Pushing the door open, the silence inside was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
It was already the middle of the night; the Demon King had kept the children out playing for far too long.
“Returned?”
Sephine spoke, but the lights in the room were not on.
“Ah, Lady Sephine, we accidentally played for a bit too long…”
“It’s fine. As long as you had fun.”
The children had gone out for the first time; how could she bear to scold them?
Doing so would make her seem heartless, and Sephine was not that kind of rigid parent.
“Go take a bath and get to sleep quickly. The bed is already quite warm.”
Sephine had been lying in bed for a long time.
Even after waking up, she hadn’t gotten out, all so she could keep the bed warm.
The fireplace below couldn’t reach the rooms above.
“Miss Aglis, I have extra rooms here. If you want to stay, that’s fine too.”
Sephine turned on the light.
It was a Magic Lamp driven by Magic Power, with an effect similar to the electric lights of a previous life.
Aglis placed the items in her hands onto the table.
While Sephine wasn’t looking, she gestured to the Demon King behind her.
The Demon King then handed the gifts over to Aglis.
“The children picked this out for you. You can’t open it until tomorrow.”
Aglis placed the gift on the table, and only then did the Demon King outside feel at ease.
“I won’t stay tonight. I still have official business to handle tomorrow. Lady Sephine, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Mother! We had so much fun today…”
The door closed, and the voices inside the room grew fainter.
The Demon King and Aglis walked away together.
“Should I continue delivering breakfast tomorrow morning, Demon King?”
“Yes.”
The Demon King gave a soft hum of affirmation.
She was already satisfied to have such relaxed and happy days.
Once things became busy, she might not be able to keep coming to Sephine’s side.
“You must focus on protecting her, do you understand?”
“That… Demon King, would you allow me to ask a question?”
Aglis had always held a doubt in her heart.
She hadn’t dared to ask the Demon King directly, but she was a straightforward person; if a problem wasn’t resolved, it would stay stuck in her chest.
“Hm? What is it?”
“Why must you pursue Lady Sephine? I don’t mean anything else by it, and I’m not saying Lady Sephine isn’t good, nor am I saying I don’t care about the children. It’s just a simple—very simple—question.”
“No need to be so restrained. You are my capable assistant and have helped so much; it’s normal to find it mysterious. Why don’t we find a place to sit?”
The Demon King found a bench and sat down with Aglis.
She then looked up at the sky.
The weather tonight was excellent, the starry sky clear enough to take in every single star.
The children had indeed played very happily, and it had been a long time since the Demon King had relaxed.
However, she always felt as if something was missing.
“Compared to the beginning, Lady Sephine’s emotions are much more stable.”
“Is she still very sad when I am mentioned?”
“…”
“I know. Tomorrow, return this to her.”
The Demon King took out a small box and handed it to Aglis.
Aglis opened it and saw a small ring inside.
It didn’t look particularly valuable.
Aglis had seen rings made of pure gold and rings made of precious crystals.
This ring did not look like an expensive item at all.
“This is…”
“Don’t ask too much about this. Just do as I say.”
Aglis closed the box and carefully tucked it away.
“Why must it be Sephine? Let me think… I don’t really know either. I suppose it’s because I love her.”
The Demon King began to reminisce about Sephine in her memories.
They had first met in a forest.
Sephine had made a trap to catch wild rabbits, but the Demon King had accidentally stepped on it and broken it.
At the time, Sephine had marveled at how strong the Demon King’s physical fitness was.
She likely never could have imagined that this relationship would last until now, nor that it would reach the brink of shattering.
“I think the way she secretly took uneaten food back with her was very cute, and she was so gentle whenever she comforted the soldiers.”
“Is that so? Love really is a miraculous thing.”
Aglis didn’t understand the specific meaning behind the Demon King’s words.
Being a blunt person, she could only conclude that the Demon King loved Lady Sephine deeply.
“You head back first. I’m going to stay here for a while longer.”
The Demon King didn’t want to return to the Imperial Palace yet.
It was too big, and being there alone was far too lonely.
If it were in the past, Sephine would have surely come out to wrap a blanket around her.
‘If I hadn’t become the Demon King, would there have been a different outcome? Maybe this is the price I pay for my selfishness.’
Even now, the Demon King was beginning to doubt whether her path was correct.
Had she gained everything, or had she lost everything?
It wasn’t too late; nothing was set in stone yet.
Sephine would definitely come back.
Under the city’s streetlights, the Demon King walked toward the Imperial Palace alone.
Even these streetlights were something Sephine had suggested changing.
It had cost many Gold Coins from the National Treasury, but after that, the accident rate at night had significantly decreased.
She always had many insights and ideas that differed from ordinary people, yet she still felt she wasn’t doing well enough.
The Demon King was constantly observing her—observing her expressions and her state every day.
She only found that Sephine grew more exhausted by the day.
‘Should I take a vacation, too? Forget it.’
The Demon King pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
This Kingdom needed a leader, even if she wasn’t fully mature yet.
‘First, I need to think of a way to make Sephine live longer and keep that fellow in her head dead for as long as possible.’
She didn’t know when that so-called Second Personality would come out to cause trouble.
However, based on her behavior before her last slumber, she seemed to have felt some remorse.
The Demon King returned to the Inner Palace to rest.
At that moment, Sephine had just finished bathing the two little ones and had changed them into new pink pajamas, which she had bought along with the sweaters earlier.
“Mother! Can you tell me a story?”
Fala lay on the left side of Sephine on the bed, while Karin lay on the right.
However, Karin seemed to have already fallen asleep, as she was completely still.
“Alright, let me see if there are any storybooks…”
There was a bookshelf right next to the bed.
Sephine loved to read, so this was a deliberate design choice.
“Too bad.”
Sephine couldn’t find any storybooks suitable for Fala’s age.
It seemed she would have to tell something interesting herself.
“What kind of story do you want to hear?”
“I want to hear… I want to hear Mother’s own story.”
“Me? What story could I have? How about I tell you a story about two talking bears and a bald man?”
“I just want to hear Mother’s story~ please?”
Fala rubbed her little head against Sephine’s waist, making it difficult for Sephine to resist.
“Alright, alright~”