Chapter 68

The Demon King’s castle felt oddly empty without Adam.

It wasn’t like there weren’t people—Ben was here, Abraxas too, even Potato. But still, something about it felt… dull.

“Potato, our hero must be over at the palace right now laughing like, ‘Ha ha! Ho ho!’ having the time of his life. Probably hanging around with a bunch of ridiculously pretty noble ladies.”

“Kiing…”

I grabbed both of Potato’s cheeks and stretched them out. Annoyed, he shook his face like he couldn’t be bothered.

Tufts of fur puffed into the air and smacked me in the face. I was too busy spitting hair out of my mouth to stay mad.

“Are you seriously shaking your fur while I’m talking?!”

“Kingkingking.”

“What’s he saying?”

“How would I know? Tell him to speak in human if he’s got something to say. Useless little thing.”

“Kkureung.”

Just then, Abraxas walked by, grumbling as he gave Potato’s belly a light kick with his foot.

A demonic beast before a demon was like a candle in the wind.

But not when I was around.

I narrowed my eyes and stepped in front of Potato, blocking him from Abraxas’s view.

Then I shoved a rag—one I’d already prepared—into his hand.

“Today, clean the main hall.”

“What’s the point of cleaning that stupid hall again? No one ever even comes here—wait, more importantly! Why do you spoil that low-rank beast while treating me like your servant?!”

He had already started walking off, clearly used to being assigned chores, but now he threw the rag down and protested.

I stared him down with narrowed eyes. With a pitiful smile, Abraxas bent over and reluctantly picked the rag back up.

With a sigh, I said,

“Because Potato’s cute. And how is a beast supposed to do chores? That would be animal abuse.”

“Kkuruung?”

“Look at that adorable face!”

I held up Potato proudly in my defense.

Abraxas muttered, completely dumbfounded,

“You’re being fooled…”

Just then, Potato gave the faintest little smirk.

“A low-rank beast is mocking me now?!”

“Hey! Don’t take your anger out on innocent Potato!”

I smacked Abraxas’s shin as hard as I could.

He clutched his leg and groaned.

Potato giggled at his misery, but the moment Abraxas shot him a glare, he quickly turned away and started licking his paw like nothing happened.

“You’re the one taking your anger out!”

“When have I ever done that?!”

His ability to twist things really was worthy of a high demon.

He must’ve really been hurt, because his eyes were reddening as he glared at me.

Well, I guess it made sense. He couldn’t even lift a weapon—no wonder he wasn’t durable.

“So, the hero’s off to the palace, drooling over some woman or whatever? That’s why you’re in a mood?”

“Absolutely not! I don’t care who the hero meets or what he does!”

It wasn’t something I should care about.

But the rest of that sentence got stuck in my throat and never came out.

Luckily, Abraxas didn’t seem to notice anything strange. He just grumbled, “Then why’re you always yelling at me, huh?”

Then, Potato—who had been rolling around on the floor, laughing every time Abraxas got hit—suddenly shot up and lowered his stance.

His ears flattened, alert like he was sensing an enemy.

“Grrrr…”

“What’s wrong, Potato?”

An intruder?

There was only one reason a beast would react this way—they were fiercely territorial.

And someone unfamiliar had just stepped into their territory.

And they were very close…

I narrowed my eyes and followed Potato’s gaze.

A carriage was rumbling up the rugged forest path toward the castle gates.

‘If it were the hero… Potato wouldn’t be reacting this way.’

It wasn’t a mercenary or a hunter either. No one intending to kill a beast would arrive in such a dazzling, overly ornate carriage that screamed nobility from a mile away.

I brushed the dust off my clothes and straightened up.

I walked to the gates and opened them—and from the carriage, a small attendant appeared.

He wasn’t short, but his body was bent at such an exaggerated angle that he looked no taller than me.

With a wide grin, he said,

“Greetings, Hero’s maid. The Hero has sent an urgent request for you to come to him.”

He removed his hat, pressed it to his chest, and bowed even deeper.

 

For a moment, she worried that the attendant might bow so low his head would touch the ground.

But more than that, something felt off.

If it were really Adam, there was no reason for him to leave her behind only to call her back again.

And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to send the attendant away. Maybe it was because she was curious—curious about what Adam was doing.

‘He really is at the palace… right?’

She turned her back so the attendant wouldn’t see and fiddled with her necklace.

Your one true god
asks for your current location.

Your hero
answers that he is attending a royal banquet hosted by the imperial family.

The reply came swiftly.

‘So… it’s not a lie.’

But still, why all of a sudden…?

It didn’t align with Adam’s usual behavior.

If he intended to take her to the palace, he would’ve done so from the start.

Yet now, the attendant was rushing her like time was of the essence.

“Wait a moment.”

She intended to ask something—something that would confirm if this man really was sent by Adam.

But the attendant quickly chased after her and shouted,

“If we don’t hurry, we won’t make it in time!”

His pushy attitude only made her feel more uneasy.

‘Adam’s really at the palace, so… he wouldn’t be sending me somewhere strange… right?’

“Are you sure the destination is the palace?”

“Of course! In times like these, if a carriage bearing the imperial crest were headed somewhere suspicious, anyone would notice. Please trust the imperial attendant.”

He spoke as if fully aware of her suspicions.

“And that’s a demonic beast, right? Haha, a hero who doesn’t kill beasts and just lets them roam free in the Demon King’s castle… Wouldn’t it be fun if I went in alone?”

“…Potato doesn’t hurt people.”

“Oh? But that beast looks like it’s ready to tear me apart.”

Potato had been acting strangely since earlier.

He kept sniffing the air, tense and growling—and now he was baring his teeth at the attendant.

Potato would never threaten an ordinary person without reason.

But now, he looked like he wanted to sink his teeth into that man.

In the end, worried about what Potato might do, she climbed into the carriage.

“…Fine. Let’s go.”

But contrary to the man’s promise, the carriage took a side road instead of heading straight to the palace.

Still, they didn’t leave the palace grounds entirely. The carriage soon stopped.

Confused, she called out to the attendant.

“Huh? Why are we stopping here?”

“You didn’t seriously think you could attend a palace ball dressed like that, did you?”

“I didn’t intend to attend anything. You said the hero called for me. I’ll leave as soon as I’ve spoken to him.”

“The Hero is at the ballroom! How do you plan to enter just like that? You’ll disgrace him in front of everyone.”

…Flinch.

She looked at him, her eyes sharpening.

‘Hero this, hero that.’

He must’ve figured out that Adam was her weak point. Every time she so much as hesitated, he’d bring him up.

‘Now I’m not even sure Adam ever said he needed me.’

But what could she do? She was already here.

She sighed quietly, making sure the attendant wouldn’t notice.

After entering a small castle within the palace grounds, she found herself surrounded by maids. Sighing again, she glanced down at her clothes.

She could understand the reasoning—entering the palace in what she was wearing would be inappropriate.

But couldn’t they just let her go?

The maids approached, grabbing her chin and turning her face this way and that.

They took measurements and then vanished.

They returned later with a dress supposedly tailored to her size.

But they must’ve measured wrong—it was far too large. So the maids brought out thick needles and began pinning the fabric to fit her.

“Ah!”

She winced and looked down at her arm, pricked by a needle. But despite the small yelp, the maids said nothing.

They carried on, meticulous and calculated in the way they tormented her.

It was as if they had been ordered to do this.

A thin needle grazed her cheek, leaving a faint red line on her pale skin.

She raised a hand and dabbed her cheek with the back of it.

A single drop of blood appeared.

Thankfully, it didn’t hurt enough to suggest it was a deep wound.

But their reaction was almost laughable.

“…Oops. A mistake.”