Chapter 1: Five Years of Devotion

“――Too slow.”

In response to the enchanting low voice, Viola forcefully opened her heavy eyelids.

A vision of jet-black hair greeted her. Seated on a simple chair next to Viola’s resting bed, a man looked down at her.

As Viola’s consciousness gradually sharpened, she muttered in confusion.

“…Wait, am I alive?”

She vividly remembered. The moment she threw herself to shield the Demon King, a silver blade pierced through her chest. Her own fresh blood splattered around, staining this beautiful man.

“The first thing you say upon waking up is that. Truly, you have the audacity to keep me waiting for five years.”

“Five years? What are you talking about?”

“Instead of indulging in your usual lazy slumber, train your body a bit. It’s too fragile to make me wait for five years with all my might.”

“Nox, wait. Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on—ah!”

The words that followed disappeared into the man’s lips.

The chair, sent flying by the man as he stood up, collided with the wall, creating a jarring sound. Despite Viola’s desperate attempts to resist by pushing against his chest, there was no way she could push away this man, hailed as the strongest in the demon race.

Finally allowed to breathe, Viola’s lips were freed from the invading tongue that had ravaged her mouth, leaving a trail of silver threads.

Strange, Viola thought.

She was just a lodger in the Demon King’s castle. Abandoned by the reconnaissance team as a decoy, she forcibly rolled into the Demon King’s castle, a run-of-the-mill healing sorcerer.

That should have been the case.

Yet, at this close range, crimson eyes narrowed slightly.

The man distorted his wet lips enticingly and whispered with a husky voice.

“Viola. —Never again, disappear from my sight without permission.”

Strange, Viola thought again.

This man wasn’t supposed to have this kind of personality. Their relationship was merely bound by a transaction.

Because when they first met, this man arrogantly declared:

“When the hero you speak of appears at the Demon King’s castle, shield me and die. That would be an honorable thing, right?”

――This is a story from a little over five years ago.

“Viola, I will definitely avenge you. Rest assured!”

“I’m not dead yet, you know.”

“Thank you for everything. We’ve come this far because of Viola. The best companion!”

“Shouldn’t that be the best housekeeper?”

“Thank you so much, Viola! I won’t forget you!”

With the declaration that this story is over, the man, carrying a longsword on his back, runs off. Watching his retreating figure absentmindedly, Viola heaved a sigh.

“The best companion, huh? How amusing.”

The words she let slip didn’t reach the man, who ran away. Before delivering that iconic line, Viola knows that the fellow healing sorcerer, Lara, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a baby face, and well-endowed, had made sure to ask Viola’s name. She also knows that the man had a distinctly clear interest in Lara.

“If things were going to end up like this, maybe I should have built a few more relationships.”

Even though she said that, she knew it was impossible. When Viola was assigned to this reconnaissance team, the men were already head over heels for Lara, paying no attention to Viola. It was clear from the beginning that they saw Viola as some kind of automatic cooking device or a combination of a healing potion.

“Kyaa!”

“Lara-chan! Let me catch you!”

An annoying conversation reaches Viola’s ears. She stifles the urge to curse and wishes they would just leave already. Meanwhile, the surrounding temperature is gradually dropping. The Demon King is already close. It’s only a matter of time before the barrier Viola set up is broken.

Honestly, she never thought she would actually encounter the Demon King. Everyone assumed it would be the usual routine, ending with the customary report: “Searched, but couldn’t find anything.”

And this is the result. An accidental encounter without any preparation leaves no hero capable of attacking the Demon King, and it’s only a matter of time before they are noticed. Setting up a decoy and escaping seems rational.

Saying it’s to save her comrades sounds cool. With that man’s final lines, it might become one of those trendy “Leave it to me here, go ahead!” situations. It seems ridiculous that it’s not a volunteer system.

“Ah, how absurd.”

A cracking sound reverberates as a crack appears in the barrier. Just a few more seconds. Viola shrugged her shoulders at the thought of the last faces she saw being those of that man and Lara.

Flickering down, fragments of the barrier fall like particles of light.

“…I wonder if this is the end.”

At the moment she muttered that, Viola caught sight of three men beyond the barrier.

Standing between two men was a tall figure with a slender build. His hair was black and his eyes a deep crimson. If he passed by in the city, he would effortlessly attract a crowd of admirers with his stunning beauty. However, the gleaming, majestic horns protruding from his head unmistakably revealed that this man was not human.

No one had ever encountered the Demon King and returned, so it was natural that his true nature remained unknown. But to think that he would be such a beautiful creature

Forgetting her own predicament, Viola gazed intently at the figure of the Demon King.