Chapter 178

Everyone had traveled a long way, so they were all allowed to rest and relax.

—Except for one person.

That was Hero Xiarette, who had already mentally prepared herself, though she still held a faint hope that she might leave the Demon King’s Grand Hall together with the others. But as expected, she still heard that voice call out to her.

“Miss Xiarette, please stay for a moment.”

“......”

Herilet called out to Xiarette and invited her to the flower garden outside the Demon King’s Castle, saying there was something she wished to discuss with her alone.

There it was. I knew it.

The most perilous moment had finally arrived.

Xiarette hurriedly straightened her attire. She didn’t want to leave a bad impression on her prospective mother-in-law during their private conversation.

As for her prospective father-in-law?

Hmm... judging from earlier, his words didn’t seem to carry much weight. His importance had dropped to the lowest priority.

But the pressure that the Demon Queen gave off was overwhelming!

Carefree Sheffy even had the audacity to wish her good luck before the talk—then immediately wanted to go back to her long-missed room and take a nap.

That was absolutely impossible.

Xiarette grabbed Sheffy by the collar and urgently begged her to come along.

In such a time of crisis, how could Sheffy stand idly by!

But the moment those words left her mouth, Xiarette regretted it.

She had forgotten that wherever Sheffy went, her ever-present little sister—almost like an attached accessory—would definitely follow along.

Wasn’t she just digging a hole for herself?

Seeing this, Livra volunteered herself. She didn’t seem in any hurry to go rest either.

“Lady Xiarette, are you in trouble? Is something serious happening? How about I come with you? Don’t think I’m dumb! I’ve gone through quite a lot lately—tempered through fire and steel! Even if I’m not steel, I’m at least a solid piece of iron!”

“Your Highness, the best thing you can do right now is take a nap. If, when you wake up, you see me back, then we can happily tour the Demon Domain’s exotic lands together. But if I’m not back… then I’ve surely fled back to the Kingdom.”

“Fled back to the Kingdom…?! Then there really is something urgent!”

“No urgent matter. That would just mean I was kicked out.”

“...!”

Lady Xiarette, your riddles are impossible to guess!

Your Highness, you wouldn’t understand.

If my future father- and mother-in-law don’t agree to let me stay here, then besides running back to the Kingdom in tears, I’ll have no other path.

—Just kidding.

As long as Sheffy was here, there would be no way back.

This was a hard battle that had to be won.

There was no retreat.

.....................................

The flower garden outside the Demon King’s Castle was far grander than Xiarette had imagined.

An endless sea of blossoms stretched beyond sight, continuing all the way to the horizon, their full reach unknowable.

There was even a lake here.

The entire Demon King’s Castle and its surrounding gardens were encircled by an immense lake.

Compared to the one before her villa back in the Kingdom, this one was on a whole different scale.

The larger the lake, the larger the fish.

Within it swam faint, massive shadows—giant fish drifting beneath the water’s surface—adding an air of mystery to this land.

If a lost traveler were to stumble upon this beautiful field of flowers and lake, they would likely not dare linger long—lest they end up as food inside one of the giant fish’s bellies.

Sheffy and Belith sat together on a large boulder before the vast lake, where the shadows of those enormous fish had already sunk into the depths.

About a hundred meters away stood the Demon King and Queen in the midst of the flowered grove—and with them, Xiarette, who had been summoned for a private talk.

At this moment, Sheffy had released her Visual Magic disguise, and Xiarette had temporarily returned to her true appearance.

Her golden hair fluttered behind her in the breeze, that valiant back figure standing firm in the distance. Sheffy tilted her face to the side, gazing at her from afar. As she took in the sight of the land where she had grown up since childhood, an inexplicable sense of comfort and peace welled up within her.

Yet now, sitting upon the boulder with her legs swinging freely, her adorable murmurs of complaint reached Belith’s ears one by one.

“Mother is really... Xiarette is obviously so nervous, and I even told her I’d go with her. But Mother insisted that we wait here. If I don’t go to help, she’ll hold a grudge for sure! When it’s time for dinner later, who’ll take responsibility if she decides to give me fewer pieces of cabbage mushroom!”

“Uh... but Royal Sister, you just said you wanted to go back to your room and sleep...”

“I didn’t say that. You must’ve misunderstood my meaning.”

“......”

But it was obviously that stupid Hero who said, “If Royal Sister comes along, I’ll buy you donuts when we get back!”—and that was the only reason she came!

It wasn’t that Sheffy didn’t want to help.

She simply knew that there were some things Xiarette had to face on her own.

If she were to speak for Xiarette now, then in the end, the one who would feel most dissatisfied would be Xiarette herself.

So the donuts were only a secondary reason, okay?

Belith gazed at the back reflected in her sister’s eyes, seeing that thoughtful, trusting light within them...

To say Belith didn’t feel jealous—that was impossible.

Rather, sitting there beside her sister on the same boulder, she had already puffed out her cheeks, unconsciously swinging her legs inward, and began kicking the stone wall beneath them with the soles of her shoes.

“Royal Sister really does care about her... even brought her home to meet Father and Mother. What’s so good about that big-chested woman anyway...”

“This has nothing to do with her chest. And stop pressing up against me. I know you’ve developed a bit recently, but that’s still nowhere near enough to break my mental defenses.”

Even as she said that, Sheffy didn’t push away her little sister, who had tightly hugged her arm and pressed close.

Tch... honestly, this girl really had grown quite a bit over the years. Before, when she hugged her like this, it used to be hard and uncomfortable—but now, there was a softness that carried a strange charm, like that of a tiny slime!

And besides—

Sheffy could faintly sense a trace of jealousy in the air.

Belith’s voice held no resentment, but within it was a low hum—like that of a sulking child, or perhaps a kitten growling softly while guarding its food.

“So, Royal Sister... this time you came home... was it because Belith asked you to come back? Or was it just so you could bring that big-chested woman here to meet Father and Mother? Could it be... that your promise to return home... had nothing to do with me at all...?”

“......”

The setting sun slanted westward, stretching the shadows of the two sisters sitting together on the great boulder.

Yet somehow, their silhouettes seemed to have drawn a little closer than before.

The air, too, had grown a little warmer.

A breeze lifted the petals, brushing past Sheffy’s brows.

They drifted toward the still lake’s surface and vanished without a trace.

The petals fell—words began.

“Silly girl... You already know what kind of person I am, and you still ask such meaningless questions.”

“Mm... I know. But if I don’t ask, my heart still feels uneasy. Belith wants to hear it from Royal Sister’s own mouth.”

“You really are willful.”

“Only when it comes to Royal Sister.”

Fine then.

You want to hear me say it directly, but I’m not thick-skinned enough to be that blunt.

So—listen to this instead.

“I’m the kind of person... who, when going for a walk by the lake, always ends up glancing around to see if there’s some big fish that’s knocked itself unconscious against a rock. If there is, I’ll take it home and steam it. So, Belith—when I go to the lake, is it for the walk, or for the fish?”

Belith blinked, momentarily stunned by the riddle.

But when she looked into Sheffy’s eyes—vast and starry as the night sky—she quickly understood what her sister truly meant.

The Second Demon Princess couldn’t help but lift a hand to cover her mouth as she broke into delighted laughter.

“Pfft... hahaha... As expected of Royal Sister! That’s just like you!”

“Are you satisfied with that answer?”

“Mm! It’s still not entirely clear, but I’ll let you off for now!”

“Hey!”

Let me off, fine—but don’t suddenly cling onto me again! I already know you can rival a small slime!

Hmm...

Royal Sister didn’t go to the lake for fish, nor for the walk.

She went to see the twin moons hanging high in the sky, to listen to the murmuring of the rippling waters.

Or perhaps to catch a drifting petal in her hand, or to sit somewhere quietly and rest her eyes.

When she set out, she had no fixed purpose.

But when she returned, she realized she had both taken a walk and caught a fish.

When she came back to the Demon King’s Castle, she hadn’t wanted to confine herself to the notion that it was “to introduce Xiarette to her parents,” or “to make Belith happy.”

She had made this decision simply as she would when taking an evening stroll by the lake—on a whim, following her heart.

And now, she had come.

Xiarette had met the Demon King and Queen.

Belith had seen her sister return home.

Wasn’t that exactly what they had all hoped for? Now that they had reached this point, why still dwell on the so-called “reason” that didn’t matter at the beginning?

What mattered was never the departure—

But the destination they chose to reach together.

Ah... Royal Sister.

Why is it that when I lean against you, I can no longer smell the scent of the flowers in the garden?

...................................

You think jealousy only lingered on Belith’s side?

Then you’d be wrong.

Though Xiarette had been nervous moments ago, the instant her peripheral vision caught sight of Belith leaning affectionately against Sheffy over by that great boulder—

Her entire expression, even the very air around her, seemed to twist with agitation!

It wasn’t until a calm voice sounded beside her that her scattered thoughts were pulled back to the present.

“Haa... Miss Xiarette? From the way you’re grinding your teeth... I take it your mood’s been ruined because of a certain someone?”

“N-no, not at all!”

“Hahaha... Young people really are easy to read!”

9. She Said She Was Tired

The wind in the flower forest makes one drunk with its scent;

As petals fall, the dancing butterflies lose themselves in bliss.