Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - chapter 5

Beili was a little stunned when she heard his words. She frowned slightly, unsure how much of what the villainous fifth male lead was saying was just an act.

Although it was hard to tell truth from lies in the boy’s words, being locked up every day in a cramped, pitch-dark cell and eating spoiled bread was all too real.

According to the plot of the book, the fifth male lead, Ashera, was only accidentally rescued from Thorn Prison by the original heroine, Susanna, a few years after Bartholomew returned to the Constance Family.

Because Ashera was just the fifth male lead, and Susanna had four other male leads to develop romantic storylines with.

So after Susanna brought Ashera back to the palace, she rarely sought him out.

Their subsequent meetings and interactions were mostly by chance, and always took place in tense, dramatic scenes where several male leads were present at once.

Thus, the boy’s heart was wounded again and again, intentionally or unintentionally ignored.

Until the end of the story, when the boy no longer hid or concealed the darkness within him, showing his twisted side to Susanna.

And so, what awaited him in the end was only the cruel punishment of burning at the stake.

Thinking of the boy beside her, who had grown up eating moldy bread and living in such darkness, only to be nailed to a cross and burned to a charred corpse by a crowd when he grew up,

Beili felt a slight ache in her heart.

She held onto the bread without eating it, and the same sense of indignation she’d felt when reading the novel surged up again.

It was a feeling of confusion, helplessness, and resentment-everyone else in the story was heading toward happiness, while her favorite character was despised and marched toward death.

Poor fifth male lead, he must not be allowed to meet such a tragic and inhuman end again!

Thinking this, Beili clenched her fists.

No one would burn the fifth male lead to death while she was around; she was determined to save this villainous character!

Sharing food with a friend in adversity was truly praiseworthy, so Beili nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, we’re friends, so I won’t let you go hungry. We can share this bread together.”

As she spoke, she tried to break the bread in her hands into two pieces.

But the big Russian bread was truly formidable-no matter how hard Beili tried, it remained perfectly intact.

Beili: …

Beili felt a little embarrassed.

She tapped the boy’s arm with her fingertip and placed the bread in his hands. “Um… I can’t break it. Why don’t you give it a try?”

But the bread made a round trip and ended up back in Beili’s hands.

“I-I’m not hungry. You… you don’t need to share it with me,” the boy replied.

“No way.”

Beili put the bread back in the boy’s hands. “You’re not hungry now, but you’ll be hungry soon.”

“A-actually I… cough… I’m already… already quite full.”

The boy laughed softly and briefly, his tone seeming a little helpless.

Beili didn’t understand what the boy meant by “full,” thinking he was just continuing to show his admirable selflessness. She was still pondering how to get him to eat a little, lest he faint from hunger.

The boy had already torn off a small piece of bread and held it up to her mouth.

“I-I can… feed you.”
The scent of bread lingered at the tip of her nose.

Beili paused for a moment, and before she realized it, she had instinctively opened her mouth and eaten the bread that was fed to her lips.

Well, she was hungry anyway.

Beili accepted the feeding.

Although the bread still had a faint sour taste, it was actually not unpleasant.

Perhaps it was because Bartholomew hadn’t eaten much these past few days; as soon as Beili entered her body, she felt ravenous, her stomach growling so much it felt as if her chest was about to meet her back.

So even if the bread was stale, her body didn’t reject it at all.

The boy patiently waited through the sounds of her chewing, and when he heard her swallow, he tore off another small piece of bread and held it to her lips.

When he noticed that the girl’s chewing and swallowing took longer, he would thoughtfully ask, “Do… do you want more?”

His tone was light and cheerful, and there was even a hint of inexplicable delight from feeding her, making Beili feel a strange sense that she was being cared for by him.

Combined with what the boy had said earlier-‘I won’t let a friend die from lack of food’-Beili even had reason to suspect that this villainous fifth male lead might have once raised some small animal in this prison cell, only for it to starve to death from lack of feeding.

With her hunger satisfied, Beili began to ponder.

Although she didn’t know how far the story had progressed, Bartholomew would eventually leave Thorn Prison and return to Duke Constantine’s Castle, making a strong comeback as the true heiress.

The only thing she could be sure of now was that the villainous fifth male lead beside her had not yet met the heroine Susanna, nor had any feelings developed.

Since she wanted to save him, why not take him away before he met the heroine, and keep him by her side?

If, in the end, the fifth male lead still fell for Susanna, Beili could help him pursue the heroine… that wouldn’t be so bad.

If the pursuit failed, she could comfort him in time, guide him, and prevent him from completely turning twisted in his silence…

This seemed to be the best choice for now.

……

In the darkness, Beili tentatively spoke:

“If I leave Thorn Prison in the future, will you come with me?”

“Lea… leave?”

A puzzled voice came from beside her.

“Why… why leave? Where… where would we go after leaving?”

That was a good question. Beili remembered that in the original book, after Bartholomew reclaimed her identity as the true heiress, she would soon have her own estate.

So, naturally, they would live in the estate.

“Come with me. I have an estate.”

After saying this, Beili thought it sounded too blunt, so she added more gently:

“I’ll let you eat food better than just bread and apples, and sleep on softer bedding.”

After she finished, she waited expectantly for the boy’s reply, but the dark, cramped prison cell remained silent for a long time.

Could it be that the villainous fifth male lead didn’t want to leave?

Beili frowned in confusion.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” she asked.

After a while, the boy finally spoke softly, still repeating his question:

“Why… why leave?”