved our homeland and kin. He'll earn status equal to a high elf. And then...
Dating him wouldn't be a pipe dream. For Ardena, held back by class divides, it was joyous news. Dating. Marriage. Pregnancy. Lately, she'd imagined years of courtship with Yushin culminating in marriage, bearing his children. She'd named their first and second, even envisioned rocking grandkids together in old age.
"Hrrrrgh..."
A woman's rough breathing sounded. Ardena's gaze shifted to the blue-haired woman sharing Yushin's bed. A sight she loathed. Just looking at her face sparked fury. Allen was a fellow savior of the Liberia Elf Kingdom alongside Yushin—but Ardena despised her all the same.
How could she laugh it off seeing her crush's bedmate flaunt their closeness? Only a living saint could stomach that.
Allen Rocksfield. Yushin says she was born with innate strength and talent. A human with vast potential and rapid growth who defies heaven's will. There must be something to her bloodline. Pity she lacks the character and grace to match.
Ardena acknowledged Allen's prowess. But that was it. The high elf captain viewed her—acting on whims, charging blindly—with disdain. No understanding, no desire for it. Without Yushin's mediation, blades would have clashed long ago.
To the noble captain, Allen was her polar opposite. Water and oil—never to mix.
Maybe she and her brother were close in Valua Kingdom, but this is elf land! Act like a little sister and stay back—suck your thumb!
Ardena seethed. She reached for the fruit basket on the table, plucked a grape, loaded it like a bullet, and flung a fat one at the soundly sleeping Allen.
Allen's mouth gaped wide—and snapped it right up. Pure beast instinct. She chewed, then opened for more.
Th-this absurd wench!!
Ardena's face twisted in inexpressible rage. Insolent brat. No respect for elders, just picking the most infuriating acts. A little sister should know her place, not claw for lover status. Ardena watched warily, fearing she'd seize Yushin's side in a blink.
"Nngh..."
Ardena groaned softly, suddenly feeling her eyelids droop. She'd barely rested since rushing Yushin to Maherith Palace for intensive care in his near-death state. Guarding and nursing him had piled exhaustion atop her weary body. Now at her limit, it begged for respite.
Just close my eyes a bit... I can wake if doctors or nurses eye him. That wench won't stay put either... Just a moment, ten minutes tops... Yeah, till then... A short rest...
Blinking heavily, Ardena collapsed onto the bed beside Yushin. She lay parallel, draping an arm over him like a child, breathing steadily in deep sleep. Fatigue overwhelmed her too. Eyes shut, she plunged into slumber, instinctively burrowing into his embrace.
A blissful smile curved Ardena's lips.
"Hnn."
Snuggled in Yushin's arms, she let out a faint moan, pressing deeper. Her lips brushed his cheek. Tongue out, she licked it.
Bold affection she'd never dare awake. Sleep-talking Ardena was braver than her waking self.
"Heeheehee..."
She giggled. His embrace must have felt heavenly. Disarmed, her face bloomed with joy. All visitors to Yushin's room witnessed the sleeping Ardena, smiling happily: priestesses and captains, her sister and friends, the Helenwood Knights, even Wallace Valencia—family head and her father.