CHAPTER 58………………………..

Lumiere, who had been watching her closely from the side, caught her naturally, as if he had expected this.

Supported by Lumiere, Jenya headed toward the bed, but then suddenly stopped when she became aware of the state she was in.

“Why?” he asked.

“My clothes… they can’t get wrinkled. And I have to remove my makeup.”

Even as she said that, Jenya’s eyes were yearning for the bed. Seeing that expression, Lumiere chuckled playfully.

“Why not just sleep like that and wake up tomorrow? Then you wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble again.”

Jenya, who had been held hostage by Lerazier for more than half a day and had eventually chosen the very first dress she tried on out of sheer resignation, recoiled at the suggestion.

“You call that something worth saying?”

If she slept in the dress, it would wrinkle. If she slept with makeup on, it would ruin her skin—and it would all smear onto the pillow.

The problem was that, the moment she heard his suggestion, the thought of simply falling asleep did sound tempting.

But she couldn’t act on that impulse, so Jenya staggered toward the bathroom.

From behind her, Lumiere called out,

“Want some help?”

Jenya snorted.

“What, are you going to wash me too?”

“If necessary.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

She opened the bathroom door and stepped inside as if she didn’t want to deal with him anymore—but the door being closed was suddenly grabbed and stopped.

“Why? I’m serious.”

Has this guy gone crazy?

Jenya looked at Lumiere with a stern expression. He bent his head slightly and met her eyes.

“You don’t want that?”

Jenya stared quietly into his blue eyes, which held no trace of laughter, and then frowned deeply. Even if he acted like this, some things were simply not acceptable.

Why was he suddenly acting so out of his mind?

“No. Absolutely not.”

As she spoke, Jenya pushed away the hand holding the door. She shut it firmly, but just before it closed she heard a lonely voice from the other side.

“…We’ll be parting soon anyway.”

Bang.

Jenya stared at the closed door, a strange feeling slowly creeping up her spine. She suddenly flung the door open again.

—or tried to.

But the door wouldn’t budge, as if someone outside was holding it shut. After struggling for a while, Jenya kicked the door and shouted,

“Are you not opening the door?!”

She yelled that she was really going to get angry and demanded to know what that last comment meant. As if by magic—

Creak.

The door opened.

Not missing the opportunity, Jenya swung it wide open.

At that moment, a strong wind blew in, and black feathers fluttered down from the sky.

Jenya stared blankly at the feathers drifting gently downward. Then she looked up at the being looking down at her.

Red eyes.

Emotionless eyes—dull, as if looking at an insect crawling beneath its feet—fixed on Jenya.

Caught by that gaze, she couldn’t avoid the large hand slowly approaching her.

And just as that hand completely covered her face—

“Ah.”

Jenya opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, tinted with the bluish light of dawn. She turned her head to the side.

Sleepy blue eyes met hers.

“Jenya, you’re awake?”

Jenya nodded slightly and looked back at the ceiling.

Where had the dream begun, and where had reality ended?

Parting from Lerazier and forcing herself to wash before falling asleep—that part had been real.

So entering the bathroom had been real. Everything after that had been a dream.

“That must be why I didn’t realize right away that it was a dream.”

Jenya rubbed her dry eyes with her hand. Was she anxious about what would happen today?

She had been stressed in many ways lately, so having a nightmare wasn’t surprising.

“Jenya?”

Hearing the puzzled voice beside her, Jenya lowered her hand.

“I have to go through all that again today.”

When she mentioned the elaborate preparations from the previous day, Lumiere burst out laughing.

“That’s true. But today you’ll only have to do it once.”

Since he knew how horrified she had been the day before, Lumiere didn’t seem to find her slightly subdued mood strange.

Jenya pushed the irritating dream out of her mind.

Today was already full of important matters. She didn’t have the luxury of worrying about something pointless.

“It’ll end safely. Without any problems.”

After reassuring herself, Jenya sat up in bed.

Lerazier circled around Jenya and then pointed to the black robe hanging on a chair.

“There, perfect! Time’s up, so put on the robe and come out.”

As Lerazier chattered about how it was practically a crime to cover such beauty with a robe, Jenya nodded energetically, as if to shut her up.

“Yes. Thank you.”

After admiring her a few more times, Lerazier blew her a kiss and left the room.

“My pleasure.”

Watching the door close, Jenya let out a small laugh—when Lumiere suddenly waved his hand around her face with a fierce expression, as if trying to swat away the blown kiss.

Seeing the absurd sight of him trying to brush away the air-kiss, Jenya chuckled and looked into the mirror instead of stopping him.

A strangely unfamiliar woman stood there.

The dress wasn’t extravagant enough for a grand party, but anyone could tell she was a noblewoman. It fit her body perfectly and flowed elegantly.

Her gray-tinted blonde hair had been magically lengthened to her waist, and her makeup brought a bright liveliness to her face.

Nothing about her resembled Jenya, the unadorned maid of the Demon King’s castle who wore simple monochrome clothes and had short black hair.

With a wry smile, Jenya put on the robe.

Its loose fit hid the dress well. After pulling up the hood and confirming that only the lower part of her face was visible, she called to Lumiere.

“Alright, let’s go, Lumiere.”

Still glaring at the spot where Lerazier had left, Lumiere took Jenya’s hand like an escort.

“You don’t need to be nervous. I’ll stay by your side the whole time.”

As they stepped out of the room, Jenya gave a helpless laugh.

“You knew?”

“Yes.”

She had tried to hide it, but apparently she hadn’t succeeded.

“You’ll do well, Jenya. And even if you make a mistake, I’ll fix it.”

Usually he was the one she had to look after, but at moments like this he was someone she could rely on. Jenya let out a long breath.

“Any mistake?”

“Yes.”

Lumiere pointed to the Demon King waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.

“Even if that one causes trouble, I can stop him.”

“…Thank you.”

It was genuinely comforting and encouraging.

Smiling softly, Jenya grabbed Lumiere’s still-pointing hand and lowered it.

Then she hurried forward to the Demon King and removed her robe before he could get angry.

“What do you think?”

The Demon King, who had been staring at Lumiere, turned his head toward Jenya and answered without hesitation.

“It doesn’t suit you.”

Jenya thought again that the Demon King and Lumiere would probably get along well.

“You’re just not used to it.”

Lerazier had worked so hard preparing her—saying something like that was a bit much.

Jenya wished he would at least notice that Lerazier, standing behind him, looked utterly shocked.

But the Demon King repeated his harsh judgment.

“I said it doesn’t suit you.”

So what was she supposed to do about that?

Jenya swallowed the retort that nearly slipped out and smiled instead.

“Lady Lerazier helped a lot.”

She had even magically lengthened her hair, and yet he couldn’t at least praise the effort.

Rather than argue further, Jenya checked the time. It was about time to head to Count Grenon’s house.

“Are you coming along?”

He could just wait here, she thought—but the Demon King replied irritably,

“How would I know what you might do?”

At that expression that seemed to say the answer was obvious, Jenya curled her lips into a smile.

“If I do well, you won’t interfere, right?”

At her request not to harm any humans, the Demon King smirked and nodded.

The answer, given as if he were doing her a favor, irritated her—but at least she had his word.

And even if something went wrong, Lumiere had said he would stop him.

Jenya pulled up the hood of her robe again and nodded to show she was ready.

“You’ll arrive directly in the bedroom. Don’t worry—I’ll cast a soundproofing spell.”

Lerazier stepped closer and gave the explanation lightly before snapping her fingers.

With that simple gesture, the surrounding scenery changed completely.

Jenya tapped the hand Lumiere had placed on her shoulder and looked ahead.

Despite arriving early, the owner of the room was already preparing for his day.

Sensing their presence, the man turned to look at Jenya and her companions. Their robes and masks made them look like villains advertising themselves.

But the man didn’t scream or call for guards.

“Well, if he’s serious by nature, that’s actually better.”

Jenya stepped forward toward the middle-aged man who watched them warily.

“Good morning. A refreshing morning, isn’t it?”

It might not have been the most appropriate greeting for the situation, but Jenya kept her cheerful tone. In her memory, the count’s daughter had been lively and quirky.

“This doesn’t seem like the kind of situation for exchanging greetings.”

The count didn’t seem inclined to return her bright greeting. Not many people would warmly respond to an intruder who had suddenly appeared in their bedroom.

Unbothered by his reaction, Jenya curled the lips visible beneath her robe into a smooth smile.

“I was trying to be polite.”

“After barging in without warning.”

Well, it probably did seem rather shameless to worry about small courtesies after committing such a major breach.

“My apologies for that. I’m not exactly in a position to reveal my identity openly.”

“I can imagine. Are you wanted or something? In any case, it means you’re not the sort worthy of much courtesy.”

Count Grenon had a talent for irritating people effectively without ever raising his voice.

Jenya could almost hear the Demon King’s silent laugh beside her.

Deciding not to drag things out any longer, Jenya raised her hand.

She removed the hood of the robe that had been hiding her face.