Chapter 33

“I decided to make steak for you today, Garto~”

“Ohh! It’s overflowing with juices! Thank you, Lateia!”

I don’t think there are many people who actually dislike meat, and I am certainly fond of it myself.

“But are you sure? This much meat must have been quite expensive, wasn’t it?”

“Consider it a reward for all your hard work at the festival. Besides, with your salary, Garto, this sort of thing is no trouble at all~”

Yes, it’s a bit of a crass topic, but the Demon King’s monthly salary is quite substantial. The finances of this household should be much more stable than they were before.

That said, Angelica has shown a certain level of skill as an adventurer, so I doubt they’ve lived in poverty—at least not since she started working. Once you’re chosen as a Hero, the Kingdom usually provides some form of financial support.

In fact, I imagine it would have been easy for them to live much more luxuriously. They could have even moved into a grand house in a big city. The reason they haven’t is that Lateia doesn’t have a single vain bone in her body.

In that regard, Angelica seems to have inherited a bit of that trait.

Angelica has the desire to be recognized as a Hero, but she has no urge to erect bronze statues of herself or publish an autobiography. If someone tried to build a statue of her, she’d likely tell them to stop immediately out of pure embarrassment.

I wonder what goes through the minds of those CEOs who put out autobiographies. Writing a book is one thing, but I’ve heard there are some who even claim they’re making a singing debut and perform on stage.

Once you go that far, it’s hard for people to view you as “cunning,” so perhaps they do it on purpose just to put others at ease. Maybe I’m overthinking it…

But honestly, none of that mattered anymore.

“Here, Garto. Say ‘ahhh’~”

Lateia had cut the meat into pieces and was trying to feed it to me.

Thank you, God!

Mm, this is embarrassing in its own way, but it is blissful. I shall not hesitate! Even though it’s a remarriage, we’re still practically in the honeymoon phase!

I opened my mouth.

“Hehe, what a big mouth you have~”

Lateia smiled as she dropped a cube of meat into my mouth.

“Delicious! It’s twice as tasty thanks to you, Lateia!”

“You really are a smooth talker, Garto~”

“—How chilling.”

Angelica muttered under her breath.

Judging by her expression, I could tell she was irritated.

“Chilling, chilling, chilling! It gives me the shivers! Seriously, stop it! Do what you want, but don’t do it in front of your daughter! Or are you trying to break the Hero’s spirit!? In a way, that’s a perfect tactical decision for a Demon King! Damn it!”

Angelica was acting quite rowdy. I don’t know much about the female body, but perhaps it was just that time of the month.

“Now, Angelica, a girl shouldn’t say things like ‘damn it.’”

“In that case, Angelica, you open your mouth too. Mama will feed you~”

“Both of you are missing the point! What I’m saying is: don’t flirt so much in front of me!”

It was true; perhaps we had gone too far. If I were in the position of the stepdaughter, I’d probably find it tough too.

“I didn’t think I was flirting that much~. Isn’t this just perfectly natural for a married couple?”

It seemed Lateia was being completely earnest. Being able to do this without a hint of irony was impressive in its own way.

“Mama, you can be so airheaded sometimes… I know that’s one of your good points, but still…”

“But Garto is acting like a father to you, isn’t he? I think you can forgive this much. From anyone’s perspective, isn’t he a father you can respect?”

“It’s weird enough for a Hero to respect the Demon King… but that aside, it’s hard for me to respect him!”

Somehow, leaving me behind, Lateia and Angelica had descended into an argument. Though, since Lateia was so laid-back, the atmosphere never got quite sharp enough to truly be called a “quarrel.”

“For example, if your family ran a bakery, you’d grow up watching your parents work hard making bread, right? If they were farmers, you’d see them plowing the fields or harvesting. Children are supposed to grow up watching their parents’ backs while they work, aren’t they?”

“Garto’s back is certainly very large. You don’t often see a person with a back as grand as his~”

As expected, Lateia was missing the point.

“I haven’t seen a single bit of the Demon King actually working! In the first place, I never go to the Demon King’s Castle, and even that one time I went there to fight, it was a life-or-death struggle, so I didn’t exactly have the leeway to sit back and observe!”

Angelica stood up. This girl really had a habit of getting fired up instantly.

“Don’t you think it’s tough being forced to watch nothing but flirting without knowing his cool side as a parent? At least show me you can work seriously before you start flirting!”

“Come to think of it, you’re right~. I’ve never been to the Demon King’s Castle either~”

I don’t think any ordinary human has.

“Anyway, I bet this Demon King does all sorts of cold-blooded, atrocious things to his demon subordinates back at the castle. That’s how a demon nation keeps running. Yeah, because he’s the Demon King, after all.”

Hey, those words are pure Demon King discrimination…

“If I saw that side of him—the side that’s actually like a demon—I might be able to respect him just a little bit.”

A giant question mark floated inside my brain.

“Hey, isn’t that a bit strange? Why would seeing me do atrocious things make you respect me? Are you some kind of massive sadist?”

“Look, you’re the Demon King, so doing atrocious things among demons is within the range of your professional duties, right? Even a human bandit leader might be incredibly soft on his wife and kids, but if he was soft while doing his bandit work, he wouldn’t be able to get the job done.”

It seemed that, in Angelica’s mind, whether or not one fulfilled their assigned role was the important part. Well, I suppose it’s possible for a parent to be a swindler or in the criminal trade…

However, this might be a good opportunity.

“Fine. In that case, come for a workplace visit!”