Previously
Princess Ariella Capel Oinos, stripped of her succession rights by a new Queen, is forced into a political marriage with the Holy Empire's Emperor. To escape this fate and protect her people from the Emperor's potential retaliation, she uses forbidden magic to summon the Demon King while at sea.
She had pictured an ancient Demon King, but reality was entirely different. Judging by looks alone, he appeared barely seventeen or eighteen.
Pitch-black hair and scarlet eyes. A color palette that mirrored Ariella's own hair and eyes exactly.
Prominent pointed ears and straight horns rising from the top of his head proved he was not human.
In truth, there had been no need to look at the horns to know it. His face alone was enough.
Splendid, impossibly smooth contours descended across his features, lines unseen on any ordinary human face. His eyes, slanting sharply upward at the corners, lent him a blend of ferocity and unreal beauty.
However…
‘What is that outfit?’
Wasn’t a Demon King supposed to wear all black, or at the very least a cape?
‘Was he out plowing a field or something?’
He wore a shirt crafted from breathable magic fabric, cotton pants rolled up to his knees, and a straw hat. And on his back… a ukulele?
‘Is this a joke?’
Ariella eyed him with suspicion and doubt.
She had cast a spell that cost everything she had. She could not cast it a second time.
What if this had been a failure? What if she hadn't summoned the Demon King, but some bizarre creature instead?
‘I literally bet my life on this!’
A spark of blazing emotion burned in Ariella’s eyes as she glared at him. And then…
· · ·
The young man’s red eyes flickered downward.
As if her gaze were making him uncomfortable.
‘Did he… just avoid my eyes?’
An awkward silence fell over the cabin.
Normally, if a summoning succeeded, the Demon King was supposed to speak first.
Even with a clichéd line like, “Are you the one who summoned me?”
Ariella, however, possessed little patience, so she broke the silence first. Her voice dripped with doubt and incredulity.
“Excuse me, but you really are the Demon King, right?”
Nod—
The man nodded silently. Irritation slowly began to prickle beneath Ariella’s skin.
“Then what’s with those clothes?”
The man replied dryly.
“…I was on vacation.”
The Demon King took vacations?!
Ariella couldn't wrap her head around it. No magic grimoire had ever mentioned such a thing.
Regardless, as long as he had confirmed it himself, the summoning was a success.
A faint unease crept in, but she decided to move straight to the next step.
Ariella raised her voice, shouting with firm resolve.
“Demon King! My name is Ariella Capel Oinos. As your summoner, I demand the following!”
The man’s eyes appraised her.
With utter confidence, the summoner declared her demand.
“Please kidnap me!”
· · ·
The man looked at her with an expression that said he had no idea what she had just said.
Ariella then pointed a finger toward the cabin's porthole.
An Imperial warship was pursuing them at a fixed distance.
“And while you're here, could you burn that ship down, too?”
“Burn it?”
Inside Ariella’s cabin, the princess wore a modest dress that revealed not an inch below the neck, perfectly suited to the Empire’s tastes.
The man facing her, by contrast, wore summer attire: a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, resembling beach resort wear.
Both sized each other up with guarded eyes.
The man repeated her words as though he had heard something absurd.
“Burn? You're asking me to burn it?”
Ariella hesitated for a moment.
Was it possible he couldn't burn a mere ship? When he was supposed to be the Demon King?
His clothes and demeanor had already fueled her suspicion. Now, her doubts deepened.
Then, the man asked abruptly,
“How did you know? That I control fire?”
Fwip—
A small flame sparked on his fingertip. Without an incantation, conjured by a mere flick of his hand.
Something no human could do. He truly was a demon.
“…I didn't.”
She had had no particular reason. The words had slipped out automatically before she could think.
While Ariella was lost in thought, the Demon King spoke.
“Ah, is it because of this magic circle? We haven't formally made a contract yet, but our thoughts seem to have linked already.”
He said this while studying the magic circle with a pensive expression.
“This is no ordinary magic circle… It seems to hold an intensely complex, entangled conditional energy.”
It seems?
His tone was not entirely certain, and discomfort pricked at Ariella once more.
Wasn’t the Demon King supposed to read a human-made magic circle in a single glance?
From where she stood, he looked as though he were inspecting an exceedingly rare artifact.
“An immense coercive force.”
He muttered, knitting his brows.
His otherworldly beauty only grew more striking when he frowned, as though his features truly belonged outside this realm. But Ariella, caught in a desperate bind, had no time to admire it. Unable to take it any longer, she cried out,
“So, about my request…!”
“I refuse.”
Thump—!
She felt as if her heart had plummeted into her stomach.
Just like that? Without even listening to the details?
He had admitted feeling the binding power of the circle, yet he could brush it off so simply? Because he was the Demon King, could he resist it with ease?
The man folded his arms.
“I'm very busy. I barely have time to oversee my own realm's affairs, so how could I spare time to bother with humans?”
In short, he had too much work and no time for other people’s problems.
Instead of nodding and saying, ‘Ah, I understand,’ Ariella merely stared in silence at the Demon King's figure and his bizarre attire.
“Didn’t you say you were on vacation?”
· · ·
His clothes were ideal for an outing under the southern sun—as if he had just strolled back from lounging on the beach.
When Ariella pointed this out, the Demon King scowled in sudden fury.
“Yes, I was on vacation! The first vacation I’ve had in an entire year!”
He gestured violently toward Ariella, causing the ukulele strapped to his back to bounce and let out a faint twang!
“And you ruined that precious vacation! You, human!”
“What do you mean by that? How did I ruin it? …Didn’t you come here of your own free will?”
“Free will?! I came against my will—I was dragged here by force!”
Ariella froze in shock.
He hadn’t come voluntarily? He had been torn away from his leisure by force?
Now she understood why he was so furious. Even so, she couldn’t let him walk away like this. She had to convince him by any means necessary.
As she was consumed with worry, he declared,
“If we're done, I'm going back.”
“Wait a minute! We're not done yet!”
‘Where do you think you're going!’
If the Demon King left now, Ariella's fate would be catastrophic.
Her heart felt like it was burning up with tension. But the Demon King paid her no mind, waving his hand in the air to draw a magic circle.
Was it a return spell?
Once again, the ukulele gave a soft twang! as the king grumbled under his breath,
“She isn't even an official contractor, yet she prattles on and barks orders…”
An official contractor?
Ariella’s eyes flashed. Seizing upon the very word she had been waiting for, she latched onto it immediately.
“Then let’s discuss that right now!”
“Discuss what?”
“A contract. I want to form an official contract with you.”
“And why would I do that? What’s in it for me?”
“A great deal. A massive benefit, in fact.”
“…What are you scheming?”
The Demon King’s brow twitched slightly. It seemed he was finally growing interested.
She could not let this chance slip away. Ariella looked at him intently, speaking with fervent conviction.
“The Demon King shares magical power with his contractor. At first glance, that looks like a loss on your end. Without a contract, you wouldn't have to share your power with a human, would you?”
The man did not answer. His face revealed nothing, making his thoughts impossible to read. Yet Ariella did not back down.
“So why, then, have numerous Demon Kings throughout history formed contracts with humans? Even while relinquishing part of their power?”
· · ·
His silence was an unspoken urge for her to continue.
‘He's hooked!’
Suppressing her inner thrill, Ariella maintained her composure and pressed on with confidence.
“Because it makes them stronger.”
Through a contract, a human could push the absolute limits of their potential. Along that journey, their magic would swell and their soul would ascend to higher planes.
And the Demon King, in turn, would be influenced by it.
“A Demon King who resonates with the growth of his human contractor grows stronger as well. It’s not one plus one equals two—it becomes ten, or even a hundred!”
“…I'm aware of that much.”
The Demon King spoke with a hint of mockery, his expression enigmatic.
“But that only applies if the human possesses immense latent potential. Do you have proof? Something proving you're worth ten, a hundred, or even a thousand?”
“The proof is right before your eyes. Look.”
Ariella pointed beneath their feet. The Demon King looked down at the intricate markings upon which they stood.
“This was my first time performing a Demon King summoning. Even so, look at the result—an absolute success, wasn’t it? You said it yourself: this circle wields such immense coercive force that it dragged you right out of your vacation.”
Ariella forged ahead without giving him a chance to cut in.
“I achieved this while in the human world. What will happen once I’m in the demon realm, where mana is vastly denser? I’ll grow faster, and you will reap the benefits as well. Consider it an investment in the future—and I guarantee you’ll see returns.”
“…Indeed, this is a powerful circle. I haven't seen one like it even in the demon realm.”
The Demon King asked casually, tossing the question out with apparent indifference,
“Who taught you this?”
“I taught myself. Exclusively from grimoires.”
“From books? You drew this yourself? All alone?”
The Demon King's eyes widened in astonishment.
In truth, what she had accomplished was near impossible. Drawing a magic circle was not merely about tracing lines—it demanded precise mana alignment and continuous fine-tuning, akin to a consummate, delicate art form.
‘Yet she pulled that off on her own through self-study?’
He could not help being impressed.
Bringing up the magic circle had been a masterstroke. The Demon King, who had initially refused without hesitation, now wore a hesitant expression, as if genuinely considering it.
She had nearly convinced him. Victory was within reach.
After a few moments, the Demon King parted his lips once more, his eyes scanning Ariella from head to toe with lingering skepticism.
“You dress quite elegantly. What was your profession as a human?”
“I am the princess of the Kingdom of Oinos.”
“A princess? Have you ever managed state affairs?”
Not all princesses received an education in statecraft. But Ariella had trained since childhood as the crown princess, participating in the review of laws and national budgets.
“Yes.”
Following her answer, a heavy silence fell. Ariella’s throat dried from tension, her blood seemed to freeze in her veins, and her heart felt ready to burst, yet she concealed it all masterfully.
She curved the corner of her lips in feigned confidence, maintaining an air of composure.
Then, after a breath…
The Demon King finally spoke, shattering the heavy silence.
END