Previously
Ariella meets the Demon King, who appears as a youth in vacation attire and is initially annoyed at being summoned during his time off. She boldly asks him to kidnap her and destroy the pursuing Imperial ship, but he refuses due to his busy schedule.
“All right, I’ll take the contract.”
“Gre—! Oh!”
‘He agreed!’
Ariella nearly let out a cheer of joy, but caught herself just in time and clamped a hand over her mouth.
‘He agreed to the contract! And I pulled it off with words alone—just a few sentences!’
She felt like dancing with delight. And yet…
· · ·
· · ·
An awkward silence fell over the cabin once more. The Demon King and the princess simply stood there exchanging glances, neither making a move.
After a moment, the Demon King spoke up, clearly waiting for direction.
“And? What’s the next step?”
Evidently, he had no idea what was supposed to happen now or how the contract procedure worked.
He just stood there without lifting a finger, as if expecting her to handle the whole thing. Ariella choked on her own breath.
“What?! Aren’t you supposed to know these things? You’re the Demon King! You’ve lived for centuries, haven’t you?!”
A flicker of embarrassment crossed the Demon King’s face.
“I… don’t know. I’ve never made a contract before.”
“What?!”
“I’ve never entered into this kind of contract. I don’t know how it’s done.”
It was enough to drive anyone mad.
“You don’t have any experience at all? I’ve been wondering for a while now—just how old are you?”
A pained expression crossed the man’s face, as if she had struck a raw nerve.
“What does age have to do with being a Demon King? What a prejudice-ridden human you are. Besides, if we’re being technical, shouldn’t the summoner be the one who knows the procedure?”
Ariella felt a migraine coming on.
Just when she thought she had solved one problem, she ran into an obstacle from a completely unexpected direction.
‘What is this? I summoned him because he’s the Demon King, so why doesn’t he know anything?’
They said there were hundreds of demon kings in the demon realm. Just who was this man standing before her?
Only then did she realize they had never exchanged names. She prayed it would be a familiar one.
Belatedly, Ariella asked,
“What is your name?”
“Ludvic.”
Right at that very moment.
Whoosh—!
“Huh?”
The magic circle drawn beneath their feet began to tremble and spin as if it were alive.
While Ariella stood there stunned, Ludvic spoke as though something had just clicked.
“Ah, so all I had to do was say my name?”
The magic circle, previously fixed like a seal upon the floor, rose into the air. It split into several branching lines and began to churn like a whirlpool, resembling a cyclone tearing across a crimson lake.
The swirling currents formed winding curves, then fragmented into distinct, tiny shapes.
To Ariella’s eyes, those tiny particles were…
“Letters?”
A sheet of paper manifested in the empty space between them. The letters drifting through the air began to arrange themselves, densely filling the page.
At that moment, Ariella felt a powerful sensation of something snapping into place. As if a closed floodgate had crumbled, something began pouring into her.
Thoughts and emotions that were not Ariella’s, but belonged to someone else, flowed like water and mingled within her heart.
Were these Ludvic’s thoughts and feelings?
Flash—!
The summoning circle vanished completely, leaving only a single parchment contract floating between them.
Flutter—!
With the magic supporting it gone, the paper fluttered downward. But before it touched the floor, Ludvic reached out and caught it.
He stared intently at the crimson letters lined across the contract, wearing an exceedingly serious expression.
‘Could there… be a problem?’
Ludvic stared at the contract for nearly ten seconds without budging. Just as Ariella was about to ask, unable to bear the silence any longer…
Flip—!
Ludvic turned the contract he was reading upside down.
“…Is this the right side up?”
Then he went right back to staring at it with an even graver look.
This was concerning. It didn’t take ten seconds for someone to realize a piece of paper was upside down—unless they were illiterate.
“Ludvic, what does the paper say?”
· · ·
“Could it be… that you don’t know how to read?”
· · ·
Ludvic answered with silence, which was confirmation enough.
‘No way, what kind of Demon King is this…!’
Ariella pressed a hand to her temple in sheer disbelief.
…In any case, now that the contract had succeeded, they needed to keep moving.
“Well, shall we pick up where we left off? We don’t have much time, so let’s head outside first.”
Ludvic tucked the contract into his coat and asked,
“You asked me to kidnap you, right? Then we can just vanish quietly. Why go back outside?”
“For a lot of reasons. The situation is more complicated than you think.”
If only life were so simple, but demon kings had no grasp of how intricate human affairs could be.
Ariella, now an official contractor, led the way. The Demon King followed with heavy steps, the ukulele jostling and twanging with every stride.
Twang—! Twang—!
Ariella resolved to find a way to get rid of that instrument as soon as possible.
The Demon King grumbled as he trailed behind her.
“So that’s what they call a contract? Just as I thought, it’s an absolute nuisance.”
Two ships set sail from the maritime Kingdom of Oinos, bound for the Empire.
One was a royal galleon. Aboard was Ariella, the bride-to-be, accompanied by her retinue of servants and royal guards, alongside the gifts and dowry sent to the Empire.
The other was an Imperial warship carrying priests, envoys, and soldiers. Its official duty was to escort the royal vessel and protect it from pirates or monsters, but it also served to keep watch so it wouldn’t stray from its course.
On the deck of the warship, a priest’s laughter rang out.
“Hahaha! The Kingdom of Oinos truly has no shame. Selling off their own daughter just to curry favor with the Emperor?”
“It’s all thanks to His Imperial Majesty’s magnificent authority! Even their king had no choice but to offer up his own flesh and blood as a sacrifice.”
“Still, to think the heir to the throne ended up sold off as a hostage. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
“When a foolish man meets a cunning woman, what else would you expect? That black-hearted woman must have orchestrated the whole thing.”
“Even the Queen—what a piece of work! Tossing out a daughter who isn’t her own flesh and blood to install her own son as crown prince.”
The Imperial envoys added with a scoff,
“The princess is the only pitiful one in all this. Born with beauty and talent, only to be used as mere decoration in the Imperial Palace.”
“What can you do? A foolish father happened to sire a daughter superior to him in every way.”
Among these Imperials stood Count Igor, a nobleman of Oinos, nodding along with an obliging smile.
Count Igor was one of the Queen of Oinos’s loyal confidants and the prime mover behind this marriage. Even hearing his homeland insulted, he merely smiled like a fox and replied with smooth, flattering words.
In truth, the count was enjoying the gathering more than anyone else here. One of the Imperial men turned to ask him,
“Hey, Count. Did the princess readily agree to go to the Empire? I heard she isn’t the easiest to deal with.”
Igor waved a hand in feigned exhaustion.
“Don’t get me started. She threw a fit, flew into a rage, and refused until the bitter end. I had to give her a harsh piece of my mind.”
“Hah, and what did you tell her?”
“I said: ‘Princess, why not put that brilliant mind of yours to use? Who would be happy with you staying here? For the sake of the kingdom, it would be best if you quietly vanished.’ …That’s exactly what I told her.”
“Wahahaha!”
“Well said! And really, what could she do anyway? Absolutely nothing!”
“To be honest, I was worried. If a girl who despises the nobility had become queen, it would have been a disaster. She would have completely destroyed the prosperity Oinos enjoys today!”
One of the Imperial men cut in with a teasing, mildly chiding remark,
“You mean it wouldn’t destroy Oinos’s prosperity, but the prosperity of the Queen and you sycophants!”
“Haha! How harsh of you to say, but no matter. What counts is that we’ve gotten rid of the headache, and the wine tastes particularly fine today!”
“By the way, Count Igor, I noticed quite a few valuables aboard the ship besides the princess’s dowry. Planning to turn a tidy profit this time as well?”
“Oh, do you think I only look out for my own pockets? Naturally, I will ensure Your Reverence receives a generous share. But in exchange, please put in a good word for me at the Imperial Court…”
“Hahaha! That makes perfect sense. Come, let’s drink! Cheers!”
The cups kept circling, and the festivities on deck grew livelier by the minute.
Even the priests, who were supposed to lead modest and sober lives, seemed to have forgotten their duties out here on the open sea. Or perhaps they had never cared to begin with.
None of them noticed the two figures concealed in the shadows, silently listening to their conversation.
END