“Whew.”
Belled felt his mouth dry. It was the first time in a long time that he felt his way since he became a demon who didn’t need to drink or eat. No, it had been a long time since he felt thirsty or short of breath.
The turmoil that hadn’t been there in decades had been tormenting him dozens of times in recent times.
He was sure where and who it was coming from.
“Beryl...”
The name that came out with the moan was a name he had let slip without realizing it.
He slowly closed his eyes and opened them. He was out of his mind as if he was out of breath and dizzy. He needed to calm down a bit.
“...”
He absentmindedly looked at the mirror in front of him. As he looked into his own eyes in the mirror, magic blossomed from his body.
A white dress.
The first thing he saw was the pure white dress he had seen before. He was lying on the hem of that dress, smiling. He was making eye contact with someone. The moment he was about to smile faintly in his fantasy.
Dark green hair.
“...!”
What hung over him more clearly than before was the dark green curly hair.
The owner of the dress. He could not help but recognize her now familiar back figure.
Beryl.
It was the moment when he opened his mouth slightly. In the fantasy, he also sat up as if surprised.
Thump!
He grabbed the mirror without realizing it. And in his vision, the owner of the white dress sat up.
The dark green hair disappeared from his vision along with the dress.
His own surprised eyes...
Why? Where did she go? It was the moment when he was trying to concentrate his magic.
“...!”
He bent down, feeling a dizzying sensation that squeezed his heart.
Woof!
He felt the magic around him tremble. And then, a dizzy feeling like he was being thrown into a dizzying abyss took over him.
“Ah.”
He let out a sharp breath. It was a sign of a lack of magic.
But he looked at the mirror once more. Before the fantasy disappeared. Just a little more...
But in the illusion of his surprised face, he was no longer with Beryl.
The moment he realized that, his heartfelt even tighter.
Why?
For a moment, he wondered, but he could not see any further into the future.
Thump!
He stumbled and touched the wall again. He could no longer use his mind’s eye because he lacked magic power.
But was it because he had overdone it?
“...!”
He put strength into his hand that was touching the wall with a groan.
It felt like someone was scratching his head. It felt like the cold reason that had been ruling his head was being roughly uprooted.
“Haa.”
A rough breath escaped. It felt like a sharp beast was digging through his head with its claws.
He lacked magic power. He realized it instinctively. If he continued like this, the beast that had been digging through his head would soon jump out.
... using his appearance.
He would become a monster.
Whoosh!
Magic power gathered around him as he tried to regain his senses.
This wasn’t enough.
He needed a bit more magic power. When he thought that, what he felt was a clear flow of magic power flowing from deep within the mansion.
Thud, crack!
Because he had placed his foot on the desk wrong, the ink bottle flew and rolled across the floor. But he had no time to pay attention to that.
Thud, thud.
The sound of his footsteps felt like it was shaking the heavens and earth. With his heightened senses, he could sense the presence of demons quickly disappearing around him.
Ronove must be evacuating them.
It was something Ronove would do for him, who sometimes became sensitive to the flow of magic.
Thanks to that, he was able to head to his destination a little faster and without hesitation.
It was the 5th floor, where Beryl was.
“Are there any other problems?”
I was in a small office next to the bedroom.
I thought about going to the office where Belled was and taking care of some business... But I felt like I wouldn’t be able to do any more work if I went.
My eyes kept going to him. Expecting something from him.
...Was this okay?
I had heard stories of people going crazy with lust. I thought that no rational person would do that, but...
I bit my lip. I squeezed my eyes shut, opened them, and looked up at Decarabia.
Decarabia, who was reporting, put down the paper as if she knew my condition.
“Yes, this is the extent of the remodeling that needs to be done, and I think we can resolve it before the priest arrives, but there are other issues.”
“What?”
Could it be the training of demons?
Decarabia answered with a slightly uneasy expression, tilting her head.
“...There are ghosts.”
“Huh?”
I blinked. Out of the blue, what ghost?
“Ghosts?”
Why are there ghosts in a place where demons live?
Of course, many people didn’t believe in the existence of demons. However, demons are real.
So there could be ghosts... Could there be?
He grabbed the mirror without realizing it. And in his vision, the owner of the white dress sat up.
The dark green hair disappeared from his vision along with the dress.
His own surprised eyes...
Why? Where did she go? It was the moment when he was trying to concentrate his magic.
“...!”
He bent down, feeling a dizzying sensation that squeezed his heart.
Woof!
He felt the magic around him tremble. And then, a dizzy feeling like he was being thrown into a dizzying abyss took over him.
“Ah.”
He let out a sharp breath. It was a sign of a lack of magic.
But he looked at the mirror once more. Before the fantasy disappeared. Just a little more...
But in the illusion of his surprised face, he was no longer with Beryl.
The moment he realized that, his heartfelt even tighter.
Why?
For a moment, he wondered, but he could not see any further into the future.
Thump!
He stumbled and touched the wall again. He could no longer use his mind’s eye because he lacked magic power.
But was it because he had overdone it?
“...!”
He put strength into his hand that was touching the wall with a groan.
It felt like someone was scratching his head. It felt like the cold reason that had been ruling his head was being roughly uprooted.
“Haa.”
A rough breath escaped. It felt like a sharp beast was digging through his head with its claws.
He lacked magic power. He realized it instinctively. If he continued like this, the beast that had been digging through his head would soon jump out.
... using his appearance.
He would become a monster.
Whoosh!
Magic power gathered around him as he tried to regain his senses.
This wasn’t enough.
He needed a bit more magic power. When he thought that, what he felt was a clear flow of magic power flowing from deep within the mansion.
Thud, crack!
Because he had placed his foot on the desk wrong, the ink bottle flew and rolled across the floor. But he had no time to pay attention to that.
Thud, thud.
The sound of his footsteps felt like it was shaking the heavens and earth. With his heightened senses, he could sense the presence of demons quickly disappearing around him.
Ronove must be evacuating them.
It was something Ronove would do for him, who sometimes became sensitive to the flow of magic.
Thanks to that, he was able to head to his destination a little faster and without hesitation.
It was the 5th floor, where Beryl was.
***
“Are there any other problems?”
I was in a small office next to the bedroom.
I thought about going to the office where Belled was and taking care of some business... But I felt like I wouldn’t be able to do any more work if I went.
My eyes kept going to him. Expecting something from him.
...Was this okay?
I had heard stories of people going crazy with lust. I thought that no rational person would do that, but...
I bit my lip. I squeezed my eyes shut, opened them, and looked up at Decarabia.
Decarabia, who was reporting, put down the paper as if she knew my condition.
“Yes, this is the extent of the remodeling that needs to be done, and I think we can resolve it before the priest arrives, but there are other issues.”
“What?”
Could it be the training of demons?
Decarabia answered with a slightly uneasy expression, tilting her head.
“...There are ghosts.”
“Huh?”
I blinked. Out of the blue, what ghost?
“Ghosts?”
Why are there ghosts in a place where demons live?
Of course, many people didn’t believe in the existence of demons. However, demons are real.
So there could be ghosts... Could there be?
While I tilted my head, Decarabia said,
“There are people who have seen something strange near the gates of Hell.”
“It’s not a monster?”
The first thing that came to mind when she said that was the existence of a monster. However, Decarabia shook her head.
“I heard that it’s not. They said that if you touch it, it disappears.”
“If you touch it, it disappears...”
Neither demons nor humans have such cases. Are there really ghosts?
“...Has Decarabia ever seen a ghost?”
Decarabia shook her head immediately.
“If there was such a thing, it would have been the ghost of a possessed human that attacked us.”
That must have been the case. It seemed as if there were none.
“That’s true, but...”
To ordinary people, demons were no different from supernatural beings, so it was strange that they would care about ghosts.
“Still, since many people have seen them, I think there have been reports, right?”
“About five so far.”
“Five?”
There were more witnesses than expected. It meant that there was definitely something wrong.
“I think it would be better to go and check it out myself.”
I slowly pushed the priority of the problem forward in my head.
A ghost in a mansion where a demon lives.
That was when I thought about it.
“...You say?”
“Get out of here quickly...!”
The outside began to become noisy.
“What’s going on?”
Decarabia listened to my words. Then she opened her eyes wide.
“...His Highness is coming.”
“Belled?”
I unconsciously got up. I looked down at my untidy office desk.
There were still many tasks that had not been completed. More than that... There were tasks that needed to be taken care of and cleaned up, so the desk was not properly organized.
It was when I thought that I was strangely nervous.
“Then I will go out.”
Decarabia, who still did not seem like a maid, declared that she would leave on her own. Her meaning was clear.
She probably meant that she did not want to disturb the couple’s time.
After confirming the ‘traces of the night’ from me after their first night, Decarabia never stayed in our time together.
When I, whose face was bright red, nodded, Decarabia bowed her head and left.
“...I should at least clean this up.”
It was the moment when I thought that if I just folded up the scattered papers, it would look a little more organized.
Thump!
The door opened roughly.
My surprised gaze turned toward the door.
“...Beryl.”
He must have been in the mansion, but he was breathing heavily as if he had run.
His fingertips were pale from his somewhat heavy breathing.
“...What’s wrong?”
I approached Belled.
“Where does it hurt?”
Belled let out a short breath at that.
“No, more to the point.”
He approached me. His pitch-black, deep green eyes examined me.
Thump.
That was only for a moment, and his staggering hand touched the wall again.
“Are you okay? Come here for now.”
I grabbed his hand and led him. The large, manly hand gave me a heavy weight along with heat.
I laid him down on the bed and examined him.
His somewhat excited face and his breathing were not calming down. I, who had been sitting next to him and examining him, eventually turned my head toward the door.
Was there a doctor in this mansion?
“For now...”
It was the moment when I was about to call someone. Belled gently raised his index finger and placed it against my lips.
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