Pink Spring. (4)
"I feel like you've been getting more clingy lately."
I let out a sigh as Arthur silently played with my hair.
I had just asked him to take good care of Emily, but not long after, he came into the room and had been doing this ever since.
"Surely you didn't kill her?"
"No."
"That's a relief, then."
If she wasn't killed, then that was fine.
Even if she was an enemy, she was a baby I had given birth to, so I would definitely be sad if she died.
No, more than that...
"Ahem..."
"..."
"...Do you have no tact?"
When I turned my head, my long hair was divided into two strands, dangling on either side.
What was this, pigtails?
As I sighed and let my hair down, Arthur tapped the top of my head with a regretful expression.
"It suited you well, what a shame."
"More than it suiting me, why are you so good at tying hair? It looked like you'd done it many times..."
Tying it neatly so no stray hairs stuck out was harder than one might think.
If you ask how I knew that, I learned it when I tied Emily's hair, and in that sense, Arthur's hair-tying skills were arguably superior to mine.
No, now that I think about it, I suppose I knew why he was so skilled...
"You often tied Ariel's hair, didn't you?"
"...Yeah."
He wouldn't still be thinking of me as her replacement, would he?
Perhaps the habit formed back then, combined with my name, created this outcome.
Seriously, must I be so entangled in every single one of these simple actions?
"Here."
"..."
"Now, the person whose hair you tie isn't your childhood friend Ariel, it's me."
I placed the untied hair tie into Arthur's hand.
If he couldn't forget what he had done with his childhood friend in the past, then all I had to do was overwrite those memories with myself.
Look only at Ariel the Demon, not Ariel the human.
Because from now on, all the happy memories you have will be made solely with me.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
The hands playing with my hair were quite gentle.
They slowly stroked it along its texture, gathered it into one, and tied it carefully.
It was quite surprising that even though my hair was being pulled, it didn't hurt.
"How is it?"
"It's pretty... though it looks like I might die young."
With my hair tied low and draped over my shoulder, I had quite a benevolent impression.
The problem, I suppose, was that my skin was pale and the area under my eyes was dark, making me look anything but healthy.
I gave a bitter smile at my appearance, which looked like I would soon die young from an incurable disease.
This hairstyle, it suits me too perfectly.
"Arthur?"
"..."
"What, are you doing this because you heard me say 'die young'?"
I let out a soft laugh as Arthur quickly untied my hair.
There was no need to untie it just because it looked like a hairstyle for someone who would die young.
Of course, I knew where his actions stemmed from.
Everyone around Arthur had died young, so it was natural for him to react that way after hearing my words.
"A human worrying about a Demon's death, how truly amusing."
It was something that shouldn't have happened.
Perhaps it was the most alien ending among all the endings I had seen so far.
While living up to its title, "The Demon King Who Gives Birth to as Many as She Killed," it was more complex and difficult than any other story...
So I decided to give this ending a name.
The name "Life."
"Now, Arthur—"
The time has come.
I reached out and pushed Arthur's shoulder.
I let out a soft laugh as I watched him collapse onto the bed, just as powerless as he was that time long ago.
Because there were still many children left to bear.
"Let's begin."
***
"Mmm..."
Evangeline.
Evangeline von Trisraum, the Queen of the North, let out a groan and frowned.
It had already been several days since the declaration of war from the Kingdom, and despite strengthening defenses and sending troops to the front lines, no particular anomalies had been detected yet.
'Suspicious... too suspicious...'
If resolving internal rebellion was the priority, there would have been no need to declare war on the North.
Yet, they had rushed into war like this.
...Had they lost their composure?
For what reason?
"The Hero and the Demon King... and the rebel forces within the Kingdom... and finally, the declaration of war..."
She pieced together the scattered fragments.
What exactly did the Kingdom—Baroniseu—want?
She clicked her tongue, recalling the bald head she had seen sometime before.
He was a fellow she couldn't possibly see in a good light.
Finishing her brief recollection, she picked up a pen.
'Further strengthen border defenses.'
She, who once wielded a sword and commanded warriors, now wielded a pen and used warriors as her limbs.
Compared to a heavy chunk of iron, it was like a feather, but its power was far greater than before.
Adding power to her inherent martial strength.
That single simple fact made the Queen's power even stronger.
For example, yes.
"Gah?! H-how?!"
"With you reeking of such killing intent, there's no way I wouldn't notice."
Even though she had merely swung her pen, it was enough to pierce the opponent's heart.
The two eyes glaring at her from within the shadows were trembling.
'Not dying immediately even with a pierced heart, how interesting.'
That question lasted only a moment, as with a horrifying sound like skin being peeled off, the man's appearance transformed.
Horns sprouting from his head and massive wings.
Destructive power overflowed from his grotesquely swollen body.
"...A Demon?"
No, he was clearly human just a moment ago, so how...?
She had never even heard of a Demon that could transform into a human.
"As much as I'd like to capture and interrogate him, leaving a Demon alive doesn't suit my temperament..."
Even with the killing intent emanating from the Demon, the Queen paid it no mind.
She merely rose slowly from her seat, as if the time had come, and walked towards the sword hanging on the wall.
At her appearance, as if she were out for a stroll, the monster let out a roar.
I'll kill you.
The killing intent materialized and shot towards the Queen.
"Foolish, utterly foolish."
"?!"
The long-extended arm was severed in half.
The Demon's head flew into the air from the blade swung before it could even feel pain.
The Queen, with her bloodless sword resting on her shoulder, scoffed as she watched the massive body collapse.
"The reason there are no guards around me is not due to carelessness, but because I am strong."
"..."
"This is a gift for your descent into hell, you worm."
When she firmly stepped on the grotesquely twisted head, it burst beyond recognition.
Cleaning this up will be quite a chore.
The Queen clicked her tongue, looking at her office that had become a mess in that short time.
"Why would a creature that is neither human nor Demon attack me? Truly..."
I'm so curious I could go mad.
The corners of the Queen's mouth curled upwards.
It was the kind of expression she made when she discovered something interesting.
***
"That was probably a Demon created by King Baroniseu."
Arthur rushed over after hearing that the Queen had been attacked by a Demon, but the situation was already over.
After a conversation with her, who grumbled about him being late, Arthur concluded that King Baroniseu was the one who instigated the attack.
If it wasn't for him, such an act wouldn't have been committed in the first place.
Seeing that he directly sent an assassin despite the risk of the truth being revealed, it seemed he was quite cornered.
"You speak with such certainty. Do you have proof?"
"I saw it myself."
"...Hmm, I see."
That power he displayed in his final moments.
He wouldn't have used something that seemed to wring out his soul so easily.
He must be looking for something because of some problem.
Me and Ariel...
No, to be precise, her horns.
"By the way, it's strange. Even if it was a Demon that could transform into a human, it shouldn't have been able to cross the border so easily..."
Her long, extended fingers tapped on the table.
Indeed, there had been no news of the border being breached.
She didn't want to say that the Northern warriors were lacking.
For the Queen, that was a matter of pride.
But if that wasn't it, the problem was that there was only one remaining possibility.
"There's a traitor within."
The Queen easily brought up that problem.
The words, spoken as if it were nothing, lingered in Arthur's ears.
A traitor, a traitor.
"Of course, you and that—"
"It's Ariel."
"I'm not suspecting Ariel. Didn't you two, well, spend all day in your room mating?"
At the Queen's words, Arthur's eyes widened.
How on earth did she know that?
He looked at her, and she shrugged nonchalantly as if it were nothing.
"I can hear everything. You should have been more moderate, shouldn't you? Day and night, all day long... Tsk, tsk."
"...I apologize."
"Well, if you spend a night with me, I'll forgive you."
The scary thing about that person was that her eyes weren't joking.
As Arthur remained silent, the Queen let out a hearty laugh and waved her hand, telling him to leave.
"Then, I'll be taking my leave now."
"Yes, and tell your wife to take good care of herself."
"...Yes."
With those words, the Queen turned her gaze away.
Truly, she was a person whose thoughts were impossible to fathom.