‘I hate Grandpa.’
Muttering to myself, I descended the stone steps.
The dungeon was damp, humid, and dark, undeniably eerie, yet the thought of Void being down here lessened my fear.
Moreover, I felt a pang of pity for Void, who was imprisoned here all alone.
‘Still, it’s a little scary.’
I glanced around a couple of times, checking if anyone was nearby.
‘S-Surely no one will mind if I pull this out, right?’
Confirming I was alone, I gazed at the torch embedded in the wall beside me.
Surely, I wouldn’t get scolded. I’d heard this was quite valuable.
It seemed precious, especially since I’d heard it was powered by magic.
‘Well, whatever happens, happens. I’m a p- no, a royal, after all.’
Who would dare say anything to me?
‘Hehehe.’
Realizing that with Mother’s permission, no one could stop me, I immediately grasped the torch’s handle.
“Ughhh!”
I grunted and pulled at the torch with all my might.
Yet, despite my efforts, the torch showed no sign of budging.
“Wha- What is this! Why won’t it come out!”
I hung almost completely from the torch, voicing my confusion, but then promptly tugged at it once more.
-Crumble.
Though stone dust crumbled down intermittently, it didn’t particularly bother me.
Then.
-Tap, tap.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder from beside me.
“Shall I help you?”
“No! I’m fine, I can do it!”
I replied, intending to pull the torch again, when I noticed something strange.
The woman squatting beside me had a strikingly familiar appearance.
Her long, white eyelashes, framing gently closed eyes, her silver hair, and even the soft cloak that felt wonderfully pleasant to the touch — it all clicked into place.
‘…Void?’
“Hm?”
‘Why are you here?!’
“Ah, I’ll pull it out for you.”
-Pop.
‘Gasp.’
The torch, which hadn’t budged an inch, was yanked free in a single swift motion.
“Hmm, magic is leaking out. This could cause an accident.”
She even perfectly repaired the hole from which the magic had been seeping.
Perhaps the Demon King was far more formidable than I had imagined.
As I gazed at Void with a newfound sense of respect, she looked at me and spoke with a hint of vexation.
“What took you so long? Dealing with Hader was such a pain…”
Void stopped mid-sentence, her face flushing crimson.
It seemed she truly despised the Flashy Grandpa.
“Grandpa’s name was Hader, right?”
“Uh, y-yes! It was.”
She suddenly jumped, as if jolted back to her senses.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing! Mino, let’s make a promise.”
Void, breathing a little roughly, held out her ring finger, proposing a pinky promise.
“Don’t ever bring up that old man again.”
“Hm?”
“Didn’t I tell you? That old man killed me once, a long time ago.”
Ah, now I understood.
Indeed, wouldn’t it be unsettling if the person who had once murdered you kept appearing before your eyes?
And to think I had been constantly poking at that trauma.
Feeling unnecessarily apologetic, I linked pinky fingers with her and made the promise.
“Okay! Sorry!”
“Alright.”
‘Wait, but the promise isn’t the important thing right now.’
“Void, why are you here, though?”
“Mino, you took too long, so I just opened the prison door and walked out.”
‘…?’
“Oh, don’t worry. I fixed the door I broke, and I put the guards to sleep soundly.”
‘No, excuse me, ma’am? I don’t think that’s the problem here.’
Though I couldn’t hide my dumbfounded expression, Void simply chuckled, picked me up, and carried me down the stairs.
‘…Typically, if someone could do all that, wouldn’t they just escape prison?’
One thing was clear: Void was utterly earnest about making this her chosen abode.
I watched Void’s face, bright with contentment, as she returned to her cell.
What could possibly be so appealing about that dirty, smelly, dark place?
It made me doubt if she was truly someone who had once lived in a spacious, comfortable dungeon like a castle.
****
Before my eyes, a suspicious dragon began to fly, carrying us on its back.
“Kwoooaaargh!”
“Mage!”
The Mage nearly flew off midway, but the Mineral Dragon merely cackled, mocking us.
“My apologies, my apologies. It has been a long time since I carried such insignificant beings.”
With those words, it only increased its speed.
The fact that we couldn’t resist at all, coupled with its current display of goodwill, was genuinely terrifying.
After flying for a considerable time, we finally arrived at the heart of the capital.
A massive, white fortress came into view.
Perched atop it, various dragons were basking in the sun.
As we had flown here, I had seen dragons happily sunbathing on top of their own homes.
However, I wondered if it was truly acceptable for them to do the same on the Lord’s residence, so I asked.
“A truly trivial notion.”
“…Pardon?”
“The Dragon Lord exists to serve all dragons. It is for this reason that they command the respect of everyone.”
“They forgo their own sunbathing to yield their spot, upholding the dignity of their subjects who lack homes.”
“It is a tradition established 3,000 years ago with the formation of the Unified Kingdom.”
Hearing that explanation, I began to think that the Lord might not be as fearsome as I had imagined.
“…Better than the Empire.”
From behind me, the Mage muttered this, his face obscured by the dark hood of his robe.
‘…The Empire might be even more dreadful than I thought.’
Unconsciously, I caressed my wound.
“We’ve arrived. Descend.”
“Ah.”
“Let’s disembark, Hero.”
The Mage offered me a charming smile, taking my hand and escorting me.
“Oh, thank you…”
“A-Are you alright?”
“…Yes, my legs just feel a bit weak…”
Since it happened quite often, I simply chuckled.
However, upon seeing my languid state, the Mage apologized with a pained expression.
“…I apologize.”
“Oh, no! It’s fine!”
I gently lifted the Mage’s bowed head.
“It’s truly fine, so please don’t keep bowing your head.”
“…Ah, yes.”
Just then, the Mineral Dragon, having completed its polymorph, strode towards us, hands in its suit pockets.
“Well, let’s go inside.”
“Um… what should I call you?”
When I cautiously asked, the dragon paused briefly, its expression darkening, before it offered another charming smile.
“…Just call me Elder.”
“I have no name.”
‘No name?’
‘What? Does he not have parents?’
As if sensing my impolite thought, the dragon observed me carefully, scoffed, and then muttered something under its breath.
“…Pffft. Hey, Mage, what kind of experiment did you people conduct?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. Don’t just stand there idly; come inside. The meeting should be over by now.”
The dragon, seeing my rather foolish response, urged me to hurry inside.
I asked the Mage behind me how we should proceed, but he simply said to go in for now, so I reluctantly moved my feet forward.
****
The conference room was currently enveloped in a chilling atmosphere.
There were the elders of the pro-Void faction, advocating for her acceptance, the elders who demanded Void’s death, and the King, who maintained neutrality in silence.
Among the pro-acceptance faction, Baal and Anuket, stated:
“But Princess loves her so much. If anything happens, couldn’t we just deal with it quickly?”
“Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit… lonely, not to mention the experiments… no, so I approve.”
Among the opposing faction, Lavender and Surt, argued:
“No, damn it, it’s kidnapping! A kidnapper! Attempted murder, I tell you! Killing her now wouldn’t even be enough, you old hags!”
“Surt, you’re being crude. Calm down a little. Trusting the woman who kidnapped the Princess doesn’t seem right.”
These were their respective positions.
And King Albinius, for his part:
‘Haa… Mino likes her so much, and she doesn’t seem as dangerous as I thought…’
‘But then there’s this problem: our El dislikes her.’
‘Hmm… Wife or daughter?’
Like any doting father, he agonized, simultaneously picturing his happy daughter and his uncomfortable wife, and then his weeping daughter and his happy wife.
Just as they struggled to find common ground.
One of the pro-acceptance elders burst through the door.
“Yo~ How’s everyone doing?”
“You!”
“Brother?”
“Flashy…”
“Where have you been?”
“You’ve arrived.”
He had brought two humans with him.
One was a Mage.
“…Greetings, I am Damian, the Grand Mage’s Disciple of the Empire.”
The other was a Hero.
“…Hello…”
As everyone in the conference room stared at the trio with dumbfounded expressions, Hader spoke.
“They wish to defect, it seems.”
“Void is already one of our citizens anyway. And since everyone seemed bored, I’ve brought a new agenda.”
“You should be more grateful.”
The Hero and the Mage offered awkward smiles.
What followed was.
Lavender, who had maintained a chilly demeanor, finally lost her temper, spewing a curse even cruder than Surt’s, and unleashed a breath attack towards Hader.
****
-BOOM!!!!!
“Huh?”
“What was that?”
Void and I were playing tic-tac-toe with pebbles when the building suddenly shook violently.
“S-Stone dust on my head.”
“Come here.”
Void gently brushed the accumulated stone dust from my hair.
“Thank you.”
“…Do mine too, Noona.”
When I patted the top of Void’s head, which she shyly offered for a similar treatment, she gave a satisfied smile.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!”
Even after the building shook a couple more times, we paid it no mind and continued our game of tic-tac-toe.
“Yay~ I won!”
“…I lost.”
The result was 99 wins and 1 loss for me.
Void had 99 losses and 1 win.
“Ah~ Mino is truly terrible.”
“Even worse than Noona~”
‘What.’
‘You’ve been losing this whole time!’
“You’ve been losing the whole time!”
“When?”
“Argh! Let’s play again!”
“No, I don’t want to play with Mino anymore.”
Void drew a firm line, her expression utterly serious, declaring she wouldn’t play with me.
‘W-Who knew the Demon King could be so incredibly wicked?’
