Elodie was flying a griffin rapidly toward the town where Natalie and Emily were located.
Of course, since having too many people would only get in the way, Elodie went alone.
To prevent the griffin from being too conspicuous, Elodie didn’t fly it directly into town.
Instead, she landed the griffin about a dozen kilometers away and proceeded on foot.
As the older cousin who had watched Natalie grow up, Elodie knew very well that once Natalie noticed her presence, she would immediately take Emily and run.
If Natalie got away again, finding them a second time would be questionable.
So Elodie’s thought was to avoid meeting Natalie entirely until she was fully prepared.
After all, Elodie only had one chance to convince Natalie; she absolutely could not act rashly.
Upon arriving in town, Elodie’s first task was to find the noble whose mansion Natalie had taken over, intending to get more specific information from him.
“You are Lady Elodie!”
The noble and his subordinates all knelt on the ground upon seeing Elodie’s arrival.
A Demon King’s Executive held a status second only to the Demon King in the Demon World.
Of course, because this noble was not yet aware of Natalie’s identity as the Demon King.
So he thought Elodie had come to deal with Natalie, the thug.
“…Could you explain once more in more detail what happened?”
“Of course, Lady Elodie!”
Under Elodie’s order, the noble told her everything about how Natalie suddenly appeared and threatened them with violence to leave.
Really, as the Demon King, robbing a subordinate’s house… what was that about? Regardless, as long as she obediently returned, it would be a minor matter.
“You… didn’t do anything to anger her, did you?”
“No, we were no match… After being driven out, we took no further action. If Lady Daphiel hadn’t sent someone to inquire, I wouldn’t have dared report this.”
“That’s good…”
Seeing Elodie’s relieved expression, the noble realized the situation wasn’t as simple as he had imagined.
“Can you prepare some things for me?”
“Of course, Lady Elodie. Please tell me.”
“Prepare a wedding dress for me.”
“…What?”
Upon hearing this, the noble thought his ears were playing tricks on him.
After all, his own robbery and a wedding dress clearly had nothing to do with each other.
“Don’t ask, just do it! And get me the top-tier design, understood!”
Since she couldn’t tell him about the relationship between Natalie and Emily, Elodie naturally used a commanding tone.
“Yes! I’ll arrange it immediately!”
Elodie knew very well that one of the few ways to make Natalie obediently return to being the Demon King was to find a way to please both her and Emily.
And one way to please them was to acknowledge their romantic relationship.
After all, in the eyes of Daphiel and Elodie, Natalie and Emily had already done that sort of thing!
Those two must already be dating!
And a wedding dress was the best way to win Natalie over!
If Elodie offered it, it would be equivalent to acknowledging their relationship.
However, it wasn’t enough…
Elodie was well aware that if she had acknowledged their relationship before Natalie ran away, it would have had an excellent effect, but the situation had already changed.
From the moment Natalie decided to “elope” with Emily, she no longer cared whether Daphiel and Elodie acknowledged her relationship with Emily.
So acknowledging the relationship could at best slightly repair the rift between herself and Natalie.
Elodie thought she needed to find another reason to force Natalie back to being the Demon King.
But being the Demon King really had no benefits for Natalie.
The wealth and luxury that came with the Demon King’s status, Natalie could easily achieve through her own abilities.
At worst, she could just rob! Though Natalie had already resigned.
But in Natalie’s mind, the entire Demon World was still her property.
So robbing, in Natalie’s view, was just personally reclaiming things she had lent to other nobles.
Feelings like guilt, in Elodie’s view, didn’t exist in Natalie’s heart.
Being spoiled since childhood and possessing unrivaled power had caused Natalie to lose quite a lot of normal human emotions.
Guilt, a sense of accomplishment—even before meeting Emily, Natalie didn’t know what love was.
So even Elodie knew that the identity of Demon King, for Natalie…
Only meant a pile of endless work and responsibilities.
It was entirely a burden, with no benefit to Natalie personally.
The reason she had obediently been the Demon King in the past was simply because she was raised from childhood to be the Demon King.
Just like after finishing elementary school, one must go to middle school—Natalie was driven entirely by inertia.
And now Natalie’s act of “eloping” had broken that inertia.
Under these circumstances, making the willful Natalie obediently return to being the Demon King was nearly impossible.
She had to find a way to make Natalie realize that without her status as Demon King, she and Emily couldn’t live a stable life.
Only then would the trouble-averse Natalie possibly return.
With an idea in mind, Elodie began setting up her plan to bring Natalie back to be the Demon King!
*
Emily was watching Xilina cook with an awkward expression.
After all, Emily really couldn’t cook, and she couldn’t just take Xilina out to eat.
If she dared to do such a thing behind Natalie’s back, once discovered, the two of them would be in danger.
Moreover, Emily had no money on her, and a combination of a beautiful human woman and a Foxkin loli was basically like writing “Come attack me” on their faces.
The only lucky thing was that this mansion had no shortage of ingredients.
It was just that no one knew how to cook, so they were left to mold in the kitchen.
Emily tentatively asked Xilina if she could cook, and the answer was yes.
And that led to the current situation.
According to Xilina, she had learned cooking from her mother since she was little.
Although Xilina was too young to work, she learned to cook to help her parents.
Before being attacked by humans, she had prepared all the meals at home.
‘I never expected to be so useless…’
Her femininity had been so easily defeated by a little girl; Emily’s pride as an adult was shattered.
And under normal circumstances, who would let a little girl they took in go hungry and cook for herself?
Emily also deeply realized that Xilina was truly a sensible child, since she looked less than ten years old.
‘Wait, aren’t I a man? Why do I need femininity! Damn, I’ve been a girl for too long—I subconsciously think of myself as a girl!’