Chapter 120: Uncomfortable Daily Life

At this crucial moment, Deon Hart was away. The Duke crumpled the note in his fist, his brow furrowing slightly.

‘Of all times…’

The wager had barely begun. He needed to eliminate him before the war with the Demon Realm truly erupted.

He glanced at Cruel, who stood expressionless as always. Seeing his seemingly indifferent demeanor, the Duke felt a surge of irritation and deliberately curled his lips into a smooth smile.

“It’s truly astonishing, isn’t it? Deon Hart is away on His Majesty’s orders.”

“……”

“How incredibly fortunate.”

Could the world itself be offering its blessing?

Repeated failures and missed timings were starting to ignite a stubborn streak within him.

“I eagerly await his return.”

His purple eyes gleamed with a sinister light. Cruel, observing this, lowered his gaze without a word.

In the silence of their shared space, the Duke was furiously scribbling on documents when a sudden thought stopped his pen.

“Come to think of it, I believe there are others who will be even more annoyed by Deon Hart’s absence this time…”

The fools who came to him with ridiculous notions the evening His Majesty announced the war with the Demon Realm.

Those idiots, part of the noble faction, genuinely swayed by the Deon Hart vampire theory, insisted on a thorough investigation. The absurdity of it all was truly something.

Whether Cruel watched him with an unreadable expression or not, the Duke sneered openly as he muttered.

“Truly… fortunate.”

***

The Empire declared a cessation of hostilities. An announcement that the war with the Demon Realm was imminent followed.

This news spread like wildfire across the continent, eliciting diverse reactions from the various kingdoms.

“Th-thank goodness…”

“We’re alive! We survived!”

“Waaah!”

Some kingdoms, relieved that the formidable Emperor had halted the war, cheered in relief.

“How shameless. Starting a war as they please, then stopping it as they please. What do they take us for?”

“Just because they decide to stop it, are we obligated to comply? Arrogant bastards.”

“Our kingdom will not be offering any support to the Empire.”

Others pushed aside the Demon Realm issue and simply raged at the Empire’s blatant arrogance and self-importance.

“We despise the Empire, but in the current situation, ensuring their survival is paramount. We can’t stand idly by and watch them collapse while weakened.”

“The Empire is humanity’s first and strongest line of defense. If the Empire falls, the entire Human Realm falls with it. They’ve likely expended considerable resources and manpower in the recent conflicts; we can’t simply ignore that.”

“Even if we loathe the Empire, we must support them now. We need to do something.”

A few kingdoms even engaged in more strategic thinking.

And surprisingly, a common thread ran through all these kingdoms. The Emperor, who was the first to notice this through the reports, chuckled softly, revealing his teeth.

“The Duke’s gambit seems to have had a considerable effect.”

Among the numerous leaders of many kingdoms, it was conceivable that at least one might utter ‘that statement’.

Astonishingly, even kingdoms with fierce animosity towards the Empire did not even jokingly utter phrases like, ‘I’d rather side with the Demon Realm.’

***

He threw away the restorative medicine.

Rememver had actually packed it for him. The ridiculous fear that the terrifying butler would find evidence in the Human Realm and interrogate him led him to dispose of it in the Demon Realm instead.

Being a liquid, it was unbelievably heavy.

Anyway, he arrived at the Demon King’s castle without major incident. After confirming his identity at the entrance, he confidently stepped inside… but what was this? The moment he entered the castle, almost every demon he passed turned to stare at him.

It had happened before, but they had never sent such fervent, burning gazes. He was still wondering what was going on when…

“Demon-nim!”

“It’s Demon-nim!”

“Demon-nim has arrived!”

“Welcome!”

“De-se.”

“De-se.”

What, what is this? And what’s with this ‘De-se’?

Demons were gathering around him. The unsettling momentum made him instinctively back away.

Ignoring his retreat, demons wearing red heart-shaped brooches on their chests raised their hands and shouted, ‘De-se.’ Seriously scary!

Unable to muster the courage to break through them and escape to the inner section, he simply froze, trembling. Then, the crowd parted, and a young girl appeared.

“Demon-nim! Welcome!”

“…Lirinel?”

“Yes!”

It was Lirinel! She came to save him!

With the Commander of the 11th Corps here, surely these crazy people would disperse. As he looked at Lirinel, something caught his eye. The red thing on her chest…

His mind blanked.

‘…What’s this? Why is Lirinel wearing a brooch on her chest too?’

And that wasn’t all. Her attire was odd as well.

The center of the black hat Lirinel wore was embroidered with a red heart. The faint red stitching on the black cloth she held also felt ominous…

“Our Leader! It’s our Leader!”

“Ooh, our Leader!”

……Our Leader?

No way. It couldn’t be. There was no way that cute kid would be… even if she was a demon.

Shattering his hopes, Lirinel unfurled the black cloth she held. The cloth, emblazoned with a red heart in the center, fluttered as an enormous roar erupted.

“Waaaaah!”

“De-se.”

“De-se!”

So they really were members of the Demon Church?!

Just a while ago, they seemed somewhat normal. How did they become such a cult so suddenly? And what had the Demon King been doing while this was happening?

He turned to look at Lirinel, the apparent mastermind behind all this. She wore a pleased smile as she watched the demons chanting ‘De-se.’

“Lirinel?”

“Yes, Demon-nim!”

“What is all this? And what’s with ‘De-se’?”

“They are people who admire Demon-nim! ‘De-se’ is a shortened version of ‘Long Live Demon-nim!’ How do you like it?”

“How I… like it…? Ah, my blood pressure…”

No, calm down. If his blood pressure spiked or he started coughing up blood here, Ben, his attending physician, would come running. He couldn’t cause another commotion as soon as he arrived at the Demon King’s castle.

He struggled to calm himself and quietly called out to Lirinel.

“Who… who taught you this?”

“I tasked the Commander of the 2nd Corps with investigating! They said this is how human religions are, is it not?”

“It’s not entirely wrong, but…”

Develaniaaa!

There’s a limit to jokes! How could you corrupt an innocent child like this!

First, he needed to get rid of this unsettling crowd. Lirinel was their leader, so asking her should work, right?

“I appreciate the thought, but I’m a little tired… could you dismiss them?”

Right now.

It would be even better if they were dismissed permanently.

“Oh, I see…! Of course! I’m sorry, Demon-nim. Perhaps I was too eager…”

Lirinel waved her hand in a flustered manner. As if on cue, the massive crowd dispersed.

With the background considerably quieter than before, Lirinel cautiously spoke, noticing his expression.

“You’re going to see the Demon King, right? I’ll escort you to his door.”

“…Please do.”

With the leader by his side, those crazy guys wouldn’t stick around, hopefully.

It was a truly horrifying and overwhelming welcoming ceremony.

***

“You’ve arrived. Sooner than I expected.”

The Demon King, sitting at his desk in his office and processing documents, looked up and smiled.

But that was fleeting. The smile vanished from his face as his red eyes met Deon’s. He narrowed his gaze, as if noticing something.

He stood and slowly walked towards Deon.

“You…”

He leaned in, bringing his face close, their eyes meeting. His eerie reversed eyes stared into Deon’s red ones.

“You heard something important.”

What is it? What could it be?

What had he heard to make this human child so unable to control his expression?

He seemed to think he was managing it, but it was hardly enough to fool the Demon King, who had lived for so long.

He reached out, grasped Deon’s chin, and lifted his face. Gazing intently into his eyes, he asked softly, as if chanting.

“Do you intend to tell me?”

“……”

“No, I suppose not. But aren’t you worried about how I might take this? The thought that your life might be in danger?”

There was no reply.

The Demon King actually gleaned a crucial hint from that very silence.

If it were information about the Demon King, the Emperor, the Demon Realm, or the Empire, he wouldn’t be this agitated. But his silence was too blatant to suggest he had sided with the Emperor. If he truly had, he would have offered some plausible excuse.

So, what was left….

“The Emperor has played his trump card.”

“…Y-yes, that’s right.”

“How infuriating.”

Well, given the timing, it was understandable.

Did his silence mean he was wavering, or did he simply not want to be discovered?

Likely the latter. If he knew, the Demon King would join in, regardless of his annoyance with the Emperor.

“You were planning not to tell me if I hadn’t noticed, weren’t you?”

“……”

“It’s alright. I understand, in a way.”

But still…

This was something he needed to make absolutely clear.

His hand slid down from Deon’s chin to his neck, his thumb naturally resting on the mark. He pressed down firmly, and Deon flinched almost imperceptibly, betraying his fear.

“You know where you belong, don’t you?”

Did he think the Demon King would let him go if he tried to run?

Even though he freely traveled between the Empire and the Demon King’s castle, he shouldn’t forget this.

[Your place is here.]

“No answer?”

“……”

“Why, do you need me to hold onto your pant leg again?”

He smiled, his eyes narrowing.

Releasing Deon’s neck, he turned and walked towards the window. The unobstructed view revealed three full moons shining brightly.

“The moons are beautiful, aren’t they?”

“……”

“You are vulnerable to sunlight. So choose this place where you don’t have to worry about the sun. It’s always night here, but with moons this bright, what does it matter?”

Standing against this backdrop, he spread his arms towards Deon and smiled brightly. The bright moonlight cast him in silhouette.

“If you stay here, every demon except me will kneel before you. No, if you wish, I will kneel too.”

Objectively speaking, if one were to ask if Deon Hart was important enough to go to such lengths to secure, he would unhesitatingly shake his head.

But for the Demon King, someone who could dispel his boredom was paramount, as was winning the silent game he was playing with the Emperor.

Therefore, he could say without hesitation.

“If there’s anything you desire, I’ll grant it to you. If you choose this place, I won’t restrict your travels to the Human Realm as much as I have until now. If you desire land in the Human Realm, I can conquer it for you.”

The Emperor of the Empire, due to his position, would face numerous constraints in giving things to Deon Hart.

But this was the Demon King’s domain, where his power was absolute. The Demon King was confident he could give him anything he desired, even more than the Emperor could.

He wanted to press harder and get a definitive answer, but…

‘Pushing him further is enough for now.’

Pushing too hard might make him want to leave.

The Demon King willingly backed down.

“So, think it over carefully.”

With a gesture indicating he could leave, Deon turned silently.

When he reached the doorway, not many steps away, the Demon King added, as if he had forgotten something, speaking to his back.

“I welcome your return, but I won’t erase the mark.”

“……”

Knowing that he should be grateful that nothing beyond location tracking had been added to the mark, Deon answered with silence and opened the door.