CHAPTER 183: KNOCK, KNOCK—TOO LATE

Just like last time, he reached out to knock on the study door. But before his hand even made contact, he heard a soft creak, the door opened from the inside.

Illiya and Sebastian stood there, staring at each other, not quite sure what to say.

"Ah, it’s you, Illiya," Sebastian greeted him.

His expression didn’t change in the slightest and the smile on his face was as warm and flawless as ever.

Even the curve of his lips was identical to before.

Of course, that was all on the surface. Deep down, Sebastian felt slightly awkward.

He had known Illiya would come to find him. After all, he’d gone to great lengths to plant people to follow Illiya from a distance, not just for show. On top of that, he had the trump card of the Elf King, Illiya’s teacher, on his side. With that kind of backup, there was no need to worry about losing track of Illiya’s movements.

It was just that this time, a small accident had occurred.

Last time, he had timed it perfectly, opening the door just as Illiya knocked. This time, however, he’d opened the door before Illiya even touched it, a slight miscalculation in timing.

Yes, it was just a matter of timing, that’s all.

Illiya looked at his still-raised, unknocked hand, then at the door that had "automatically" opened in front of him, and fell into a brief silence.

He suddenly remembered the last time he came to see Sebastian, when he knocked and the door opened at the same time.

That had felt totally normal.

But this situation right now...

He... probably hadn’t even knocked yet?

Oh~

So that’s how it is.

Illiya didn’t want to keep thinking about it at all, he had the feeling that if he continued down that train of thought, he’d end up uncovering something truly dreadful.

A wise elf always made the most appropriate decision. Like pretending to be blind and acting as if he hadn’t just seen the door being opened from the inside before he even knocked.

Now that he had made his decision, Illiya didn’t hesitate anymore. Instead, he put on a polite smile and added a tone of admiration, "Oh~ you are as prescient as ever. I suppose you predicted I’d be coming to find you again. You’ve even arranged such a considerate service that I didn’t need to knock before being let into the study."

Though he couldn’t throw everything out into the open and shine a light on it, surely a few sarcastic jabs here and there were harmless, right?

Upon hearing that sentence, Sebastian felt a catch in his chest. He’d lived long enough to understand the subtext behind those words. It was because he understood that he felt like he’d just suffered a minor heart attack.

He truly wanted to just give up, to lay everything out in front of the golden-haired elf and shout, "Don’t think this is what I want to be doing! I was forced into this!"

He was a respectable demon. Respectable demons don’t stalk people!

But, of course, none of that could be said aloud. He still wanted to serve at His Majesty Joey Carlos’ side for a long time—he had no intention of dying young.

He especially didn’t want to test what happens when an elf gets angry and embarrassed.

That wasn’t curiosity, that was a death wish.

And Sebastian was not in the mood to die.

So naturally, he chose to play dumb. He hadn’t heard anything, nope. Had Illiya said something? Illiya had not.

Sebastian skillfully skipped over the topic and continued with a friendly tone, "Life is always full of surprises, isn’t it?"

Illiya responded with a dry, "Heh."

He knew things had reached their limit here, there would be no further digging.

Internally, he sighed. Was he really trying to play clever with an old fox like this? What was he hoping for? To get swindled even harder?

"Indeed. Surprises at every turn," Illiya replied with a ghost of a smile, his tone faintly bitter, making it abundantly clear that he wasn’t happy. He might as well have carved "I’m watching your performance" across his forehead.

Sebastian looked into Illiya’s crystal-clear eyes for a moment before turning his gaze away, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Yep, still a kid.

Trying to trick a child always came with far more guilt than deceiving adults. That was just an unavoidable truth.

No matter the race, people were instinctively more tolerant toward the young.

Even among long-lived species like dragons and elves, whose adolescence could last as long as an entire human lifetime, the fact remained that until that growth period ended, they were still considered minors.

A child... huh.

That thought made Sebastian involuntarily soften, and his voice became a bit weaker. "You’re absolutely right, Illiya. But I assume you came here to discuss something with me?"

"For example, the topics we touched on last time, weren’t those rather interesting?" Sebastian prodded gently, his tone full of implication.

Naturally, Illiya picked up on that implication. However, he hadn’t come here this time to discuss preparing a "grand welcome gift" for their enemy during the upcoming war. He was here for something else entirely.

When Illiya explained the purpose of his visit, he clearly saw the way Sebastian’s eyes dimmed the moment he heard it wasn’t about "delivering a gift." The change was so obvious that it was hard to ignore, even if one tried.

"Oh, I see. Well, that’s truly a shame," Sebastian replied, his tone full of disappointment. He looked like a child who had just been denied the toy he wanted most.

Illiya, who was having this thought, felt that he himself was kind of ruthless in a way.

He quickly shook his head, trying to rid himself of the strange image in his mind.

Once he came back to his senses, he suddenly found it hard to understand why the demons were so enthusiastic, almost obsessed, about digging traps for others. They even seemed to enjoy it.