CH 63

The maids showed off their skills today as well for my welcoming party. It seemed to take much more time and technique than when the priests had put in their utmost effort for the proclamation ceremony. 

“Just how in the world did they twist my hair up like this?”

It was so fascinating since they hadn’t even used hairspray. 

“The venue itself will be warm, but you’re going to take a walk outside, then please call for us and ask for a shawl.”

“Okay, then I’ll do that.”

I had deliberately chosen a dress that revealed my shoulders and arms so that I could show off the pattern on my shoulder blade. So it was natural for the maids to worry about me feeling cold. 

“I matched the earrings with the necklace… Then, what would you like me to do for your bracelet?”

The bracelet I was wearing was the one that Lecht had given me. Although it was a pretty and delicate bracelet that suited my preferences, it was slightly monotonous and too plain compared to my current outfit. 

“This will be enough.”

Nevertheless, I didn’t want to replace this with another bracelet, nor did I want to layer it with anything else either. 

I was fiddling with that precious bracelet when Solte bowed her head toward the entrance of the dressing room. “You’ve come, Your Majesty?”

“Woof!”

When I turned my head, the sight of a joyful Kelber wagging his tail happily greeted me, and Lecht, as expected, was there as well. 

“Lecht!”

Lecht, whose horns and long hair remained unconcealed, was leaning against the dressing room’s entrance. 

“What about your wings?”

“Tanma nagged at me and said that my clothes don’t have any holes for it.”

“Ahaha.”

The wings showed off the authority of the demon king, so they weren’t revealed unless necessary. But seeing as I liked his wings, Lecht often took them out to show me in my presence. That’s probably how he got nagged at by Tanma.

“But you’re still able to have your horns and long hair?”

“Because I think you like this appearance of mine more.”

I laughed at his words and ran toward him. Wrapped up in his warm embrace, I whispered, “That’s not true. I’ll like it all, as long as it’s Lecht.”

Lecht widened his eyes slightly, then smirked soon after, brushing my cheek with the knuckle of his finger. “If you continue to keep provoking me like that, then we might not be able to go to the welcoming ceremony.”

“That would be troublesome! Everyone had worked so hard to prepare for this already!” I loosened my arm that was holding onto his waist and clutched his hand tightly instead. “I’m not going to let go of this hand today.”

“I had no intention of letting go either.”

Lecht led me toward the venue of the banquet. While matching my non-committal pace that was the result of not having worn such high heels in a long while.

When we arrived in front of the venue, the gatekeeper looked at me with his eyes wide open. It was an expression as if his whole soul had flown away. 

Judging by the demonic creature that was standing beside him, it seemed like they were the gatekeeper and demonic creature that had been guarding the main gates the day I had arrived. The demonic creature whose name was ‘Zibik’, looked at me today as well and wagged its huge tail.

“Woof!” 

Kelber, who didn’t like me smiling at other demonic creatures, enlarged himself and barked at it, causing the gatekeeper to finally come to his senses.  

“Please enjoy your time today.”

“His Majesty and the Saintess are now entering!” Another gatekeeper came from inside and announced the arrival of Lecht and I as the other gatekeeper opened the door for us. 

The venue, which had been buzzing until the door opened, quickly became quiet. All of their eyes were now on me and Lecht. The place we had stepped into was a balcony on the second floor that was overlooking the entire venue, so it was even easier for us to draw their attention.

‘So you made us enter through the second floor on purpose.’

Here, in the demon realm that valued hierarchy highly, he had made them look up at us as the demon king and the saintess. 

The only sound that echoed throughout the event hall with no music was my heels as I descended the stairs. I felt burdened by their stares and nervous at the same time, so my legs kept losing their strength. 

But Lecht, who was familiar with all this, just held my arm tightly. Relying on that reassurance of his, I was finally able to arrive at the seat of honour that was all the way across the silent event hall.

“You’ve all done well in coming all the way here to welcome the saintess.” Lecht’s heavy voice resonated throughout the hall. Whether or not it was because it now contained magic as well, his voice seemed to feel even more magnificent and weighty. “I won’t dampen the mood by giving a speech, so let’s start the banquet right away.”

As he finished curtly and waved his hand, the waiting band immediately began to play the music they had prepared in advance. The silence, which seemed to breathe its last breath with the music, soon disappeared, as the sound of people’s voices soon filled that void back up.

“Huu, I almost couldn’t breathe—that would’ve been a big problem.”

Holding onto Lecht’s hand tightly, I leaned against him as he smiled at me, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

“You’ll get used to it. Since you’ll be living like this for the rest of your life.”

“Oh my, are you saying that I should stick to your side for the rest of my life, Lecht?”

“Even if you aren’t by my side, it’s only natural for you, who is the saintess of Lunar, to be treated like this.” And with an expression that seemed to say that he had left some words out, he added, “Though of course, apart from that, it’s true that I want you to stand by my side for the rest of your life.”

Thanks to him, who was trying to appeal to me without missing a beat, I was able to relieve the accumulated tension that I had gained when I entered the hall. 

“You’re so beautiful today, Your Majesty!”

“Thank you, Muso.”

Muso’s eyes shone as he brought us to the seats that had been prepared for Lecht and I. 

“Woof! Woof!”

Even Kelber seemed rather excited and stuck around my feet, pushing his head onto my lap. Unlike when we were in the human realm, Kelber stood guard by my side with the size of a tiger instead of a large dog. In my eyes, Kelber at this size seemed just as cute to me as ever, since I knew that he could probably enlarge himself to the size of a seven storey building if he wanted to. 

“There are many people who would like to greet you, my lady. If it’s fine with you, would I be able to start sending them up one by one?”

I nodded as Tanma asked me while I sat next to Lecht in my seat. 

Ever since I had arrived in the demon realm, there had been a torrent of requests and letters to meet me in the Demon King’s Palace. Nevertheless, Tanma and Muso made the collective decision to refuse them all on my behalf, stating that they would all see me at the welcoming banquet. 

Thus, maybe that was why the nobles who greeted me were largely divided into two categories. 

“Greetings, Saintess. You don’t know just how long I’ve been waiting for the day I finally meet you, Saintess…!”

Those who were thrilled by the fact that they had met me and seemed to be at a loss of what to do with themselves.

“I am ‘Robla’, the one who is in charge of managing the lush continent in the west. I was here a few days ago to meet you, but it seemed like it was really hard for you to make the time.”

And those whose pride was scratched by the fact that I didn’t meet them.

It was difficult to judge who was right and who was wrong. Although saintesses were necessary and important existences to the demons, demons were also a species that were the type to risk both their life and honour on their pride at the same time as well.

One thing that such a diverse group of people had in common was that they had all brought gifts. Was it because I always brought Kelber everywhere, or because they had all been made aware of my love for animals that included demonic creatures?

“This is a sky ray. They’re extremely docile and gentle creatures. The dots that you see now will glow blue at night.”

“White fire foxes are creatures who deeply assimilate with their owner’s feelings, so they are particularly good at distinguishing between who is an ally and an enemy. Although the flame by its tail is rather weak since it’s still a baby, it’ll easily be able to destroy an entire village when it becomes an adult.”

There were a lot of them who gave me adorable demonic creatures which I had never seen before as a gift. A fox that resembled a weasel and lightly shook its tail which had a white flame at the end of it, and a bat bird that seemed like a stingray and flew in the air instead of in the water. As if what I had seen when I had come to the palace hadn’t been all the demon realm had to offer, unique looking kids kept constantly coming out. 

It was also Kelber, who was naturally the most displeased whenever a new demonic creature was presented. 

“Grrrr…”

“Shh. It’s okay, you’re the prettiest, Kelber.” I had to keep patting his head since it seemed like he was seconds away from mauling the baby demonic creatures.

The gifts that I had seen were so diverse, it was to the point where even the accessories and jewellery that were occasionally mixed in between them seemed a bit too plain.

“What sort of fruit is this?”

The thing that was as fascinating as a demonic creature was a specialty product that they had brought. 

“This isn’t a fruit, but a herb called ‘Alcant’! It’s a specialty that’s only grown on our Mindoongmori Mountain, and can be eaten just as it is as well—however, the best way to consume it is to boil it like tea and mix in a little honey with it.”

t/n: 민둥머리 can also be translated as ‘bare/bald head’ but idk if that’s actually the mountain’s name so imma just leave it in korean form HGSDLFKJDS

Its colour resembled a grape, but it looked exactly like a ginger. It also seemed easy to eat, since its size was only that of a cherry. 

“To be honest, even though it’s a gift for the saintess, the one who should actually eat it is His Majesty instead!”

“Pfft.”

“Cough!”

Tanma almost burst into laughter while Muso choked at the noble’s words that had been said with a grin.

“Why? Can I not eat it?”

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“Ah… You can still eat it, Saintess, but it’ll be more effective if His Majesty eats it.”

“Effective…?”

At the tilt of my head, the woman mustered up her courage to reply, “Because it’s the most recognised male aphrodisiac in the demon realm!”

“!!”

I widened my eyes and turned my head away, blushing as if I couldn’t hear all the dirty thoughts the demons around us were thinking. Some tried to hold back their laughter while others simply turned red as well. 

At the effect that I never could have imagined, I froze and wasn’t able to shut my jaw that had dropped. The only one who was smiling was the noble who had presented it. 

“W-Wait, why did you, such a present…” I had to thank her for the gift, but I was too flustered and wasn’t able to speak properly. 

Lecht, who was sitting by my side, leaned over slightly and turned his head to look at my face when I ended up only being able to utter some odd noises. And asked a question that added even more fire to this already flustering situation. “Should I try eating it?”

“E-Eat, what do you mean eat?!” I shrieked in surprise and slapped his shoulder. “Do you have a problem?! Even if you don’t eat it, it’s enou…!”

I was once again rendered speechless upon reflexively replying to his playful question. 

“No, I mean…! Lecht!” I glared at him with a crimson face when I realised that I had fallen into his trap. 

But he just looked at me with a pleased look on his face and smiled. “Then, should we just try and check it out once?” He grabbed me by the waist and got up from his seat. 

“Wh-Wh-What…!”

What do you mean check…?!

As I pushed at his chest with a face that had turned the colour of a pomegranate, he whispered with a cheeky smile on his face, “Let’s go and dance.”

Then, he led me to the centre of the hall. It would be more accurate to say that he simply held my waist and moved me there. Moving me to the centre of the floor, he stood facing me. “You like to dance.”

“No, but how could you say such a thing in that sort of situation…!”

“Why?”

“They’ll all think of something weird…”

He lowered his head when I jutted out my lip and complained. He stuck his face close to my cheek, as if his lips were seemingly about to touch them, and asked, “Is that why you don’t want to dance?”

“Who said I didn’t want to…” Although my heart felt like it was doing backflips due to the misunderstanding and my face had already turned beet red, dancing together would still be good. 

“But I don’t know how to dance…” I had never learned how to waltz or tango.

“Unlike human balls, there’s no need for formality.” Lecht said affectionately at my concern and lifted my arms to hook around his neck. Lecht and I just swung our bodies leisurely in time with the calm music. 

“Do we look like penguins with our waddling?”

“If you’re a penguin, then I’m a penguin too.”

“No way, where in the world would I find a penguin this good looking?” I leaned against his body. It felt good since his arm that was supporting my waist felt firm. 

“Do you really think I don’t need to take alcant?”

“Tch, stop playing around!” 

He enveloped my fist in his hand after I hit his chest painlessly. 

“Just why did that woman give me that as a gift…” I grumbled in vain and leaned my head against Lecht’s chest. 

Lecht smiled as well, resting his chin against my head. His deep laughter was even sweeter than the music that echoed throughout the hall.

“Lecht, you know…” Perhaps because I had hit him for playing a joke on me over the aphrodisiacs, I suddenly remembered his desolate room. As expected, I kept being bothered about leaving him to sleep in there by himself. “I’ve been thinking about it, and we…”

“Ahhhhh!”

When I was about to say, ‘Why don’t we just share one room’, a sharp scream suddenly pierced the atmosphere in the hall. The sudden scream caused both mine and Lecht’s heads to turn at the same time. 

And unidentified light was surging from the ground where the disturbance was coming from. Had one of the demons gotten out of control and gone on a rampage? But to say that was the case, the light that could be seen seemed to be far too ominous and foreboding. 

Lecht and I rushed over immediately. Walking past the nobles that had huddled together and were murmuring with each other, the guards had raised their weapons and surrounded something. 

‘An intruder?’

How was that possible in such a heavily guarded place? Although I was also curious about the method they had used to do so, I was even more curious about who it was. 

“Huh…? I’m bleeding… Then, i-is this a real spear? This isn’t a film set?” The bewildered voice of a girl was heard from amongst the guards. “W-Where is this? Is this really not a hidden camera prank?”

Although I was familiar with the things she was talking about, they were all words that the demons in this place would never say. A strange feeling rushed up my spine. Pressing down my pounding heart, I pushed aside the guards that had formed a tight wall around them. 

Sitting on the floor was a girl who was trapped at the ends of a sword and a spear. The moment I saw the cute appearance of a girl with half of her long straight hair tied up, my breath stopped. Contrary to the intensely coloured striped tie, the ambiguous grey jacket was undoubtedly part of a school uniform, no matter how much I looked at it. To top it all off, the prestigious high school emblem on the chest of the jacket further proved my guess.

“A high school student…?”

The child, who had been shakily hugging their backpack tightly, soon burst into tears at my murmur. “I’m sorry I skipped self-study…! I’ll never skip school anymore, so please send me back home…! Huuuuu…”

There was a name tag stuck under the high school emblem on the jacket. It was a name tag with the name ‘Song Ara’ clearly embroidered on it.