It's Not Like I Enjoy Hugging Him

Breakfast was Lynch's specially made "improved vegetable potage" paired with rye bread.

Although it was a common pairing in the countryside, Lynch never compromised on his food standards. The vegetables in the soup were freshly picked from his garden that morning, so fresh they looked as if water could still drip from them. He specifically added his homemade spice blend—dried basil, black pepper, and a touch of wild spicy berries he had foraged from the mountains.

In this world where seasonings were relatively scarce, the rich, spicy aroma wafting from this pot of soup was enough to make anyone's salivary glands work overtime. It had a style similar to the spicy soup from his past life. Drinking a bowl on a slightly chilly morning warmed the stomach and induced a slight sweat—an absolute delight.

At the dining table, Felsy was taking small sips of her soup.

She ate very gracefully, making almost no sound. Only at times like this could Lynch catch a hint of relaxation in her brows and a faint sense of satisfaction at the corners of her eyes on her usually expressionless face.

Watching her eat, a sudden surge of inexplicable pity welled up in Lynch's heart.

Felsy seemed to bear some strange curse.

This curse caused ordinary humans to feel an instinctive, physiological fear upon seeing her, making them involuntarily want to distance themselves and avoid her. Even the small animals in the village—the stray cats and dogs that would normally flock to Lynch—would puff up their fur and flee as fast as they could when they saw Felsy, as if they had encountered their natural predator.

Over the past three months, aside from Lynch, almost no villagers were willing to approach this house on their own accord.

Her life before this must have been very lonely and solitary, right?

In this world, although curses weren't exactly commonplace, they weren't rare either. Some were due to bloodlines, some resulted from offending a mage, and others were simply innate bad luck.

Fortunately, Lynch had discovered early on that he seemed to possess a powerful immunity to various negative status effects and curses. This was probably his only "hidden perk" as a transmigrator before binding to his system.

Because of this, he couldn't feel the so-called "terrifying aura" emanating from Felsy at all. In his eyes, she was just a sickly, beautiful young girl who needed someone to take care of her.

"Put that way, Felsy and I really are a match made in heaven."

Lynch thought to himself with a sense of glee, "After all, I'm probably the only person in the whole world who isn't afraid of her."

"Hehehe..."

Watching Felsy look down and quickly chew her bread, her bulging cheeks making her look like a little hamster hoarding food, Lynch couldn't help but let out a goofy, infatuated laugh.

Felsy paused, looking up at him with her light purple eyes full of confusion. Swallowing her food, she asked flatly, "What are you laughing at?"

"Ah? No, nothing," Lynch snapped back to reality, waving his hands dismissively to cover it up. "I just feel that life is really happy right now. Seeing you have a good appetite makes me happy too."

"Oh," Felsy replied. She lowered her head to continue tackling the soup in her bowl, though the tips of her ears seemed to have turned ever so slightly red.

"By the way, remember not to lie down in bed immediately after eating. Lying down right after a meal is bad for digestion. You can take a few laps around the yard or just sit in your chair for a bit."

Lynch activated his mother-hen mode, nagging continuously as he cleared the table.

"I've already boiled hot water and filled the magic thermos, so you can pour yourself a drink whenever you want. Remember to take your medicine an hour after eating. That medicine is a bit bitter, so I've prepared some candied fruit next to it for you..."

"Also, I'll be heading out to the mountains to gather herbs in a bit. As soon as I leave, you must immediately activate the defensive magic array. Do not open the door no matter who knocks, unless you hear the secret signal we agreed upon. No excuses, got it? Not even if the village chief comes..."

Lynch repeated these words almost every day before leaving the house.

This scene reminded him of his past life. Every time a holiday ended and he had to leave home for school, his mom would nag endlessly while stuffing things into his suitcase.

When he was young, he always found this routine annoying and wished he could escape right away. It wasn't until he had lived alone in this different world for eighteen years and found someone he cared about and needed to look after that he finally understood. That wasn't nagging; that was a deep, overflowing sense of care and concern.

Unfortunately, Lynch's parents had passed away in a car accident before he transmigrated, otherwise, he might have desperately searched for a way back. But now, there was no one in his past life worth being particularly attached to.

This only made the young girl in front of him all the more precious to him. She was his only family in this world, his deepest bond with it.

Felsy kept staring at Lynch, seemingly listening very carefully to every word he said. Finally, she gave an obedient "Mm," acknowledging his instructions.

After finishing his chores, he strapped on his herb-gathering basket and brought along a short sword for self-defense.

Before stepping out, Lynch stood at the entryway, turned around, and opened his arms toward Felsy with an inviting smile.

Felsy froze for a moment, as if mentally preparing herself.

After pausing for a few seconds, she shuffled forward, gently reached out her arms, and gave him a somewhat stiff hug around the waist.

Lynch naturally closed his arms, gently embracing her frail shoulders.

[Suppression of Justice! Your embrace has made the World-Destroying Witch feel a long-lost trace of warmth!] [The cold and evil will deep within her heart, capable of destroying the world, has actually begun to crumble slightly because of this! This is the influence of love! This is the victory of humanity!] [Reward: Free Attribute Point +0.1]

The system's notification chimed loudly in his mind, but Lynch had already learned to automatically filter out its chuunibyou-like nonsense, focusing only on the final reward.

The young girl in his arms was incredibly soft, carrying a pleasant, subtle fragrance like lilies after the rain. As a hot-blooded eighteen-year-old youth (even though adding his past life's mental age made him a middle-aged uncle), it was hard for Lynch not to have some normal physiological reactions under the stimulation of such a warm and fragrant embrace.

However, Felsy's eyes remained innocent, her purple irises clear as crystal. She seemed completely unaware of what the subtle changes in Lynch's body meant.

Indeed, Felsy appeared entirely ignorant of the matters between men and women.

Looking on the bright side, this meant Lynch had married a wife as pure as a blank sheet of paper. For someone like him, who had been single and equally pure across two lifetimes, this was naturally a blessing.

Lynch had yet to consummate his marriage with Felsy.

On one hand, he always felt that taking advantage of such an innocent and clueless girl would fill him with guilt. On the other hand, and for a deeper reason, Felsy's constitution was simply too weak.

With a body that seemed like it could be blown over by a gust of wind, if he were to force her into a night of passion, Lynch genuinely feared she might lose her breath and pass away right then and there.

Lynch planned to nurse her back to health, waiting until she was mostly recovered before considering taking things a step further.

How did the saying go again? Good things come to those who wait. Spending a bit more time nurturing their feelings for each other wasn't a bad idea either. After all, when it came down to it, the two of them had only known each other for a full half-year.

"I am heading out then." Lynch released his embrace and gently patted her head.

"Mm." Felsy suddenly remembered the human social norms Lynch had taught her earlier, and said in a somewhat stiff tone, "Be careful... on your way."

"Will do!"

Creak—

The wooden door opened and closed.

Felsy pressed her hand against the complex pattern on the wall next to the door, injecting a faint trace of magic. With a soft hum, transparent ripples spread through the air as the defensive barrier activated.

Standing on the cobblestone path outside, Lynch watched through the window to ensure the defensive barrier activated properly before turning to leave with peace of mind.

So far, Felsy's memories still had not returned, but she seemed to have retained some of the knowledge she had once learned, such as the study of array magic.

Lynch knew nothing about magic arrays. The defensive barrier around their home was designed by Felsy; Lynch had taken the blueprints to town to buy the necessary materials, and built it under her guidance.

It was truly fortunate. If not for this highly reliable-looking defensive barrier, Lynch would not have felt at ease going up the mountain to gather herbs while leaving Felsy home alone.

They really were a match made in heaven!

Lynch was responsible for earning money to support the family and taking care of her daily needs, while Felsy used her knowledge to protect their home. Once Felsy's body recovered further and she had enough energy, she might even be able to earn money by crafting magic array scrolls to supplement their income.

What a hopeful life in another world!

...

Inside the house.

As Lynch's footsteps faded into the distance, the air inside the room seemed to freeze instantly.

The innocence and docility on Felsy's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a coldness and majesty profound enough to freeze the soul.

She walked slowly into the courtyard and continued to stare blankly at the jujube tree.

There was no particular reason for it, other than the fact that the twisted, jagged trunk reminded Felsy of certain things from the Demon Continent. The vast majority of flora on the Demon Continent grew in a rather jagged manner, entirely different from the Central Continent where Buena Village was located.

After a long time, the young girl raised her hand and gently touched her own arm.

It seemed to still hold the lingering warmth and touch from her embrace with Lynch just moments ago.

Lynch requested that they hug each time he left the house every day, claiming it was the proper etiquette for human couples.

Since she had decided to stay by his side as his wife while recovering her strength, she might as well play the role of a wife to the best of her ability.

Truth be told, Felsy did not quite understand the meaning of marriage. As the most powerful weapon of the demon race, she excelled at combat and destruction, but beyond that, she lacked common sense in many areas.

She vaguely remembered hearing others say that getting married meant having children together, but Lynch did not seem to be in any rush to have children with her.

She did not understand.

At first, Felsy was extremely unaccustomed to skin-to-skin contact. After all, she was the Crimson Calamity, the World-Ending Witch from the sages' prophecies, the strongest being in the world who stood above all else.

Aside from the souls who had died by her hands, she had almost never had any proper intimate contact with anyone.

In the law of the jungle that dictated the demons' worldview, touching was a symbol of power, signifying domination and submission. Only a superior could touch a subordinate, or a strong person grasp the throat of the weak.

The first time Lynch hugged her while she was awake, she almost instinctively cast an instant Dark Pulse to blow his head off.

A mere human... dared to profane the dignity of the Witch?

But her body was too weak at the time, and her soul was severely damaged. She could hardly muster even the most basic offensive magic. Nothing came out; instead, she coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining Lynch's clothes.

Later, by the time Felsy was capable of using simple magic, she had grown somewhat accustomed to the hugs...

No, it was not a habit!

Felsy strictly corrected herself in her mind.

The core reason was that she needed a perfect sanctuary to evade the pursuit of human experts and the mad dogs of the Church, allowing her to rest, recuperate, and restore her strength.

This human named Lynch, despite being as weak as an ant, seemed to possess a strange trait that could mask the leakage of her demonic aura, and he was completely oblivious to her true identity.

Becoming Lynch's wife and accepting his protection was the best choice with the highest tactical value based on objective circumstances.

Yes, exactly. This was the most efficient concealment strategy.

Therefore, the hugs were merely a measure of expediency, a part of the disguise. It was not a habit, and she definitely did not have even the tiniest bit of liking for the feeling of being hugged... Absolutely not.

Lost in thought, Felsy suddenly realized that her hand had somehow found its way to her face.

It was the side of her face that had just been pressed against Lynch's chest, and she could still faintly recall the sound of his heartbeat and his warmth.

She frowned, as if angry with herself, and jerked her hand away.

Afterward, she returned to that unapproachable, expressionless demeanor, continuing to stare blankly at the jujube tree. Only this time, a trace of confusion that even she had not noticed had crept into her eyes.