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Once the man had taken his last breath and fell limp on the ground, Adrian smiled as he removed the knife from the man– no, the corpse’s chest. With blood dripping from the knife and into the ground, he watched it with complete disinterest before turning away.
“Hilda,” he called out to his lover lovingly as he faced her, “it’s done.”
And there she was, standing still with a shovel in hand. Just like the knife he used, the shovel she used was covered in blood stains from beating their target as hard as she could and repeatedly at that. ‘Hilda has gotten stronger,’ he thought smilingly, feeling proud of her, ‘compared to the first time she had done it.’
And he was even more so joyous since this was the first time they had done it together. It was something definitely worth celebrating, but that can be for later. It wasn’t because they had to clean up the mess they made, but the look on Hilda’s face, he saw it again.
She didn’t hear his words, it seemed. She was staring off into space again even though her green eyes were looking straight at the corpse. “The bastard deserves it,” she was muttering in that unsteady tone again, “we wouldn’t have done this to him if he wasn’t preying on children…”
This had become a habit of hers. In this way, she would comfort herself by justifying all the killings she had done on his behalf. After witnessing it many times now, Adrian had come to understand it. Compared to him, Hilda was human after all. It couldn’t be helped if her mind was being weighed down by her conscience. It was simply a human thing to do.
He didn’t mind it all that much, but he didn’t like it when it made her scared and unhappy. And so, he stood up and walked toward her. Once she was within his reach, Adrian pulled her into a hug and he placed his head on her shoulder.
Nearly letting go of the shovel but keeping it in her hold, he saw her flinch from the sudden close contact she felt. “Y… Young Master Adrian, you shouldn’t be hugging me!” Hilda protested in turn, “I’m covered in filth and smell horrible!”
“It should be fine since it’s the same for me,” though refuting her words, Adrian did it softly and with a sweet smile on his face, “once we’re done here, we can just take a bath together~”
And his smile grew, feeling her warmth even more from her face turning all red. “D… Don’t say such things, Young Master Adrian!”
“Say,” as much as he liked seeing his blushing Hilda in his arms, he let out a sulky pout, “aren’t I already courting you? Since when will you call me just by my name…”
“That’s…”
There she was again, having that blank yet uneasy look as she stared at the corpse. Lifting an arm, Adrian placed a gentle hand at the top of her head. “There, there,” patting her head, he said in a reassuring tone, “you’ve done the right thing, Hilda. The world has one less terrible person to deal with, isn’t that a good thing?”
Hilda uttered not a word, but he felt her head nod in response. And to his relief, her body gradually lost its stiffness as she looked away from the corpse and instead melted into his embrace. Though shyly, she wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. That rosiness in her cheeks and the way her green eyes shone so brightly, such a lovely sight it was for him.
Though she never admitted it, Adrian knew she liked his warmth. Well, other than his scent and the pillows in his bed. ‘Hilda is looking better than before, that’s good,’ he thought happily, watching her facial muscles relaxed as they stayed like this for a short while.
Although Adrian didn’t care much for those moralities that humans liked to uphold so much, he didn’t mind using it if it helped calming down his Hilda. As long as she was well, happy, and by his side, he was willing to do anything for her.
Anything at all.