Lilith's POV

"First target, huh? How many more are remaining?" The expression of despair washed up on his face, and he sighed.

I shattered his sprinkle of hope to get back to a normal life at this moment.

"Even I don't know. That's something the contract decides."

"So what if that damn contract just keeps giving me targets? Will I keep doing them?" I could see the bedsheets clenched between his fists.

This was the first time he was expressing so much emotion in front of me. He was clearly angry. But he was helpless. He can't do anything about this. Except to accept his fate. If there's anything that he hated the most, it would probably be the feeling of helplessness. I could empathise with him for this moment because I was once in this situation too.

"Don't worry, you won't get unlimited targets. Probably like a couple more." I tried to convince him, but words seemed to have no effect on him.

"I don't trust you." He looked at me.

Of course he wouldn't. Even though we lived under the same roof for one month, I never got to know him. Neither did he try to know about me.

But he was a really useful asset to me right now.

I cradled his face and looked into his eyes. They looked so void. They had no emotions in them. Well, he wasn't much expressive, but those eyes were of someone who was hollow from inside. He wasn't angry at me anymore. Or to begin with, he was never upset with me.

"I know that, but trust me this once."

"I can't." He shook my hand off his face and stood up. I caught the sight of his chest from the gap between his shirt buttons.

"Please?" I didn't enjoy pleading with anyone. But this human in front of me was different.

He didn't say anything. He kept staring at a point, as if he was in deep thoughts. A few moments passed, and I broke the silence between us.

"I… ah… see" I was trying to say that in such a way that it doesn't sound bad but he cut me off.

"Please, just give me some time to think about it. Leave me alone." He said in an indifferent tone and showed his hand as a gesture for me to stop talking.

I left his room and went to the hallway to get a hold of my own train of thoughts. My heart was racing too because I was nervous about messing up my opportunity with someone who was finally worthy of becoming the monkey who will lead me to my victory.

One often loses the track of time when they are immersed in their own thoughts. I was sitting in a dark room and heard his bedroom opening. I turned around and the light coming from his room illuminated my room a bit. His silhouette stood near the door frame and he was wearing his casual clothes.

He looked at me and said, "It's already 11 pm, you will not sleep?"

"It's already 11 pm?" I still had problems keeping track of time in the human realm. He nodded. I got up from the sofa and headed towards his room. He stepped aside, and I went into his room. He followed me behind shortly and turned off the lights of his room.

"You'll sleep so early?" I tried to strike up a conversation with him and check how things turned out from there.

"Yes, I have school tomorrow." He got on his bed and laid down. I was sitting on my futon so I had a clear view of him in front of me. The silence between us was breaking frequently because of the sound of his breathing. There was an unreadable tension in the air. I tried to read his mind so that I could just say what's going on in his mind and he will have to reply to that. But his mind was empty. There were no distressed thoughts going in there at that moment.

He suddenly turned towards me and opened his eyes to look at me. "As long as I make them feel affection for me. That will complete the criteria right?" He asked.

His question surprised me, and I nodded my head up and down in affirmation.

But what I found odd was the certainty in his voice. Despite him not understanding anything about love, he seemed pretty confident that he can make any vessel fall for him. I knew he wasn't a person who would bluff for no reason; I wanted to know the reason behind his confidence.

But it wouldn't be right to doubt his capabilities now that he neutralised the first vessel. But how did he do it?

If I were to look at love from a superficial point of view, then I would've the answer in front of me pretty easily. He was a handsome man, but I'm sure that the love which is required to make these vessels liberate out of their negative energy can't be superficial.

If that was the case, it would've chosen someone more handsome than Sakamaki.

"You're pretty sure you can make them fall for you?" Instead of troubling my own wits, I decided to press him on this.

"Indeed." He said and let out a small chuckle.

What was funny about this?

I looked at him, staring at me. His eyes had something different about them. The insignia in his hand was faintly glowing. That's weird, I didn't cast the spell.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I don't believe in love." He chuckled.

"I know," I said.

"But I believe in the weakness this emotion called love brings over an individual." He added.

Indeed, it was true. Love is a strong feeling, but it makes a certain individual weak towards someone or something. Though I would prefer the latter.

"But you just made someone fall for you."

"Did I?" He answered me with a question.

"What? I know you're weird but today you're being extra weird."

"I just made her feel like she needs me to fill a void in her." he said plainly.

If I'm right about this, then I'm pretty sure Sakamaki has a different perspective about love which he put to use here.

"What if I deliberately created a situation where I was the only person by her side?" He asked.

"You're the only person by her side?" I was playing dumb so that he would keep talking. I'm loving this.

"Devil-chan, do you remember any anomalies regarding the negative energy?" He laughed.

I knew he was capable, but didn't expect him to resolve to a method like this. I guess a human's true side can only be revealed if it's in the mouth of death.

He sat up from his bed and covered his face with his left hand. He took a deep breath and looked at me from the gap between his middle and ring finger as his palm covered his face. He had this smile on his face and the glowing insignia almost made me think it was his real eye that was glowing in red colour.

"Devil-chan, it was me" He laughed.