Bedroom.
The demon examined a portrait of Pastel, looking for places to hang it on the walls. He would hold it up against one wall, then take it down with a discontented expression to try elsewhere.
“So I held Elshire’s hand tightly and comforted him. If it’s too hard, you don’t have to go. Let’s drink cocoa here together.”
Dressed in pajamas, Pastel followed closely beside the demon. The pom-pom on the sleep cap they bought while shopping with the demon at the capital swayed.
“Then Melissa appeared and firmly stated, ‘No! You must go! It’s, um, the, um, duty of a noble!’ Oh my gosh, shock.”
Pastel covered her mouth, expressing astonishment.
The demon, unfazed, moved the desk clock aside and placed the portrait against the wall.
“I was surprised to the extent of my forehead!”
Pastel spread her arms wide.
“It was as shocking as if lightning fell from the sky and struck a mouse!”
Nodding.
“So this is what being a noble means. Nobles who feed on the blood of the vassals have an obligation to showcase their worth by claiming their rights.”
Shivering.
Pastel hugged herself.
“Thinking only about the vengeance of my retainers, I wasn’t even a noble. Oh my, Melissa is super scary!”
Objectively speaking, that action is pushing a friend into a pit.
The Belamont family, with its ordinary succession process, could be peaceful, unlike the Craft family, where bloodshed among kin was compulsory. However, Melissa’s persuasive tone didn’t suggest peace but firmly stated that even if you might end up in peril, you had an obligation to go.
“Being bound by a noble mindset isn’t necessarily great. One should balance upbringing with a reasonable amount of flexibility, but this situation is ambiguous.”
The demon casually remarked as he removed the portrait from the wall.
“Right! Right!”
Pastel’s eyes sparkled.
“I hope Melissa, like me, would understand the joy in decadence!”
“You, young Craft, really need to moderate yourself.”
The demon placed the desk clock back. A weary smile formed on the demon’s lips.
“The increasing scale of bribes is not a pleasant phenomenon.”
The demon pointed to a corner of the room. There were boxes of gold and treasure stacked neatly.
In celebration of the great Governor Pastel’s inauguration, the Sky Island Trading Guild sent gifts purely as a mark of congratulation, without any ulterior motive. They even went so far as to write in a letter that this was not a bribe but a pure congratulatory gift.
“Such kind individuals…!”
Pastel covered her mouth, once again moved.
Then, placing her hands on her hips, she turned resolutely towards the demon.
“Lord Demon, don’t misinterpret the merchants! They merely believed in the fairness and kindness of Governor Pastel and gave a commemorative gift! They believe that Governor will conduct her work fairly even after receiving such gifts!”
That’s how it should be!
“Yes! Yes!”
“Wow. You’re quite eloquent.”
Pastel rushed towards the pile of gold that sparkled like sunlight.
She quickly took off her sleep cap and placed it on the golden bird statue gifted by Count McKenna of the Demon Realm. The pom-pom flopped around.
The golden bird sleep cap…!
“Oh my.”
“Golden Bird friend! I knew you were coming to my house!”
You would fit better in Governor Pastel’s floral garden than in a treasure chest filled with books made of human skin!
“How obvious was it to get it so readily? If this continues, your reputation in social circles will be ruined. Though it might already be that way. Hmm? If we remove this furniture, it might be fine.”
The demon observed the display case for the glass teacups.
“Yeah, my reputation is already bad. It’s been sharply felt in the capital! Ugh!”
Pastel clutched her head.
“How did my social reputation become this way?! I haven’t done anything wrong!”
According to Melissa, it’s a tradition in the capital’s social scene to go through a debutante ball to officially enter, but it feels like I’ve already gained notoriety before even doing that!
The demon listened while confirming the display case. Turning back after checking the floor and back to see if it was secured.
“Removing this furniture wouldn’t matter, right? And stop messing with your hair. It’ll become a habit, and you’ll waste time fixing your hairstyle.”
“Wasting time isn’t my fault!”
Pastel, with a bird’s nest of hair, pointed randomly.
“This world! This world is wrong! There’s magic! Convenient magic!”
Her hands waved.
“Magic zap zap! Hairstyle wham! Shalalala spin~! Phew! In one second, a Cherry Blossom Pastel form change! Isn’t this what magic should be like?!”
“Just because fairies in fairy tales change outfits with a wave of their wand, doesn’t mean reality is the same. In the first place, magic borrows the power of nature, making it difficult to apply comfortably. So, can we remove this furniture?”
“Ugh, that’s nonsense.”
Pastel looked shocked.
“So, would Melissa have been shocked to find out that the fairy was fake while learning magic?”
Now that she thought about it, it didn’t seem so.
If Melissa, who listens to her mother and loves fairy tales, were to think, ‘The fairy was a great mage.’ She would have resolved to become a great mage like the fairy.
“Anyway, can we remove this furniture?”
The demon tapped the display case lightly.
“I can understand how Melissa feels. If I had believed in the fairy, I would have studied just as hard to become a great mage like her.”
Right, right.
“Though, that doesn’t mean firmly saying that I have an obligation to go into peril is still scary. I wonder if Elshire will be okay.”
Now that the bad older brother who ordered the assassination has died, it would be great for the Belamont family to resolve this peacefully.
Pastel sighed deeply.
She placed the golden bird’s sleep cap back on her head.
Given the troubling experiences in the capital and the bad reputation, she thought it best not to accompany anyone, which seemed like a good choice.
Melissa had explained that interfering with the succession issues of the once-royal Belamont family would likely be interpreted as foreign interference, easily inciting the wrath of the retainers.
“Ugh, my head is spinning.”
Pastel, who only liked her friends, was oblivious to these complexities.
She twirled her head, causing the pom-pom on her sleep cap to spin as well.
The demon crossed his arms, leaning against the display case, gazing blankly.
“Lord Demon.”
“Yes.”
The demon finally relaxed his crossed arms.
“Just a glass of juice. Spinning my head makes me dizzy. I also feel like eating a slice of cake. It’s a feeling that craves something despite having just brushed my teeth.”
The demon pressed his forehead.
He sighed heavily and then tapped on the display case.
As Pastel sent a puzzled glance, he silently tapped the display case again while passing time, then seemingly decided to give up as he withdrew from the display case.
“Alright, I’ll bring a drink. You can’t have cake unless you’re not going to brush again.”
“Ugh.”
Bad Lord Demon.
The demon approached the door. When he opened it, a maid, who was about to knock, paused.
“What is it?”
The news was that a guest had arrived.
A mysterious guest had come in the middle of the night.
Could it be that this was an assassin from the demon race sent to eliminate Governor Pastel, who received a command to uncover the Demon King?
Surprisingly, it was true!
“Ahh!”
“Please spare me!”
The assassin of the demon race spoke.
“I’m sorry for coming so late.”
The counterpart was the demon spy Elly, with the same number of letters as the demon assassin.
Oh no, I guessed it right.
But aside from the letter count, isn’t it objectively the same meaning? Whether a demon assassin or a demon spy, it was essentially the same.
“They say it is indeed what they did.”
With a voice that was both shocked and angry at the tragic news.
“It means there was no mistaken suspicion.”
While somewhere, Pastel, who did nothing, continues to be misunderstood, somewhere, someone bad is facing justified suspicion and discovering the truth.
“We were supposed to have a senior meeting regarding whether cooperating with Craft was justifiable, but a more urgent matter has arisen. They said they would send a representative from the messenger side to explain.”
“I see.”
“So, am I joining that meeting?”
“Originally, according to the agenda, you had to persuade them directly since a false Demon King can’t make an appearance. But since a bigger issue has popped up, you’d only draw secondary attention if you go.”
Elly gulped water. An empty cup was roughly placed on the table.
“Out of context, it’s good for us. Your agenda might pass with lesser resistance than before.”
“Oh yeah!”
Pastel was excited until something dawned on her.
“But is the senior meeting like a gathering of all the executives?”
“Almost.”
“Wow.”
“You mean if I push, it’ll all be wiped out?”
She felt a trembling gaze.
Oops, I said it out loud.
