The Terminally Ill Hero’s Husband is the Demon King

Gillian would return to Yuers from time to time, spill out all manner of heroic exploits and mysterious legends, then leave again. He had been exceptional from a young age and had been knighted, but by nature, he refused to be tied down to one place.

He had also appeared twelve years ago at Iris’s coronation to congratulate her, and even then, he had already been famous as a hero.

People thought that once Gillian grew older and his hot-blooded vigor cooled to a suitable degree, he would return to his homeland. Now, after more than twenty years had passed, no one could tell whether Gillian would return to his homeland and settle down first, or whether he would die first in some foreign place.

“So you mean to take the field as soon as you return to your homeland after so long?”

“I returned in order to take the field. I heard the news in Kartal, that the Demon King appeared on Gray Mountain.”

“That’s right. I don’t want to believe it, but it’s the truth.”

“I heard reports started coming in three years ago, but when I returned two years ago, you said nothing of it, didn’t you?”

“At the time, no one paid it any mind. If I were to make excuses, that would be the excuse. It was my mistake, and it pains me to the bone, so don’t mention it any further.”

Gillian smiled serenely.

“Your Majesty Iris, do not worry. I am here, so Yuers is safe.”

It was an excessively confident statement, but the moment it came from Gillian’s mouth, it became a humble one. He was such a being. A precious gift sent by God to mankind to destroy evil.

“I have no doubt in your skill, but you must not take this lightly.”

“Is there anything I should know?”

“It’s strange. I’ve sent punitive forces several times, but no one has actually fought the Demon King. Sir Gillian, he uses mind control magic. He hides inside a person’s consciousness, shows them something terrifying, and drives them far away. You’re not exactly sturdy in that regard, are you?”

Gillian scratched his cheek.

“That’s a serious problem.”

“It is a serious problem.”

“If I become the Demon King’s puppet, Your Majesty would kill me without hesitation.”

“Of course, that goes without saying…”

“You need not worry about that problem. Even if such a thing were to happen, I wouldn’t last long.”

“What does that mean?”

“My life has little time left.”

Iris sighed in sorrow.

The Holy God bestows blessings, and the Evil God bestows curses. It was an unremarkable story that anyone fond of legends would know.

However, people did not want to think about the fact that even when evil gods are annihilated, they leave behind curses, and thus, the greater the hero, the greater the cursed being he is reborn as.

Gillian was an outstanding hero not only from Yuers’s perspective, but even from the perspective of the continent as a whole, yet he had no ability to avoid curses. Each time he destroyed a wicked being, it left Gillian with curses, great and small.

“You will never become a father…”

“You will die alone and lonely…”

“No one will remember you.”

The famous curses known to have been laid upon Gillian were as above. They were enough to deny Gillian’s life and render his glory meaningless.

Even if Gillian’s honor rose as high as a mountain while he lived as a hero, if his life became entirely covered in curses, then he would not receive a reward befitting his efforts and sacrifices.

If even the known curses were that bad, how much must the countless minor curses that were unknown have tormented him? People sympathized with Gillian, pitied him, and cherished him with tender affection.

However, no one dared to love him privately. He was a walking martyr, and loving a martyr meant becoming nothing more than another martyr.

As a hero, he received unsurpassed respect and love, but at the same time, as a cursed human being, he became a distant source of comfort for ordinary people.

People listened to the heroic tales Gillian calmly told them, and between the lines of his words, they looked into his turbulent life. Then, they compared it with their own lives.

People reevaluated their own lives by holding them up against Gillian. A life with less pain, even if there was nothing special about it. A life that was difficult, yet contained something precious. A loved one by their side. Settlement. No fearsome enemy, no anxiety of having their lives threatened, and no curse that followed them like a shadow, constantly watching for a chance to take aim at their existence.

As Gillian grew older year by year, he came to understand in what way the gazes around him wounded him. In a sense, it was only natural that he left Yuers and wandered.

He found it a hundred times more comfortable to be with people who had no idea who he was than with people who knew who he was.