The Tentacle That Saved Him

p>“It seems... like it was the one that protected him...”

p>“What?”

p>“That... that wriggling tentacle... the one that protected him?”

p>“C-cooluck!”

p>Irene attempted to answer slowly, but a violent cough suddenly tore from her throat.

p>Michael watched her with the helpless despair of a man staring at the most critically ill patient in the world.

p>He shook his head urgently.

p>“Please, do not speak. You must not tire yourself.”

p>“I will bring you tea right away!”

p>Reina darted out, her heart pounding.

p>She had always been the calm one, even in the dungeon’s bloodiest slaughter, where Michael stood unflinching.

p>But when Irene coughed once, he looked as though his heart had been ripped open.

p>No wonder he had called the physician before entering the room.

p>He knew the paralysis was nearly gone and her life was not in danger.

p>Yet that single cough had shattered him.

p>Reina understood the situation instantly.

p>“I’ll go prepare the tea!”

p>She ran to fetch it, leaving the two of them alone.

p>‘I knew it. Whenever the two of them are together, I feel like I’m intruding.’

p>Reina dashed away, replaying the times she had left the room first.

p>She had never truly felt unwelcome—just an instinctive sense that they needed a moment alone.

p>When she walked by herself and met Cynthia, the senior purifier would ask what was wrong, then quietly advise her not to interrupt their conversation.

p>‘Oh my, oh my, oh my.’

p>Reina now understood why.

p>Michael and Irene had grown even closer than she imagined.

p>“Thank you.”

p>As she closed the door behind her, Michael’s eyes met hers.

p>He smiled.

p>“The tea will be ready soon.”

p>Reina nodded and left.

p>‘I should walk around outside for a while... then come back.’

p>‘No, I’ll take Felix for a walk first. Then I’ll return.’

p>That should give them enough time.

p>Felix was already returning from training below.

p>“Felix!”

p>Reina waved excitedly as she ran to him.

p>He opened his arms with a bright laugh and pulled her into a tight embrace.

p>They had been in the fortress for three months now, chasing dreams of wealth and experience.

p>Far beyond their original goals, they had accumulated more than they could count and grown even closer to each other.

p>‘The greatest joy was that I could ignore the families who begged me not to go.’

p>Before coming to the fortress, Reina had cried every single day.

p>Her family had opposed their union and even warned that the weakened knight would die first.

p>She knew their words were not entirely false—many famous knights in the kingdoms had asked her to be their pair.

p>Yet she chose love.

p>They could have stayed far away, living ordinary lives as a normal purifier and knight.

p>She had braced herself for hardship, but the fortress had become her home.

p>Friends, laughter, and a Felix who was growing stronger beside Michael.

p>She knew everything had changed since she met Irene.

p>‘It was after I met Irene.’

p>Before that, they had wandered blindly, stumbling through trial and error.

p>But since meeting Irene and hearing her firm warning not to enter that dungeon, everything had fallen into place.

p>“Why are you smiling like that?”

p>Felix noticed Reina’s soft giggle and gently pinched her cheek.

p>“It’s just... thinking that things have turned out well because I met Irene.”

p>“That’s good.”

p>Felix agreed immediately.

p>They held each other for a long time before taking hands and walking together through the fortress garden.

p>The noisy fortress seemed distant here.

p>The garden was quiet and peaceful as always.

p>They had been chatting about today’s training and tomorrow’s dungeon when Reina suddenly spoke.

p>“Felix, there’s something I’ve been wondering... Do paladins never leave the temple their whole lives?”

p>“Not exactly... but most end up staying there until death. That’s why there’s a saying about leaving the temple through death.”

p>Reina’s expression darkened.

p>Michael was the most celebrated paladin in temple history.

p>The temple would surely never let him go.

p>“Still, people leave all the time.”

p>“I heard he was looking into joining the paladin order.”

p>“After Michael’s name spread, the number of applicants exploded. After a year, only half remain.”

p>“So it’s hard to leave?”

p>“It is, but formal admission only comes after three years. Any deviation from doctrine before that results in automatic expulsion.”

p>“Deviation from doctrine?”

p>“Something like this.”

p>Felix lowered his head and kissed her lips.

p>In the beautiful garden, young lovers savored a long-awaited kiss.

p>“Hah...”

p>Reina pulled away, breathing heavily, and patted Felix’s chest lightly.

p>“...That’s why knights get expelled.”

p>“Why do you ask?”

p>“...I hope Michael becomes a paladin.”

p>Felix nodded as if he understood.

p>“The two of them do seem closer lately.”

p>“Yes... but...”

p>Reina touched her swollen lips and murmured.

p>“I’m worried this closeness might be too hard for them.”

p>No matter how close, Michael was the devout paladin everyone knew.

p>How could he easily fall for a woman not of his faith?

p>“It will take forever...”

p>Just holding hands should be harmless, yet Irene had said Michael only purifies demonic energy when no one else is around.

p>This knight who already avoids touch so carefully that he flinches from the eyes of those around him—how long would it really take before he kissed her?

p>Reina worried about their future while cheering them on at the same time.

p>It will be fine.

p>While Reina was lost in these thoughts, Michael sat beside the sleeping Irene, gently stroking her cheek.

p>She had slept right after their long conversation.

p>He withdrew the hand he had been carefully resting on her hair and ground his teeth.

p>Demons were trying to take her from him.

p>That was absurd.

p>Most demons obeyed his command without question.

p>Everywhere—here, there, even in the past and future.

p>Yet the one threatening Irene could only be one.

p>He recalled the gray clay-like demon he had seen deep in the dungeon.

p>The one that had followed him relentlessly.

p>The one he had become.

p>‘Can I even call that a demon?’

p>Michael ran both hands over his face.

p>Then he turned toward the open door across the hall.

p>The servants had all left, leaving the room empty.

p>“Come out.”

p>He spoke quietly toward the doorway.

p>Moments later.

p>“Kuuk...”

p>A peach-colored tentacle emerged from the open door, crawling out with weak, resigned movements.