Chapter 139
Bedroom.
The Demon held Pastel's portrait and inspected various spots on the wall. He would hold it up against one side as if to hang it, then pull it away with a displeased expression and try it somewhere else.
"So I held Alcier's hand tightly and comforted her. 'You don't have to go if it's too hard. Let's drink cocoa here together.'"
Pastel, dressed in pajamas, trailed beside the Demon. The fur pom-pom on the nightcap she had bought while clothes shopping with the Demon during their visit to the Capital dangled back and forth.
"Then Melissa appeared and spoke with such a firm attitude. 'No! You must go! It's, how should I say it, um, a duty of nobles!' Oh my goodness. Gasp! Shock!"
Pastel covered her mouth, putting on a surprised expression.
Whether she did or not, the Demon pushed the table clock aside and held the portrait against the wall.
"Do you know how surprised I was? Thiiis much!"
Pastel spread her arms wide.
"It was like the shock of a lightning bolt falling from the sky and striking a mouse!"
Nod, nod.
"So this is what nobles are. Nobles who live off the blood of their vassals have a duty to fight for their succession rights and prove their worth."
Shiver, shiver.
Pastel hugged her own arms.
"Your Excellency Pastel, who only thought about avenging her retainers, wasn't even a noble. Oh my goodness. Melissa is so scary!"
Objectively speaking, it's an act of pushing a friend into a death trap.
The Bellamont Family had a normal succession process, so it could be peaceful, unlike the Kraft Family where kin-slaying was a duty. However, Melissa's persuasive tone wasn't telling her to go with peace of mind because it would be safe, but rather firmly stating that she had a duty to go even if it was a death trap.
『Being tied down by a noble mindset isn't always a good thing. Home education should be done with a bit of leniency, but it's ambiguous here too.』
The Demon spoke absentmindedly as he pulled the portrait away from the wall.
"Right! Right!"
Pastel's eyes sparkled.
"I wish Melissa knew the joy of corruption like I do!"
『Young Kraft, you are the one who needs to tone it down.』
The Demon put the table clock back in its place. A hollow smile formed on the Demon's lips.
『The increasing scale of your bribes is not a joyful phenomenon.』
The Demon's finger pointed to one side of the room. Boxes of treasures were stacked neatly on top of each other.
It was a gift delivered by the Sky Island Merchant Alliance to commemorate the inauguration of the great Governor-General Pastel, purely as a congratulatory gesture without any ulterior motive. It was so devoid of ulterior motives that they even included a separate letter explicitly stating that this was not a bribe, but a pure commemorative gift.
"Such incredibly kind people…!"
Pastel covered her mouth, moved to tears once again.
Then, placing both hands on her hips, she turned to the Demon with a resolute look.
"Demon, do not misunderstand the merchants! They simply gave a commemorative gift because they believe in the fairness and goodness of Governor-General Pastel! They trust that the Governor-General will handle her duties fairly even after receiving something like this!"
It's exactly as they believe!
Yeah, yeah!
『Oh, please. You sure have a way with words.』
Pastel trotted over to the mountain of bribes that glowed with a hazy golden light.
She popped off her nightcap and placed it on the golden bird sculpture gifted by Count Macenas of the Demon World Corporation. The fur pom-pom drooped limply.
A nightcap-wearing golden bird…!
Gasp.
"Golden bird friend! I knew you would come to our house!"
Because you were much better suited to live in Your Excellency Pastel's flower garden than to be placed in a golden treasure vault filled with books bound in human skin!
『Just how obvious were you that they gave it to you right away? If you keep acting like that, your reputation in High Society will be ruined. Though I suppose it already is. Hmm? It might look good if we move this piece of furniture and hang it here.』
The Demon inspected a glass teacup display cabinet.
"My reputation is already bad. I felt it so intensely in the Capital! Uwaaah!"
Pastel clutched her head.
"How did my reputation in High Society end up like this?! I didn't even do anything wrong!"
From what she heard from Melissa, it was tradition in the Capital's High Society to officially enter through a banquet process called Debutante, but it felt like her infamy had spread before she even got to do anything like that!
The Demon let her words go in one ear and out the other as he checked the teacup display cabinet. He looked at the floor and the back of the cabinet to see if it was a fixed piece of furniture, then turned around.
『It wouldn't matter if I moved this furniture, right? And stop messing up your hair. It's becoming a habit, which is why you keep wasting time fixing your hairstyle.』
"Wasting time isn't my fault!"
Pastel, whose hair had become a bird's nest, started pointing a finger at random places.
"This world! This world is wrong! There's magic! Convenient magic!"
Her hands waved around wildly.
"Magic pew-pew! Hairstyle zap-zap! Shalala Turn Around~! Poof! A form change into Cherry Blossom Pastel in one second! If it's magic, shouldn't it be able to do something like this?!"
『Just because a fairy in a fairy tale waves a wand once and changes someone into a banquet dress doesn't mean reality works that way. In the first place, magic borrows the power of nature, so it's difficult to apply it just for human convenience. More importantly, is it okay to move this furniture?』
"Ugh, that makes no sense."
Pastel put on a shocked expression.
"Then, while learning magic, do you think Melissa was shocked and thought, 'The fairy from the fairy tales was fake?'"
Now that I say it, it probably isn't the case.
If it was Melissa, who listened to her Mom well and loved fairy tales, she probably decided by thinking, 'The fairy was an archmage. I should become an archmage like the fairy too.'
『More importantly, is it okay to move this furniture?』
The Demon tapped the teacup display cabinet.
"I kind of understand how Melissa feels. If I had believed in the fairy, I would have studied just as hard to become an archmage like the fairy."
Right, right.
"Of course, even so, that mindset of firmly stating that walking into a death trap is a duty is still scary. I wonder if Alcier will be okay."
Since the bad older brother who plotted the assassination plot had died, I hope the Bellamont Family's issues will now be resolved peacefully.
Pastel let out a deep sigh.
She picked up the nightcap from the golden bird and popped it back onto her head.
Given my troublesome experiences in the Capital and the fear that my bad reputation would only create unnecessary conflict, I decided not to go with her, but I wonder if it was a good choice.
Melissa had explained that interfering in the succession issue of the Bellamont Family, which was once a royal family, would likely be perceived as foreign interference and would easily provoke backlash from the retainers, though.
"Uwaah, my head is spinning."
Pastel, who just likes her friends, doesn't know anything about stuff like this.
Pastel spun her head around and around. The fur pom-pom on her nightcap spun around and around too.
The Demon crossed his arms and stared at her blankly while leaning against the teacup display cabinet.
"Demon."
『Yes.』
The Demon uncrossed his arms, as if to say 'finally.'
"Just one glass of juice, please. My head is spinning, making me dizzy. For some reason, I also want to eat a slice of cake. I already brushed my teeth, but I have this feeling of wanting to eat it, but also not wanting to."
The Demon rubbed his forehead.
He let out a deep sigh and smacked the display cabinet.
When she sent him a questioning look, he silently smacked the cabinet again, spent some time, and then pushed himself off the cabinet as if giving up.
『Fine, I'll bring you a drink. Unless you're going to brush your teeth again, no cake.』
"Eeeh."
Mean Demon.
The Demon approached the door. As he opened it, a maid who was just about to knock paused.
『What is it?』
It was news that a guest had arrived.
A mysterious guest was visiting in the middle of the night.
Could it be that a demon assassin had come to assassinate Governor-General Pastel, who had received the order for the Demon King Hunt?
Surprisingly, I was right.
Uwaaah!
Save meee!
The demon assassin spoke.
"Sorry for coming at such a late hour."
The person was none other than the demon spy Ellie, whose title had the exact same number of syllables as demon assassin.
Gasp, I guessed right.
But even setting the number of syllables aside, don't they objectively mean the same thing? demon assassin and demon spy were practically the same thing anyway.
"Originally, I was going to finish approving the backlog of documents and tell you the current situation, but I was so confused by Alcier's matter that I had to go check on it, which is why I'm only getting here now."
Ellie had just heard the secret news that the eldest son of the Bellamont Family had been assassinated because of the radical demons, and had rushed off in shock to check its truth or falsehood. It looked like a response had come from the radicals' side.
"It's fine! Serious matters are meant to be discussed at serious hours!"
Pastel, in her pajamas, welcomed her.
"So, how did it go?"
Was the Empire's investigation result the correct answer?
Ellie wiped her face.
"They said they were indeed the ones who did it."
Her voice was both devastated and angry.
"So it wasn't a baseless misunderstanding."
Just as Your Excellency Pastel keeps getting misunderstood despite doing absolutely nothing in one place, some bad person is receiving justified suspicion in another, balancing the scales of truth.
"We were going to hold a high-level meeting anyway on the agenda of whether cooperating with Kraft was justified, but a more urgent agenda has popped up. The Hawks said they would send a representative to explain things as well."
I see.
"Am I joining that meeting too?"
"Based on the original agenda, yes. Since the Fake Demon King can't reveal himself, you had to persuade them personally. But since a bigger issue has blown up, even if you go, you'll only receive secondary attention."
Ellie gulped down some water. The empty glass was placed roughly on the table.
"Regardless of the situation, it's actually good for us. Your agenda will probably pass with weaker pushback than before."
Oh yeah!
Pastel was rejoicing when she suddenly remembered something.
"But if it's a high-level meeting, is it like an executive gathering?"
"Pretty much."
Heh.
"So if I do some informing, it'll be a round-up?"
She felt a trembling gaze.
Oops, I said that out loud.