“Phew.”
Sitting on a bench in the warm greenhouse, Shekina unconsciously let out a deep sigh as she sipped her tea.
Hearing this, Merdes, who was crouched down and rummaging through the garden, swiftly turned his head.
“Shekina, do you know that you’ve sighed 18 times already?”
“Oh. Eighteen times.”
“…….….”
Merdes, looking exasperated, stared at Shekina before dusting off the dirt from his hands and standing up.
“What’s wrong? Something on your mind?”
Something on my mind.
Of course, there was.
Out of nowhere, Dehan confessed his feelings, and after doing so, he kept visiting me every day, smiling beautifully, saying he would make me like him.
“Sighhh.”
Shekina let out another deep sigh, tilting her body to the side.
“Merdes, have you ever liked someone?”
“Me? Of course.”
“What? Who?”
“You.”
Merdes said it with a completely casual expression.
He likes me…? No way…?
“You, my twin brother, our sister, our eldest brother… Ah! And I like Arthur too.”
“No, not like that!”
Geez. That scared me.
As Shekina grumbled, Pardes, who had been quietly reading a book nearby, subtly leaned in.
“Are you talking about a romantic relationship, by any chance?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it.”
“What? Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
Pardes narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Shekina’s face.
Shekina had done nothing wrong, yet the way Pardes sharply glared at her made her feel strangely intimidated.
So, she averted her gaze.
“No reason. I was just curious.”
“That’s a lie.”
Pardes closed his book completely and stood in front of Shekina.
“Shekina, you.”
A grinding sound came from his clenched teeth.
“Did someone confess to you?”
“Pffft!”
Shekina choked and spat out the tea she was drinking.
“It was Dehan, wasn’t it?”
“Cough! N-no, it wasn’t! Cough!”
“Anyone can tell it was him.”
“It wasn’t!”
But Pardes didn’t believe a single word she said. He was already convinced that Dehan had confessed, clenching his fists tightly.
“That bastard finally did it? I told him it was absolutely not allowed…!”
“Huh? What do you mean? Dehan confessed to Shekina? About what?”
Merdes tilted his head, then suddenly gasped and widened his eyes.
“He confessed that he likes her?!”
He covered his mouth and shouted.
“No way, Shekina! This big brother is against it! Absolutely not!”
“Yeah. No other guy is allowed, but Dehan is even more out of the question.”
Shouldn’t they at least say that other guys were okay but Dehan wasn’t? Why are all of them equally banned?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m fine. I’m not seeing anyone.”
Shekina’s firm statement made the twins’ eyes grow even sharper.
“Then why are you even thinking about it?”
“Yeah! If you’re worried about it, doesn’t that mean you’re considering it?”
“Oh, Merdes. For once, you’re actually making sense.”
Pardes gave Merdes a thumbs-up and then turned his gaze back to Shekina.
“Don’t think about it at all. Just erase it from your mind. Forget about Dehan. Don’t even consider him!”
“Huh?”
Shekina scoffed and glared at him.
“I don’t want to think about it either! But what can I do when it keeps popping into my head?”
“What? Why? Is it because Dehan is handsome?!”
“Yurian is better looking than him, though?!”
“Hey! You should be saying I’m the best looking one here!”
“You and I look exactly the same!”
“It’s true that Dehan is handsome, but that’s not the reason…!”
“It’s not?”
“…I don’t know.”
Shekina ruffled her hair and lowered her head.
“I’m confused about my own feelings.”
“Aaahh! No! That means you’re already halfway there!”
“I’m not!”
“Yes, you are!”
Pardes, fuming, pointed a finger at her and shouted.
“You…! If you do anything with Dehan, I won’t allow it!”
“No way! Absolutely not!”
Shekina placed a hand on her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut.
She already knew.
She couldn’t get involved with Dehan.
From the moment that guy truly started liking her, her life was bound to become a thorny path.
A sense of doom crept closer, making her uneasy.
But despite that, the reason she kept hesitating was…
‘Is it because of the feelings I used to have?’
When she first met Dehan.
When they laughed together.
When she couldn’t hold onto his desperate hand and left him behind.
When he saved her.
And when she stabbed a dagger into his heart.
All the memories rushed back, swirling inside Shekina’s mind.
“Ughhh…”
There really was no answer. No way out.
“Ah! I don’t know! I don’t want to think about it, so stop talking! No more!”
“But Shekina, you…”
“Shh! I said stop!”
“You were the one who brought up Dehan first!”
Pardes shouted in frustration.
“If he says he likes you, how can we just ignore it—”
“What do you mean by that?”
Just then, an unfamiliar voice interrupted from behind them. It wasn’t the twins, nor was it Shekina.
All three of them turned their heads simultaneously—
And there stood Lucart, staring at them.
“D-Demon King!”
The twins quickly bowed their heads, while Shekina subtly averted her gaze.
Somehow, it felt like Lucart was glaring at her.
“I did not hear all of your conversation.”
Lucart took a step forward, his voice calm but firm.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of footsteps echoed heavily, almost unnaturally so.
“So, explain to me in detail what you were discussing.”
As Lucart twisted his lips into a firm expression and spoke, the twins had the same thought.
“…He’s angry, isn’t he?”
It was rare, but their Demon King seemed to be genuinely furious.
Dehan, goodbye…
It was short, but we had fun…
***
Vincent, the second elder of the demons, was in a particularly foul mood. He sat anxiously, tapping his leg and biting his nails, his entire demeanor tense with frustration.
And for good reason.
The Black Spinel, which he had spent so long searching for, had ended up in the hands of that homunculus girl—Shekina!
To make matters worse, the spinel had already been infused with demonic energy, meaning the demons would no longer suffer from a shortage of magic.
Although it wasn’t yet in full use—since that bastard Lyat was the one handling it—it was only a matter of time before it spread widely.
The demons had already begun praising Shekina.
An artifact, summoning monsters, and now providing demonic energy?!
They were practically treating Shekina as their savior.
And Vincent found that incredibly displeasing.
This is infuriating.
That should have been his achievement.
He should have been the one to make that discovery.
That way, even if it was revealed that he was responsible for the monster incident, he might have been able to keep his life…
It’s all because of that arrogant homunculus.
Grinding his teeth, Vincent lifted his gaze sharply. Then, he turned to the fourth elder, Karte, who was seated diagonally across from him.
“The Demon King isn’t going on the trip to the capital, is he?”
Karte shook his head.
“No. Only Arthur, the priest, Shekina, and a human child will be going.”
“I see… Is that so…?”
A slow smirk crept onto Vincent’s lips.
“The Black Spinel… We might be able to get more information from the merfolk.”
Ever since the merfolk had arrived, the Black Spinel had been discovered, so it was obvious they knew something.
“And as for demonic energy… A few sacrifices should be enough to obtain plenty.”
When a demon dies, the demonic energy they hold within is released.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
At Vincent’s words, Karte grinned and nodded.
“I’ll handle it personally.”
Karte, the fourth elder, was a ruthless demon who had once been imprisoned for slaughtering over a hundred of his own kind.
And his magical abilities were so powerful that only the Demon King himself could stand against him.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had some real fun.”
Even now, he could almost taste the scent of blood in the air.
With matching sinister smiles, Karte and Vincent silently celebrated the future events they were about to set in motion.
