“Make sure to come back soon to express your gratitude properly,” he murmured to himself.
“But I heard that this year’s apples are in abundance, so over half of the ingredients have apple in them.”
“…I’ll go,” Ellyad ultimately succumbed to the temptation of apple dishes.
“If needed, I can personally be your guide.”
“I appreciate that.”
“You really do love apples,” Wei Yu remarked before leaving the room, waiting for Ellyad to follow.
Once they were alone, Lena appeared by Ellyad’s side, her expression filled with concern. “Are you sure your body is okay?”
Since childhood, Lena and the gray scarf had always been by his side, like inseparable family.
“I’m fine,” Ellyad reassured her softly.
—
The morning sunlight streamed through the open windows of the palace corridor, and a gentle breeze accompanied it. The marketplace was bustling with lively crowds, and here, you could hear the bustling noise of the people and even catch a faint whiff of apple fragrance.
“Why so slow? You’re not feeling unwell, are you?” Wei Yu, waiting in the corridor, anxiously inquired as Ellyad emerged from the room with a slow pace.
“I was just thinking, is it considered a long time if they leave for three days just to bring a magical creature back? Although they said they would come back, but…” Ellyad’s gaze was uneasy, resembling that of a child who felt abandoned.
Although Wei Yu wanted to offer comforting words, he wasn’t certain himself about the credibility of the demons’ words.
“Don’t worry,” Lena suddenly appeared in front of Ellyad and said emphatically, “If he dares to run away, we’ll catch up to him and give him a proper thrashing!” She was at least halfway serious, and Ellyaad couldn’t help but laugh at Lena’s expression.
Thrett had mentioned that Ellyad was different from others, so he probably wouldn’t leave without a word. Relieved by his worries, Ellyad’s appetite surged, and he decided to indulge in some apple dishes while waiting for Thrett to pick him up. After that, they would continue their journey to the Demon King’s Castle.
The three walked side by side, and suddenly, Ellyad turned to look out of the window.
A strong wind blew from outside, and Ellyad rushed over, leaning on the windowsill to look down. Thrett stood on the ground, looking up at him.
“Yawn, missed a good chance to give him a good thrashing,” Lena grumbled discontentedly under her breath.
Ellyad leaped onto the windowsill, seemingly intending to jump directly down. Wei Yu hastily stopped him, saying, “Wait, Ellyad! What are you trying to do climbing onto the windowsill? It’s high up here!” But it was too late to stop him, and Ellyad jumped down towards Thrett without hesitation.
Thrett timely opened his arms and caught Ellyad accurately, holding him close. He exclaimed, “Ell, that’s too dangerous!”
“It’s fine.” Ellyad indeed proved that he was unharmed after jumping down, as Thrett securely caught him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qfii, P uefrr rb. Ds atf kjs, jgf sbe bxjs?” Ktgfaa gfofggfv ab atf lcpeglfr Siisjv reoofgfv ogbw atf wbcrafg j ofk vjsr jub.
Siisjv rtbbx tlr tfjv, gfjrreglcu Ktgfaa.
Ciatbeut Siisjv ofia fwyjggjrrfv atf ijra alwf tf kjr tfiv jujlcra Ktgfaa’r mtfra, tf vlvc’a atlcx bo la atja kjs cbk. Snfc atgbeut atf ojyglm, tf mbeiv offi Ktgfaa’r kjgwat, mgfjalcu j qfmeiljg rfcrjalbc.
“Good to know you’re okay.”
Thrett flashed a hearty smile at Ellyad, who looked down at him. Suddenly, Ellyad reached out and touched Thrett’s face.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
“Huh? Nothing, I couldn’t help myself…” Ellyad quickly withdrew his hand and jumped down from Thrett.
“Welcome back,” Lena spoke through gritted teeth, appearing and clinging to Thrett’s shoulder.
“Oh shit, something weird stuck to me.” Thrett reached out and grabbed the little elf’s head, treating her like a dirty thing and pulling her down from his shoulder.
“How dare you call me a strange thing, you stupid bastard!” Lena began to angrily create a commotion, her tantrum resembling Queen Lily’s.
Thrett couldn’t help but wonder in his mind why the actions of any possesion elves seemed so similar, regardless of the individual.
Wei Yu silently watched the interaction of the three on the windowsill and looked for Ziyuan’s presence, but he couldn’t find him anywhere.
After the National Hero week, Wei Yu didn’t know what to do. Staying in the country, being killed, or exiled might just be a matter of time. Moreover, he didn’t have the courage to continue bearing the disdain of everyone.
‘What should I do then?’ The light in Wei Yu’s eyes gradually faded, and he leaned against the wall with heavy shoulders.
At this moment, a calm voice came from behind Wei Yu, “If you can’t be a hero, can’t you even be a prince?”
“Ziyuan.” Wei Yu was surprised by Ziyuan’s appearance; he hadn’t seen him just a moment ago.
“You humans really are stubborn, or should I say, blind?” Ziyuan abruptly criticized without referring to the previous conversation.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you humans, always shouting about the goddess and the hero, but you don’t see the things that are truly more valuable than a hero.”
“How can there be something more valuable than a hero?” Wei Yu said, but Ziyuan’s gaze steadfastly met Wei Yu’s, overwhelming his rebuttal.
“On that night, you tried to convince me, pointing a gun at me to intimidate, showing no fear of how the Demon King might retaliate. The courage and confidence you have, even offering your life to protect this country, can it be compared to the trivial things of a hero?”
“That’s…”
“Listen carefully, even the Demon King who rules all the demons cannot sacrifice and dedicate himself to his people like you do. Just with this, haven’t you already surpassed the Demon King?”
“Why do you sound like you’re talking about someone else, Ziyuan?”
“Listen to me, asshole!”
Wei Yu burst into laughter; it turned out Ziyuan was comforting him, and in such an unconventional way. Ziyuan was right; he was the prince of this country. Even if he lost the title of a hero, he would wholeheartedly protect this lush and green country.
“And you indeed are a hero, isn’t that what you said?” Although it was an incomplete inheritance, he did possess the power of a hero, posing a threat to the Demon King.
“Hahaha!” Wei Yu suddenly burst into laughter. “Watch out, Demon King, one day I will personally come to defeat you.”
“Looking forward to that day,” Ziyuan smiled charmingly, slightly bowing. The fake hero and the fake Demon King exchanged smiles.
Wei Yu looked at the cityscape outside the window, feeling as if Ziyuan’s words had guided him, grasping the dawn of a guiding direction in his heart.
—
Memories of the Demon King’s Castle
—
In the midst of darkness, one yearns even more for light.
In the darkness, no, I am the entirety of darkness. Therefore, you in my eyes shine so brilliantly, so splendidly.
This is my original reason—back in the beginning of the world—to deeply fall in love with you
—
“Queen Lily come out quickly.”
A long-unheard voice echoed in the castle, and the beautiful elven woman immediately sprang into action, rushing over.
“Thrett, Ziyuan, you’re finally back!” King Lily appeared before the Demon King Thret with delight.
“Enough with the small talk, quickly help me remove the sealed barrier.” The first words spoken were these, irritating Queen Lily, but the current Demon King looked even more displeased, so she dared not say much.
“Wow, what happened? The seal has been reduced to just one layer!” Queen Lily circled around Thret, exclaimed after observing.
As the guardian spirit of the Demon King’s castle, Queen Lily possessed formidable defensive magic. For ordinary demons, even one layer of her protection was like an impregnable fortress. Not to mention the immense power of seventy-seven seals. However, Thret now only had a nearly crumbling defense barrier with just one layer remaining.
“I told you not to worry about it, I still need to go back and find Ellyad—Hey, don’t be stubborn right now!” Queen Lily deliberately pouted and refused to help Thrett remove the seal, seemingly retaliating for Thrett’s departure from the Demon King’s castle months ago.
“I’ll bring someone interesting for you to meet next time, so help me now.” Sometimes, Thrett couldn’t handle the playful Queen Lily, so he had to resort to a pitiful tactic.
Thrett had been with Queen Lily since as far back as he could remember. Because of this, they were naturally close, and out of the twenty-eight Demon Kings from the past to the present, Lily’s favorite was Thrett, though this referred to her ranking of preferred Demon Kings.
Of course, she also liked Ziyuan, the caretaker of the pets, and the easily bullied soldiers and pets in the Demon King’s castle.
After removing the seal from Lily, leaving behind the fire-breathing dragon, Thrett hastily left the castle again with Ziyuan.
Queen Lily watched the two leave and continued to ponder how to spend her idle time alone.
Time flew, and suddenly darkness descended. The graceful elven beauty sat on the castle’s parapet, the black night accentuating the gloom and ominous aura of the Demon King’s castle.
Everything in the world had its destined counterpart, a presence that mirrored oneself—the other half of the soul.
“A man’s other half is a woman, night’s other half is day, the Demon King’s other half is the hero. So, what is my other half?” Queen Lily often pondered this question to pass the time, thinking about it for thousands of years. Even now, she continued to search. Today was no different, as she repeatedly contemplated the answer under the moonlight for three watches of the night.
—
It’s been so long that I can’t remember when it happened—
Outside the castle, rumors abound about the current Demon King’s cruel deeds: rape, pillaging, arson, and looting. Virtually every kind of evil act. The western half of the Sipistole Continent has long since fallen, and all living beings live in fear.
He is a perfectly exemplary Demon King, but this has nothing to do with Queen Lily. She is only responsible for guarding the Demon King’s castle and doesn’t need to do anything else.
Since the day this Demon King was born, Queen Lily has not appeared before him. However, she often peeks out from various corners of the castle to play pranks on the soldiers.
On a forgotten day, Queen Lily saw the Demon King dragging a half-dead human and throwing him into the dungeon.
That human was the hero, bound hand and foot, imprisoned in a cage of magic. It seemed his mission to defeat the Demon King was destined to fail, and so was his remaining life.
Queen Lily never cared about what the Demon King was up to, but she was genuinely curious. She walked towards the dungeon but, before seeing the hero, she noticed something else.
It was a blood-red, wide-bladed sword lying on the ground and a platinum-haired elven girl.
“First time seeing an elf other than me, huh? Hello there. You’re the guardian spirit of the Hero’s Sword, aren’t you?” Queen Lily ran over with great interest to greet.
In reality, the number of guardian spirits was extremely rare. Judging by the elven girl’s blood-red attire, one could roughly guess her background. Unfortunately, the platinum-haired elf completely ignored her.
“Hey, hey, can you talk? Aren’t you happy to see someone of the same kind?”
“I and thou are not of the same kind,” replied the platinum-haired elf coldly.
There’s something between Queen Lily and Lena, I wonder what!
Thank you for the chapter ~
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
I think the two elves (are the more like fairies or spirits?) make a more fun side couple than the “fake hero and demon lord”, but idk. Seems like a lot of side couples. I know I’m in the minority that I prefer only 1 ship to sail. Anyway! Thank you for the chapter <3
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞