CHAPTER 14
I got caught up in that boy’s outburst and got hurt, sure—but everything ended well, didn’t it?
But the Demon King’s face cooled instantly.
Without a word, he handed me back to Lethe.
Then, he threw a barbed comment toward Ares.
“Lordling. Remember this well.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“You will not be considered as a candidate.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll let your brother know as well. Just be aware of it.”
I tilted my head from Lethe’s arms.
Ares, too, looked confused.
‘What’s that supposed to mean? Candidate for what?’
The twin sisters seemed to understand.
Minte covered her mouth and stifled a laugh.
“Oh, Lord Erebus, you really do joke around.”
“I suppose Minte hears that as a joke. Haa…”
Lethe sighed and turned to Ares.
“My lord… you heard him, didn’t you? Please be more mindful of your behavior from now on.”
“Ah. Um, yes ma’am. So now can I be with Sion—”
Minte took a step toward him, still smiling—but with a chilling aura.
“My lord. Before you spend time with the princess, you have something to do, don’t you?”
“Uh…?”
“You need to begin your training with me.”
“Uh…uhh?”
But he just got here!
Still, Minte dragged Ares straight toward the training grounds.
Lethe carried me and followed behind, muttering under her breath,
“Hopefully Minte doesn’t take this chance to launch him into the sky…”
“…”
Poor kid. His suffering had only just begun.
Though the princess’s palace was said to be “small,” it still had a proper training yard.
There, Minte stood facing Ares and drew a handle from her belt—without a blade.
When she lifted the hilt, the horns on either side of her head began to glow faintly.
From the handle, a silver magic blade started to form.
‘Whoa. So that’s how magic knights channel their power…’
It was my first time seeing it up close. Fascinating.
But it was hard to admire when Minte’s eyes glowed so ominously.
Ares stood his ground, hands clasped behind his back, holding firm under her pressure.
“L… Lethe.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Isn’t Minte being too scary to Ares?”
“Oh, don’t worry. She’s just trying to frighten him a little.”
Still, isn’t that a bit too much for a child?
I looked over at Lethe with concern, but she only smiled sweetly.
“She may look like that, but Minte’s got a knack for training knights.”
“Oh, that’s a relie—”
“Probably.”
“…”
Lethe just kept smiling.
Meanwhile, Minte spoke to Ares.
“Until you officially become a knight, you’ll treat me with proper respect as your instructor…”
She swung her magical blade, and it cracked through the air like a whip.
It hit a thick tree some distance away—and shattered it with ease.
“Training won’t end until you learn not only strength, but how to control yourself.”
The tree toppled over with a thud.
Minte looked calm, almost gentle, as she whispered to Ares, who had clamped his mouth shut.
“Let’s start with that small tree over there.”
That “small” tree was only small compared to the first—it was still twice Ares’s height.
‘Can he even do that?’
For the first time, Ares looked a little intimidated.
He turned his head to glance at me.
‘Ah. That look again.’
Those quietly blazing eyes.
Neither admiration, nor disappointment, nor resentment—what was that gaze?
He turned back, grabbed the training sword, and shouted with determination:
“…Yes, ma’am!”
But that day, the only thing he smashed…
…was his sword.
Several days had passed since Ares arrived and began his “hard labor.”
I’d come to a conclusion about this young demon boy:
‘Wow. What a stubborn little gremlin. What did Drakon feed this kid growing up?’
Given his noble status, he could’ve easily slacked off a bit.
But Ares charged into every one of Minte’s training drills with wild determination.
And yet, that “small” tree still stood tall.
‘He puts the same intensity into playing as he does into training…’
After finishing training with Minte and etiquette lessons with Lethe, Ares would come running to me.
Then he’d pester me like I owed him something.
He always wanted something new.
“Play cards with me.”
“Let’s bet on chess.”
“Come ooon, just one game with stakes! Ack!”
Minte had taken to smacking his back without reservation.
‘But seriously, what’s with his obsession with beating me?’
Take right now, for example—we were playing cards.
Ares had challenged me confidently, but his face was now contorted in frustration.
He was getting utterly destroyed.
“Ughh…”
“Want to surrender?”
“N-No! I can still win!”
He glanced at me, looking both frustrated and desperate.
“…Damn it, how are you so good at this? You’re just a baby!”
Maybe because, on the inside, I’m way older than you?
I bit my lip as I glanced sideways at him.
‘He’s grinding his teeth so hard he’s gonna burst into flames.’
His intense focus was honestly kind of cute, and I found myself smiling inwardly.
‘I should just let him win. Poor kid’s been suffering every day since he got here.’
I flipped through my cards and purposely played a weak one.
Then I pouted dramatically.
“Uunngh, I loooost…”
“I win!”
Lethe and Minte stared at Ares in dead silence.
Meanwhile, Ares turned to me with a smug grin.
“Sion! I won, so I get my prize!”
“Yeah yeah, what do you want?”
“Ahem, as for my reward… um…”
“Hmm?”
What could he possibly want, the way he’s clearing his throat like that?
Could it be…?
‘Don’t tell me he’s gonna say he misses his dragon and wants to raise one here?’
I tensed with horror at the thought.
But after an awkward pause, Ares finally mumbled something embarrassingly small.
“Let’s… go play outside.”
I blinked at him, dumbfounded.
He made such a big fuss, and that’s all he wanted?
“I mean, let’s go out! Together! I’ll show you how to have fun outside!”
He shouted in a haughty tone, but his face turned redder.
Just then, Lethe walked over with a warm smile.
“Fufu, even if he’s being punished under Minte’s watch—”
“What? Lethe, I’ve been so kind to him!”
“Sis, hush. Ahem, he’s still young, so of course he needs breaks outdoors too.”
Lethe bowed toward me, asking permission.
“Your Highness, why don’t we all go out tonight and watch the moon? In the garden?”
“Oh…”
Moon-gazing, huh?
That brought back memories—sweet ones from my days as the Great Saint.
When the day ended and I’d gaze up at the sky from the highest room in the temple…
When I’d sit in silence, watching the twilight stretch on until the moon finally rose…
Lethe must’ve seen something in my expression, because she eagerly added more.
“We’ll bring tons of delicious desserts too. How about it?”
“…Mmm, okay then.”
Why was Ares grinning like that over something so simple?
He laced his hands behind his head and started whistling.
As Lethe carried me back to my bedroom, I asked quietly,
“Lethe?”
“Yes, Princess?”
“Do you know… why Ares asked for that prize?”
“Fufu. Probably because he was too embarrassed to say it out loud.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“He probably wanted to go to the garden with you… but was scared he’d lose control again.”
“Oh? Ohhh…”
Come to think of it, that garden was where Ares had caused that big accident.
‘But didn’t he apologize and make up? Didn’t we agree to be friends?’
Was the little dragon still hung up on that?
I remembered his blushing face when he struggled to ask for his prize, and my lips twitched into a smile.
‘He just wanted to go outside together… but couldn’t say it, so he challenged me to a game.’
‘Cute little guy.’
Suddenly, my heart felt warm.
Like it was melting—just like when Lethe gave me that thing called “cocoa.”
‘Ah. This really isn’t good.’
The thought of “returning to the Holy Nation” was slowly becoming nothing but a duty.
But duty isn’t the same as desire.
Duty is the pressure others place on you to act.
Then what is it that I truly want now…?
