Ch.180Side Story 1. The Story Between (3)

# Side Story 1. The Story Between (3)

Esmeralda continued making excuses. And now her predatory claws had reached even Lilith, who had formerly belonged to the Demon King’s Army Strategic Planning Department.

“Well, since things have come to this, how about Lilith also gets married to balance the political relationship between the demon realm and human world?”

“M-me? Would that be appropriate? I-I would be honored, but…”

“…”

Esmeralda’s mood suddenly soured. Seeing the other’s genuine delight made something dark and murky bubble up inside her.

But she couldn’t take back words already spoken. She knew how that would look.

Esmeralda was searching for excuses to deny the emotions she was currently feeling.

If she said something now that seemed to acknowledge those feelings, all her efforts would be for nothing.

“Well… let’s do that. This is all for world peace, after all.”

Esmeralda knew.

She knew that her feelings toward Lug were cowardly.

That’s why she was covering those emotions with all sorts of excuses.

Wasn’t it shameless?

She had been walking a tightrope among her companions using Lug’s existence as a pretext, but now at the end, she had acted in a way that betrayed them.

She shouldn’t have done it.

She shouldn’t have, but because she couldn’t hold back, things had turned out this way.

The fuse already lit in her heart couldn’t be stopped midway.

***

“What nonsense is this?”

Esmeralda’s madness-tinged actions didn’t stop there.

Determined to attach as many people as possible to Lug to dilute her own feelings, Esmeralda ended up reaching places she should never have approached.

“Say it again. What are you telling me to do?”

“Marriage, I mean.”

Underground VIP room.

This was where Belphegor was staying, though she was supposedly meant to be in the underground prison.

There was no means to restrain her even if they wanted to, and she was being cooperative only because she had secured the right to live the rest of her life lazily, free from work.

Even without that, Belphegor might have entered prison out of a sense of debt to Lug.

But that was only a debt she felt toward Lug.

“Why should I?”

“Don’t you want to repay your debt to Lug? I think this could be your opportunity.”

“No, no matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like something that would benefit him.”

Belphegor reached for a cookie on the table with a disinterested face. She hadn’t risen from the plush sofa since Esmeralda entered.

Swish—

Esmeralda watched Belphegor’s hand as it almost reached the plate on the table, then pulled the plate toward herself.

Finding the cookies suddenly moved away from her, Belphegor flinched briefly before slumping back down.

“I won’t do it.”

“I could come bother you every day, you know?”

“Go ahead.”

“Then…”

Esmeralda considered threatening her like she had done with Garnet. But the moment she placed her hand on the hilt of her holy sword—

“Ugh?!”

An invisible force began pressing down on Esmeralda.

Just because she was injured, just because she had returned her power to Lug—that didn’t mean the dignity of Belphegor, the Demon King, had disappeared.

She wasn’t someone who could be threatened.

Esmeralda froze in place.

“A marriage without genuine feelings would only harm both parties. It’s obvious that such a marriage would only leave wounds rather than repay any debt.”

“…”

“I don’t know you well, but I thought you’d understand that much… Did I overestimate you?”

“Kuk…!”

Esmeralda had nothing to say. Belphegor’s words hit the mark, and she wasn’t unaware of it. She knew all of this but was simply denying it.

“Hmph.”

With those final words, Belphegor collapsed back onto the sofa.

The pressure weighing on Esmeralda subsided, but she couldn’t do anything.

In the end, Esmeralda gave up trying to persuade Belphegor.

She realized that no tactics would work on her.

All Esmeralda could do was leave one petty complaint while swallowing her sense of defeat.

“You might regret this later.”

“…”

In response to those pathetically petty words, Belphegor slightly raised one eye, watching the door through which Esmeralda had left for a while before muttering:

“Regret, huh.”

At that time, Belphegor couldn’t know that this was an answer she didn’t need to give.

***

Eventually, the wedding ceremony took place.

Naturally, Robeno and Lacrima’s wedding came first.

The first wedding to attract the most attention in the changed demon realm.

Robeno’s declaration to make Lacrima—who had been ostracized within her own race—the happiest would spread throughout the demon realm.

It was both a proposal and a declaration of war.

It meant that he could turn against the world itself if anyone harmed Lacrima.

Perhaps because she understood Robeno’s feelings, a smile never left Lacrima’s face.

“Don’t just stand there grinning stupidly. Say something if you want to.”

“Hmm… Should I?”

“Yes, I’ll make whatever you wish come true. The world needs to know that.”

“Haha, what’s that? Hmm, actually, never mind. This is enough.”

Lacrima had shed many tears.

She had been misunderstood, abandoned, and faced trials many times.

But in the end, she was able to grasp happiness. With a man who said he would turn the world into an enemy for her sake.

That was enough. She now knew that even if the whole world became her enemy, the one person she loved would remain on her side until the end.

“Hey, Robeno.”

“Yes?”

“Should we stay in the Demon King’s Army?”

“…Would that be okay?”

“Yes, the Demon King’s Army will change now. When I think about it, there’s no workplace with better conditions than this, right?”

“Well, if that’s what you want…”

Originally, Robeno and Lacrima had planned to leave the Demon King’s Army.

The war with the human realm had ended, and the Demon King they had served had stepped down.

After all that hardship, there seemed no reason to remain in the Demon King’s Army.

“It would be a shame to throw away a position I worked so hard to reach… and I’ve had another fun idea.”

Though she wore a pure white wedding dress instead of her usual jester outfit, Lacrima’s lips still held a mischievous smile.

“I think I know what you’re thinking.”

Robeno could immediately see through what she was planning just by looking at her.

She was the protagonist of this moment. She was drawing everyone’s attention, and each of her actions would be imprinted in their eyes.

Isn’t that perfect?

There’s one ideal situation for getting revenge on someone who used you to attract attention.

“Esmeralda.”

Lacrima covered her mischievous smile with the bouquet in her hand, then threw it.

The bouquet was thrown deliberately targeting someone. The person whose name was called, not expecting the situation, reflexively caught the bouquet that flew right in front of her.

“I’m returning it. The protagonist’s position. I’ve enjoyed it enough.”

“W-what…”

The gazes that had been directed at Lacrima suddenly focused on Esmeralda.

And when those gazes shifted to the bouquet in her hands—

Everyone gathered there could be certain who the next “protagonist” would be.

“Hehehe! If you entrust something like this to a jester, you should have anticipated what would follow!”

“That was stupid of you.”

As Robeno smiled in response to Lacrima’s mischievous grin and took her hand, the two disappeared from the wedding hall.

They gathered all eyes on themselves before vanishing. Having succeeded in their revenge, the couple departed for their honeymoon.

***

Déjà vu.

“This is amusing.”

“…”

“I thought you only knew how to act impulsively, but you had this planned all along?”

“How underhanded.”

“I feel so betrayed, Esmeralda.”

Facing this familiar scolding, Esmeralda lowered her head.

She was the one who had planned this ridiculous group wedding in the first place.

In her mind, she had planned it to prevent her companions from fighting each other, but Lacrima’s unexpected action had greatly distorted its meaning.

“To think she would make us bridesmaids. And since this is a joint wedding, there won’t be another chance.”

“We must have underestimated Esmeralda.”

“Indeed. Tanha was right, but I trusted you too much as a friend.”

“…You misunderstand.”

In a way, Esmeralda’s plan had succeeded.

The party members who had been busy keeping each other in check were now united in criticizing Esmeralda.

Even Esmeralda couldn’t have predicted that the word “we” would come from Millia’s mouth.

“Well, the die has been cast, and I need to prepare in my own way. I don’t intend to just take this lying down. You underhanded hero.”

“I understand your intentions now, Underhanded-ralda. From now on, we’re enemies.”

“We were enemies from the start. I firmly believed we were friends, but…”

Six brides.

Esmeralda, facing the concentrated attack from three of them, just wished for this time to pass quickly.

Garnet, the remaining one, seemed to have belatedly developed a sense of disillusionment and was just staring blankly into space, while Lilith remained silent, unable to bear the atmosphere.

“No, really, I won’t do anything. I only prepared this joint wedding so you all wouldn’t fight, not to make you bridesmaids…”

“Esmeralda? Stop being so ugly about this. Whatever you say, we can only misunderstand.”

“How could even Sister Garnet…!”

“…Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

“I also think this approach was somewhat cowardly.”

Now that the relationship between the two heroes—who had been each other’s understanding counterparts and mirror images—had cracked, and even Lilith, who had been relatively cool-headed in analyzing the situation, acknowledged Esmeralda’s underhandedness—

Esmeralda just wanted to end this cursed wedding as soon as possible and hide away quietly.

Thus, Esmeralda and the hero party, feeling like they were in an interrogation room rather than a bridal waiting room, began heading toward the wedding hall.

The marriage of the new Demon King and the hero party bound to him by contract.

Plus Garnet and Lilith, added under the pretext of not diminishing the demon realm’s prestige.

When the six brides began to move, there was indeed something that drew attention.

Not only were all the brides beautiful, but they were also individuals of high renown, for better or worse.

This was as Esmeralda had expected, and if she had married alone, she would have had to bear all that attention by herself.

Not to mention the jealousy, anger, and resentment that would follow.

‘Yes, I just need to get through this.’

She had been deceiving well so far.

Both her own feelings and the situation about to unfold.

If she could form a bond through this wedding and buy time, Esmeralda thought she could somehow manage.

That was her thinking, but…

“Everyone looks good.”

“…”

The moment she saw Lug, dressed more formally than usual, everything fell apart.

Esmeralda sensed it.

“Yes…”

Her emotions couldn’t be controlled by mere time.

Esmeralda ended up revealing to everyone gathered there that day.

Her face, her expression, the flush on her cheeks spoke volumes.

No need for the Emerald Tablet’s ability to read others’ thoughts.

“You look good too, Lug…”

An undeniable, definitive answer.

The face of a girl in love.

Side Story 1. The Story Between (End)