One More Step as Lovers
The moment I needed to take one more step as lovers—it was ruined. Right now, the only word echoing through my head was exactly that.
“Ugh…”
“Cut it out!”
“You call that garbage a performance?”
The audience seated in the theater hurled jeers while the actors desperately tried to calm them, though their efforts were clearly failing. In the end, the enraged crowd completely shut down the show.
That was the utterly miserable finale of the painfully unfunny play I had come to see with Her Majesty the Demon King.
Haah… What is this? They said it was supposed to be interesting, but this is worse than I ever imagined…
With no internet or similar tools in this world, I had picked the play based solely on the ticket seller’s pitch. That had clearly been a mistake.
If I had at least caught some word-of-mouth rumors, it probably wouldn’t have been this bad. With the word “failure” literally floating in my mind, I left the theater with the Demon King.
“Mmm…”
The two of us walked the night streets in an awkward silence. I stole a careful glance at the Demon King beside me and spoke in a slightly strained voice.
“Um… that is… I’m… I’m sorry.”
“Hm? Whatever for?”
“No, it’s just… the performance turned out far worse than I expected. I should have done more research before choosing it…”
“It was fun.”
“Pardon?”
The Demon King answered my words with a tone that carried surprising conviction. I felt a wave of genuine confusion and asked her again. This time she replied in a voice heavy with sincerity.
“It felt remarkably fresh, so I quite enjoyed it. A play that unfolded in such a manner, and an audience that responded so passionately. I have never seen anything like it in all my years.”
Wait… that wasn’t a play. That was the actual situation.
No matter how I looked at it, the Demon King seemed to have taken the entire chaotic scene in the theater as part of the performance itself. Having only ever witnessed refined, dignified plays put on for high nobility, she had probably never seen an audience revolt so openly, no matter how terrible the show.
Besides, the odds of a play performed before a monarch turning into such a disaster were slim to begin with.
Still, watching the Demon King enjoy herself with such pure, unfiltered delight, I couldn’t help but smile.
Well… if Her Majesty is happy, then I suppose it turned out all right…?
The sweet, romantic mood I had hoped for from a so-called romance play had flown far away, yet simply seeing her smile left my heart feeling warm and full.
After our date, which had been a strange mix of disappointment and quiet joy, I was about to return to the Demon King’s castle when she spoke again.
“That aside… it was rather surprising. Even if it was a play, I never expected them to kiss so boldly in front of everyone.”
Her voice carried a hint of embarrassment. I recalled the male and female leads desperately sharing a passionate kiss at the very end, right as the show collapsed, and gave a bitter smile.
“Ahaha… Yes, there was that scene. It was a bit… sudden, though.”
“Was it?… Yet personally, We did not find it so unpleasant.”
“Pardon?”
The unexpected remark made me turn to look at her. A faint blush colored the Demon King’s cheeks as she smiled. She carefully touched a finger to her lips and spoke in a soft voice.
“Does a kiss feel that good? To the point that one pays no attention to the surroundings at all…”
“...!”
There was a rich, seductive allure in her expression. My heart began to race. At the same time, the thought struck me—this was exactly the moment to take that one more step.
When you think about it, we are lovers, aren’t we? We’ve grown so much closer through all these dates…
The sky was already thick with darkness, and there was no one around. Thanks to her words, an unexpected mood had settled over us. Tension and a modest, long-held desire surged through me as I moved.
“Well… I was only saying…”
“Your Majesty.”
“!”
I took her hand with trembling fingers. The Demon King froze mid-sentence, gazing at me with wide, startled eyes. Her face was flushed, her gaze quivering. She looked so unbearably lovely and beautiful that I simply stared, entranced.
Then, watching me, she slowly closed her eyes.
My gaze naturally drifted to her lips—glossy, crimson, sparkling in the moonlight. I steadied my pounding heart as best I could and gently lowered my head.
And then…
-Chu.
In the capital of the Demon Kingdom, Jerusalem, deep in shadow. Inside a small guest villa on the outskirts, Octavia stared at the person before her, utterly stunned.
“That is roughly how it happened. Those are the circumstances that led to me becoming a Dark Elf.”
“H… how… how is that possible…”
Amelda, the Dark Elf, sat relaxed and sipped her tea. Once a member of the Hero Party, she was now an object of pure loathing to all elves. Her words struck Octavia with such overwhelming shock that her mind began to reel.
The hero betrayed by his comrades and driven to corruption, and the merciful demon race that had accepted him. As a result, the hero had wielded his sword as the Demon King’s aide during the last war, contributing greatly to its end. Even now he remained at her side as one of her closest retainers. Although the storyteller was a Dark Elf enslaved by the demons, Octavia could tell with absolute clarity that Amelda’s words held no lies.
Alongside her late master Sula, Amelda had been the person Octavia respected most while training to become a paladin. Knowing her character well, Octavia understood that even after falling and becoming a Dark Elf, Amelda was not someone who would craft such a story with skillful deceit.
Watching Octavia reel from the shock, the demon woman beside her—Elisa—spoke in a calm, measured voice.
“As I told you before, we demons are not the vicious monsters you imagine. We have not forgotten the grudge born from what your elves did. Even so, we are not evil beings who commit slaughter or atrocities without reason. The hero saw our true nature clearly, which is why he willingly knelt before Her Majesty.”
“B-but… all the historical records speak of the evil deeds committed by demons…”
“Every one of those so-called evil deeds took place inside the continent. Meanwhile, you have guarded with extreme vigilance against any demon leaving the Demon Kingdom. With commerce and even simple travel completely blocked, how could we possibly have reached deep into the continent?”
“Umm…”
Although she did not say it aloud, the recent disturbance in the Falcon Empire would have been nearly impossible for the demons to begin without the hero Hector’s help. On the other hand, the demon raids cited as the cause of the racial war had occurred far too frequently in locations that demons could not possibly have reached.
At Elisa’s pointed observation, something clicked inside Octavia’s mind.
“Are you saying… someone deliberately fabricated these incidents?”
“Given the circumstances, that is the only conclusion We can draw. Whether it was for political gain or something else, I cannot say. From our standpoint, it is nothing less than an absurd slander that has painted us as the axis of evil.”
“…Umm…”
Octavia still looked half-doubtful, yet she had begun to see enough reason to accept the possibility.
Watching her waver, Elisa allowed herself a small, inward smile.
She’s starting to come around. Bringing Amelda to help persuade her was definitely the right move.
Most of what Elisa had said was true, but getting the other party to believe it was another matter entirely. In that respect, using Amelda had proven remarkably effective.
The Pope’s daughter, Octavia. Once the Pope’s apology is finished, she will return to the Holy Kingdom. If we can win her heart now, she will surely be useful later… That was what Belzebeuty said.
Feeling that the task her friend had requested—one she herself did not dislike—was proceeding smoothly, Elisa decided it was time to withdraw for the day.
But then…
“Lady Elisa.”
“I sensed it too.”
“Huh?”
Amelda and Elisa suddenly wore cold, sharp expressions. Their abrupt change in atmosphere left Octavia bewildered.
And then…
-BANG!