Chapter 148
Pit-a-pat snooping.
Pastel focused on secretly peeking into the conference room.
Ellie hesitated while fiddling with the train miniature, then stealthily spoke to Lord Demon.
"Hello, Great Demon Lord."
Gasp.
Isn't "hello" too awkward as a first word?
Besides, as if realizing it was awkward even after greeting him herself, she fixed her gaze unconfidently on the train miniature.
The demon glanced at Ellie.
"Right."
And then he just fell back into thought.
Ellie glanced towards Lord Demon's voice, then looked perplexed by the uncommunicative response.
Whoa.
What is with this awkward relationship?
Pastel flapped her arms slightly at the frustrating urge to move her body. Suddenly, she wanted to start a friend-friend project, just like when she made Melissa and Alcier friends.
But the age gap was too big to call Lord Demon and Ellie friends.
The Let's Get Along~! project should do!
She took her eye away from the keyhole and looked back at Melissa. Her wondering blue eyes were visible.
"Melissa, Melissa. Lord Demon and Ellie's relationship seems as awkward as your old relationship with Alcier. I think we need an expert's help."
"Is it that bad? What did you see?"
Melissa was slightly curious.
Pastel squirmed to the side as if telling her to look too. She pointed at the keyhole.
"I'll decline. Taking an interest in unsavory scandals is not a good attitude."
A rejection without hesitation.
However, as she stared at the conference room door as if looking through a glass window, it seemed her curiosity hadn't completely vanished.
Pastel stared at Melissa with a blank look.
Meonggameongga.
Suddenly, I want to corrupt this model student.
Originally, if it were the 100% pure Popular Person Pastel, snooping at the doorway, which could start needless rumors, would be something to avoid, but just as a proper excuse arose because she became the Person in Power Pastel, wouldn't it make sense for the model student Melissa to be moderately corrupted too?
Besides,
Currently, Pastel is half Demon King!
If it's Borabora, corrupting a model student is a natural duty!
If Melissa became able to do bad things without hesitation during the Demon Realm schedule, it would be a very proud achievement in Pastel's life!
Pastel put on a serious expression.
"Melissa, I respect your opinion, but this is a very important issue you need to know about."
"Pardon? Is that so?"
Melissa was flustered.
Pastel put on a 100% truthful expression.
"How can you speak of kindness and mention sweetness while turning a blind eye to the discord around you? Wounds come from ignorance, and conflict arises from indifference."
Therefore, snooping on a friend is a justified act!
"That's..."
Melissa looked bewildered.
As her friend (who studied better than her, importantly) denied the moral views she believed in as common sense, she seemed to suddenly become unsure.
Pastel's heart pounded.
Gasp.
A genius skill that made a model student waver with a single word.
Could it be that being a demon is my calling?
I might need to swap titles with Lord Demon?!
Melissa hesitated.
"But my mother told me not to do that. She said someone who must move the army shouldn't be swayed by private scandals."
Ugh.
Count Camelot's home education is too thorough.
The little demon Pastel faced the first hurdle of her demon life.
But for Borabora, a hurdle of this level was no problem!
"Isn't that because you misunderstood the teaching, Melissa? It was like that right in the first semester. You believed your mother's words and pushed me away, but when you actually went back home during vacation, she said that no matter what, you were too mean to a classmate."
"That's."
The ethical scale, which was weaker for a close friend than for a distant mom, tilted with a creak.
Gasp, I'm a super ultra genius.
No, more than that, isn't Melissa too weak?
If she had made a bad friend, she would have been in big trouble a long time ago! It's a relief she became friends with the kind Pastel!
Melissa hesitated again.
"Still..."
Pastel hurriedly pointed a finger. She put on a smart expression with 100% reliability.
Smart remark start
"The etiquette of military affairs and the etiquette of the masses are different. How is dividing politics and morality without distinguishing between the military and civilians any different from the tyrants of history books, and how is it different from the wise kings of unofficial histories?"
Gasp.
I feel like I'm making a really smart remark right now!
But the problem is, even I don't know what I'm saying...!
Melissa fell into deep thought.
"That is true. Extensive knowledge doesn't guarantee the right path, and one cannot believe that ignorance will discern retribution. I think you might be right."
Huh.
If you suddenly react as if you understood everything I said, Pastel becomes a complete dummy.
Melissa hesitated, then adjusted her mage robe and stealthily sat in front of the keyhole.
"I don't know about the servant, but Ellie is my friend, so as you said, I suppose I have somewhat of a duty to know vaguely."
The modifiers were long, but it meant she had the urge to peek.
"Yeah, yeah! Right, right! You just have to know what situation your friend is in!"
Woah-Woah.
She was rationalizing hard with her words, but Melissa's actual expression was one of curiosity about what was happening inside.
The blonde girl tensed up at the misdeed, her hands trembling slightly as she carefully peered inside.
To immediately rationalize a bad desire just because she was poked once.
She felt a tingling thrill from the electrifying sense of immorality.
Woohoo.
Pastel was grinning as she wrapped her arms around her own body. Her body twisted and squirmed.
Meonggameongga.
An incredible sense of accomplishment!
Proooud.
Does Lord Demon tell me to make my bed every day feeling like this? Is it because the moment the other person is corrected with a whisper, it feels electrifying?
Gasp.
The whisper of a demon.
I can absolutely never fall for it!
I must continue not making my bed in the future!
Perhaps her hesitation had decreased somewhat after crossing the line once, as Melissa slightly shifted her posture and scanned the entire interior.
However, unlike her rejecting attitude, her viewing actions and kneeling posture were incredibly skilled, making it seem like she had learned espionage methods for infiltration or inquiry as the successor of the Southern Commander.
Actually knowing how to do everything with an innocent face.
Eek, sca-a-ry.
Melissa grew increasingly bewildered.
"Nothing much is happening...?"
Huh.
Her pink eyes went round.
"Oh my? Is that so-o?"
I guess Melissa didn't really need to cross the line.
Oh my goodness! I did it for nothing!
But since there's no such thing as a quality guarantee in reality, I guess it's not my fault!
Melissa stared back at her.
A gaze that seemed to say the delivered product was too different from the description.
Pastel put on an 'oh my' expression.
"It's because their conversation with each other was too awkward, to the point of needing outside help. Then the conversation must have cut off in the meantime."
Just stating the facts.
"Ah, is that so. We did talk too much among ourselves, though."
"Yeah, yeah."
Pastel agreed, then her eyes sparkled at the sign of presence from inside the Conference Room.
"Oh my! Wait, wait. Ellie is probably trying to talk to Lord Demon again. Hurry and look~!"
As she urged with both hands, Melissa peered into the keyhole.
Perhaps there was something worth peeking at this time, as Melissa got slightly excited.
"It's true. Ellie is studying the servant's reactions. Just as you said, Pastel, she looks like she's struggling quite a bit."
"I see! Keep giving me the running commentary!"
"Yes."
Pastel listened closely to the inside.
As they waited, Ellie falteringly began to speak.
"The weather is nice today, isn't it?"
Ugh, I'm bringing up the weather topic somehow.
Those two are really awkward.
"Ah. The servant raised his head. He was looking back at the window. The weather was nice that day, indeed."
Melissa enthusiastically gave a live commentary with slightly flushed cheeks. Disobeying her mom seemed thrilling in real-time.
Pastel waited for Lord Demon's next words.
Lord Demon answered.
"It is."
The conversation immediately cut off.
"And he's reading his book again."
With the conversation cut off, Ellie quietly touched the train miniature again. The sound of turning pages rang out.
The Popular Person Pastel felt her breath catch in frustration.
No, no-o.
If you converse like that...!
Pastel trembled, and her arms trembled.
Melissa adjusted her kneeling posture and alternately observed Lord Demon and Ellie.
"It is too awkward, just as you said. Still, considering their dark history, I don't know if that relationship needs hel—"
"Lord Demo-o-n!"
Pastel flung the door open.
A table densely covered with a map of the Demon Realm and the railroad miniatures placed on top filled the Conference Room.
Lord Demon, sitting in a chair, and Ellie, who was standing, looked over. Their gazes landed on the pink girl who barged in with an excited demeanor, then turned to Melissa, who stood out in a different sense.
Melissa, who was in a posture that anyone could tell was for peering into a keyhole, froze blankly just like that.
At the focused gazes, the girl's lips trembled.
"This is, this is, well."
Her face flushed bright red.
Melissa's eyelashes trembled with a slightly tearful expression. Her gaze spun around before she looked at Pastel, as if searching for an ally to help her.
The reliable Pastel shouted with all her might.
"Lord Demo-o-n! What are you doing conversing like that! If the other person speaks to you, you have to answer with a question for the conversation to continue!"
If others saw, they'd think you'd been locked in a prison without talking to anyone for about 10 years!
She pointed sharply at Melissa.
"It was so frustrating that even Melissa, who was peeking through the keyhole, said it was too awkward a conversation!"
Melissa blanked out.
"Pardon? Pardon?"
Pastel put on a serious expression.
"Yeah, yeah! Just like your live commentary! This relationship needs the Popular Person Pastel's emergency first aid!"
Right, right!
Lord Demon snapped his book shut.
"I wondered why you were not opening the door."
He got up from his chair and calmly walked over.
"Young Kraft."
The poetry book was smoothly raised.
"Please stop doing misdeeds."
Her pink crown was lightly struck.
"Ouch!"
Pastel clutched the crown of her head with a tearful face.
Waaah!
It's unfair!
A misdeed, you say!
I didn't do anything like that!
Melissa is the one who did a misdeed...!
It's true...!