Category: I Became a Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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I see. So he wasn’t given the name Muso lightly, just because of the way he ran forward ignorantly like a rhinoceros, but it was a name that was given with a deep trust in this child’s infinite potential.

“…How cool.”

I felt an inexplicable sense of defeat upon hearing the story behind his name. 

The woman that was me 100 years ago was really cool. To even be able to let someone keep such wonderful words in their hearts for the rest of their lives.

“There are a lot of people who have been waiting for Your Highness other than me as well! Especially Sir Tanma, the aide, when Your Highness saw his odd eye that was said to be bad luck, and for the first time in his life, he heard you say that ‘Your uniqueness will bring good luck’. That’s why the aide, who used to wear an eyepatch, now wears a monocle. Haha.”

You were even able to make someone else’s insecurity something they should be proud of.

“Those bastards who are still waiting anxiously for Your Highness in the demon realm must be so jealous that I’ve become Your Highness’ exclusive errand boy! Since it’s thanks to Your Highness that they’ve been able to protect their pride, and of course, their life!”

You became a life’s saviour that makes someone pledge a loyalty that wouldn’t fade, even after 100 years had passed by.

‘With that promise as my motivation, I’ve endured an unbearable 100 years.’

You made someone fall so deeply in love that they’d even wait 100 years.

This… there’s no way to beat this. How could I win over such a wonderful person who left such a deep mark on the hearts of so many people?

My head drooped. I was disappointed. 

I had tried to find out more about myself from 100 years ago to gauge how different we were. If we were too different, I was going to try and satisfy Lecht’s expectations and be more like me back then. If that didn’t work, then I was going to try and seduce him by acting with more charm than her. But how was I meant to fight with such a big gap between us already from the start?

‘To think I could feel such a sense of defeat from myself.’

This world’s wellbeing, and the fall of the empire, I suddenly felt as if it were all in vain.

“Y-Your Highness? D-Did I say something wrong? Why are you crying?!”

“I’m not crying.”

“Your words and your actions don’t match though?!”

I could see Muso waving his hand in every direction, flustered. 

I really didn’t want to cry over something like this, but the tears kept coming out of frustration and urgency.

“I-I would like to wipe away your tears, but Your Highness is sitting on my handkerchief…! I-I deserve to die for my sin! I’ll go and receive my punishment, so please stop crying!”

Muso began to beg while saying something extreme again, but I couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. How could I tell him that I was crying because I was jealous of myself 100 years ago?

It was then. A large shadow fell over the two of us.

“Last time, you fearlessly confessed your love to my woman, and this time, you made her cry?”

Lecht, who had appeared from god knows where, was looking down at us.

“You wouldn’t be able to pay her back for her tears, even with your life.”

He looked angry. Very angry.

“Your Majesty, that’s…!”

Muso, who was about to protest, shut his mouth and prostrated himself flat on the floor.

“I’m sorry!! I’ll happily accept whatever punishment you give me!”

No, why are you taking the blame all by yourself? I opened my mouth to explain that it wasn’t Muso’s fault, but Lecht was faster.

“I’ll decide on how to dispose of you later.”

He came toward me, leaving Muso who had merged himself with the ground.

“Lecht, this… heok!”

I opened my mouth in the atmosphere that seemed to need me to explain why I cried, but he suddenly hugged me tightly. Caught off guard by him princess carrying me, I stopped crying.

“Whatever the reason is, let’s go inside first. It’s cold.”

My body was cold, just like he said. No matter how much Muso had tried to generate warm air in my direction, it was still basically autumn weather.

“…I’m fine though.”

“Well, I’m not.”

When I let out a sound that said I didn’t want it, he cut it off with a single sentence. 

With my mood suddenly pleasant for no reason, I leaned against him.

“It’s not actually Muso’s fault.”

“If you say so, okay.”

“You can’t keep scolding someone who’s innocent.”

“I’m getting suspicious since you keep covering for him though.”

“Lecht.”

As I spoke in a stern voice, he smiled faintly and hugged me even tighter.

“Don’t worry. Since that’s what you want, I won’t do anything.”

His words once again showed that he fully respected my opinion. Lecht’s words always started and ended with me like this. I thought this was extremely good at first.

When a man who seemed to be cold began to take care of me with such a gentle expression, my stomach filled with butterflies… but now that I realised I was extremely different to the woman I was 100 years ago through my conversation with Muso, I started to feel repulsed. His affection was suffocating.

Although they all claim that it was ‘me’, she and I were still two different people from my point of view. I wanted to look like her, and share the same memories as her.

As all these complicated thoughts were rolling around in my gloomy heart, Lecht had already arrived at my room before I even noticed. He lowered me onto the sofa and began to wrap me tightly in a blanket that was folded next to me.

“What are you doing…?”

When I asked him about his behaviour that was completely random and wasn’t like his usual behaviour at all, he handed me a warm cup of milk I didn’t even know when he had prepared.

“When you’re sad, you feel better after being wrapped up in your blanket and drinking something warm.

“Did the me from 100 years ago do that?”

It was something that I knew, even if I hadn’t finished my sentence. I just asked for no reason. No matter what happens, it’ll always end with that woman from 100 years ago.

“Can you tell me why you were crying now?”

As I stared at the warm milk in my hands, Lecht sat in front of me and asked. It was an expression that showed his determination to destroy anything that made me cry.

“Lecht is so considerate.”

I brought up my feelings honestly.

“…What?”

“I’m sad because Lecht is too nice.”

Although I could see his bewildered expression, I said what I had to say. There was no way I could solve this problem by myself anyway.

However, contrary to my seriousness, he smirked instead.

“Whether it was 100 years ago or now… you’re the only one who would say things that no one else would agree with, like how I’m considerate.”

Again, again! Again with the me from 100 years ago! I pouted.

“Seriously, just what on earth did that woman not do…”

I set my cup of milk down, trying to soothe my ugly heart.

“I have something to tell you. It’s important.”

I thought my seriousness about this matter wouldn’t be conveyed if I was wrapped up in a blanket, so I adjusted my posture and sat down.

“Tell me.”

“Let’s start afresh again.”

“Start what?”

I realised I had spoken out too hastily when I finally spit the words out, so I quickly added.

“I’m talking about this relationship. It’s a strange relationship, it’s like we’re a couple, but not a couple.”

That’s how it was if you looked at it. 

He referred to me as ‘my woman’, yet we had never established what our relationship was. Although he confessed his deep feelings for me, it was a story of how he had been waiting for the me from 100 years ago, so he wouldn’t let me go now that I had appeared. 

It wasn’t a confession of love for me, nor did I really know what feelings I had in my heart for him.

Although it was true that my heart would flutter for him, if you asked me if I liked him, then I really didn’t know yet. The most honest answer I could give was probably to say that I didn’t have enough feelings for him to turn into lovers yet.

“I know that Lecht has been waiting for me for 100 years. Thank you so much for the care I’ve witnessed personally. But…”

I tried to find a way to convey my thoughts as clearly as possible in order not to hurt his feelings.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“The me from 100 years ago doesn’t feel like me.”

Apart from not having any memories of her, the more I heard about her, the more I felt estranged from her. She was a more confident, more accepting, and wiser woman than I was.

“So actually… I’m a little scared at how much affection Lecht is giving me.”

Lecht’s brow furrowed slightly at my words.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to live up to Lecht’s expectations. I’m scared that Lecht will be disappointed once he finds out that the real me is very different from what Lecht thought I’d be.”

“Ara.”

“Don’t get me wrong though! It’s absolutely not that I dislike receiving Lecht’s affection at all!”

I could sense a hint of impatience in the voice that said my name, so I added quickly.

“How should I put this… I think I’ll need some time to get used to it.”

“…”

“Plus, I don’t actually know a lot about you either, Lecht. Of course, other than being the Demon King, having waited for me, and being a considerate person. Although I know all of that… I still think it may be too early for us to define our relationship with just that alone.”

I explained my stance on this as calmly as possible, hoping that he wouldn’t get offended.

“So, can we start all over again?”

“…”

“I will try to get to know more about Lecht as soon as possible and get used to your affection. So, please stop thinking about the me from 100 years ago, and just look at the me in front of you right now.”

I understand that it’d be difficult. But at some point, it was an issue that had to be brought up, at least once. It wasn’t like I could suddenly find my memories from 100 years ago, nor was it possible for me, or him to bear his burdensome feelings.

“Is that too much for me to ask for?”

But that was just my opinion anyway. This could have seemed like an unreasonable request from his point of view.

I looked into his eyes and asked him. 

However, the look on his face as he looked at me wasn’t one of bewilderment or anger. Nor was he disappointed or flustered. It was full of affection. As if I was cute for making such a request.

From his point of view, it must have been bewildering for a lover, who he had finally met again after 100 years, to want to start from zero again. As I was waiting for his answer, he suddenly burst into laughter.

“So this is what it feels like to hear that.”

“?”

“So, is it my turn to tell you this?”

When I tilted my head, he reached out his hand to hold my clenched fist. He then added with a faint smile.

“Even if this world splits in two, I will never be disappointed in you.”

“No, that’s why the me right now may not live up to what you think of me…!”

“Even if you are substantially different to the person you were 100 years ago, my heart won’t change. Since what I love about you is your very existence.”

He cut off my hasty protest.

“But I’ll try. I’ll only look at the you right now.”

Somehow, it felt as if there was a smile in his voice. He whispered with such a cheerful expression on his face that I wondered if I had really just pushed this man away.

“I already know how loveable of a woman you are, so it’ll be hard for me to ignore everything though.”

He continued to speak affectionately, as if he didn’t care about my face turning red or not.

“I will try to restrain myself so as not to make you feel burdened. However, can you cut me some slack if my feelings jump out of control sometimes?”

“…”

“Since you’re just too loveable.”

“…!”

I felt as if the world had stopped when he put an end to his sentence. 

How could this man be so radiant, even at this moment when I’ve rejected him?

He smiled as he carefully examined my face, which must have already turned a ripe peach colour. It was a smile that made me unable to fight back.

“That much should be acceptable, right?”

Although I should’ve said no, I wasn’t in any position to protest. My heart kept pounding and blood kept rushing to my head making my eyes go wide.

“Huh?”

My thoughts and everything flew away at those words that sounded like a complaint.

It was clear that he either didn’t take my request seriously, or that he enjoyed my flustered reaction whenever he was determined and seductive. Otherwise, there’s no way he could have such a pleased expression on his face.

“…Yes.”

Of course, I had nothing to say and just nodded dazedly at him again, as if I had been mesmerised.

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

* * *

Lecht acted well according to my request. The way he expressed his affection was no longer as over the top as before and had definitely decreased, and he never brought up how I was like ‘100 years ago’.

Although I couldn’t say I didn’t feel regretful at all, I was satisfied since it at least wasn’t burdensome or uncomfortable anymore. However, before we were even able to adjust to our relationship’s new dynamic, a piece of news arrived that would change everything.

It was the obituary of the Head of the Ezzarson Guild.

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the dog food to us single dogs in this chapter was just too much,,,i literally just vomited blood from all the diabetes i got HGLSDKFFSDJ

also we stan communication bc feeling like someone loves the idea of u more than u is never a nice feeling 🙁

also i had some rlly good malaysian food for dinner today so i’m v happy ghsdlkfds been craving laksa for so long already HAHAHAH

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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“Hic!”

As Lecht’s ferocious gold eyes turned to Muso’s direction, he hurriedly shook off my hand before hiding behind Tanma. Although he had a young face, he was built like a brown bear and wasn’t able to hide behind Tanma very well.

I approached Lecht, whose eyes seemed to tear apart Muso at any moment now.

“What happened?” 

I intuitively felt as if Muso would be in danger if I hadn’t done so. 

Lecht’s gaze shifted to me as I stood in front of him and asked him a question. I put on the prettiest smile I could muster to ensure the wellbeing of Muso. Lecht’s expression softened noticeably, as if it had been eaten.

Turning his attention to me, he held out a bouquet of flowers. It was the roses that I had seen yesterday, now beautifully trimmed.

“Wow, what’s the occasion? Why the bouquet all of a sudden?”

I hugged the colourful bundle of roses in my arms. The faint scent of roses began to permeate the room.

“You said that bouquets shouldn’t need to have a reason for them to be given.”

“I did?”

I was about to ask him when I said that when I noticed the look in his eyes.

“Oh, the me from 100 years ago.”

Oh god. The me 100 years ago hadn’t even known shame. To think that I said, ‘Buy me a bouquet of flowers. Always. At any time.’. 

In any case, all these benefits were thanks to me from 100 years ago. I praised the past me.

“Have you had lunch yet?”

Lecht asked as I buried my face in the bouquet for a whiff.

“I haven’t eaten yet.”

“Then let’s have it together.”

“Okay!”

I handed the bouquet of roses to Solte and asked her to put it in a vase before following after Lecht. 

He then naturally grabbed my hand. His behaviour was so natural that I didn’t even sense any awkwardness. 

I only realised the situation after I had walked past a few guards and servants after thoughtlessly walking alongside him for a while. The servants burst into giggles after greeting us, while the guards saluted us with a satisfied smile that I couldn’t quite understand.

“By the way, Lecht. Why are we holding hands…?”

When I asked him while looking down at our interlocked hands with wide eyes, he explained calmly.

“Because you said we should hold hands when we walk together.”

No, did the me from 100 years ago say that as well?

“Otherwise I’d walk too fast and you’d get sad and scared when left behind by yourself.”

Wow. The me from 100 years ago must have been great at flirting. You’re telling me that you said all those things without feeling any shame at all?

“That… how long had we known each other for when I said that?”

No matter how aggressive I was, it must have been after we became a couple, right? We were at least a thing, right?

“Three days.”

“!”

I said something shameless like asking you to hold my hand, only after we had known each other for three days? You’re seriously incredible, me.

“It’s good.”

I held Lecht’s hand tighter as I expressed my respect and gratitude to the me from 100 years ago.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Lunch was more enjoyable than I expected. The food that came out suited my tastes perfectly, the dessert was the ice cream I especially wanted to eat, and Lecht was a friendly talking partner. 

Friendly… because although he never took the initiative to lead the conversation, he still answered all my questions well. However, I wasn’t complaining since I had a lot to talk about as well as questions I was curious about. Rather, I took advantage of the opportunity to ask him a lot of things I was curious about.

“So you’re saying Kelber looks like he only has one head to other humans?!”

“That’s right.”

“And the slugs pulling the carriages look just like horses?”

“Yeah.”

“No way…!”

I heard about a lot of things I was clueless about. In particular, he explained that the main reason he had followed me to the East was because I had recognised Kelber in his true form. 

He had wanted to ask me to go with him to the Temple of the Moon God for a while when we arrived at Chivan Village, which I had been planning to go to since the beginning. Although there was no need for that since Lydia appeared in the middle anyway.

“So I’m the only one who can take that holy object, right?”

“Yeah.”

In addition, I found out that the defensive cheat that I had been thinking of taking was a holy object and wasn’t something that could be taken unless I was the saintess in the first place. I didn’t even know that and had been planning to steal it on my way to fleeing the country.

Then, upon recalling my plan to flee the country, I looked at Lecht again. The reason I was going to flee the country was because the Demon King was going to destroy the Empire.

However, with the Demon King sitting right in front of me, no matter how I looked at it, Lecht didn’t seem to have any intention of invading the Empire. Although he was a man who could wilfully ignore the emperor, he didn’t seem like he would trample over others so recklessly.

“Lecht, about that rose.”

I decided to put my faith in Lecht, who I had met personally, instead of the future written in the novel.

“You said it’s endured for 100 years, right? Without withering nor breaking.”

Since I couldn’t ask him, ‘Are you planning on destroying the Empire?’, I thought up a question with the help of the description in the novel.

“Then… what would you do if it withered?”

Lecht’s hand, which was lifting the teacup, suddenly froze in its place. The cup was placed back onto the saucer with a ‘clack’ sound. The sound was louder than I expected.

“If the rose died, then that would mean your soul had ceased to exist.”

He explained, perhaps because he thought I didn’t understand.

“So that neither reincarnation nor revival is possible. Your existence has ceased to exist, both in this world, and anywhere else.”

Although it was a grave remark, I could spot a subtle wrinkle in his forehead.

“But the fact that the rose has withered…”

Anger flashed across Lecht’s face for an instance. And then it was soon quickly filled with a sense of forlornness.

He looked at me with empty eyes, like a person whose reason to live had disappeared and said.

“It would’ve meant that I had lost you.”

“…”

“If I lose you… I’d probably start by wiping out this continent that took you away from me.”

I felt chills starting from my tailbone climb up my spine and all the way to my skull.

“After that, this world, then every dimension that’s in existence… and finally God. I would eliminate them, one by one.” 

A quiet anger could be felt in Lecht’s voice. It was an anger directed towards this world that had ‘taken’ me away. But after a while, warmth soon filled his voice, as if the anger had never been there.

“But you’re in front of me right now. So I don’t really want to imagine that.”

He looked at me and whispered in a tone that seemed to be of complaint. But my tense shoulders didn’t loosen up easily.

‘So if it weren’t for me, you were actually thinking of wiping out the Empire?!’

If I hadn’t been transported into this novel. If I hadn’t coincidentally run into Kelber that day. Although all sorts of ‘if’ scenarios came to my mind, the biggest realisation I had was the importance of my existence in this world.

‘Then what’s going to happen if Lecht is disappointed that I’m different from the me 100 years ago…?’

Although I had simply thought, ‘I’ll just find out what I was like 100 years ago!’, I now started to worry about something completely different.

* * * 

For the sake of the wellbeing of the world, I urgently needed to find out about what I was like 100 years ago. Because I now knew that the weight on my shoulders was not just Lecht’s expectations, but also the destruction of the Empire route.

But it wasn’t as easy as I thought it’d be. And that was because Lecht wouldn’t leave me alone.

At the beginning, a bouquet of flowers was given everyday, making the room reek with the strong scent of flowers. There wasn’t even enough space on the table to put them anywhere.

“It’s better to look at fresh flowers. So it’s fine if you stop giving them to me.”

“Every garden you see outside the window belongs to you.”

Just because I had said it was a bit too much, he decided to give me a garden of several thousand pyeong¹, rendering me speechless.

“Wait, now what else is this?!”

“I thought they would all look good on you, so I just bought one of every colour.”

Since he couldn’t give me flowers, as if his hands were just itching to buy them, he constantly bought me clothes, shoes, and accessories.

“It’s too much! Even my room is full!”

“As expected, just having one floor is too small.”

And then gave me a villa as a gift for my excuse of not having anywhere to put them.

“There’s nowhere for me to wear it anyway. Aren’t I just at home everyday?”

“You must be bored. Do you prefer going to plays, or concerts?”

He interpreted my words of having nowhere to go as me saying I was bored, so he called for various theatre and orchestral groups.

‘I don’t even have any time to find out about me from 100 years ago…!’

I didn’t have much time to think without him there, so I racked my brains for a bit and ended up saying…

“Demonic creatures are so fascinating! I’d like to spend some time with Kelber!”

It was absolutely ridiculous. But…

“In any case, I’ve made a demonic creature zoo for you. Did you want to take a look?”

He wrapped up my flimsy excuse beautifully. His affection was like an unstoppable tsunami.

Even though I tried to find out about myself from 100 years ago to set a course of action so as not to disappoint him. I had even thought to seduce Lecht if the me from then and now were just too different! But I didn’t even have time to come up with such a plan, let alone find out more about me from 100 years ago!!

With a heavy heart, I chose the most extreme method that I had left for my last resort. 

* * *

“…So why did you say we were doing this again?”

Muso, who was squatting in the bushes at the back of the building with me, asked. 

“…I thought that this way, Lecht would leave me alone.”

I avoided his gaze since it sounded like a childish solution, even to me. Fortunately for me, however, Muso didn’t seem to be someone who thought of complications like that and would back me unconditionally if it was regarding me.

“Are you avoiding His Majesty?”

“Well… yes, something like that.”

“What has His Majesty done to wrong you, Your Majesty?!”

Wait, how did you come to that conclusion…?

“Huu, I knew it. I knew His Majesty would make a mistake someday.”

He shook his head with a look of ‘today’s the day’.

“Go ahead. What has Our Majesty done? Huu, I’m already getting the feeling that it’s not the usual big problem.”

“No, he didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just trying to avoid him because of some circumstances…”

“What? It can’t be!”

When I spoke truthfully, Muso let out a big gasp before coming to an absurd conclusion again.”

“So His Majesty is suppressing you, Your Majesty!”

Bro. Why are your conclusions always so extreme?

“You always say that people’s freedom shouldn’t be restricted recklessly, yet you yourself don’t actually put it into practice either?! I’m so disappointed in His Majesty!”

“It’s not about suppressing my freedom…”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I’ll risk my life to help you escape.”

I licked my lips as I watched Muso’s eyes blaze with determination. How is he always so resolute?

As I was thinking about how to pacify this situation, I decided to just change the subject altogether. “Why is Muso so good to me?” I sat down on the handkerchief that Muso had laid on the ground and asked him with my chin cupped in my hand.

“Because Your Majesty is my life’s saviour.” To prevent me from getting cold, Muso only chose warm winds, letting it flow to me and replied, “Also, Your Majesty is the one who gave me my name.”

With a smile that seemed to look happy, I asked back, “Your name? Muso?”

“Yes.”

“The me from 100 years ago was quite…”

You even had a bad sense in naming. You can’t just name them ‘Muso’, no matter how much they resembled a rhino or how determined they were. That’s just too much.

“…Special.”

To say my sense in names was lame was the same as saying his name was lame, so I simply twisted my words.

“I think so too! When you first gave me that name, I wondered if you were crazy.”

“Ahaha…”

Although his honesty might have sounded rude, I laughed awkwardly, knowing that he hadn’t meant any harm as he added.

“Your Majesty is the only person in this world who could see me, who grew up at a garbage dump and was covered in rubbish filth, and say that you’d call me ‘Muso’, since I’d become an invincible² guy!”

“Oh.”

However, I let out a sigh when I heard the true meaning of the name, which was completely different from what I expected.

[1] unit of measurement, approx 3.3m²

[2] ryno’s (now changed to muso) name is actually 무소 (muso) and invincible is 무소불능 (musobulneung) so it’s actually a bit of wordplay.

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regarding ryno’s name, that’s my mistake bc i only mtled the future chapter regarding his name and only saw the ‘rhino’ part GHSDLKFSDSDJ
i personally think that now it’s been revealed it’s fine to leave his name as ryno (plus i think it’s kind of cute now HAHAHA) but lmk in the comments whether you’d like for me to change it back to muso and i can go back and re-edit all my previous chapters !!

edit: i’ve changed it back to muso now!

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Deep inside the Great Temple of the Sun God, the saintess’ prayer room was quiet. A faint voice broke the silence.

“What’s making you think so hard like that, Frody?”

At the sound of her calling his name, a demon with a broken horn sitting by the window watching the sky turned his head. 

Sitting on her knees on a soft cushion in the middle of the prayer room, she had her two hands clasped together, as if she had just been in the middle of ‘praying’.

“It’s unlikely for you to be so quiet.”

Fair skin and charming blonde hair. Even her voice sounded pure, instantly stimulating the beholder’s protective instinct. Her pure white clothes, as well as the flowers and ornaments that adorned her hair made her look wholly otherworldly.

At her whisper, Frody smirked and said while raising an eyebrow perversely. “Why? Are you sad that I’m not paying attention to you, Miss Contractor?”

As he rose from his seat and approached her softly, the woman pouted her lips.

“It’s not that. I was just worried about you since you looked like you were deep in thought about something serious.”

Her expression and tone of complaint was enough to shake the hearts of many people. However, it didn’t work on Frody, who possessed ‘enchantment’.

“To think you can say something so cute.”

Frody knelt on one knee beside her, grabbing her chin and pulling her up.

“You’re clearly anxious at the thought of me thinking of abandoning you.” His blue eyes shone dangerously. “My ‘saintess’.”

“I told you, it’s not that…”

Frody gently wrapped his arms around the waist of Olivia, who was about to protest. As his hand touched her waist, Olivia could no longer continue speaking and let out a low moan. His power, ‘enchantment’, began to flow upon the physical contact.

“F-Frody… we’re at a temple…”

“You’ve done it at a temple before, so what’s the problem? Does it feel new to you again?”

Frody’s hands slowly wandered over the robes of the saintess. Olivia’s skin was lit aflame by his touch that descended down her waist, back, ribs, chest, and finally, her lower abdomen.

“Still, the prayer room is a sacred place…”

“You’re still worried about that sort of thing despite not even being the real saintess?”

The strong scent of gold osmanthus began to permeate the surrounding area. Olivia felt an electrifying sensation at the tip of her tongue as it ran down her throat with an almost sweet taste. 

Despite knowing that it was dangerous, she still couldn’t resist the temptation that was right in front of her. There were not many people who could resist the power of Frody in the first place, who had been nominated as a ‘Demon King candidate’ with Lecht.

Of course, any saintess that had received a divine blessing from a god could have nullified his powers, but unfortunately, Olivia wasn’t the real saintess, and was helpless before his ‘enchantment’.

“Frody…”

At Olivia’s whiny voice, Frody’s wandering hand stopped.

“Should I stop?”

“No…! Keep going…”

But as soon as he was about to let her off, Olivia clung to him like a chick looking for warmth. Her hands, which had been clasped together in prayer were now clasping onto his loose clothes.

It was difficult to extricate yourself from the power of ‘enchantment’ once you had a taste of it.

“Miss Contractor, I have something I’m curious about. Can you answer it?”

“Mmm…”

Although she managed to answer him with difficulty, her mind was already submerged halfway in his enchantment.

“There was a fool who loved a woman so much that they changed the direction of their life, beliefs, and attitude in dealing with the world.”

“Frody, more…”

“They had even turned a blind eye to my broken heart for a 100 years, just to reunite with that woman.

“Mmhm, just a bit more…”

“But then, instead of waiting for her, that guy suddenly turned his eyes to power?”

“W-Wait, this is too much…!”

“To another woman who is essential to gaining power. It’s not even funny.”

“Heup!”

Olivia eventually groaned and fell to the side due to Frody, who had lost control of his powers while thinking about something else. As a result, the power that was filling up Frody’s heart also stopped.

Although the power of ‘enchantment’ was the ability to completely seduce the opponent and absorb their energy, it stopped taking effect when the opponent lost their senses like this.

With a disappointed expression on his face, Frody brushed his fingers through Olivia’s long blonde hair. The soft hair flowing between his fingers reminded him of that black-haired saintess from 100 years ago.

‘It’s a different woman.’

He let out a moan upon recalling the murderous look Lecht had exuded with the woman with blue hair in his arms. 

Clearly, the existence of the ‘Moon God’s Saintess’ was essential to the Demon King. All of the Demon King’s power comes from the Moon God, and the one that designated that power was the saintess, who was dubbed the ‘child’ of Lunar.

It wasn’t just nonsense when it was said that the position of the Demon King would be compromised if the saintess fell into the hands of another. The impact of it could be clearly seen through the fact that the previous demon kings always had a saintess by their side as their companion.

But that guy was different. He was a fool who had given his heart and soul to that black-haired saintess 100 years ago.

Ever since she said she’d return one day, he’d looked just like a puppy who’d lost its owner in a pitiful exchange, so he had thought that he wouldn’t have paid attention to any other saintess, even if they showed up.

But to think he had shown such an appearance over a woman other than the saintess with black hair. It was something he couldn’t have even imagined.

‘But that’s fair. Love is a meaningless action anyway.’

Frody looked down at Olivia with a smirk. Just take a look at her for instance. It only took an instant for her to lose her true self in someone else’s enchantment.

‘But it would still be amusing to provoke him.’

Just as he was thinking of an enjoyable prank, a knock sounded from the door of the prayer room.

“Livi, it’s me.”

Frody grinned at the all too familiar voice of the man. “Miss Contractor, a fish has arrived.” With a snicker, Frody gradually disappeared, leaving only the heavy scent of gold osmanthus in the air.

“Sorry for interrupting you. But it’s something I have to tell… Livi!” The blond haired man who had opened the door, came rushing in hastily upon finding Olivia, who had fallen to the ground. “Livi, what’s wrong? Livi!”

As the crown prince hugged her limp body, Olivia’s eyelids slowly fluttered open. “…Your Highness?”

“…Your Highness?”

“Haa, Livi. Are you being impractical again and praying even while your body is still weak? I already told you to be careful!”

Opening her eyes, Olivia smiled at him after glancing around the room and letting out a sigh. It was a smile so warm it seemed to be able to melt anyone’s heart. “Did I end up like this after praying for Your Highness’ peace and safety?”

“Livi…”

Her sweet voice moved the heart of the crown prince. Looking down at her with eyes dripping with affection, he hugged her in his arms tightly.

“How did such a loveable woman like you become mine?”

“Your Highness…”

“There’s really no one else for me but you.”

“…Me too. You’re the only one for me.”

Olivia also hugged him tightly, their faces inches apart. The priests of the sun god, who rushed in at the news that the saintess had collapsed, could only quickly avert their eyes from the overflowing love between a man and a woman.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“Solte, where’s the butler, Tanma… oh?”

I found the butler standing in the hallway just as I had opened the door to hurriedly ask Solte a question.

“Good afternoon, miss.”

“Mister Butler, you came just in time! I wanted to ask you something!”

However, my eyes landed on the man next to Tanma before I could say anything.

“And this person is…?”

It was the man I had seen when Frody had appeared.

“I sought him out since I figured that we’d need someone exclusively serving you completely from now on.”

“But don’t I have Solte?”

There were also many other maids who were exclusively reserved to serve me other than Solte.

“Of course, she’ll suffice as an escort and maid.”

‘Escort?’

“Apart from that, you’ll also need an errand boy and someone to vent your anger for you.”

‘Vent my anger…?’

Despite his words being mixed with some strange vocabulary, Tanma continued to speak before addressing the point.

“I’m sure you’ve already seen him before. This guy’s name is Muso.”

“Hello! I’m Muso, who will be taking care of all the miscellaneous tasks by Your Majesty’s side from now on!”

Gosh, that shocked me. My shoulders flinched from the roaring voice that seemed to resemble a foghorn in volume. 

Disregarding my surprise, Muso grabbed my two hands with both eyes of his sparkling. “I will exhaust this very life that Your Majesty has saved for you!!”

“No, there’s no need for you to exhaust it or anything…”

Despite my soft murmur, he chose not to listen to it and continued on bravely. “I can’t believe that the day we get to see Your Highness again has really come…! Every moment waiting for Your Majesty was noble and worthwhile! I am honoured to be able to serve you, Your Majesty!”

…Is it just me who feels like the number of fans has increased by one more?

I turned my gaze to Tanma and shot him a look that clearly conveyed a plea for help. However, instead of helping, Tanma only gave a satisfied smile in return. It was an extremely spiteful smile.

When I sent a resentful look back with the meaning of, ‘Why did you bring this sort of guy here?!’, Tanma let out a laugh before opening his mouth. “Although he has a problem with controlling his volume due to his over-enthusiasm, you can just tell him to shut up. He listens well.”

No, those tips won’t help. His voice was so loud, I doubt he’d even be able to hear my voice in the first place.

“Even so, he’s the most capable man in this mansion.”

When Mister Butler was away from the demon realm, Muso was the one that took over the duties of the butler of the Grand Duke Mansion, so the fact that he had capable skills seemed to be true. 

It was as fascinating as it seemed to be. To think that this guy, whose aura was exactly that of an enthusiastic new employee who had just been admitted to the company, had abilities comparable to that of the vice president.

“But Mister Butler, did you also leave the demon realm?”

A burst of laughter escaped from the lips of Tanma, who I had always thought was a ‘butler’ at the Grand Duchy. It was a chilling smile.

“His Majesty, the Demon King, also left the Demon King’s Palace empty, so I also had to take care of that too.”

Although he had said so mildly, I was still able to discern the grievances that were hidden behind those words. 

I snuck a glance at his eyes and asked, “There’s no way Lecht left that position to wait for me here… right?”

“Don’t worry. It ended up being like that because our damned Majesty was just too damn stubborn.” Tanma smiled and naturally cursed his boss. It was an impressive skill.

“You’re right! It would’ve been fine for His Majesty to wait in the demon realm as well, but he was just too stubborn and insisted on the human realm! Your Majesty, you’re perfect!”

No, but what does his insistence on the human realm have anything to do with me being perfect?

“Come to think of it… did you also say you were ‘waiting’ for me, Muso? So you also met me 100 years ago?”

“So you really don’t remember…” He looked sullen for a moment. But his expression soon came back to life, as if it had been resurrected. It was like Ottogi¹, which would never fall. “But that’s okay!! Because I remember you, Your Majesty!”

His words made a smile appear on my face. Although I didn’t remember him, the important thing was that he had memories of me from 100 years ago.

‘I can ask him about me from 100 years ago!’

I covered one of his hands that were holding onto mine with one of my hands. Although I wasn’t able to cover his entire hand with my small hands, I was still able to convey the meaning I wanted to through that action.

“Then, I’ll be counting on you from now on, Muso!”

Since I’ll have a lot to ask!

Looking at his hand that was touching mine with wide eyes, Muso shouted while smiling so wide his gums were exposed. “Yes! I love you too, Your Highness!”

No, I said I’ll be counting on you, not I love you. Still, I smiled at the expectation that I could hear about me from 100 years ago.

It was then. I heard a deep voice from the door that was still open.

“Just what are you doing right now?”

I turned my head to see Lecht, who was staring at me and Muso. To be more precise, he was glaring at our hands clasped together.

[1] 오뚜기 ottogi is a large korean food manufacturing company.

---

some tings in this chapter:
im sorry but i still can’t get over this.
imagine your name being frody GHNSDLKJSFJSD
whenever olivia said his name while he was enchanting her, gurllll i nearly lMAOOOED

also, enter white lotus fl and ml that we will 100% be crucifying for his stupidity and shamelessness in the upcoming chapters HGSDLKFSD

ALSO BABY MUSO MY FAV CHARACTER I LOVE HIM HE’S SO PURE WE STAN <333
more on his name in the next chap tho heheheh <3333
muso singlehandedly brightened up my day fr
also someone save my poor baby in the last frame from jealous lecht HGSDLJFJ

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

Although it was already night, it wasn’t dark at all thanks to the full moon in the sky. 

I probably would’ve enjoyed the night’s walk more, had it not been for this ambiguous situation where neither of us were fighting or had yet to fully reconcile with each other, but my nerves were completely focused on what he wanted to show me.

The place where he took me to was a garden located deep within the Grand Duchy. 

I couldn’t even remember how many guards I had met along the way to the place surrounded by tall and thorny vines. Not only were there guards, but also several demonic creatures standing guard there. 

There were also several protective barriers placed there by mages that had to be lifted. It didn’t even seem like the emperor’s bedroom would be as well protected as this.

The place that we finally arrived at was a rose garden.

“Wow, there are so many roses…”

Even though this was the season for roses to wilt, all the roses here were still fresh. Although it wasn’t completely blocked off from the outside air, a warm energy that kept the temperature seemed to keep it from dying.

The colored roses each showed off their own beauty in their own individual circular sections. Red, white, pink, and yellow. Amongst them, the black roses’ section was in the very centre, being protected by all the other colours.

“So black roses are this pretty?”

Although I had seen many roses in my life before, this was my first time seeing a black one. It was so beautiful it seemed as if it had been painted with ink.

“Woah, what’s that?”

My gaze came to a stop at a single rose that was floating in the centre of this space. I walked past Lecht who had stopped in his tracks and headed toward the rose.

Had he cast a spell on it? It was both larger and fresher than the other roses, and had a different radiance to it.

The black rose grew brighter as I drew closer to it. A smile spread across my lips since it looked like it was glad to see me, as if it were a greeting.

It wasn’t emitting a blinding light either. Its soft glow was like a mood light, adding to the atmosphere.

“Is this a rose too? Or was it made through magic?”

I looked back at Lecht and asked. And then my eyes widened upon seeing his expression.

He had this expression after suddenly pulling me into a hug at the temple too. As if he was also in pain. As if he was also happy. 

A look of complicated emotions that were all intertwined into one big mass.

“Lecht?”

As I took a step toward him to ask him, he let out a sigh mixed with a small groan and opened his mouth.

“Yeah. Since it’s shining so brightly like that.”

Lecht’s low voice flowed in the breeze.

I looked back at the rose doubtfully at his words. Hey, hasn’t it been shining ever since I approached it…?

“Since it shines by your side, I can’t let go of you.”

“What does that mean?”

What do I have to do with a rose shining? As I was thinking about it, a phrase suddenly flashed through my mind.

<Because the rose has withered.>

The flower in that scene was definitely a black rose. Dark and beautiful, just like that child floating in the air right now.

I felt like I had just been hit in the head with a frying pan. 

Lecht took a step closer to me as I stared blankly at the rose, my thoughts complicated as those two points came together in my head. He slowly reached out a large hand and covered my face, turning me toward him. 

His gaze toward me, who was wide-eyed, was filled with infinitely deep emotions. I felt as if my whole body were about to melt away softly despite the cool night breeze.

“100 years.”

A deep voice tickled my ears.

“I’ve waited for 100 years. Just to meet you.”

The weighty information conveyed in his blunt tone was enough to make my heart rate soar.

You’ve waited 100 years? And that’s all just to meet me?

Although it still hadn’t completely sunk into my head yet, the affection that filled his voice and eyes continued to stir up a storm in my heart.

Holding onto my heart that seemed as if were about to melt from affection and flutter away, I asked.

“Were you waiting for the saintess of the moon god?”

Lydia had told me that the moon god’s saintess hadn’t appeared in the last few hundreds of years. So, from the standpoint of the Demon King, who worships the moon god, he must’ve been waiting for the saintess.

However, Lecht shook his head slightly at my question.

“Whether or not they’re the moon god’s saintess isn’t important.”

“…”

“Of course, although I knew that you were going to appear as the saintess of the moon god, what I was waiting for wasn’t you as the moon god’s saintess, but just you as yourself.”

I had no choice but to continue asking questions in response to the words that were beyond my comprehension.

“But why… me?”

“We first met 100 years ago.”

“Maybe you’ve mistaken me for someone else? The human life span isn’t that long.”

“I’m not sure if the time I met you had been during your previous life, or even the life before that. But what I’m sure of is that I definitely haven’t mistaken you for someone else.”

He was resolute in his opinion. It wasn’t a tone of speculation, but a voice that only those who had complete confidence could make.

“How do you know? The person you’re thinking of might be a different person to me.”

I’m not Meliara. I was just another person who had taken over Meliara’s body. So if he had been waiting for Meliara, then she wasn’t here.

Because of this, the thought that those huge expectations and emotions were directed towards Meliara and not me, made me extremely uncomfortable.

“It’s you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Although it wasn’t my fault that I took over Meliara’s body, his deep emotions made me feel like I had sinned, so I had no choice but to ask in a curt voice.

“I’m not sure about you, Lecht, but I…!”

He spoke softly in a calm voice just as I was about to have an outburst.

“I told you. It’s because that shines.”

The black rose next to us glistened, as if replying to his words.

“That is a rose made from a fragment of your soul that you left 100 years ago.”

“…?”

“This admirable guy has endured all kinds of bad weather without withering, only looking forward to the day it would finally meet its master again.”

I had a strong feeling that he was actually talking about himself instead of the flower.

Enduring for 100 years. 

I had the illusion that he was whining for praise, having gone through such a difficult time just in order to meet me again. To the point where his voice was quietly earnest.

“It shines powerfully just because you, its master and main soul, has returned to its side again and given it more strength.”

“…”

“So don’t tell me that I’m mistaken.”

Lecht said, as if making the final court ruling.

“The soul that I’ve waited 100 years for, that’s you.”

My heart throbbed. If it was a soul, and not a body, then that was me. It wasn’t that I had stolen the affection that was supposed to be given to Meliara, but it was that they belonged to me in the first place.

“Ah.”

An unbearable sigh escaped from between my teeth. 

He had waited 100 years. For my soul. But for what reason?

There wasn’t much variety in the answers that I could come up with to that question. And all of them were based on melodrama as well. 

To get revenge for a great resentment. To seek forgiveness for an infinite sorrow. To repay the favour due to endless gratitude. Or, he had done a terrible thing in the name of love.

As I was at a loss for this or that, he whispered in a voice that was full of ardent emotions.

“You said it back then. That we’d definitely meet each other again.”

He moved his hand which had been on my cheek and brushed it through my hair. I felt a tingling sensation from my hair, as if there were nerves there too.

“And that at that time, you wouldn’t leave me alone.”

He drew my hand towards him as he reminisced about a promise I couldn’t remember. He put my hand on his chest to cover his heart, as if doing so could keep it from running away.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heart rate that vibrated from underneath the palm of my hand was far beyond normal levels. It was fascinating that the heart of Lecht, who always looked calm and unperturbed, could beat so fast. And be so fluttery.

Since there was no way I could be unaware that this heartbeat was completely because of me.

“With that promise as my motivation, I’ve endured an unbearable 100 years.”

His heart raced even faster, as if in agreement. To the point where I was worried it might combust like this.

“That’s why I can’t let you go.”

Although I still felt like he was trying to justify himself, and still felt like he was trying to convince me to stay too. The only thing that was certain was knowing that his heart was for me..

“Because this heart, for as long as it beats, will only beat for you for the rest of its life.”

“…”

“So… I guess I can’t let you go.”

It was a confession that was covered with an obsession so terrible, the weight of it was difficult to bear. But when I heard it, although my heart sensed the danger it was in, instead of fleeing, it began to roll down toward him.

Thump. Thump.

t/n: this thump refers to something dropping. think like a rock or smth lmao

My heart was accelerating with his confession, just like how his heart had been motivated by my words in the past. 

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I was overwhelmed with emotions that were hard for me to extricate myself from.

Th-Th-Thump.

Helplessly. 

Fast.

* * * 

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Coming back to the room that day, I didn’t know what sort of mood I had returned with.

With blood rushing to my head, I couldn’t even give him a vague answer since I couldn’t even think properly.

Instead of rushing me for an answer, Lecht just quietly led me to my room. 

I wasn’t in my right mind when I got back to my room.

“Because this heart, for as long as it beats, will only beat for you for the rest of its life.”

It was the first time in my life receiving such a deep confession. My face flared crimson red every time it came up randomly.

“…Kyaaa!”

I wonder how many times I had screamed under the blankets already. The heart that had been racing so fast seemed as if it were about to go on strike soon.

After staying up all night with a fluttering heart, I finally calmed down a little. I could finally reflect on what he had said.

‘But what I’m sure of is that I definitely haven’t mistaken you for someone else.’

He said he had met my soul 100 years ago. 

So when is that? In my previous life…? Then in my previous life, had I lived in this world? 

So was I a demon back then? Maybe that’s how I met Lecht, the Demon King.

I wonder what I looked like? Was my personality similar to my one now?

‘It’s inevitable that I don’t have any memories of that time, but…’

It was also inevitable for me to have complicated feelings. 

A characteristic of humans was that every person, even twins, were different, depending on their background. No matter how much of the same soul we share, our personalities could be different due to the different lives we had lived, so if I had different beliefs and principles 100 years ago from the ones I had today, then I could be seen as a completely different person.

‘Although my heart is racing at the fact that he waited 100 years for my soul… I would be lying if I said it wasn’t burdensome.’

It was just like my concerns on whether or not I would be able to meet the expectations of the Lunar religion as a saintess who finally appeared after a few hundred years. 

No, it felt even worse than that.

What if he was disappointed? Wouldn’t he feel betrayed if I suddenly changed after he waited for 100 years? Wouldn’t you be upset that I had no memory of it?

Shaking my head wildly, complicated emotions filled my heart, even as it fluttered in excitement.

‘Nothing will be solved if you continue digging your own grave like this!’

First, let’s find out what I was like 100 years ago! 

I jumped up from my seat.

---

went to a university society gathering today and was reminded how draining it is for me to interact with new people QAQ
any infps in the house ??

;-; decided to quickly tl this before i sleep so if there are any typos or errors i’ve made, pls submit it in the mistakes channel on my discord !!
will edit this tl corner note in the morning with my actual thoughts on this chapter, but rn, mio is too tired to give a shit

QAQ GOODNIGHT YAWL

a few things this chap [edited]:

ANDDDDD here comes our introduction of yet another obsessive male lead GHSDFLKFDJFSD
i know obsessive love isn’t to everyone’s taste (and that’s fine) but if mans waited 100 years just for her to come back, guaranteed it’s 100% the obsessive male lead trope LMAOOO

when i was tling this tho, i did feel a bit uncomfy when lecht was being rlly overbearing but then i remembered,
1) he’s an obsessive ml. ofc he wouldn’t want the person he’s waited for 100 years for to leave just as he’s found her.
2) he’s a fucking demon king, so ofc he feels it’s alright for him to act that way.
so even though it doesn’t really excuse his behaviour, it IS understandable GHSDFLKJFDS

also, can 100% for sure understand why ara would be uncomfortable receiving lecht’s feelings if she thought they were directed to meliara instead. like the guilt she would’ve felt despite it not being her fault ??? urgh.
also v clear that atp, ara is the type to be super emotional and need time to calm down before she can think rationally again LMAOOO

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

“Linden knew, right?”

I still remembered Linden’s ambiguous behaviour at the start of the journey.

‘How do you know that person?’

‘Since he’s someone who’s a close acquaintance of His Majesty the Emperor.’

Although Linden wouldn’t have known that Lecht was the Demon King, he at least knew that he was the Grand Duke of Arvis. There was no doubt about that.

However, the reason he didn’t say anything to me must have been because Lecht had forbidden him from mentioning it.

Now that I think about it, there were a lot of strange points that I had naturally brushed off when I was unaware of the situation.

“Why did you hide it?”

The shock of learning that Lecht is the Demon King still lingers. I was still scared at the thought of what he was going to do to the Empire.

However, there was still one more emotion that was larger than that, stabbing at my heart. Was it the feeling of betrayal? Or was it sorrow?

“Because I wasn’t sure about you at first.”

He answered me flatly.

“There was no way for me to know how you’d react later.”

Although it was a stiff tone that had no emotion in it, I could tell that it was true from the look in his eyes.

“So what you weren’t sure about, is it being sure that I’m the saintess?”

“I’m sure it’s you.”

So it was that.

“The less people that know that I’m the Grand Duke of Arvis, the easier it is to maintain confidentiality, so I normally don’t talk about it.”

“Then Linden…”

“Hmm. Well he’s a case that found out by himself.”

“Come to think of it, it’d be weird for you to ignore the prince when you didn’t know him.”

“…Is that so.”

Now that I think about it, it was pathetic of me to believe the weak basis of, ‘it’s because he’s one of the emperor’s people’. Even Linden would have been suspicious.

“So you didn’t know how I’d react later?”

“…”

“When I asked you where your home was and where you lived, you still avoided my question.”

There was clearly an opportunity for him to bring it up.

‘A place with a good view of the galaxy, and lots of animals.’

That was clearly an answer that avoided saying the whole truth.

“Wasn’t that something you should’ve told me at least then?”

He lowered his gaze as I reproached him with the little resentment that I had bottled up. After looking at my feet for a while, he finally raised his eyes again.

“I was afraid that you’d avoid me.”

Although this too, was said flatly, perhaps because of the look in his eye, my shoulders that had been tense soon relaxed.

“When people normally find out that I’m the Grand Duke of Arvis, they usually fall into one of two groups. Those who think they can get something out of me, and who are interested in scheming.”

“…”

“And those that flee in fear or avoidance.”

That was understandable. 

He was renowned for being trusted and favoured by the emperor as the descendant of the empire’s founder, but nothing was known about himself. There were rumours that he was eccentric, and that the whole family would be ruined if they wronged him.

The land that was under the Grand Duchy was as large as the capital, and his army was strong enough for it to be acknowledged even by the emperor, so even the Mage’s Tower didn’t dare to provoke him recklessly.

When faced with such overwhelming power, it was obvious what people’s reaction would be. Lecht, who had lived as the Grand Duke for 100 years, must have seen it many times.

“So you thought that I’d be like that too.”

He probably thought I’d choose the latter since it didn’t look like I wanted to get anything from him.

“I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

“When you hid it for a month and had the chance to bring it up, you just beat around the bush, but you weren’t trying to deceive me?”

“…I was going to tell you when you woke up.”

“Shouldn’t you have told me before you brought me here?”

“…”

He couldn’t find an answer to rebut my logic. No matter how you thought about it, it was clearly him at fault. 

I was so shocked that I fainted at the news. It was even my first time fainting since being born.

Still not being able to fathom this poking feeling in my heart, I took half a step back.

That was when he began to open his mouth to speak again.

“If I had told you, would you have followed me here?”

It was now my turn to be at a loss for words at his logic. He was right.

I would have fled as soon as I knew that he was the Grand Duke of Arvis.

No matter if I was the saintess or whatever, with the Demon King right in front of me, I would’ve run away without even looking back. The reason why the novel had become an ‘anticlimax’ and why I wanted to flee the country was right in front of me, so of course I would’ve escaped.

“If you, who was even burdened by the position of saintess, knew about me… then you wouldn’t have even been able to fall asleep on my back.”

That was too true. I wouldn’t have even been up there in the first place. Lecht was piercing right through the truth.

“Still, deceiving is deceiving.”

However, in the end, he still deceived me.

“You’ve even taken away my chance to choose whether or not I want to run away or follow after you.”

I could see Lecht’s fingertips flinching at my point. Although his expression hadn’t changed at all, it felt like I could read his thoughts.

It was then that I had a realisation of what exactly this feeling that was weighing down on my heart was. It wasn’t a feeling of betrayal or sorrow; it was anxiety.

‘Because I have no intention of letting you go.’

I couldn’t understand what those words meant.

‘Your job is to do whatever your heart desires. It’s up to me to follow you.’

I constantly wondered if what he said was true.

‘Let alone her body, even the traces left of her can’t be found?’

The unidentified man’s words kept ringing in my ears. 

<And in that way, he destroyed the very empire he had built with his own hands.>

The future of the novel that hadn’t yet unfolded kept coming into mind.

“I didn’t mean to force you.”

I didn’t know if I could take his words that he had softly whispered to heart.

“Then let me go.”

So defensive words popped out of my mouth instinctively.

His expression changed greatly this time. His eyes widened and his shoulders also stiffened. His calm breathing which could be heard before suddenly stopped.

After the end of a long silence, his lips finally parted again.

“That’s… difficult.”

In any case, this answer was within my expectations. However, I spoke curtly upon hearing that answer.

“So you didn’t mean to force me. Then shouldn’t you let me go if I want to leave?”

Hiding it from the beginning for fear of me avoiding him was a completely different story to doing so to prevent me from running away. That was not only taking away my chance to choose to run away, but also my freedom to run away.

His silence had caused me to roll into the den of demons, and aside from it being scary, it also wasn’t pleasant to have the faith I put into someone being betrayed.

“I’m leaving.”

Frankly, despite having nowhere else to go, I was stubbornly sticking to my feeling of betrayal and sadness.

“No.”

“Let me go.”

“I said no.”

“Why?”

“…”

“Why does Lecht get to decide where I’m going? I’m the one that’s leaving though?”

Why do I feel so hurt about this?

“Then are you going to use your power and authority to block me from leaving? Then how can I possibly trust you at this point?!”

My ugly way of speaking started to become harsher. 

I wonder why that was the case. There’s no reason for me to get this angry. So what was making me so emotional?

“Also, what did he mean by as long as it’s a saintess, it doesn’t matter? Just what else are you hiding from me?!”

Oh, I see. So that’s what I’m so upset about.

It wasn’t that I was scared because he was the Demon King, nor was it because I felt betrayed over the fact that he deceived me.

No, maybe I had felt like that in the beginning. But that wasn’t the case now. 

The reason why the tip of my nose kept feeling stuffy and the feeling of wanting to cry keeps welling up from within.

‘But… this isn’t what our Demon King has been waiting for though?’

‘Ahh, so as long as it’s a saintess, it doesn’t matter?’

It was the fact that Lecht was waiting for a saintess. And it was the fact that I wasn’t the one he was waiting for.

‘The saintess this time seems to be gentler than the last one, huh?’

He was probably talking about the previous saintess. The saintess whose life Frody had said was completely ruined.

So, it wasn’t me who was meant to receive all of Lecht’s kindness, but it was that saintess.

“Let me go.”

“Ara.”

Feeling like I was about to cry, I closed my eyes and shouted.

“I hate men who lie!”

My shrill voice filled the spacious restaurant. In the silence that followed, the only sound that could be heard was my panting for breath.

Along with his expression of surprise from earlier, Lecht was looking at me with another expression as well. He looked extremely flustered… no, as if he had received a great shock.

Today was a day where I had witnessed a variety of emotions on his face. Normally, it would have been fascinating, but I wasn’t particularly happy about that right now.

“Ara, I…”

He stretched out his hand toward me, calling me quietly. However, I stepped back reflexively and moved away from him.

At that moment, his eyes shook, like the flame of a candle in front of the wind.

“…Ara.”

He called out for me once again, clenching his fist which had stopped awkwardly midair.  There was a sense of embarrassment in his voice, but I, who had felt overwhelmed with emotions already, wasn’t in the right mindset to consider his feelings as well.

Since I was busy protecting my wounded heart. I was busy hiding it since I felt as if my pride and innermost thoughts had been revealed.

Another step backwards of mine made his legs flinch. It was a movement that seemed to stop him from approaching me any further.

“I’m leaving. Don’t stop me.”

I mumbled as I hastily wiped away the tears that had started to drip down my cheeks at some point. It was stubbornness to stick to feelings of resentment and pain.

“If you stop me, I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!”

After that, I left the restaurant as if I were fleeing.

Kelber rushed after me with a whine, but Lecht, however, didn’t go after me.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“Lecht… must be very angry, right?”

It had been a whole day since I yelled emotionally at Lecht.

He hadn’t come to look for me, nor had I left this room. My meal had been brought up by Solte, and Kelber had remained by my side.

I hadn’t been able to sleep that evening since I was so resentful and angry. However, after a day, an apologetic feeling began to ooze its way into me.

“Should I apologise…?”

It was certainly wrong for him to deceive me and bring me here without consulting me first. However, I didn’t think I had needed to shout so loudly.

“Whine?”

Kelber, who was lying on the bed, raised his head at my sigh. 

As I hugged Kelber, the soft feel of his fur relieved my mood, albeit only slightly.

However, although Kelber’s warmth gave me a sense of peace, my mind was still complicated since it hadn’t solved the underlying issue.

‘I could’ve said it in a nicer way, so Lecht must have been flustered since I suddenly got angry at him.’

In any case, this mouth of mine was the source of trouble. Anyone who had a temper vented on them out of the blue would get upset. Lecht was no exception to that.

Just as I was sighing, stroking Kelber’s back in my arms, I heard a knock at the door.

“You can come in.”

I thought it was Solte who was going to bring me warmed milk, so I spoke to the door. However, Solte didn’t open the door.

‘Did you not hear me?’

Or were you having a hard time opening the door since you were carrying so much stuff? 

I got up from my seat and opened the door instead. However, I was surprised by the figure standing on the other side of the door.

The figure of the person standing in the dark hallway was too large for it to be Solte. Above all, those gold eyes that glowed softly were unique to just one person.

“L-Lecht, what brings you here…”

My heart was pounding in surprise. 

He stood at a distance and said nothing. Those two eyes of his that resembled evening stars in the fathomless night sky just stared at me.

He was just as expressionless as always, but I could tell he was agonising over something, perhaps because of the dark shadow that was cast over his face. It was obvious that he had a lot of things to say, but didn’t know what or how to say it.

“Did you drink?”

I couldn’t smell it at first, but as I stood facing him for a longer period of time, the smell of alcohol quietly crossed through the door frame.

“…A bit.”

He spoke with a face that didn’t seem like it only had a bit at all.

He parted his lips, as if he was about to say something, then closed them tightly once again, so I eventually spoke up first.

“Can I ask you about just one thing?”

“Ask as much as you want.”

“Why won’t you let me leave?”

“…”

I should’ve asked my questions like this in the first place instead of just getting angry like I did before. Although I had an emotional outburst since my mind was complicated from the overload of information it had to receive at once, I still should have rationally asked for the reason to figure out the situation.

“I ended up raising my voice since I got too emotional. I’m sorry for saying such harsh words.”

Although the accident had already occurred, I still wanted to correct the situation now.”

“But since it’s Lecht, there must be a reason why you’re doing this to me, right?”

“…”

The Lecht who I had witnessed so far has been a very rational person. Although he sometimes illogically ignored Linden, upon learning that he was the Grand Duke of Arvis, it was still according to his character. And despite being unusually discriminatory against Linden, the way he treated Tanma and Kelber showed how reasonable he was.

At the restaurant that day, my judgement was clouded for a while from the realisation that Lecht was the Demon King, as well as the words Frody had said, but…

“I want to hear about that reason.”

I should’ve asked calmly like this. 

Lecht’s gaze fell to the floor at my question. 

Was it a reason that was difficult to say? But I still wanted to hear it.

As I waited patiently, he finally opened his mouth after thinking about it for a long time.

“Do you have some time right now? I have something I want to show you.”

His voice was relaxed, perhaps because he was drunk. 

Although it was a bit of a sudden question, it was probably because what he wanted to show me was related to my question.

“Yes, please show me.”

I nodded my head without hesitating and followed after him.

---

ANGST AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER HAGLODSJSSD hope yawl enjoyed that HAHAHAHA

some things abt this chapter:
although ara got super emotional in that fight WE STAN A COMMUNICATIVE QUEEN !! i think it’s v clear that she’s the type that needs to cool down after an argument and that’s when she rlly reflects over it ! also love that she’s very quick to apologise (guilty of not being able to apologise easily here ghsdljsjfss) and i like that she is also v considerate of how lecht feels and also reassures him as well !!
i think it’s great that she understands, even from earlier on when she didn’t know that lecht was grand duke arvis, that relationships are a give and take and that she’s also willing to give and not only receive.

another note is GAH DAMN KELBER IS SO CUTE I LOVE HIM I WANT A DOG SO BAD HAGHSDFKFSDJ kelber’s got 3x the personality too with his three heads HGLSDKFSJD

also we are finally going to find out the lore behind why lecht has been waiting for ara (hopefully !!!)

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

There was a moment of stillness. There seemed to be a bird chirping in the distance.

I couldn’t push him away, but even so, I still couldn’t say a word of consent, and just stiffened.

It happened when he opened his mouth again, just as I had become a statue of stone.

“Whew~ Our Demon King is getting it on even in broad daylight.”

A voice that I had never heard before sounded from behind me. I instinctively grabbed onto Lecht due to the goosebumps I got all over my body because of his vulgar voice.

Forget grabbing onto him, rather he instead just pulled me tightly into his arms. Although thanks to that, I was lifted from my chair, I ended up burying my head into his tight embrace anyway.

A man standing at the open window sill caught my eye. 

The first thing I saw as soon as I saw him was the horn on his forehead. Contrary to what I had imagined, the horns were broken in half.

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

‘A demon!’

I instinctively burrowed myself into Lecht’s arms even more and clutched the collar of his shirt tightly with my hands. My body instinctively seemed to think it’d be safe there.

The man standing at the window sill with his arms crossed was still staring at me. 

Although it was quite a distance away, I could still feel the ‘interest’ in his gaze. That feeling of interest felt sticky and sinister; just all around unpleasant.

“Sir Frody. You’ve behaved insolently. Please knock on the door before entering.”

The one who was mediating the situation was Tanma, who was standing by the door.

However, the man merely snorted at Tanma’s words and jumped down from the window sill.

“Have you been living amongst humans for so long that you’ve adapted their manners to become ours as well? Since when have we ever gone knocking before entering?”

The man who spoke with a sneer walked lightly in the direction I was in. Since he was barefoot, the sound of his footsteps couldn’t be heard at all, with every step of his as soft as a banquet dancer who could captivate their audience.

Lecht turned my body slightly and tried to hide me within his embrace, as if trying to prevent him from approaching me at all.

However, such behavior of Lecht’s did not deter the man’s curious gaze.

“Who is it? A new lover?”

He poked his head out from the side and asked me with a mischievous light in his eyes. His voice was extremely thin compared to Lecht’s, so much so that it sounded like an itchy nasally voice and a soft breeze.

“Hehe~ There’s no way my little brother can do that though, right?”

He added with a snicker, as if he was genuinely enjoying this situation.

Slither—

I took a deep breath in shock when I turned my head at the sound that came from the floor by his feet, as if it was agreeing with him.

‘That’s a demonic creature! You can tell it’s a demonic creature just by looking at it!”

Of course, that also was the case with the three-headed Kelber. 

It’s just that it was my worldview and that I was also extremely formidable.

…I was so stupid.

“So you’re the saintess?”

When the man Tanma had called ‘Sir Frody’ asked such a question, Lecht’s arms wrapping around me tightened even more. 

Noticing the subtle change, the man smiled and crinkled his eyes into the shape of his fingernails.

With a charming smile on his lips, he was just like a nine tailed fox, waving its nine tails gently and beckoning me to come over. Although the way he dealt with the opponent was rather calm, he seduced them powerfully.

“The new saintess, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hello.”

“The saintess this time seems to be gentler than the last one, huh?”

“…”

“I think they’re cuter this way. It suits me well.”

As he whispered quietly, “Please take care of me”, I felt the gooseflesh erupt all over my arms and shoulders.

It was an extremely strange feeling. My whole body seemed to be enchanted by him, as if it were possessed, but at the same time, the entirety of my soul seemed to be screaming out that I had to be careful of him.

“But… this isn’t what our Demon King has been waiting for though?”

“…?”

I wondered what his comment meant. The ‘this’ he was referring to was probably talking about me, so is he saying that I’m not the one that Lecht was waiting for?

What do you mean? Didn’t Lecht wait for a long time for a saintess? But I’m a saintess though.

“Ahh, so as long as it’s a saintess, it doesn’t matter? Well, it’s true that a Demon King must have a saintess by their side after all.”

“I’ll tear your mouth… you shut up.”

Lecht, who had only been listening silently to what he had to say, growled, as if he could no longer bear to hear it. It seemed like he was in the middle of spewing some harsh words, but then he stopped and looked at me out of the corner of his eye before he turned the conversation around.

“What’s wrong? Come on, we all have the right to see the saintess, don’t we?”

He came a step closer to me. The five-headed snake by his side also slithered a bit closer. 

At that moment, the wisps of black energy began to bloom like a haze from Lecht’s feet.

“Grrrrr…”

Kelber, who had retreated a few steps at the sound of my promise to give him affection later, stopped in front of me to block me and bared his teeth. Kelber’s tail stood up sharply with his fur raised, and whether it was an illusion or not, he seemed to grow bigger and bigger in size.

Slither—

Not losing out either, the snake with five heads also opened their mouths wide and stretched out their necks threateningly.

While the two demonic creatures were fighting it out, Lecht’s eyes were still fixed on the man named Frody.

“Ms Saintess, if you already only love this Demon King so much, what about when he changes his mind? You need to meet them and give them all an equal chance.”

“…?”

Now what does that mean?

I looked up at Lecht with a puzzled look on my face, but he didn’t allow his sharp gaze to drop away from the man. Instead, he pressed my face deeper into his arms and hugged me tightly, as if he didn’t care.

His refreshing scent gave me a sense of security, so I leaned forward without resisting as the man’s voice continued to sound out.

“Aww, don’t tell me, has the enchantment worn off already?”

“…”

“I had wondered why my little brother, who would only confine himself in his mansion, suddenly set out to the capital for no reason all of a sudden… Turns out that you knew the saintess had appeared and went to make preparations in advance, huh?”

“Looks like you still have the habit of looking at the whole world by your standards.”

Lecht said in a pitiful voice, as if he couldn’t bear to listen to his nonsense anymore.

Hiss—!

“Grrrrr…”

Perhaps because it understood his words were a provocation, the five heads on the snake raised up even higher and darted their tongues out even more violently causing Kelber to growl more intimidatingly and grow even larger in size. He was no longer the size of a large dog but now became the size of a tiger.

Upon hearing that sound, the man named Frody, who was still smiling grimly, whispered.

“Our pretty new saintess.”

I had never been so creeped out from someone calling me pretty.

“I’ll let you know in advance, but you’d better be careful.”

“…?”

The tip of his finger, which moved softly like something that belonged in a dance, was soon directed at Lecht.

“The last saintess was also naive and didn’t know anything about this world, but then she was deceived by him and had her whole life ruined. Let alone her body, even the traces left of her can’t be found.”

“!”

My eyes widened. 

Wh-What, ruined? What can’t be found? Wh-What do you mean let alone? 

My shoulders stiffened as I gradually loosened my grip on Lecht’s collar, which I had been holding onto tightly.

The fact that Lecht was the Demon King suddenly came to my mind again. 

The Demon King who destroyed the Empire.

Surely it’s a little strange that he’s trying to ‘protect’ the saintess. It would make more sense to say that he was up to something instead. 

With my imagination going crazy, I suddenly began to feel extremely uncomfortable in his arms. It was actually starting to get scary, to be exact. 

I wriggled in his arms awkwardly while the man’s voice continued.

“Ah, I was hoping I’d find you first this time.”

The mournful sign that was shed was so gentle that it would also compel the listeners to shed sorrowful sighs too.

“But I’m free to hope, right?”

He whispered in a cute voice, as if begging for me to look at him, before snapping his middle finger and thumb.

With a snapping sound, petals began to scatter across the restaurant. The distinct orange flowers that were shaped like umbrellas were gold osmanthus flowers that I had once seen in a park before. The fine flowers brightened up the heavy atmosphere and spread a deep fragrance into the air. The magnificent scent that seemed to have been sprayed with strong perfume made my sense of smell as well as my head woozy.

Just as my senses were going fuzzy, I heard the sound of a tongue clicking above my head as Lecht raised one hand in the air. 

It was when he was about to snap his fingers just like the man.

“Don’t mess with Her Majesty!”

A gust of wind had blown in from somewhere and blown away all the petals and fragrance. Shocked, all of us turned our heads to see a man standing next to Tanma, panting.

Although he looked imposing, just like someone who had just finished his military conscription, he was a man with a youthful looking face. His short hair fluttered in the residues of the gentle breeze. 

On both sides of his forehead were small horns that indicated that he was a demon. It didn’t even reach a hand span, so unlike Frody’s broken one, it was cute despite being similar to it.

Next to him was Tanma, who was holding the man by the neck with a pleased smile. He was panting for breath and leaning with his whole body forward and no doubt would have rushed forward toward us if it weren’t for Tanma.

“Now just who are you trying to ‘enchant’?! Let go of me, Tanma! I’m really going to hit that bastard this time!”

Upon seeing him huff and puff with a crimson face, Lecht let out a small sigh. 

Then Frody burst out into laughter.

“Pffft! So was this useless good for nothing still alive?”

“…!”

Frody’s words made the man stiffen. His face grew even redder.

“How did my little brother, who shed neither tears nor showed any mercy, slip into the role of a clean-up crew, that’s only fit for trash?”

He giggled and stepped back. Raising both hands in the air, he showed an exaggerated ‘surrender’.

“Okay, okay. I won’t touch your toys. Happy now?”

“I-Is that damn flour boy comparing Her Majesty to a toy right now?! I’m going to beat that bastard into sujebi dough!”

“You guys really have a lack of humor.”

Frody returned to the open window sill in the blink of an eye, stepping back onto it and smiled at me again. His demonic creature, the five-headed snake, suddenly shrank again before wrapping itself around his waist.

“Then, see you next time, Ms Saintess? If possible, just the two of us.”

“Y-You…!”

He even winked as he threw himself out of the window and disappeared. The only thing that remained from where he disappeared was a strong scent of flowers.

“Your Majesty! Let me go after that bastard! This time, I’ll definitely…!”

“Enough.”

At Lecht’s words, the man shut his mouth tightly. His whole face was still red, perhaps because he couldn’t cool down.

Lecht rubbed his temple and opened his mouth again.

“Tanma, why did you bring him here? I already said that it’s not the right time to introduce them yet.”

Tanma, who was still holding onto the back of the man’s neck said with a smile.

“It’s said that rabid dogs are the best at hunting crazy bastards.”

“Ha…”

A deep torment was felt in Lecht’s sigh.

“Both of you, get out.”

“Fufu, with pleasure.”

“Y-Your Majesty, may I just offer my greetings to Her Majesty…!”

Bang!

Although the man whose name I didn’t know seemed to be trying to say something, he was quickly dragged away by Tanma.

The door closed tightly, leaving only me, Lecht, and Kelber in the restaurant. 

Lecht had let me go when Frody disappeared, so I stood a few steps away from him. Although I was facing him, I couldn’t lift my head up.

The silence felt extremely heavy.

‘I’ll let you know in advance, but you’d better be careful.’

I kept fiddling with my hands in front of me since my heart kept pounding and the floor beneath my feet felt unstable. My lips kept getting dry despite my constant licking, and with my eyes constantly darting back and forth, I finally looked up slightly.

Lecht was looking down at me with a very perplexed expression. Seeing as his mouth kept opening and closing as well, it seemed like he didn’t know what to say to me either.

After observing him like that for a while, I finally found my words first.

“Lecht. You’re the Demon King?”

It was a question that I knew the answer to, but for some reason, that question was the first to pop out of my mouth.

“…Yeah.”

A rather delayed reply came back. It was an answer that I already knew, but my shoulders still trembled.

Another short silence passed before I asked cautiously again.

“Why… didn’t you tell me?”

In fact, that was the part I was most curious about. Although of course, I was also concerned about how he was going to destroy the empire, so if the preparations for that were finished, why he was doing so, etcetera. There were a lot of things I wanted to know.

However, this was the most doubtful point.

“We’ve already been together for a month.”

Over the course of a month, he never once told me.

“Even if you were the Demon King… you still hid from me the fact that you were the ‘Grand Duke of Arvis’.”

If it had only been a week or so, it could be that he was just careless and didn’t pay attention to that. Or he just didn’t have the time to talk about it, I understand.

But it had been a month. That was long enough for the moon to expand and then fade once again. 

This was a period of time in which anyone could have called him ‘Grand Duke Arvis’ at least once, or something about him is brought up in conversation at least once.

“Why did you do it?”

There was no other explanation other than he had deliberately intended to deceive me.

---

PLOT THICKENS FR HGSDLKFJSJFSJ
curious to see how they’ll work thru this !!!

also, sujebi is like korean hand pulled dough stew its rlly good !! i always have it for hangovers though LMAO HGLSDKJSFDJSD

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

You’ve already finished planning the invasion of the Empire, haven’t you? Just when exactly will it start? 

What about the army? Are they already in the human world?

So was the reason why you came to the capital just to confirm if the invasion would go smoothly?

Why are you even invading in the first place? What exactly are you dissatisfied about?!

<“Because the rose has withered.”>

What sort of emotional outburst is that? Why is the Empire no longer needed if the rose has withered? Roses wither every year!

“Would you like me to dine in your room? Or would you like to eat in a restaurant?”

“Wh-What?!”

My voice was distorted since I was immersed in my own thoughts and hadn’t heard what Tanma had said properly. My heart began to pound with anxiety about my future and worries of my safety. 

I looked at Tanma while hugging my blanket tightly as he spoke with his characteristically gentle smile.

“However, I recommend you go to the restaurant.”

His words seemed as if he were threatening me, ‘If you don’t go to the restaurant, even I’m not sure what will happen to you’.

“Going on a light walk along the way will be good for your body, not to mention that His Excellency is also waiting for you too. If you don’t go, he’ll probably spend a few more days having sleepless nights.”

Why was it that to me, the sentence had been filtered into, ‘I’m keeping my eyes on you to make sure you aren’t getting into any nonsense, so be prepared’?

Gulp.

Tanma, who was staring at me, cocked his head to the side as I swallowed dryly and just stared back at him.

“Miss?”

“Yes, I’ll go!”

[t/n: formalities are used here bc ara is SCARED LMAGLDSF]

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

I answered straight away, scared that I’d hear more frightening words.

“Then I’ll call for Solte to help you get ready.”

Tanma smiled brightly and retreated from the room after replying as such. 

Just as my shocked heart had calmed down a little more due to his departure, Solte soon entered the room not so long after that.

She had come in with other maids as well. They kindly helped me in washing up and changing.

After being relieved for a while, I soon recalled the fact that this was the place where the Grand Duke of Arvis, the Demon King lives, and started to probe their awareness. 

Do they work here because they know the Grand Duke of Arvis is the Demon King? Then if that’s the case, are they also demons? Then what about the horns? Why don’t they have horns?

It was clearly said that demons had horns though. It was said that their physical abilities that surpassed humans as well as the abilities that were unique to each individual came from their horns.

So, although wings were a sole privilege that belonged to the Demon King, apparently all demons were supposed to have horns. 

Come to think of it, the butler, Tanma, didn’t have horns either, right? Then were they all just humans?

No, but if that was the case, Lecht is the Demon King and he obviously doesn’t have any horns either! 

Maybe he was hiding his appearance? It was probably that.

Since he had lived in the human world for 100 years, he’d easily be able to hide something like a demon’s appearance…! 

All sorts of endless possibilities entangled and filled my head. I arrived at the restaurant while I was distracted by my complicated thoughts.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Seeing the three heads of the dog greeting me temporarily alleviated the thoughts that had been weighing on my mind. I stroked Kelber’s head with a spirit that cleared like a bit of bad weather.

‘It seems like even demons have pets.’

So it wasn’t a race devoid of any humanity after all. 

As I was feeling comforted by Kelber’s soft fur, I suddenly had a small epiphany.

“Kelber… are you also, perhaps…”

If it was a pet raised by demons… then it would also be a demonic creature. My hand, which was still stroking Kelber’s head, suddenly stopped.

So the monster that the saintess female lead and the crown prince male lead had to slaughter in the novel…! 

A demonic creature!

After all, it wasn’t normal to have three heads! But why didn’t Linden or anyone else say anything?!

“Hing?”

Kelber came up to me, whining in complaint when my petting suddenly stopped. But I couldn’t pat him as naturally as before.

‘To think that I had the bravery of a fool! You’ve been sleeping with a demonic creature on your lap!’

The difference between knowing and not knowing something largely influenced my point of view on things.

“Ha, haha… I’ll show you affection later. Haha…”

Kelber tilted his head, whining, as I laughed awkwardly and slowly moved away. However, he didn’t go after me since he was a kid that understood what I was saying.

‘But you never know… what if he suddenly changes and bites me…’

Apparently demonic creatures could willingly change their size… So he could even suddenly become the size of something like a brown bear…! I need to be careful…

I crept sneakily into the restaurant. The attendants, who opened the restaurant door for me, the knights, who were standing by the door, even the waiters who could be seen as you walked in. 

There was no way for me to tell who on earth was a demon, who was human, who was aware of Lecht’s identity, and who was involved in the carnage following the invasion, so I became wary of everyone. I became even more frightened since everyone gave me a beautiful smile.

‘Apparently people who smile while stabbing you in the back are scarier than people who normally show their anger on the outside.’

I sat at the table with my nerves on edge, as if I was in the middle of a haunted house. But before my butt could touch the chair, the door opened once again as Lecht walked in.

“Ara.”

He seemed to look bigger than usual, as he strode towards me. Probably because I now knew he was the Demon King.

I felt like I could see invisible wings and horns on him, and suddenly felt like I was under the illusion that I could even see the black energy I saw during his first meeting with Linden.

“Hic.” 

A hiccup leaked out of me. It was because of all the tension that I had built up within me on the way here.

“Hic!”

I hurriedly covered my mouth with both hands. However, I couldn’t stop my shoulders from shaking from time to time.

As soon as I started hiccuping, the servants waiting around came up to me in the blink of an eye and poured me some water.

“Would you like some hot tea?”

“If you’d prefer a soda, I’ll prepare that for you right now.”

Seeing them react to my hiccups, to the point of making a commotion over it, I waved my hands while only taking a glass of water. They bowed their heads and retreated, perhaps because they knew I was fine.

However, as they moved away, Lecht filled my vision instead.

“What’s the matter?”

He stood right next to my chair and patted me on the back.

“Is the temperature of the restaurant uncomfortable?”

He seemed to think that the sudden hiccups were due to the temperature.

“Or did you put a strain on your body coming to the restaurant despite not being fully recovered yet?”

“Hic.”

No, it’s clearly because I was surprised to see Lecht…

When I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth, he added quietly.

“Why didn’t you just call me to your room? It’s fine to eat there if it’s more comfortable for you.”

He spoke in a tone which was a mixture of sterness and tenderness. The aloof attitude that I had seen over the past few weeks was so miniscule that I couldn’t find it, even after washing my eyes. 

It disintegrated the tension within me for a moment, but I came to my senses straight away.

‘Now that I’ve been found out, it doesn’t matter anymore… is that why…?!’

Until recently, you continued to show such a domineering and overbearing posture in protecting your dignity, but now that I know you’re the Demon King, you’re telling me to grovel at your feet now that I know, right?

As I was trying to rationalize my thought process like this, I found something strange in my logic.

‘On the contrary, that doesn’t really add up.’

If you want to say, ‘Grovel at my feet now that you know’, after you reveal that you’re the Demon King, you should be even more domineering, so why did you suddenly become even more tender?

When I looked at him with a look that said I couldn’t understand him, he moved his hand that had been patting me on the back and placed it on my head. He gently patted my head, slowly, as if he were soothing a child, a faint smile appearing on his lips while doing so.

“You look like you have something to say.”

I was terrified when the thoughts in my mind were revealed. My eyes flitted back and forth as I frantically thought about how to say it. 

Could I just outright ask him openly, ‘Are you the Demon King?’ 

Come to think of it, the only thing he revealed to me was that he was the ‘Grand Duke of Arvis’, and it was thanks to the novel that I knew that the Grand Duke of Arvis was actually the Demon King. So there was a good chance that he didn’t know that I knew who he was.

However, isn’t the issue too serious for me to pretend to be ignorant and let it go?

But I couldn’t ask, ‘Why did you invade the Empire?’ And if I ask, ‘Why is the Empire of no use to you now that the rose has withered’… rather, he’d probably be suspicious of where I came to know of that.

Should I just lightly ask, ‘Do you know about demons?’ Or how about, ‘What are your plans for the next two months?’

I was trying to wrack my little brain with all my might, my eyes flitting back and forth when a warm hand touched my cheek. His thumb naturally brushed lightly against my eyes.

“You don’t need to look around and read the room like that. You can ask me.”

How did you know I was reading the room? Do you perhaps have mind reading abilities?

As I swallowed dryly due to anxiety, this time, his thumb came down to the corner of my mouth. Before I knew it, my lips, which were habitually pursed, were completely and perfectly exposed to his touch. 

When his roughly callused finger slowly swept over my lower lip, my nerves jumped, as if something that had been my secret had suddenly been revealed. The thumb that ran slowly across my lip line lightly rubbed the corner of my mouth before slowly sliding downwards.

His large hand, which was covering my cheek, also traced down the contours of my face, before gently taking a hold of my chin.

All his actions overstimulated me, perhaps because I was already extremely nervous. I was extra sensitive to his touch, as if all the nerves in my body were directed to my face.

The smile floating on his lips grew a little deeper.

“Why are you so nervous again?”

So, am I not supposed to look nervous in this situation? I mean, my favorite face is this close… 

Wait, no, it’s not that. Rather, it’s being caught by the Demon King?

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

I could hear the sound of my heart beating diligently in my ear drums.

However, it was his languid voice that made my eardrums cry for a respite.

“There’s something I want to do to you right now.”

The lack of strength in his voice created a needlessly sensual and suggestive atmosphere. 

His face, which had approached little by little, suddenly became close enough for us to feel each other’s breath. As if the tip of his nose could touch mine, it tickled me.

“But if I do it without permission… you’ll be frightened and run away, right?”

What do you want to do? What can you even do in this pose? There’s only one thing I can think of though.

It can’t be. There’s no way. Lustful demons, be gone. Pure thoughts, come back.

…Even then, there’s only one thing that comes to mind?!

“I want your permission.”

“…to what?”

The thing I’m thinking of? Is it really that? So suddenly, without any warning? 

It’s not like we’re lovers who get hot and flustered just from making eye contact, right? And in a restaurant too? With everyone looking at us?

Pfft, no way. In any case, Lecht might be too embarrassed as well…

“A kiss.”

…or not.

He stared straight at me with a scorching look so strong the temperature couldn’t be measured.

His request for consent was heard once more through the sound of my heart beating loudly in my ears.

“Please give me permission. To kiss you.”

There was an indescribably excitement that couldn’t be hidden in his deep voice.

---

cliffhanger MWAHAHHAHAHAHA

also sorry for not updating for AGES i went on like three roadtrips during uni break heheheh BUT IM BACK i’m taking less units this sem so hopefully that means more updates bc i rlly want to finish this project and smcs as well !!!

some things abt this chapter tho:
omg i felt rlly bad for kelber poor baby ;-;
but i did understand where ara was coming from too, just imagine acting the same way in front of a good friend after finding out they’re a mass murderer that decided to massacre everyone on a whim HGLDSKJDSJFS
am looking forward to how they develop as characters tho <3333

ALSO LECHT WITH THE SEXUAL TENSION ???? CHILL i might just have to steal him from ara if he doesn’t stop LMAOGIDSF /j

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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A vast garden lay before my eyes. 

There were nine gardeners in sight as well as three large fountains. Each of the divided areas were decorated after different styles. At the end of the vast garden was a road wide enough for carriages, and behind that stood a stone wall that stood tall like a fortress. 

I seemed to have also had this sort of dazed feeling when I first saw this sort of view outside of the Periot Dukedom’s window… But this wasn’t the Dukedom. It didn’t even look like Chivan village, which was the last place I remember.

“This is…”

As I reached my hand outside the window, a cold air rushed through my fingers. I looked at the scene with a dumbfounded face as the woman from before spoke to me again.

“May I introduce myself before I assist you in getting ready?”

I whipped my head around. That overly-cautious attitude made me uneasy somehow.

“Greetings, Miss. I’m Solte, the one who will be serving you exclusively from today onwards.”

“Exclusively?”

What kind of accommodation had people exclusively serving one person?

“Yes. There are two other people besides me, but one has gone to organize Miss’s clothes and shoes while the other has gone to prepare your meal.”

Wait, no matter how luxurious an accommodation is, to have three people… is impossible!

“Excuse me, wait a minute.”

No matter how ignorant I was of this world, there was no way I couldn’t realize that something was wrong when I opened my eyes to such an elegant room, a dazzlingly beautiful view outside the window, as well as three people who exclusively ‘served’ me.

“Who… no, not that.”

She clearly just introduced herself.

“Where am I? Why are you ‘exclusively’ serving me?”

I scanned my surroundings.

“What about Lecht? Is this Chivan Village?”

The only reason I was able to stay calm in this sort of bewildering situation was Kelber, who was by my side. The child who normally growls at strangers when necessary didn’t seem too concerned about Solte’s appearance. Rather, he sat there only looking at me and wagging his tail softly, as if he wasn’t interested at all. I was able to calmly enquire about the situation since Kelber’s behavior allowed me to know that I wasn’t in a dangerous situation. 

“Oh, my apologies. I didn’t realize that you’d need an explanation for that part.”

“No, it’s probably weirder for me to ask in this sort of situation.”

Waking up after sleeping soundly and asking, “Where am I?”. It would’ve been bewildering enough from Solte’s point of view.

“This is the central bedroom, located on the third floor of the main building in the Arvis Grand Dukedom. The reason I’ve been put in charge of taking care of you is because I’ve got the most diverse set of skills among the other maids and have been working the longest in the Grand Dukedom.”

“What…?”

I felt like I had been hit on the head by what she said. She went on, not knowing why I was shocked.

“If you are referring to the ‘Chivan Village’ which is located to the west of the Grand Duchy, then this isn’t the place. This is the residence of the Grand Ducal Family, which lies in the very heart of the Arvis Grand Duchy.”

“…”

“And His Excellency, the Grand Duke Lecht Arvis who you are looking for, is waiting for you in the study closest to the dining room so that he can dine with the miss at any time.”

Solte’s explanation was so detailed that I couldn’t even think I had heard wrong. However, I still hoped that I had heard wrong.

“Arvis, the Grand Duke?”

“Yes.”

“You mean, the Lecht I know…? The one with silver hair, a deep voice, and golden eyes that are sexy, that Lecht is the Grand Duke of Arvis?”

Solte seemed to be a little puzzled at my question, which was so bewildering that she couldn’t even continue to speak properly, and just nodded with a smile.

“His Excellency certainly has silver hair and a deep voice. All our employees also think that his gold eyes are cool as well.”

She seemed to think that I was bragging about Lecht, so she smiled and agreed enthusiastically. But what I needed wasn’t agreement. It was a denial of what I said.

“So Lecht is… the Grand Duke of Arvis… Oh…”

My head spun as my legs lost their strength in an instant.

“Miss!”

“Woof!”

Solte grabbed onto me quickly as Kelber supported me with his head as I stumbled. My head continued to spin, even with their help. I felt as if white were flashing before my eyes. 

Grand Duke Arvis. He was a founding contributor to the empire as well as an existence even the emperor feared.

So, Lecht…

“If that’s the case, since you like feathers, then we’ll go with that.”

That sweet Lecht…!

“You will be loved. Without a doubt, infinitely.”

That considerate Lecht…!

‘Was the Demon King?!?’

That day, for the first time in my life, I experienced how it felt to faint.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

<The ground rumbled with every step he took. The spot that he brushed past while exuding a dark energy froze over, as if it had been struck with the frost of night. 

Those eyes filled with vitality and the long hair fluttering in the wind aroused a bloody air. Those huge black wings, several times the size of his body that could destroy monuments with just a gust of wind from a single flap as well as those round horns protruding from his temple indicated that he was not a human being.

Having destroyed the capital in an instant, he stepped foot into the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Knights, who were in disorder fighting against the army he had brought, fought a bloody battle, but the Imperial Knights were far too lacking compared to the demon troops, whose abilities far exceeded that of humans. They fell like autumn leaves.

“Grand Duke Arvis! Why in the world are you doing this all of a sudden?!”

The desperate voice of the emperor, who had been driven into a corner, rang out. He had thought as long as he didn’t provoke him, he wouldn’t venture out from the Grand Duchy, but just what the hell had made him so dissatisfied to the point that it had made him turn his sword to the Empire? He couldn’t think of anything, no matter how much he thought about it.

The Grand Duke, who was looking at the emperor with an unreadable expression on his face, slowly extended his left hand, which had been clenched in a fist. What slowly fluttered out from his grasp were black rose petals.

“Because the rose has withered.”

The black rose petals were scattered in all directions, carried by the cool wind.

“That’s why the Empire is no longer needed.”

A voice that was mixed with such deep emotions it felt as if one was tearing out their own heart. 

“Their traces, I’ll erase them all. If I don’t, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“…”

“Though naturally, I’m not in my right mind right now either.”

The Demon King, Grand Duke Arvis, who was pretty much talking to himself, slowly raised his sword. 

And in that way, he destroyed the very empire he had built with his own hands.>

That was the Grand Duke Arvis I know. Suddenly appearing and establishing an empire, living there for 100 years disguised as a Grand Duke, then suddenly destroying the empire for reasons no one could understand. The Demon King. 

But you’re saying that Lecht is that Demon King. And this place is the Grand Duchy, which is no different than his base. 

So I… instead of fleeing the country, had on the contrary, crawled into the hideout of the very person who had destroyed the empire.

‘I’m crazy…!’

In any case, I think this life has been completely ruined! Losing my mind over that shocking fact, I covered myself with the blanket and tore my hair out. 

Even if it goes wrong, this is too big of a disaster! No wonder his out of this world appearance didn’t seem to look like a human’s; he was never a real human.

‘Didn’t the novel clearly say he has wings? And horns? And long hair?!’

I thought he was just one of the nobles the emperor trusted and considered close. And treating Linden sharply was due to the support of the emperor. But rather than that, he was an existence where there would be no consequences, even if he looked down on all the mortals in this empire. 

I hurriedly reflected on my past behavior. I hadn’t said anything that would cause any trouble, right? I hadn’t cursed at demons or the Demon King, right?

‘Didn’t I say some bullshit about having the Demon King be my escort?’

Oh my Lunar… What can I do? I didn’t want this. I just wanted to live a peaceful and pain-free life. 

But it’s not enough, even after suddenly singling me out as your child, making me a saintess, and making my plans of fleeing the country fly away, so you let me chatter some bullshit statement to the demon king.

It’s obvious that Lunar hates me. It’s obvious that a saintess is chosen, not as the child they love the most, but as the child they want to bully the most…!

‘Hnng. What should I do?’

How laughable it must have seemed for a person like me to ask him to escort me. How hilarious!

It was when I was kicking my blanket in shame as all kinds of dark history and trivial words I had said without knowing he was the Demon King came flooding into my head, one after another.

Knock. Knock.

A knocking sound was heard.

“Who is it…?”

With the blanket wrapped up to my neck, I asked cautiously.

“Miss, it’s me, Tanma.”

“Oh.”

I said, breathing a sigh of relief when I heard that it wasn’t the Demon King, Lecht.

“Come in-”

But my words were blocked in an instant. 

Wait a minute. If Lecht is the Demon King, then Tanma, his closest aide is…? There’s no way  the butler serving the Demon King doesn’t know that he’s the Demon King. So does that mean that Tanma isn’t just an ordinary human being either…?

“Heok.”

Suddenly having another realization, I froze when I saw the incoming Tanma. Even though I had seen him for several weeks, at this moment, he suddenly looked completely different.

“How are you feeling?”

“…”

“I’ve called in all the doctors and healer mages, but they’ve all said it’s nothing but simple fatigue.”

He clicked his tongue and came over to me.

If Lecht is the Demon King, then even if he can’t be, Tanma is definitely the second-in-command.

<The middle-aged aide always knew and carried out what the Demon King wanted, like a ghost. There was nothing that could stop him since there was nothing he lacked in skill, so their invasion proceeded without a hitch.>

This old man was also a dangerous old man…! 

I swallowed dryly as I watched the butler who was smiling mildly walk up to my bed.

“We are in the midst of preparing an elixir that helps improve anemia and physical strength.”

“Elixir… haha…”

Don’t tell me, it’s a medicine that demons take? Won’t I be taking it in vain if any side effects from taking it come up? Don’t tell me, you’ll overturn the continent just to find it, there’s no way, right…?

<The only thing they left in their wake was silence and devastation. Everything in the empire had returned to nothing.>

Although I hadn’t even read the novel that diligently, phrases from it kept popping up in my head. 

I shut my eyes tightly and shook my head. Let’s calm down. They still haven’t invaded yet.

There’s still two months lef-

Damn, we only have two months left?!

---

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

“…Is that so?”

The force behind the hug was stronger than anything I had ever felt so I hugged him back. 

In any case, it seemed like he was very moved by the fact that I was the saintess. I felt as if I needed to comfort him. Although I knew he was a very devout believer, I didn’t know that’d he’d be this happy upon the appearance of the saintess.

“Then, Lecht is now my escort knight, right?” 

Even if I couldn’t satisfy all of the Lunar religion, I at least wanted to satisfy Lecht.

“Did I not hear it correctly? You said you’d protect me if I was the master of the holy relic.”

Although I didn’t need the life or soul he had talked about, I still would’ve been happy with his protection.

“You know you can’t go back on your own word, right?” 

As I joked around with him, the arms around me got tighter and tighter. As I was pressed closer to his body and could feel the tight muscles of his torso more clearly, my heart started to flutter.

Ah… A saintess shouldn’t be doing this sort of thing with a believer. 

Good thoughts… Good thoughts…

However, my efforts were sadly all wiped out by the small sigh he had let out near my earlobe. How could a sigh be so seductive? As I sang the national anthem in my head in an attempt to get rid of the wicked thoughts in my head, he slowly released me.

He held me by my shoulders and wouldn’t let go of me despite already releasing me from his embrace. His face was filled with more emotion than ever before. 

A slightly wrinkled brow, but a mouth that was slightly raised at its corners. It wasn’t pain, nor was it desperation either. Just what the hell is that emotion? 

To think that the emotions a believer could feel for a saintess who had finally appeared for the first time in 100 years could be so rich. Because they had been waiting so eagerly for so long.

After looking at me for a long time, he slowly said with a deep voice that seemed to have turned the temple into a cave.

“I promise¹.”

I, who had been smiling in anticipation at what he was going to say to me, suddenly felt my heart skip a beat. It was because of his face. Even though he was a kind person, it felt as if he had built a wall somewhere in him. 

However, I could see all the boundaries collapsing from his face at this moment. A gaze full of tenderness and affection. A faint, but extremely captivating and languid smile. He took my breath away in a completely unexpected way.

“Until the very day the world ends.”

Badump, badump, badump.

My heart dropped down to the floor and bounced up several times, like a rubber ball.

“Until not a single one of your wishes is left unfulfilled.”

I was clearly getting a sense of how frightfully awful fanatic devotion was. So it would only be right for me to feel scared and refuse him.

“I will stay by your side and keep you from all harm, I promise.”

He covered my face, which had become the color of a peach, with his large hands. He gently stroked my cheek with his thumb, as if it had become a habit. The hard calluses on his hand felt extremely soft.

“As long as you’ll let me.”

Ah… I guess this is why people become leaders of cults².

His frighteningly sweet unconditional declaration made my heart flutter.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

On the road down the mountain, I was once again forced by the eagerness of Tanma and the priests to go down again on Lecht’s back. 

Although I had struggled to calm down my pounding heart at first, my body was exhausted from just receiving the sacred relic and his broad back was so warm. Soon, sleep overcame me.

Returning to Chivan village with me, who had fallen asleep, the group soon split in two.

“Then, we will contact you as soon as the preparations for the Saintess’s proclamation ceremony are complete.”

Lydia and the priests had to go to the main temple to prepare for a ceremony to proclaim Meliara as the Saintess of the God of Night.

t/n: author inconsistency. went from god of the moon to god of night.

On the other hand, while the temple was preparing to receive her as a saintess, it was decided that Meliara would stay at Lecht’s estate. 

Of course, this decision was naturally made without Meliara. Since she had been too busy sleeping to hear. 

However, Lecht didn’t think it’d be a problem since he had already told her that he’d take her to his estate if she was the master of the sacred relic. He had nothing to gain from dawdling around in Chivan village, so he was just about to set off.

“If you’re lacking in funding, please feel free to contact us at any time.”

While Lecht laid Meliara comfortably in the carriage, Tanma discussed the schedule with Lydia.

“Then, see you soon.” 

When Tanma returned to the carriage after finishing his conversation with Lydia, he found his master kneeling on one knee on the floor of the carriage, staring intently at the sleeping Meliara.

“Here is a blanket, Your Majesty.”

Tanma handed over the blanket which had been prepared inside the carriage. Receiving it, Lecht glanced at Tanma in response. Somehow, his voice seemed to be very cheerful, and his face looked refreshed.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“The partner my master has been waiting for for over 100 years has finally appeared, so of course I’m in a good mood.”

“I think it’s because of a different reason though.”

Despite Lecht’s suspicions, Tanma only smiled.

“I’m looking forward to the day I can welcome the Young Miss to the Demon King’s Palace.”

Although he had spoken kindly, he had actually said in other words, ‘You left the Demon King’s Palace unattended because you were looking for her’. There was a lot of dissatisfaction in his gentle tone, But Lecht had nothing to retort.

Because of his own insistence on waiting for her in the human world, Tanma had suffered a lot, whether it be acting as the Demon King’s deputy and proxy, or as the Grand Duke’s butler.

“Would it be better to hold the wedding in the Demon Realm~?”

Lecht, who was watching Tanma move away while humming a pleasant concern, turned his head again just for his eyes to land on Ara.

“…Ara.”

With her name on his lips, a tingling sensation rose from his heart and numbed all the nerves in his body. It was a pleasant sensation. 

He stretched his hand toward her face. The tip of his finger touched her forehead, then gently moved down along her face to her cheek.

“Mmm…”

Perhaps because she felt ticklish, she whined fretfully in her sleep and brushed her face with her hands. Lecht gently pulled his hand back. After rubbing her face for a while, she fell asleep again with a snore. 

A small smile crept across Lecht’s lips as he watched her fall asleep with her hand on her cheek. The past voice that had become a distant memory now echoed vaguely in his ear.

‘Just you wait! Later on, you’ll be so into me you won’t even be able to get out of it, Lecht!’

She, who had taught him compassion and affection, which he had thought to be the most meaningless and unnecessary emotions in the world.

‘You didn’t know? Lecht is very considerate. He’s a man who’s overflowing with kindness and warmth.’

She made him realize what it felt like to experience preciousness and affection when all he had known was nothing but absolute power and authority, and was the first and only woman in this world who loved and trusted him infinitely without any cost.

‘No matter what happens, we’ll definitely meet again. I know it.’

She had turned his life upside down and left it as well. She was the kind of woman who had shaken all his beliefs and so sure of herself to the point where it was harsh.

‘Then, I promise I’ll never leave you alone.’

So he had believed her. So he had waited with anticipation, leaning on that one promise which had been spoken with no witnesses or evidence, simply because it was her who had said it.

‘So please wait obediently, okay?’

As long as 100 years.

‘What did I need to be certain of?’

The fact that he had wasted his time going on about certainty was pathetic. The way she talks in her sleep, the way she seems flustered by his touch but doesn’t reject it, the way she sees things as she pleases and acts brightly.

‘So clearly, this is all you.’

Although the color had changed, the loveliness contained in those copper eyes looking up at him was exactly the same as that contained in those black eyes.

There was no part that wasn’t her.

“This time, I’ll definitely protect everything.”

Lecht whispered softly, hoping she could hear him in her dreams.

Even your laughter. Even your tears. I will protect all of your hopes, dreams, and happiness.

“Just stay by my side.”

Just like you promised.

‘Then, I promise I’ll never leave you alone.’

Even if it’s a promise only he remembers.

“That’ll be enough.”

As long as he didn’t have to fall into the swamp of waiting for a long time again, then there was nothing tough about it.

The 100-year wait was a suffocating amount of time, even for a Demon King with a long lifespan.

* * *

I seem to have had a very happy dream. 

Although I couldn’t remember it very well, already having received a great welcome to the morning, I lay down and stretched. The feeling of the blanket on my body felt very pleasant today. It was soft like silk and cool like 100% cotton.

“This place uses nice blankets…”

Mumbling as I hugged the soft blanket, I suddenly thought of what happened last night and opened my eyes.

“Heok. How did I even get to this room?”

The last thing I remembered was that Lecht’s back was extremely large and warm. It seems like the tension I had in the temple had probably been melted by Lecht’s warmth, so I had fallen asleep on his back.

Recalling the embarrassing incident last night, I suddenly came to my senses, thinking that I should at least apologize to him for causing trouble.

“Huh? This isn’t my room though?”

As I got up, I realized that this wasn’t the room I had unpacked in when I had arrived at Chivan village. Then, whose room is this? Wait, no, is this the right room? Even the size of the bed I was lying in was bigger than the room I had unpacked in.

The first thing that came to mind was Meliara’s room back in the Duke’s estate. It was around that size, wait, no, even bigger than that room. 

However, unlike that room which had felt empty and deserted at that time, this room was filled to the brim. Of course, not only was the furniture pretty, but every single one of the ornaments were simplistic yet grand. It was a poised, yet luxurious room.

‘I don’t think this is our accommodation’s room.’

I went to move in order to confirm it. 

But then, I ended up kicking Kelber, who was lying at my feet.

“Kking?”

t/n: onomatopoeia of dog whining

Kelber, who had been sleeping, suddenly woke up at the poof sound that came from my kick. He shook his head, then stuck out his front paws to stretch.

“Woof! Woof!”

Kelber jumped out of bed and gently wagged his tail at me, as if telling me to follow him.

“Kelber. Where are we?”

I followed after him. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I heard a knocking sound.

“May I come in, Miss?”

“Yes, please enter.”

Since they were probably an employee of the accommodation, I answered. It was a woman who was dressed neatly and wearing an apron that came in through the door.

“If you’re awake, would you like me to draw the curtains now?”

“Oh, yes, thank you.”

Although I thought they’d ask me, “What time would you like me to come in for housekeeping today?”, I still nodded, bewildered that they’d even draw the curtains for me.

As they pulled the thick curtains aside, the sunlight that had been hidden behind it poured in. I frowned slightly at the sudden brightness in my vision. As I blocked the sunlight with my hands and walked to the window, my squinted eyes suddenly widened again at the scenery outside the window.

“What is this…?”

[1] 약속하마 lecht uses the ending ‘마’ which is used as a final ending to a sentence to promise something to the listener so he basically double promises her AHHHH

[2] 광신교 refers to ‘fanaticism’ but i’ll be using it interchangeably with ‘cult’ depending on the context since they both do fit. i’ve referred to it as ‘cult leader’ just because it’s more understandable in english and also because meliara is referring to the blind affection and devotion cults lavish onto their leader or god (i.e. ymir in attack on titan)

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IM CRYING LECHT LOVES ARA SO MUCH IM LITERALLY SOBBING ON THE FLOOR WHILE TLING THIS

you can literally feel how much lecht loves meliara through his descriptions of her and it’s killing me even more as i tl this GHLSDKFJFSJ QAQ

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

“Wow.”

I let out a natural gasp at the scenery of the place where Lecht had dropped me off.

“How wonderful.”

That was my first thought upon seeing the temple of the moon god. Seeing as it was known as an abandoned temple since no one took care of it, I thought it would look gloomy, like a haunted house. But that wasn’t the case at all. 

The surrounding mountains were all covered in shadows due to the dense forest, but as far as where the temple was located, a lot of light fell through the foliage of the trees.

Although we set off right after lunch, the moon was already up by the time we arrived since the sun had set rather early. Although it wasn’t a full moon yet, the amount of moonlight illuminating the ground was still ample. 

The temple, which had been flooded with moonlight peaking through the leaves, was shining brightly. It was as if stars had been scattered over the temple roof.

The vines that climbed up the wall seemed to make the temple more antique than messy. Perhaps because of the shape of the surrounding trees, the temple seemed safe, as if the mountains around it were warmly embracing it.

“Watch your feet as you enter.”

Lydia opened the door and entered first. The heavy door squeaked, as if it had been left unattended for a long time. It wasn’t an unpleasant noise either.

The interior had an antique elegance of its own. The dust floating in the air danced softly under the moonlight coming in through the window.

“The cleanliness of this place is rather poor since it hasn’t been maintained very well, so be careful not to get your clothes dirty.”

At Lydia’s words, the three priests kicked up a fuss to defend my clothes. Thanks to the cute priests who were worrying down to the most insignificant and trivial details, I was able to bravely walk up with a light heart to the altar where Lydia stood.

When I stepped up to the altar, I was able to see the temple from a slightly higher perspective. It was just as cool as I had expected.

“Then, shall we begin the process without delay?”

“Alright.”

Whether it was sightseeing or simply taking my own time. We had already delayed it for so long because of me, so I thought it would be better to conclude the procedure quickly.

“What should I do?”

The moment had now come for me to know whether the holy object they were talking about was the same as the defence cheat that I knew about.

“First, come here.”

I followed Lydia’s instructions. 

When I stood where she was talking from, I could see a clean bowl. Although it was rather old, it was clean and seemed to be very well kept, unlike the rest of the temple. As soon as I saw it, I could tell, ‘Oh, so that’s the holy object’.

As Lydia instructed, I lifted the bowl with both hands. As soon as my hand touched it, the bowl gave off a soft glow and began to fill up with something on its own.

“This is…?”

“It fills up automatically when being touched with the power of the moon god.”

Gosh, there were so many fascinating things. 

I took the bowl of water and walked further into the temple with Lydia guiding me. There were elaborate patterns carved into the floor. It didn’t seem like a pattern merely used as a decoration for the temple, but rather, it was large and profound, as if it contained some sort of meaning. 

Above all, what really stood out was the towering pillar that rose from the middle of the pattern. It was about the height and thickness of my waist, with the circular top hollowed out. It was a much gentler curve than the concave bowl I was holding onto currently.

“This is a ‘pillar’ which can be found in every temple. When a temple is built in a place within God’s reach, it’s the first thing that’s planted and carved, with the temple collapsing the moment it is destroyed.”

Lydia explained with a smile, as if it had been obvious to her that I’d been curious.

“How fascinating.”

“It’s because all temples are connected by the will of God.”

Will of God you say… What sort of god is the moon god?

“You just need to pour the water from the bowl in here.”

The place Lydia was referring to was the dip on top of the pillar. 

Splish—

As I poured the water in, Lydia took the bowl away from me and asked me to hold onto the pillar.

“Please imbue the energy slowly, and as warm as possible please.”

As warm as possible you say. If I had heard this sort of phrase a few days ago, I would have wondered what it meant. However, I could understand what Lydia meant since I had made this sort of light and that sort of light and so on in the process of making a bunch of lights for Linden.

I infused the pillar with energy that was Linden’s favorite color. The pillar began to glow with my power. The water that was contained at the top gradually started to be absorbed into the pillar. 

Then, a breathtakingly beautiful scene began to unfold.

“Wow…”

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

The stream of water where my light had fused together with it started to flow along the patterns engraved on the floor. As the water filled the circular patterns, the surrounding area near my feet began to get brighter and brighter. 

The pattern was much larger than I thought. Centered around me, it slowly filled the floor and started climbing up the walls and the pillars as well. By the time all the fine lines had been filled up, the whole temple was bathed in light that was melded with my power. 

It was beautiful in a different sense to the time when only moonlight would flood through my window. It was such a picturesque sight that when I turned my head, even the noisy trio had been stunned into silence. 

The thought that anyone would have believed in God if presented with this sort of scenery suddenly flashed through my head. 

It was at that moment.

Flash! 

A single beam of light suddenly burst from the pillar. It flew from the area above me and flashed, scattering before it reached the ceiling. The light, which seemed to disappear in all directions, quickly began to converge in one place again.

And with a gentle breeze, an object slowly appeared. It was floating in the air, so incredibly large that it was hard to believe that it came from such a thin pillar.

“A shield…?”

Its presence overwhelmed the surroundings much quicker than the faint outlines from earlier.

Hum— Hum—

It vibrated gently, as if it were speaking to me.

“It’s a holy relic that has been passed down for 100 years. It has the ability to identify and confirm powers anywhere, as long as it’s a temple of the moon god.”

Lydia’s resounding voice was mixed with the resonating sound of the holy relic. 

“Unlike how anyone who has been confirmed to possess the divine power of the moon god, there is only one person in this world who can truly embrace and bear this.”

I could tell who it was, even without asking.

“It’s been said that this piece of armor has been reserved for the next saintess by Lunar.”

Lydia’s words confirmed my thoughts.

“It’s something that belongs to the saintess, that’s what I think.”

“…”

“Will you be able to turn my hope into faith?”

I proved myself as a saintess through that, and in a pretty way as well. I pulled my hand off the pillar, took a few steps back and raised my head. 

It was so I could fit the whole shield into my line of sight. Although it was silver, it didn’t feel particularly holy. Although the energy it exuded was rather overwhelming, I could also sense its feelings.

‘I can sense… its feelings.”

No matter how divine a holy relic was, it was still awkward for me to be able to feel the emotions of objects. However, the emotion I had felt in that object was definitely ‘deep affection’.

I didn’t mean that objects normally showed affection for me though. It was just that I could feel the love and affection that was put into that object when it was created. It felt as if it had been made, stitch by stitch, while thinking about the person who would use it.

Was it because of the elaborate designs on it? Was it because of its pretty appearance? Was it because of its mystical color? Did Lunar put their whole heart into it, just because it was a holy relic?

‘What was the person who made you thinking when they were making you?’

It was said to have been passed down for 100 years as an object that Lunar had left for the next saintess. That’s how long both Lunar, as well as Lunarisms, had been waiting for the next saintess, right?

I reached for it with a smile. My palms turned upwards. As if it were to hold my hand.

“I don’t know if I’m worthy enough.”

Will I be able to meet their expectations? Will the self-centered me, who hadn’t thought at all of protecting the citizens of the empire and had merely thought of hurriedly fleeing on my own at the sound of war breaking out, will I really be able to be the Saintess?

“Although I’m not sure, I’ll try to bear the responsibilities of a saintess.”

The love and affection you have in me. The hope of the Lunar religion. The expectations of the believers. Even though I’m worried about what will happen if I only bring disappointment, and how I’m scared of the fact that they may not like me when they meet me in person.

“Will you give me courage?”

I spoke to the holy relic with a sincere heart.

“Be with me.”

The shield, which only had an outline, gradually filled with light and soon began to glow to the point where it was dazzling.

Hum— Hum— Hum—

The entire atmosphere resonated with the shield, its amplitude of vibration awakening my soul. I let go of my power and submitted myself to my senses. 

My divine power, which began to scatter all throughout my skin, became one with the vibration of the shield and filled the air. As the temple slowly raised its sleeping head, something lurking silently within my soul poked its head out. 

A gentle breeze from somewhere blew in with a whoosh— and wrapped around me and the shield in unison. A gust of wind that was too soft to be called a whirlwind tickled me.

The shield, which had discovered a clear model, gradually became smaller and smaller before falling into the palm of my hand. Like the dissolving of a melting snowflake, the shield seeped into my body and climbed up my arm before settling within my solar plexus. 

The light of the shield, which had been humming to the beat of my heart, gradually faded away. At the same time, the rays of light which had spread all throughout the temple also faded away. The temple became silent, as if the one who had shown such a phenomenal appearance hadn’t been them. 

It returned to being a temple densely filled with dust. I was the only one who had changed. A new resolution. A confirmed identity. A genuine power that had been embraced.

“Congratulations.”

Lydia was the first to welcome me back. She placed her hand on her chest, bowed her head, and knelt down on one knee to greet me. The hyperactive three priests also did the same. They saluted me with a serious look that was incongruent to their usual expressions.

“Saintess.”

Although I had heard that same word a number of times already, it now reminded me of those past memories.

“You may feel frustrated since there will be a lot of things I don’t know. You may also be unsatisfied since I may not measure up to how long you have waited. However, I will try my best to meet your expectations.”

I spoke frankly.

“So please take care of me.”

“The honour is mine, Saintess. I will assist you with all my might.”

I laughed awkwardly at Lydia’s excessively respectful words. It still felt a little awkward to be treated as such a high-ranking and divine person. But I’d get used to it someday, right?

However, even if that’s the case, I didn’t want to feel distant from them. At that thought, I naturally thought of Lecht. I suddenly thought that we’d become distant for no reason, since a faithful believer like Lecht might be too busy revering me instead.

I turned my head quickly.

“Then, Lecht is now my escort kni…!”

My playful words were swallowed back inside. It was because of the large pair of arms that had embraced me the moment I turned around. It was the scent I had kept smelling ever since I came here, and a scent that I really liked, so I could automatically tell who it was without even checking.

In the first place, there was only one person here who was able to engulf me in such a large embrace.

“Lecht…?”

Although he had a tight grip on me, as if he were trying to hold onto a small bluebird trying to fly away, the force he exerted was cautious, as if he were anxious not to hurt me.

“As I expected, it really is you.”

His voice was more serious than usual.

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two updates bc i’m finally on break from uni WOOOOOOOO
i’m going to try update this and smcs regularly but no promises bc i need to get my laptop repaired during this break too ;-;

pls comment on what u enjoyed in this chapter bc ur comments are honestly my motivation to tl GHSDLIJF
ALSO rate and review if u haven’t alr on novelupdates hehehehe ilu all and ty <333