3 — Chapter 3

For the time being, I used spatial teleportation magic to return to the Demon King’s Castle.

When I entered the administrative chambers, my secretary, Torualina, was busy with paperwork.

Torualina is a female demon with black hair and glasses. Apparently, she was the class president back in her school days. Because of that, even now, her subordinates occasionally call her “Madam President.” Usually, that just makes her angry, though.

“My Lord, your excursion took far too long. In such cases, you must contact me in advance,” Torualina said, pushing up her glasses with a sharp flick of her finger.

It was a bit of a backhanded jab, but I was used to it. If it were truly painful to deal with, I would have dismissed her already.

“My apologies. An urgent matter came up. I’ll be making some changes to the personnel. Let’s see… first, I want to transfer the Royal Knights assigned to my personal security while I sleep to a different department.”

“Huh…? But why?”

Well, of course she’d ask for a reason.

“I’ve remarried, so I’ll be living somewhere else.”

“What?!”

She blurted out “What?!” with enough force to cut me off.

“Um, I can understand the remarriage part. In fact, since you have no children and weren’t married, everyone has been telling you to find a wife to avoid a potential succession struggle in the future. But—”

Torualina’s gaze turned terrifying.

“Why wouldn’t you live in the Demon King’s Castle? Considering your status as the Demon King, moving into your new spouse’s home isn’t exactly… appropriate.”

I know. I know that much already.

“Be that as it may… it would be bad to have a human living in the Demon King’s Castle, wouldn’t it?”

“What?! What?!”

The number of “Whats” increased this time.

“Besides, if the atmosphere suggests that the Hero has betrayed humanity, they might just dispatch another Hero to the castle…”

“Ehhhhhh! What are you talking about?! Please explain in detail! Or are you just drunk?”

“I haven’t had a drop of alcohol. I’m stone-cold sober…”

Upon hearing that, Torualina stared at me like I was literal garbage. No matter how you look at it, that’s incredibly disrespectful.

“I suspect—and I hope I’m wrong—but did you fall for that girl Hero who came today? She’s a mere slip of a girl who’s only lived for fifteen or sixteen years. My Lord, that would be a public scandal. It would be fine if you looked like a human in their twenties, but you are middle-aged.”

In short, she was saying it bordered on criminal. I understand her feelings. However, I think it’s only natural for a man to find a girl of fifteen or sixteen cute, so I’d appreciate it if she’d forgive that much of my emotions.

“You’re wrong. The one I am marrying… is not the girl Hero.”

“Oh, thank goodness. My apologies, I retract that look I gave you earlier.”

So she was aware she was looking at me like trash…

“I am marrying the girl Hero’s mother.”

I stated the fact plainly, but she looked at me with a face that said, What on earth is this guy talking about?

“What are you saying…? Are you sane…? Did someone cast a mental derangement spell on you…? But as a rule, a Demon King should be immune to instant-death and mental-interference magic…”

She started fussing over me, touching my shoulders and back. Hey, you know, if a man did that to a woman, it would definitely be a case of sexual harassment.

“It’s the truth… Incidentally, I’ve already proposed and received her consent.”

“The matter is already that far along?!”

“And so, I look forward to your support.”

“I am not looking forward to this! You can’t do that… No matter how much relations between demons and humans have thawed lately, this is unprecedented!”

As expected, she didn’t understand.

However, I couldn’t exactly say I’d give up here.

“Well, they say that if there is love, one can overcome differences in age or race. Stories like that have existed since ancient times, right? There have even been plenty of stories about the Demon King and the Hero becoming a couple…”

“That’s fiction! And in this case, the Hero is becoming your step-daughter, so the situation is completely different!”

“Regardless, I will continue to fulfill my duties as the Demon King! I’ll use spatial teleportation magic to come in for work, so it’ll be fine! I am the Demon King, so I am the law!”

It looked like Torualina still had more to say, so I forced a departure using spatial teleportation magic.

I teleported to Lateia’s kitchen.

Steam was rising from a pot. It looked like Lateia was right in the middle of cooking. Perhaps today’s main dish was stew.

“Ah, welcome back, Mr. Demon King.”

Lateia turned toward me with a radiant smile.

The sheer destructive power of Lateia in an apron was incredible. What is this… is she a goddess?

“I-I’m home… Lateia…”

I still felt awkward calling her by her name without an honorific. After all, it had only been a few hours since we met.

Actually, was it really okay to start living together right away? Perhaps I should have taken more time before jumping to this stage.

“I’m making enough for you too. There isn’t anything you can’t eat, is there?”

Apparently, it was already naturally decided that I would be eating here.

“Ah, yes… As long as it isn’t Holy Water, I’ll be fine…”

The physical structure of demons and humans is basically the same, though demons have a much higher resistance to things like poison.

“I decided on stew since I don’t know when Angelica will wake up. That way, even if it gets cold, I can heat it back up right away. I just hope it suits your palate, Mr. Demon King.”

“I see! By the way… could you please stop calling me ‘Mr. Demon King’?”

To be honest, I wanted her to call me “Dear,” but I didn’t have the courage to say it. She’d probably think I was being overly familiar—and in reality, I would be.

“My name is Garto Ryuzen… so could you call me Garto?”

“I understand, Garto. Garto, huh? That’s a cool name.”

A cool name, she said. My vassals had told me that countless times, but it never really resonated with me. They had no choice but to say it even if they didn’t think so. Now, however, it struck a deep chord in my heart. For once, I could honestly feel proud of my own name.

Also, I just noticed that she had her hair tied back in a single ponytail for cooking. She looked beautiful with her hair pulled back like that, too.

Ah, that’s right.

Is it really okay for me to let her handle the cooking all by herself?

In this day and age, isn’t it a bad look to have the values that a woman doing the cooking is a given? Won’t she be disillusioned? Won’t she think that demons really are savages after all?

Besides, I was the one who proposed; I felt like I shouldn’t let her do everything unilaterally for our very first meal.

“Um, I’ll help with something too. I can probably at least handle peeling the vegetables.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to. Please, just relax~”

“No, I insist!”

“Well then, could you help me prep the carrots and onions?”

I put my heart and soul into the task.

Collaborating with my beloved wife… this is nice.

I suppose this is a form of labor, but it feels completely different from my usual work. I could feel a unique kind of happiness welling up.

“My, you’re quite good at peeling~♪”

“Onions don’t even make a demon’s eyes sting. Please, let me keep going.”

“In that case, shall we make one more dish using the onions?”

“I’ll help with that too!”

I’ve been the Demon King for a long time, but it’s been ages since I’ve felt this level of fulfillment.

Peace at home—I had forgotten all about it for so long.

Because I had forgotten, I never felt particularly lonely, but now that I’ve remembered it like this, I might not be able to go back to a life that’s just a cycle of work, sleep, work, and sleep.

Even my meals were always either at a restaurant or ordered as a bento.

Those were delicious too, of course, but this is a different kind of deliciousness entirely.

I was already happy even before tasting the food.

“Oh? Garto, I thought you said onions didn’t make your eyes sting?”

Apparently, I was crying.

“Hahaha… my eyes aren’t stinging. I’m just moved.”

How many hundreds of years has it been since I last cooked with someone?