In the room where Desire was placed by the Black Hand's members and Ryu, there was a woman who was currently sitting in a chair.

Of course, this woman was Jarina, who just got in here.

She was hoping to nurse Desire back to health, as she heard that he was corrupted or something like that, but...it seems that her wishes to do that was pointless as Desire was awake right now.

In fact, Desire had his two red eyes wide open as he looked at the empty air.

Of course, that didn't mean that Jarina was not satisfied with Desire waking up right away.

However, there was one thing that was...problematic, and that was...Jarina was too excited as she spoke.

"Desire! Are you alright? Is there something wrong with you? What do you want to do? Are you fine?! Can you hear my words? Helloooo?" Jarina said as she moved her head right in front of Desire's field of vision.

Desire could see Jarina's flawless face as her hair flowed down to Desire's face as well.

However, Desire...didn't say anything nor did he do anything. He just stared straight at the empty air just as he was doing before.

And this made...Jarina worried a little bit as Desire was not responding, "Hey, Desire! Can you hear my words or not? Are you really alright?" Jarina said while staying right in front of Desire's field of vision.

And it was then that Desire finally made a response as he spoke, "Yeah...I can hear you alright," he said as he then raised his body, making Jarina move out of the way as she sat back down on her seat.

And when he was finally sitting down on the soft bed, Desire spoke again without looking at Jarina, "What happened?"

This was Desire's first question about this whole situation. Desire's Heavenly Demon trait was not helping him remember what happened at all, which means that something greater than the Heavenly Demon trait was in the works here.

Of course, since he was not the only person present in that...situation, he just had to ask someone else to know what happened.

"You got corrupted, they said. And that you had to rest, but it seems like Ryu also predicted that you would be waking up faster than normal since he's not here," Jarina explained.

Of course, what Jarina said was the truth. The fact that Ryu and the other members of the Black Hand were not present in this place means that he knew that Desire would wake up soon.

It was a sign that he was respecting Desire since he let him wake up in a quiet environment with just Jarina by his side rather than in a room full of panicked and noisy men.

Well, this move of Ryu was a little bit too ambiguous, but...it seems that Desire didn't care about that at all as he spoke again without looking at Jarina.

"Corrupted? By what? By who? I can only remember the moment when Amelia was still explaining things to me, and after that...it's all blurred," Desire said.

"Well..." Jarina hesitated to say it since she knew that what she was about to say was quite unbelievable considering that she explained that Representatives do not have the freedom to move or something like that.

However, it's not like Jarina planned to shy away from her responsibility.

She was planning to apologize for it. Right, even though Muzziah, the one who possessed the Representative was the one at fault here, Jarina still felt like that situation was her responsibility.

She was the one who said that the Representative won't attack him, which may have caused Desire to lower his guard down.

Besides, Jarina...knew that what happened earlier was her endangering Desire by feeding him wrong information.

However, before even Jarina could finally come out with what she was about to say, Desire...spoke first as he finally turned his head to look at Jarina.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault," Desire said.

"H-huh?" Jarina stuttered as confusion overtook her mind, but most importantly, Desire...seems to have changed a little bit.

Jarina didn't know exactly what it was, but...there was something that just seems to have changed in Desire's aura and demeanor.

If Jarina had to word it, it would be like...Desire just got bigger.

Of course, not in the literal sense of the word, but somehow, someway, Desire just seems so much bigger compared to the time they were together in that Lord's room.

And this sudden feeling of Desire getting big was the main cause of confusion for Jarina, which made it hard for her to speak.

It was then that a smile...suddenly crept up to Desire's face as he laughed a little bit, "Hahaha, I know that you're still worrying about things that you shouldn't worry about."

"You haven't changed at all, Jarina," Desire said.

Desire then began to stand up as he pushed the sheets away from him.

It seems that he was still wearing the robe and nothing was done on his body at all.

"Anyways, I probably got corrupted by the Representative, right? It's no brainer to figure that out since the Representative is the only 'hostile' presence in that place," Desire said as he was now standing up.

He then began to stretch his body here and there, and while he was stretching, he spoke again.

"Hmm? I already told you that you don't have to worry about something like that. Why do you...still have that kind of face?" Desire said as he looked at Jarina.

Jarina still had that...dumb look on her face. Well, it was only natural since Desire was able to see right through her.

Before, Jarina was the one who was seeing through Desire, but now...it seems like tables have turned as Desire saw through Jarina in an instant, and this made Jarina...feel the passage of time.

"You...really grew up fast..." Jarina murmured as she looked down a little bit.

Her eyes...were somewhat red due to what she was feeling right now, but she didn't let her tears out.

After all, Desire already forgave her with no hesitation at all.

There was nothing Jarina had to worry about, and that was indeed the truth.

If Jarina were to still blame herself even after all this, that...would just make her toxic.

It was then that Jarina finally looked up as she put her chest out forward with no hesitation.

"Yes, Desire. You got corrupted by the Representative, and I also got corrupted by the Representative. It seems like the Representative tried to make you undergo the contract that the Lord of the City usually undergoes, which...is a failure since you are here well and fine," Jarina said with pride and Desire could see that very well.

And this simple gesture made Desire really satisfied and proud of Jarina.

Why? It was because this simple gesture proves that Jarina can grow up and improve as a person.

Of course, it's not like Jarina had any big flaws in Desire's perspective, but...Desire wanted Jarina to stand tall.

And always being apologetic when something bad happens to Desire was definitely not the way for Jarina to stand tall.

That was why Desire was happy for Jarina that she was able to take this step, whether she was conscious of it or not.

And while he was feeling this happiness, Desire...suddenly blurted out some genuine words from his heart, "You really are beautiful, Jarina."

Of course, when Jarina heard those words, she...just casually smiled as she responded, "I appreciate the compliment, Desire, but...do you really have to say it so many times?"

"You already told me that before, and I am well aware of it," Jarina said.

"Of course," Desire said as he then put his right hand above Jarina's head and began to pat her, "A beautiful woman deserves her beautiful praise, don't you think?"

"Fufufu, then I shall take it with no shame," Jarina said.

The mood was getting...a little bit too comfortable and it was getting lovey-dovey as well, but...it seems that Desire didn't have the plans to continue this as he turned his head back in front.

His two red eyes looked just like how they were before when Desire was staring at the empty air.

Well, that was only to be expected. After all, Desire was looking at the...screen that he was looking at before.

And that screen was...

[Monster's Way is being forcibly awakened.]

[Monster's Way is being forcibly awakened.]

[Monster's Way is being forcibly awakened.]

And that was what the screen said. However, there were not just one or two screens that had those messages.

There were...hundreds, thousands of these screens floating right in front of Desire, which made it hard for Desire to see when he first woke up.

And while he was staring at those screens, Desire had a thought running in his mind.

'Monster's Way is what the Heavenly Demon trait used to make the Unknown, right? Together with the system.'

'How is it possible that it is being forcibly awakened when it's the Unknown already?' Desire thought as his eyes sharpened.