CHAPTER 54……………………………………………..
“Did I make it too obvious? Or do you just know me that well?”
‘Well, we have been together for a long time.’
Zenya let out a hollow laugh and asked,
“Why do you think that?”
The Demon King looked her up and down.
“Because you look exactly like that.”
Zenya pouted.
“I’m asking what exactly I look like.”
The Demon King stared at her protruding lips and said,
“You talk too much. Your actions are messy too.”
He sounded like he was simply stating facts without any sarcasm, so Zenya decided not to deny it. Since everything had already been exposed anyway, it didn’t seem so bad to spend some time here.
Especially since she had nothing else to do.
Zenya plopped down onto the sofa opposite the Demon King. He looked at her as if he couldn’t believe it, but Zenya remained confident.
“Since you’ve already noticed, I’ll sit here for a bit before leaving.”
The Demon King stared at Zenya with an indescribably strange expression.
“Are you crazy?”
“No. You said you’ve grown fond of me, so I figured you’d let something like this slide.”
Zenya replied casually, and the Demon King scoffed.
“What if that fondness disappears?”
For someone old enough to call her a newborn, he was ridiculously childish.
“You’re not the kind of person who changes your feelings that easily, are you?”
Zenya knew at least that much—that the Demon King wasn’t someone who would say something like that lightly.
“Your Majesty knows me well, but I know Your Majesty just as well.”
The Demon King looked at Zenya as if he had a lot to say. Worried he might throw her out, Zenya quickly spoke again.
“It looked like Marquis Leraje wasn’t here. Did you send him on a task?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him to gather information like yesterday?”
“And to deal with that guy from the day before.”
“That guy… a companion?”
She had barely managed to push Lumiere out of her mind, yet now something related to him had come up again. Zenya let out a long sigh.
“Why?”
Zenya answered reluctantly.
“He got taken by the temple earlier.”
“And you just watched?”
The Demon King probably had the same question Zenya did. Why had Lumiere simply let the temple officials take the man?
Yet Zenya still asked as if accusing him.
“What else was I supposed to do?”
“Hm.”
The Demon King made a strange sound and stared at Zenya for a moment before turning his head away without saying anything.
Unable to stand the dull reaction, Zenya asked,
“That’s it?”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
Shouldn’t he at least warn her—ask if she planned to meet her companion here, question her intentions, threaten her to stay quiet, something like that?
“How long are you going to overlook things?”
“As long as you don’t attack first, I can let it slide.”
Since when had he been this generous?
Neither the Demon King nor Lumiere made any sense.
“What if I do attack?”
“I’ll think about that when the time comes.”
“What?”
Despite Zenya’s incredulous reaction, the Demon King remained indifferent.
“If you don’t want to be thrown out, keep your mouth shut and stay quiet.”
Her lips, which had been moving, closed tightly. She had many questions, but Zenya didn’t trust herself to be alone with Lumiere yet, so she relaxed and leaned back against the sofa.
* * *
Since they were staying at the same inn, the time Zenya could avoid Lumiere was limited.
‘But I didn’t expect to meet him like this.’
When Lumiere entered the Demon King’s room with Leraje, Zenya hurried over to him. She was surprised, but more than that she was worried that something might have happened.
Leraje greeted Zenya with a nod before approaching the Demon King. Watching him walk away, Zenya whispered quietly,
“Did Lord Leraje call you?”
“Yes.”
She deliberately asked as if nothing had happened. Lumiere treated her normally as well.
Which meant he had come holding her hand.
Zenya didn’t shake his hand off and sat on the sofa with him. When she glanced at him, their eyes met—he had been looking at her too.
After hesitating for a moment, Zenya moved her lips.
‘Let’s talk later in the room.’
No matter how she thought about it, what had happened earlier couldn’t just be ignored. Being beside the Demon King had calmed her somewhat, but they still needed to talk about it.
Lumiere seemed to read her lips and slowly nodded.
Having made that promise, Zenya felt a bit relieved. But that comfort shattered instantly with a single sentence from Leraje.
“The rumor that the Hero has died is spreading all over the capital.”
Zenya startled and looked at Leraje. The Demon King, on the other hand, looked at him with great interest.
“Oh?”
The Demon King chuckled and asked,
“Do we know who started the rumor?”
“It appears to be coming from the imperial family.”
What?
Her body stiffened, but Lumiere gently patted the back of Zenya’s hand as if to reassure her.
Unable to look at him, Zenya grabbed his hand tightly.
Meanwhile, the Demon King and Leraje continued their conversation.
“What about the temple?”
“They seem to think it was inevitable. The rumor was apparently already spreading within the temple.”
“Can we confirm whether he’s really dead?”
He asked that so casually even though he clearly knew the answer. Zenya barely managed to suppress the urge to curse.
“At the very least, it’s certain that he hasn’t appeared for over a month.”
“Hm.”
The Demon King glanced meaningfully at Zenya before looking away again.
“Fine. Let’s set that aside for now.”
That’s it?
Rumors were spreading that the Hero—Lumiere—was dead.
Zenya finally couldn’t hold back and looked up at Lumiere. When their eyes met, he moved only his lips like she had earlier.
‘Let’s talk in the room.’
Right. They had promised to talk. For now, they needed to focus on the news Leraje had brought.
Leraje snapped his fingers and handed a document to the Demon King.
Flipping through the pages casually, the Demon King asked,
“What else?”
“The schedule will likely change since the rumor has spread. I’ll inform you once it’s finalized. The portrait is here.”
What is that?
As Zenya curiously examined the painting handed to the Demon King, he waved his hand.
“Good work. You may leave.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
What was that? Was he not going to tell her?
Zenya frowned at him, but the Demon King, his eyes fixed on the portrait, said,
“You stay. The one next to you can stay or leave.”
At those words, Lumiere remained where he was.
Zenya grew anxious about what he intended to say with Lumiere present as well. Then the Demon King smiled mischievously.
“There will soon be a large event at the temple.”
“…But the Hero is dead.”
“All the more reason to hold it. And all the royal family members will attend.”
Was this the event the Demon King had been waiting for all along?
“And that’s when we’ll infiltrate the imperial palace.”
The Demon King handed Zenya the documents and the portrait.
“Read the documents later when you return to your room…”
Lumiere, standing beside her, took the portrait instead. As Zenya examined it and suddenly stiffened, the Demon King burst into laughter.
‘So that’s why he said Lumiere could stay.’
His personality was truly awful.
* * *
Back in their room, Zenya started the conversation lightly while Lumiere removed his mask.
“Isn’t it uncomfortable? The mask.”
Lumiere brushed his brilliant blond hair back with his hand and replied,
“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
“I forgot to tell you, but they figured out that Eligós wasn’t the one who gave it to you.”
Pointing at his hair, Zenya sighed.
“They said the hair color was different.”
“What did they say?”
“Nothing else.”
After that, an awkward silence fell again. The incident from the morning, along with what had happened in the Demon King’s room earlier, had ruined the atmosphere.
After choosing her words for a while, Zenya finally spoke.
“We agreed we’d talk, right?”
“Yes.”
“Should we start with that first?”
“Alright.”
This time, they couldn’t avoid it—they had to talk properly.
“Let’s go through the events in order. Starting with how we met.”
When she looked at him for confirmation, Lumiere immediately began explaining.
“Did I mention there was an accident?”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly what it was. The mage we saw yesterday had a mana rampage.”
“A mana rampage?”
“Do you know what that is?”
She couldn’t use magic herself, but she had seen and heard enough to know.
“It’s the same as what demons call a magic power rampage, right? When a mage loses control.”
A rare phenomenon that occurred when a mage felt their life was in danger—losing control and detonating the mana inside their body, or using surrounding mana to destroy everything nearby, friend or foe alike.
“Yes, that’s right. The mage who was captured today caused a mana rampage.”
Zenya recalled how perfectly normal the man had looked and asked again,
“Then why does he look completely fine?”
Most of the time, if luck ran out, the mana circuits in the body would twist and collapse, and the mage would die as soon as the rampage ended.
“No, more importantly, were you fighting demons then too?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
If there wasn’t a fight, what could possibly cause a mage to go into a rampage?
As Zenya frowned, Lumiere said casually,
“He ate something wrong.”
What could someone possibly eat to trigger a mana rampage?
At the absurdly casual answer, Zenya’s eyebrows shot up.
“Did he pick and eat poisonous herbs again like last time?”
If that were the case, she was fully prepared to smack that useless mouth that kept eating garbage. Her eyes blazed as Lumiere quickly waved his hands.
“No, not that.”
“Then what?”
She felt like she might die of frustration. Why couldn’t he just answer properly before she asked?
Zenya narrowed her eyes and glared sharply at Lumiere.
