The Terminally Ill Hero’s Husband is the Demon King

Chapter 1.3

It must have been over ten years ago, when Iris took Aistus as her royal consort. Iris had once asked out of pity for Gillian, her friend and hero.

“Not everyone wants to become a father or a mother. Even so, that doesn’t mean they want to be alone. Aren’t you wandering too much on your own? Sir Gillian, if you only wanted it, I could find you a spouse in no time. You’re still young and fine-looking. Doesn’t it seem a waste of your life?”

Gillian took a sip of warm tea and said,

“I am sorry, Your Majesty, but I will not live long.”

“What does that mean? Explain in detail. Is it a joke? A refusal? Or is there some other problem?”

“It simply ended up that way. I will die when my hair turns white. I don’t know when exactly, but I will know once the time comes.”

When Gillian said something would ‘simply end up that way’ without any particular reason, most of the time, it was related to a curse. Iris let out a sorrowful sigh and said,

“Then you must search through your hair every morning.”

“It shows clearly because my hair is black. I am fortunate I can find out quickly.”

Gillian’s hair, as pitch-black as the dark night, had always shone attractively despite his rough life. But now quite some time had passed since he turned forty, and Gillian had been preparing himself.

It had been over a year since white hairs began to appear one by one, and he had plucked them out. Since last summer, whenever he woke from sleep, the color had been drained away white, as if someone had painted it with a brush.

Before his king, Gillian untied the cord binding his hair and parted it anew with his hand. Iris rose from her chair and approached Gillian.

From the outside, it had looked perfectly fine, but now that she looked inside, it was mottled with white hairs, as if he had dyed it badly. Gillian said that the white hair was growing out from the roots and flowing downward. Iris clicked her tongue.

“I used to think it would be convenient to know the day one would die. It seems I should withdraw that thought.”

“It’s not a pleasant thing to witness death approaching you. But it’s not something to make a fuss about, either. Thanks to this, I can prepare at leisure.”

“How is your body? Are you weakening, or is anything hurting?”

“I am still alright.”

“My heart is not at ease. I don’t know if it’s right to send you, who already have your death day set, to the Demon King again. You should have retired long ago. The rewards I gave you couldn’t have been insufficient, so why have you still not put down your sword?”

“After all this, are you now blaming me for not retiring? You worked me to the bone at every opportunity until I reached this age. That is too cruel of you.”

“A king will blame anything in order to put her heart at ease.”

Iris returned to the throne and sat down. Gillian neatly tidied his disheveled hair.

“I’ve always wondered why you never put down your sword. I held back from asking because if you stopped being a hero, I would suffer a loss. This time is the same. If you go, then as far as I am concerned, I will be reassured, and I have no reason to stop you. But I don’t understand why you’re stepping forward and saying you’ll go. Gillian, my poor friend. What thoughts have you lived by? Haven’t you received more than enough curses over the course of your life?”

“I am doing it just in case. Just in case, this time, something might be different.”

“You look as though you wander because you cannot decide on an end. I know very well that you love Yuers. But I also know that if you find a place to settle, you will not return.”

“My apologies.”

“Every time you return, my heart aches. I would think, ‘So he still hasn’t found it.’ If so, I wish you would at least stay in your homeland for a long while, but you soon leave.”

“Wouldn’t you be jealous if I truly retired and grew comfortable? ‘I’m dying from working every single day, so how can you call yourself a hero and sprawl about like this?’ You’ve scolded me like that many times. Didn’t you say the same thing last time?”

“That is that, and this is this. Shouldn’t you rest comfortably and indulge my whims? We’re growing old together, so why are you so heartless?”

Gillian smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I was heartless.”

He did not forget to answer obediently.

“Perhaps this may be my final journey. I wish to leave happily.”