A Fine Line Between the Demon King and the Girl
“Why… why are you crying?”
“But you were telling such a sad story…”
Tears welled up in Ilena’s eyes, and soon she was outright sobbing. What was this pang of guilt? I was the one whose mood had sunk.
“Hic… huuuh…”
“Oh no…”
My body moved before my mind could catch up. I pulled the sobbing Ilena into my arms.
“Huuuuh…!”
But it only made things worse. She buried her face in my chest and began to cry in earnest. Crying after hearing someone else’s sad story—was this girl really the Demon King? Was she the Demon King or just a maiden…?
Only after a long while did Ilena finally lift her head. Her face was a complete mess of tears and snot. Which meant, of course, that my clothes were now covered in it…?
“Use that spell from earlier.”
“Which one?”
“The one that cleans your face. Do you have any idea what you look like right now?”
“Ah…”
Ilena snapped her fingers, but the sound came out weak and pathetic.
“Hng, it’s not working.”
She tried again. This time it rang out properly, and her face became clean in an instant.
“That never stops being amazing to watch. Every mage I know has to chant even for the simplest spells, yet you just snap your fingers and it happens.”
“That’s because I’m the Demon King.”
“Yeah, yeah. The Demon King.”
I kept the rest to myself—that the Demon King could cry so freely without caring that her face was covered in tears and snot.
“The story went completely off track. Anyway, you’re saying I was in that state when you came looking for me last time?”
“Yes. For some reason, I just had this feeling that I shouldn’t meet you then.”
“Good call. I was drowning myself in alcohol back then, barely sane. Actually… am I even sane now?”
“It can’t be helped when your heart still hasn’t fully healed. Even so, when you were talking with Mother earlier, your face looked much more at peace than it did back then.”
“That’s all thanks to you. I should have come back sooner.”
Ilena took a few steps ahead of me before speaking again. “I wrestled with that dilemma too, you know. Whether I should give up on wanting you. The you I found then wasn’t the you I remembered.”
“Yet here you are now?”
“You were already a lost cause, so I decided to start over from the beginning and watch you slowly.”
“You were holding on to hope.”
With her back still turned, Ilena gave a small nod, then spun around and pointed straight at my face.
“Still, it’s not enough. The current you isn’t the you I thought was the most wonderful back then. So I’ll restore you with my own two hands.”
“An interesting offer. But how?”
At my question, Ilena walked back over and cupped my face in both palms. Then—
“Yah!”
“Ugh… W-what are you doing?”
She squished my cheeks inward, warping my entire face. After that came—
“Yat!”
She formed pincers with her fingers and stretched my cheeks outward with a long ziiip.
“Owowow…”
She didn’t pull hard enough to hurt, but I still had no idea what she was trying to accomplish. Ilena repeated the squish-and-stretch routine several more times before nodding in satisfaction.
“Do you even realize how gaunt your face has become? First things first—we’re fattening you up with good food.”
“I don’t really gain weight easily, even when I eat a lot.”
“Then I’ll just have to feed you even more.”
“What if I get full?”
“I’ll make the food so delicious you’ll want to keep eating even after you’re full.”
She had been so delicate and fragile like a little girl while crying, yet her way with words was top-tier. I decided not to tease her about it.
“I’m looking forward to it. Honestly, the meat dish you made earlier was really good.”
“Really? It suited your taste?”
“Surprisingly so. It was a perfect match for me.”
“It couldn’t have been otherwise. I followed your mother’s instructions exactly.”
“What?”
My mind went blank. Ilena continued as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“What do you think was the story I heard most often while staying here?”
“…It couldn’t be about me, could it?”
“That’s right. It was all about you. After that came stories about your father.”
Mother had said she prayed every single day to meet us again. Even after we left home, she had spent her time alone thinking only of us.
“So when I seasoned the food and adjusted the flavor, I did it exactly the way she taught me.”
“I’ll have to thank Mother again. She somehow turned you—from someone who used to undercook and burn everything—into a skilled cook.”
Maybe because I had dredged up an embarrassing memory, Ilena’s face flushed bright red.
“D-don’t tease me! That was before! I’m not like that anymore! And you’d better look forward to tomorrow’s breakfast too!”
“Breakfast?”
When my reaction was less than enthusiastic, Ilena suddenly turned timid. “Why are you reacting like that…?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten a proper breakfast. After drinking myself senseless, the next morning might as well not exist. I’d only crawl out of bed once the sun was high in the sky.”
“No.”
Ilena’s voice was firm. “To heal a broken body and heart, you need a regular routine. At least while I’m living next door, I cannot allow such a disordered life. I won’t forgive it!”
“You won’t forgive it over something like that…?”
“There’s no special medicine for this. You have to wake the body gently with a light, comforting meal so the day can begin softly. A good meal is the best medicine! That’s what I learned!”
“Eating well like you say is definitely good for the health. But I think getting plenty of deep, restful sleep can be medicine for the body too.”
“Ehh…”
When I pushed back, the confidence in Ilena’s voice shrank again. “When you put it that way, it does sound right… But I still want to make you breakfast…”
Teasing her was fun, but if I kept going she would only get sulkier, so I stopped.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s breakfast.”
“Really!?”
“Besides, I have no intention of living like a degenerate here the way I did in Crownland. Mother is still doing farm work, isn’t she? Since I’ve become an unemployed freeloader, the least I can do is help.”
“Good! That’s the right attitude!”
Ilena clenched her fist, then turned her back to me again and muttered quietly to herself.
“Then before you wake up tomorrow, I’ll go ahead and…”
“What are you muttering about with someone standing right here?”
“Kyaa! It’s nothing! Nothing at all!”
Ilena spun around in a fluster. Pure joy radiated from her lively face. I was the one being cared for, yet the caregiver looked happier than anyone. The thought slipped out naturally.
“I’m glad.”
“About what?”
“That you didn’t get swept up in your father’s dream and are doing what you truly want.”
“Hehe. It’s all thanks to you. Maybe I’m simply returning what I received from you?”
The Demon King Ilenater, and the Ilena standing before me now. They were undoubtedly the same person, yet they somehow felt like completely different beings.
“This is bad. I suddenly want to crawl into bed.”
“Ah. Are you that sleepy? Did you push yourself staying up just to walk me home?”
“There’s no way I pushed myself. The reason I want to get to bed quickly is so tomorrow morning comes faster and I can eat the breakfast you make.”
“That’s why? Geez, you scared me…”
I really was looking forward to tomorrow’s breakfast, but it was time to head back. Both of us had decided to wake up early. Besides, a farmer’s morning came far earlier than most people’s.
“Let’s go back. We need to prepare for tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
The walk back was quiet. No heavy or uncomfortable silence, though—just the gentle kind that felt like we were saving more stories for tomorrow.
“Still, it’s strange.”
I couldn’t hold the question in.
“What is?”
“When I faced you before, just being near you let me feel an overwhelming amount of mana. If I hadn’t kept a tight grip on my mind, I might have been crushed by it. But right now I don’t sense that same power from you at all.”
“That’s because I’m keeping it suppressed, of course. Like you said—if I released my mana on purpose, the very air around us would change.”
“To be able to hide that much power so completely that its existence can’t even be felt… I’m truly relieved I never had to face you as an enemy again.”
In the end we kept talking all the way back. When we finally reached the front of Ilena’s house, she opened the door, then glanced back at me.
“You don’t want to come inside and look around?”
“Oh dear… Careful. You seem to mean it innocently, but among humans that line is often used as a subtle signal.”
“A signal? What kind of signal?”
“Using natural-sounding words like the ones you just said to lure the opposite sex inside, and then…”
I could already picture the expression she would make.
“Doing that thing you saw inside my head earlier.”
“Hiiik…”
Sure enough, Ilena’s whole body went rigid.
“Be careful from now on. There’s a saying that all men are wolves, you know.”
“I’m curious what that means too. I still have a mountain of things to study. But…”
Ilena beamed and added casually, “You’re far too magnificent to be compared to mere wolf-like beasts, aren’t you?”
“Haha, I suppose that’s true.”
That was something only someone who didn’t understand the saying could say.
“Go on inside now. Sleep well.”
“You too. There’s no need to wish me sweet dreams, right?”
“I may not look it, but I’m a very valuable person. I have to save those wishes for when I really need them.”
“Hehe… Then good night.”
Ilena waved from behind the half-closed door. I waved back, and she closed it with a bright, bashful smile.
“Well, I was about to go to bed too, but…”
It looked like my own bedtime would be delayed a little.
“So your master is frightening, but I—who defeated your master—am not?”
When I turned my head, a young man stood there holding a scythe larger than his own body, glaring at me.
“You’re only showing yourself now because you don’t want to make the same mistake as Hesed and offend your lord, right?”
He was the King of Blood and Slaughter.
“Roen…!”
“It’s been a while for you too, Gebura.”