While the others were engaged in a fierce battle at the main gate of the Demon King Castle, a certain corner of the castle seemed isolated from the world, appearing unnaturally calm.
“This is it,” Egrette said.
She walked down the corridor without a hint of hesitation, as if she had already conducted a detailed investigation of this place. Or rather, she had already been here more than once.
Placing her hand on the doorknob, she gently pushed it open. What met Egrette’s eyes was a room that was low-key and luxurious, yet filled with the essence of daily life.
She approached the bed in the room and opened a hidden compartment beneath it with practiced ease, pulling out a white plushie pillow with a (ᗜ ‸ ᗜ) expression.
‘It really was here.’
Egrette’s expression turned dazed, as if she were reminiscing about a memory from the past.
To prove the feelings between them, the silver-haired girl had presented a handmade pillow with a color similar to their hair to the other person. In return, she had been told, “Normally, one wouldn’t give this kind of thing as a proof of friendship, right?”
Little did that person know, in the silver-haired girl’s eyes, this was indeed not a “proof of friendship,” but carried another layer of meaning.
“You can treat this as me, so you can think of me even when I’m not around.”
“What? You make it sound like a confession.”
‘Unfortunately, that person never responded after that… Even with her insight, it should have been easy to tell!’
“Tsk!”
Thinking of this, Egrette couldn’t help but squeeze and squash the pillow in her hands. Eventually, she let go and placed the pillow back on the bed, then looked around.
‘It hasn’t changed at all; it still looks the same…’
Egrette was incredibly familiar with the design and layout of this room. After all, her own room was almost identical to this one. As for the reason, it was naturally because her own room had been remodeled based on this very place.
While she didn’t hate this design, she couldn’t say she liked it either—at least not enough to use it as the style for her own room. However, this room was the one used by that person…
The one used by…
‘…Why is there the scent of another person?’
As the Blood Queen, Egrette’s perception of auras was extremely keen, especially scents related to bodily fluids like blood. She could smell even the scent of a single evaporated drop of sweat. In this room, besides the scent of white roses that she was so familiar with it was practically etched into her brain, there was the scent of another person.
“This scent that’s slightly different from a normal Demon, like a cat or a dog… Is it that thieving cat!?”
Egrette spoke with a face full of rage as she quickly pulled the person corresponding to that scent from the important database in her mind—the one who had always stood by that person’s side and opposed her at every turn.
“Not only did she take the position that should have been mine while I wasn’t looking, but she even did something like this… Fine, I’ll remember you.”
As Egrette spoke through gritted teeth, she used magic to blow away every scent in the room that did not belong to that person, as if clearing away an eyesore, leaving not a single trace behind. She then filled the missing parts with her own traces—the air, the bed, the blankets—no place was an exception.
“Just you wait. I’ll take her back sooner or later. But before that…”
Egrette looked toward the main gate of the Demon King Castle, sensing the situation there.
“It’s been so long. It’s about time.”
Whispering thus, Egrette used short-range teleportation magic to move nearby. In the area of the main gate, a Maid and a middle-aged man were locked in combat.
The Maid, with wings on her back and her entire body wrapped in red Magic Power, swung a Great Cleaver that was severely disproportionate to her body. She struck with such speed that only afterimages could be seen, resembling the red flowers surrounding her.
Opposite her, the middle-aged man used Blood Manipulation in tandem with a one-handed sword, parrying every attack with minimal movement, acting like a fencer fighting a berserker.
At first glance, one would think the middle-aged man had the upper hand. After all, he appeared calm and composed, catching every attack with ease. The reality was mostly the same.
The only difference was the Maid’s attacks. Due to the strengthening effects provided by Magic Sword Symbiosis, her strikes were not only swift but also heavy. Even being struck directly once would cause massive damage and, in turn, allow her to recover her condition.
At the same time, as a Sword Demon, her swordsmanship was—if not peak—at least supernatural. Her red offensive Magic Power would remain in place with every swing, forming traps that would deal the same damage upon contact. This forced the middle-aged man to suppress his evasion range to prevent his safe space from shrinking too quickly.
“As expected of that person’s subordinate, her strength is not to be underestimated,” Egrette commented.
“However, it’s about time…”
As if to prove her words, a hard-to-detect ripple spread through the entire Demon King Castle.
Swept by this ripple, Lux and Heath Ledger, who were in the middle of their fierce battle, seemed to lose all their strength and collapsed to the ground.
In an instant, soldiers, knights, Maid Guards, and even non-combatants like the chefs in the Demon King Castle all fell into a deep sleep. The Demon King Castle, which had been chaotic due to the battle, fell into a deathly silence, identical to the towns on the outskirts of the Demon Realm Capital that Egrette had passed through with her troops.
The only one spared was Egrette herself.
Was she the one who caused this situation? No, it was him.
“So you finally showed yourself? You cowardly weakling.”
Egrette looked toward a certain spot on the battlefield.
“Have you been waiting long for me? I’m truly sorry for that~”
A neutral-looking member of the Demon Race, whose gender was impossible to discern, slowly appeared. A faint sneer was on his face as if he looked down on everything. However, his appearance seemed to appeal to everyone—men, women, old, or young—all could be captivated by him.
To Egrette, however, he was just a disgusting dog.
“How dare a person like you—neither man nor woman—look at me with those eyes?”
“Oh my, I don’t want to hear that from an arrogant little bat who once split away from the Demon Race and still clings to the past~”
The neutral-looking Demon spoke while striking an enchanting pose, but the hostility and malice in his eyes completely exposed his true thoughts.
Hearing those words, Egrette frowned and suppressed her anger as she spoke.
“So, why have you come here… Sonio, the Fourth Demon King?”