Becoming the Early-Dying Wife of the Sun-Breathing Ceiling - Chapter 2

This time, he didn’t answer me.

Instead, he lowered his head. “Your hand is bleeding.”

My index finger was sprouting a large bead of blood.

Because I had been so shocked by the sudden, earth-shattering realization of who he actually was, I’d been careless and given my finger a nasty gash!

The cut was quite deep, and the blood kept welling up.

But in a moment like this! Does my insignificant finger matter? Does it matter at all!!!

I couldn’t help but roar internally.

He was Tsugikuni Yoriichi! Do you know what that means?!

It didn’t just mean he was a legendary warrior whose fame had endured for centuries; it meant this was a world with an immortal Demon King and numerous evil demons who feasted on human flesh and blood.

This was a super, super, super high-risk world!

My face twisted in distress. To a little villager like me, those demons would just be snacks one bite and I’d be gone!

No, no, no! I should never go out at night again! It’s too dangerous!

Wait, no! A house like mine, with absolutely no protection, wouldn’t stop those demons at all!

I was on the verge of a breakdown.

“Are you really, truly named Tsugikuni Yoriichi?” I asked again, unwilling to give up.

But in reality, I already had my answer in my heart. Whether it was the red-and-white sun earrings on his ears or the marks on his forehead…

As well as the person he was.

It couldn’t be anyone else. Whatever “imposter” thoughts I might have had vanished before the aura radiating from him a sense of reliability that made one instinctively trust him.

“Why on earth…” I covered my face, sighing with a mixture of grief and frustration.

I, who feared demons most of all, had actually transmigrated into a world filled with them.

“Does my name… frighten you?”

He kindly helped me, the collapsing wreck, sit down. Tsugikuni Yoriichi, the youth born with the “Transparent World,” spoke in a soft, puzzled voice.

“It’s not just that,” I waved a hand at him powerlessly.

I took a deep breath, barely managing to calm my heart.

He wasn’t carrying any weapons, which meant he hadn’t joined the Demon Slayer Corps yet, right?

I started trying to recall the plot I had once read. The breathing style he created continued for hundreds of years; his brother would become Kokushibo; he used his Bright Red Nichirin Sword to defeat the immortal Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji, yet failed to kill him completely…

My gaze couldn’t help but linger on him. He is that kind of person!

But has any of that happened yet?

“Are you saying you just left home?” I asked tentatively.

“It’s been a few years,” he answered me very honestly.

So, that shouldn’t have happened yet, right? I muttered to myself, racking my brains… It was all too long ago. I only remembered that he was peerless in talent but remained unknown, barely survived his father’s attempts to kill him as a child, lost his mother to illness, and that his brother’s attitude changed to jealousy after discovering his talent in swordsmanship.

If he hadn’t left home, the fratricidal tragedy was inevitable.

Thinking of it that way, saying he had “nowhere to go” wasn’t entirely wrong.

Thinking about it, his childhood was quite tragic, I thought, slumped over the table.

My anxiety, born of fear, must be contagious, right? Even if he’s a genius, he’s just a boy. No matter how powerful or invincible he becomes later, right now he’s just a child who lost his mother and was hated by his brother.

“Actually…” I climbed up from the table, feigning strength, and smiled reluctantly as I raised my hand. “You’re right, my hand really does hurt.”

The blood on my finger had long since dried, but the throbbing pain reminded me that everything before me was no dream.

He looked at my hand, then at my face. “If you don’t mind, I can help cook.”

“Eh? Is that okay?”

“I am the reason you were injured, after all,” he said, with an incredibly good temper.

How could I… Asking an invincible warrior to cook for me was honestly a bit of a waste of talent!

I just stood up, but then another thought occurred to me—a chance like this wouldn’t come again in my next life!

So, I sat back down in the chair with a DUANG, and said with a beaming smile, “Hehe, then I’ll trouble you!”

Although my earlier complaint about my finger hurting wasn’t intended for this purpose, it seemed I’d gotten an unexpected bonus!

Under my guidance, he soon served two dishes and a soup that wafted with a clear fragrance. Because there was an extra person, I had deliberately added an extra dish and soup to the ingredients; otherwise, being as poor as I usually was, I would have just whipped up something simple, usually just rice with egg.

I could hardly wait to pick up the food and put it in my mouth. Mmm~

The taste wasn’t bad at all! It could definitely be called clever and skillful! If you looked closely, every single slice of radish was the exact same thickness.

“Is it to your taste?” he asked briefly.

“It’s quite delicious.”

Upon hearing this, his posture seemed to relax. Tsk, it seems he was just nervous! The way I was earlier… erm, it probably was a bit scary.

I bit my chopstick, feeling conflicted. “I seem to have been too rude just now because of some personal matters. You shouldn’t have been scared by me, right? Sometimes I can’t control my emotions a little; that’s my problem, don’t take it to heart.”

I desperately tried to say something to maintain my image.

“Also, I wasn’t afraid of your name just now, it’s like this…”

I decided to spout nonsense!

“I’m very poor. Before, I had a big creditor who kept sending thugs to threaten me for debt. His name was Tsugikuni Yoriichi…” I made up a story on the spot to get past it.

Seeing him listen earnestly and patiently, a bit of guilt bubbled up in my heart, but I steeled myself and finished the lie.

After I stopped, he asked, “Did you pay him back?”

I nodded repeatedly, terrified he’d think I was the kind of detestable scoundrel who ran away after borrowing money.

Hearing this, he stared at me without blinking. “Since the debt is cleared, there’s no need to be afraid of him anymore.”

“Instinct, just instinct…” I said.

“If he sends thugs to harass you again…” he paused, “I will find a way to help you drive them away.”

He’s truly reliable! What an incredible sense of security!

I doubled down, adding fuel to the fire. “It’s not just the creditor! I’m also afraid of demons! The kind that drag people away to eat them while they’re just walking down the road! They’re super evil! Super bad guys!”

I’m hinting like crazy here, get it?!

He tilted his head, showing a rare, childish gesture. “I have indeed heard rumors of evil demons in town, but those are probably just to scare children. Miss Hui, you don’t need to worry about such things.”

He was actually comforting me. He didn’t believe in demons; my brain stuttered slightly.

A faint smile appeared on the corners of his lips, his red eyes gentle and clear. “If there really are demons, I will protect you.”

Thump-thump. My heart was about to jump out of my throat. Help, help me! Clever, honest men are even more lethal when they flirt!

I covered my heart and said unsteadily, “R-really? That’s great.”

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” His gaze dropped to the location of my heart. His expression didn’t change much, and his eyes were pure and flawless.

“Your heartbeat is very fast.”