Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Ever since the Demon King’s daughter arrived, he had abandoned his perfectly fine mansion to roost inside the Demon King’s castle. Morus glanced sidelong at Regnator, who was sprawled lazily across the sofa with his forearm draped over his eyes. His entire demeanor screamed depression, and he even looked somewhat languid.
His clothes, as usual, covered only one shoulder and arm. Morus’ gaze slowly slid across Regnator’s exposed torso, practically licking the skin with his eyes. It was always a delectable body to look at.
“Stop ogling me. It’s gross.”
“Hmm…”
Unbothered by the rebuke, Morus let her fingers trail along the arm Regnator was using to cover his eyes.
“What’s with you today, all slumped over like that? Want me to comfort you?”
“… No thanks.”
“I’ve said it before, but when you hide your aura, your body looks absolutely delicious. Want me to comfort you properly?”
Morus licked her crimson lips, making no effort to hide her intentions as he caressed Regnator’s tattoo-covered shoulder. The bare skin, adorned with densely packed ink, was as smooth to the touch as it looked, pleasingly so. And this rare, lethargic vibe? It stirred something in him, even though he hadn’t meant to be stirred.
Sniffle.
Just then, right as his mix of teasing and temptation was hitting its peak, a sound brushed past Morus’ ear that made her hand recoil. He tilted his head, confused, thinking it must be a hallucination. Regnator still had his arm draped over his eyes.
Sniffle.
There it was again. And this time, Regnator’s shoulder visibly trembled which made him freeze.
“…W-wait. Are you… crying?”
He asked with disbelief, half-expecting to be wrong. But the soft, pitiful sniffles came again. It was like being struck in the head with a hammer. Morus gaped, staring at Regnator’s trembling figure, trying to process what she was seeing and hearing.
The tension in Regnator’s jaw made his whole face quiver. It almost looked… tragic. To a stranger, it might have seemed touching. But Morus wasn’t fooled. She blinked hard, willing herself to stay rational.
The man before her wasn’t just any demon. He was Regnator Leon, a top aide to the Demon King. He is the master of corpses and bones; a man even demons avoided. You could stab him and not draw a single drop of blood. A true-born psycho with not a single friend besides the Demon King.
This demon… is crying?
“You lunatic.”
With that one cold remark, Regnator sat up like nothing had happened.
“Hmm. Still not convincing enough, huh?”
If Morus hadn’t known him better than anyone else in the realm, she might have been fooled by the performance. But Morus wasn’t about to let him know that.
“You don’t even have tear ducts, do you?”
That ‘not even a drop of blood’ thing wasn’t a metaphor. It was literal.
“True. But Bella doesn’t know that.”
“You’re planning to pretend to cry in front of her?”
“Maybe. Someday, she might need that. Humans are emotional creatures. Sometimes, they want someone to cry with them. And… not gonna lie, I really did feel like crying the other day.”
Morus didn’t bother hiding her expression of utter disgust. Yet despite that look, Regnator continued talking, even offering him a cup of tea as if happy someone was finally listening.
“Just the other day, Lady Bella took her first steps. Now that was worth a week of fireworks across the castle. But I didn’t do it, did I?”
“Yeah, and thank every hell for that. Do you know how many complaints I get from the neighbors about your damn fireworks going off at all hours?”
“There are demons brave enough to lodge complaints against the Demon King’s castle?”
“Of course not! Obviously, that’s why they came to me!”
The demons who lived near the castle were mostly high-ranking aristocrats with immense power and influence. And they’d come storming to Morus with grumpy faces, grumbling about fireworks disturbing their sleep and threatening to revive ancient hierarchy wars from sleep deprivation. Whenever that happened, Morus would just shake her head and say, [“The Demon King himself tolerates Regnator. What do you expect me to do?”]
Then those arrogant nobles would drop their pride and cling to his pant leg, begging her to do something. And the number of beggars was growing by the day.
‘All of them are really cowards…’
Not that it was surprising. No one had the guts to challenge the current order, nor to ask Regnator to stop directly. Such as the state of the Demon Realm which was peaceful, at least on the surface. The law of the strong still ruled, but most demons had grown soft, addicted to comfort and structured indulgence.
And Regnator knew this too, flashing a bright smile as he offered a very efficient ‘solution.’
“Want me to just kill them?”
“You’ve already exterminated enough species to be on nature’s most-wanted list, thank you.”
“Exterminated? Come on. A few unicorns escaped to the human world. You know how horny… ahem, how keen they are on repopulating.”
“And the pegasi?”
“Left a few of those too. Give it a few hundred years, they’ll bounce back. Don’t worry so much.”
Morus wasn’t really worried as demon realm ecology wasn’t his department. What worried her was the alarming frequency of Regnator’s madness ever since the Demon King’s daughter had arrived. Less than a year, and already his antics had spiked. Worst is that Morus was always the one cleaning up after him.
“So then? Why didn’t you launch fireworks for such a happy event?” He may have complaints, but he was still curious.
After all the ridiculous fuss he’d made over smaller things, not celebrating her first steps? Suspicious.
“… She fell off the sofa and got hurt.”
“… What?”
Morus clenched her fist. He was sick to death of hearing about the Demon King’s daughter, the same saccharine praises day after day. It wasn’t her fault, obviously. It was Regnator’s inability to shut up about her that grated on Mors.
But this… this was new.
She got hurt? That piqued her interest.
“… How badly?”
If it was serious, even Regnator would have reason to sulk.
“She… got a nosebleed.”
“… What?!”
Now both of Morus’ fists were clenched. He didn’t know why that made her so tense. But blood? Humans really were fragile. Could such a soft creature really be called the Demon King’s daughter?
Just hearing the word ‘nosebleed’ brought on a wave of anxieties. She swallowed dryly.
“… And? What happened after that?”
A nosebleed meant impact. Head trauma, maybe? How far did she fall? The castle floors were made of rare demon-world marble… Could her soft little human skull survive that?
Morus’ mind spiraled. She only had knowledge of adult humans so knowledge about newborns was none in her dictionary which made her brow furrow deeper. Even adult human heads could burst under pressure. But a baby’s? No chance.
She’s probably dead, she thought grimly.
Suddenly, Regnator’s gloomy mood and the Demon King’s absence made sense.
The child’s head must have burst open. It all added up.
“She’s fine now. We rushed her to the human world for treatment. Luckily, it was just a small bump on her forehead. That’s all.”
Just a bump.
Mors narrowed her eyes for an entirely different reason.
The Demon King’s private chamber wasn’t accessible to anyone. Everything from the walls, floor, ceiling was made of stone mined from the deepest pits of the underworld. Harder than any known substance. Even a demon would be injured smashing into that.
But she got a bump?
Unbelievable.
Still, Regnator wouldn’t lie about this. And if it had been serious, he wouldn’t just be sitting here moping, since he’d be a disaster. Morus involuntarily twitches after realizing she might be too invested in the Demon King’s daughter.
‘No, no. I am Morus, Reaper of the Battlefield. Even if the Demon King brought her himself, she’s still human. I won’t be like Regnator, turning into a lovesick fool.’
She pulled himself together. But something still nagged at him because Regnator hadn’t been like this at first, either.
‘A human baby? If Lord Lucifer treasures her, I’ll treat her with appropriate respect. Interesting, perhaps, but that’s all.’
That had been his stance. But something had changed. Somewhere along the line, Regnator had grown sincere which made Morus narrow her eyes. Regnator had returned to that solemn expression, likely replaying the moment she got hurt in his mind.
Morus couldn’t resist asking.
“… Why do you care about her so much? Even if Lord Lucifer treasures her, she’s still just half-human. You weren’t like this at first.”
“…And why are you suddenly so interested?”
Regnator didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned back and crossed his legs. His face had gone cold, his presence sharp enough to cut. The oppressive air crawling across the floor was unmistakable which was lethal intent. Morus was caught off guard. There was no reason for Regnator to turn hostile.
“… What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“What’s with you? Why are you curious about Lady Bella?”
“Because you won’t shut up about her. And she’s the princess of the Demon Realm, isn’t she?”
It was Morus’ question, but now he was the one under interrogation. The truth was, she had grown curious. Being force-fed praises daily made it impossible not to. Especially with Regnator acting like he’d die for her. That alone made her interesting.
“…You’ve traveled often to the human realm. You know a lot about them, don’t you?”
“I do. Why?”
“Hmm.”
Regnator’s guarded expression grew darker. Morus replayed their conversation, wondering if she’d said something wrong. But he hadn’t, if anything, he’d been unusually diplomatic. But Regnator’s next words came low, serious, with the same intensity he used when protesting during official demon council meetings.
“I am Lady Bella’s nanny.”
“… What?”
“I won’t hand her over. Not to anyone.“
‘What the hell is this lunatic saying now…?’
Morus suddenly felt a flood of irritation rise up her spine.
(TN: All right guys, Morus is a girl. I thought she was a guy… kindly tell me if I missed out on her pronouns so I could edit immediately. Thank you!)
