"... I want to destroy all the incubuses in the world before my eyes."
"Oh my."
Ben clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry.
However, Ed, who was clearly annoyed by the raised corners of his mouth, began to fight with him, and Deon, who was watching the comedy unfolding before his eyes without a smile, turned his head and saw Hien approaching him.
The gardener of the Demon King's Castle was smiling brightly at him, holding a normal flower for the first time.
"It's a flower of the human world!"
"... Didn't you only show me flowers from the demon realm and give them as gifts? Why bother?"
"Recently... you have been staying in the demon world for a long time. I think you miss the human world..."
I'm obviously not interested in flowers, but this flower strangely caught my eye.
A flower that he knew would attract attention, but was not unpleasant and had a rather gentle feel.
This was a flower of the human world?
"Where did you get it?"
"There was a small well-groomed mound near the border on the human world side. There was this flower blooming pretty on top of it, and it attracted attention..."
"A mound?"
"Yes! There was a well-cut stone standing in front of it."
It's a grave. The stone erected was a tombstone.
The human who created a grave near the border was absurd, but Hien, who plucked the flowers that bloomed on the grave, was also absurd. Should he say that he was fortunate that he didn't bring the flowers that were 'placed' on the grave?
'Bloomed' flowers were natural, but 'laid' flowers were a gift from someone to the dead.
'... But wasn't it true that demons don't make graves?'
If so, it's okay to not know.
He slowly rolled his eyes and looked at the other demons watching. As expected, everyone was watching this situation blankly, as if they didn't know anything.
Oh, just one person understood. Ed, who often visited the human world, had a pale complexion.
"You dare say, where did you get the flower from..."
"Hien."
This time, Ed's words were cut off.
Deon, who had been silently examining the flower with his gaze down without extending his hand, rose his eyes and looked at Hien. The corners of his mouth slowly rose as if drawn.
"It seems like your personality has become a lot sharper these days. Seeing how you save even the flowers of the human world and carefully observe them."
"That's not what I meant."
"Thanks."
"...!"
If it was from a grave, he should feel uncomfortable, but strangely, even though it was a flower that was blooming on a grave, he didn't feel unpleasant at all.
Hien froze with his eyes wide open at the positive meaning, and Dan approached to receive the flowers.
However, just before Dan took the flower out of Hien's hand, Ed quickly snatched it.
'... He's keeping Dan in check to a great extent.'
Now that he thought about it, Ed's reaction was quite significant when he first brought him up.
With a shocked face, "Are you saying I'm not enough?"
Did he shout?
'I... I know that I am not trustworthy. That's why it's not easy to trust and entrust something. Still... I will try harder to be recognized, so if you rely on me more than that person...!'
'... Calm down.'
Even though he had known him for quite some time, this was the first time he had seen such an expression on his face.
Deon looked down at Ed and his hands, who were carefully holding the flowers, then shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Dan, then turned his back and walked into the room.
Ben seemed to have gone back to his room when the footsteps of two people followed behind him.
Deon soon arrived in front of the room and turned around.
He looked back and forth between the two men, who were looking at him as if waiting for an order, then fixed his gaze on Ed and spoke.
"Thank you for taking them. You must be tired, so leave the flowers with Dan and go rest now."
"...!"
Ed's hands trembled at the obvious praise.
Dan held out his hand as if to encourage him to quickly hand it over, fearing that the trembling flower would be damaged.
He managed to maintain his senses even though he was adding fuel to the fire. He moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he passed the flowers and turned away without being able to speak.
'...'
Dan, who had been silently watching his back, followed Deon into the room. After making sure the door was locked, he found a nice vase and put the flowers in it, and uttered a few words.
"You're heartless, Master."
"Because they are demons."
The relaxed tone of voice, different from the outside, returned with a tacit affirmation.
Even though he was on the loose side, the distinctly different atmosphere was disconcerting, but Dan spoke calmly as he filled the vase with water.
"Still, he was so enthusiastic, so I feel a bit sorry for him."
"Well. It would be better not to get too attached. No matter how passionate he is about me, he is still a demon in the end."
Deon clearly remembered the situation at the time when the Demon King tried to save him as he was dying.
At that time, Ed was clearly trying to stop the Demon King.
'Okay, it might be fun to check your fate at this point. Are you going to die here or not?'
'... Demon King.'
A call that seemed to be reluctant and contained the meaning of restraint. At the time, Deon was unable to analyze the incoming information because it was too much to store in a corner of his head, but when he regained his senses and recalled the memory, he was able to understand.
Ed valued the price the Demon King would pay for saving him more than the life of the 0th Corps Commander.
'Although his attitude toward me is not false.'
He did not serve 'Deon Hardt', but the '0th Corps Commander'.
Absolute authority recognized by all demons...
"Authority."
"... Yes?"
"That guy doesn't serve me, he serves my authority. If I keep him by my side, someday he will be able to open the camouflage and check inside. How would he react if he found out that the monster-shaped shadow owner that he trembled and worshiped was actually just a rabbit?"
It would be better to distance himself before something like that happens.
"Master is a kitten rather than a rabbit..."
"...?"
"Well no, that was in the past, now... Snow fox? Does he resemble a snow fox?"
"... What are you saying now."
Dan, who was steadfastly touching his chin and thinking of a white, furry snow fox despite the pitiful gaze, focused on Deon again when he heard the voice that followed.
"You are a 'human' who relies on my 'authority' and has a foot in the demon world. If my authority becomes an illusion..."
"I know, Master. You will die."
"I will definitely die."
Even in the face of the horrifying truth, Dan grinned.
"It is very difficult for them to tell us that we are a community with a shared destiny, so we should help with all sincerity."
"..."
"So you're helping me like this now."
He put the vase in his hand down on the window sill.
Deon knew Dan can't fully trust him from his perspective. In a conversation the other day, he pointed at him openly and said, "You are the person who ruined my life." How could he trust him?
He later said, "You are the person who will achieve my goal and the goal itself," but that was not a reason for Deon Hardt to trust the person named Dan.
In the end, Deon Hardt decided to trust the 'situation' instead of trusting the 'person'.
A situation where Dan was obsessed with his 'goal'. A situation where Dan was gaining safety under Deon Hardt's status and authority in the demon world. If Deon Hardt fell, Dan would also face death.
"I will leave the flowers here.It's the demon realm anyway, so it wouldn't make sense to put it by the window."
"... Don't be attached to demons for no reason."
"Yes. I only said I felt a little sorry for him. You are too sensitive."
"Pity is also an emotion close to a kind of favor."
When divided into good and bad, at least it was not 'bad'.
"That soon becomes affection, and affection becomes the cornerstone of building friendships. Friendship will make you relax your boundaries, and relaxed boundaries will make even your tightly closed mouth loosen."
"... Okay, I'll be careful from now on. Rather, if you lie down on the bed, take off your outer clothes before you lie down. Are you uncomfortable?"
"Huh."
"... Take it off."
***
"Master, it's still chilly, so take this."
Dan put on the outer garment and fastened it tightly. Not to be outdone, Ed took Deon's hands and put on black gloves, saying that his hands might get cold.
Deon, who had been silently accepting all of this while standing in the middle of them, resolutely refused when they even tried to give him a scarf, turned his back and picked up a black robe that resembled the symbol of the 0th Corps Commander.
Suddenly, the color of the robe caught his eye and he laughed.
'The outer garment, gloves, and even the scarf that I was supposed to wear are black.'
Did they really want to make it known that Deon Hardt was on the side of the demon world?
Even though he wasn't a doll to be dressed up, Deon gave the two people a pitiful look as they were fighting over who would dress him, and began to put on the robe.
"Master, are you going to wear it alone?"
"Why?"
"No, Master... your clothes... are dressed in a mess... Is this what you'll call humanity in?"
As if he wanted to relieve his sorrow over the long distance between him and Ed, Deon, who quickly accepted Dan's words, made eye contact and belatedly added his words.
'I dress messily?'
Deon lowered his head and looked at his new robe. It was perfect. Well, it was a robe that he could just put on and roughly tie, so was there any problem with it?
"Master, I will put it back on. So don't make any more weird wrinkles there..."
Correct. It looks like it's not perfect. There could be problems just wearing a robe.
Dan lamented, "It's an important day today, so I wanted to dress you neatly," and quickly approached and started putting the robe back on. Deon, who was quietly watching his actions, tilted his head and suddenly asked a question.
"Am I bad at dressing like that?"
"I have never seen clothes this wrinkled in my life. If I hadn't seen you put it on from the beginning, I would have thought someone had crumpled master's clothes into a ball on purpose and gone crazy."
"Your language is rude. How on earth do you serve Demon?"
"So I guess you don't think that way?"
"... Humans say that is just part of humanity."
... Was it that serious?
Even though Ed said it himself, he avoided eye contact as if he was being stabbed. Dan laughed openly.
"Even if you defend his humanity..."
"... What's the problem? I don't think that's wrong. I heard that this aspect is also necessary because being too perfect can actually lead to feelings of distance or rejection."
At this point, Deon felt like he needed to take a serious look at himself, leaving the two growling to recall his memory of clothes.
'... Now that I think about it, I haven't really dressed myself.'
Even if he dressed myself, someone would always adjust the look of his clothes later.
Even during the Eight Year War, the crazy dogs used to style his clothes. Sometimes, he felt like he couldn't do anything about it, so he completely unpacked it and put it on from scratch. In the process, nagging him to please wear underwear was a bonus.
'What are those guys doing now...'
He thought of the Murderous Knights for a moment, but then he looked back at Dan, who said that Deon was done and withdrew his hand. Then, he noticed the Demon King leisurely waiting for him a little distance away and took a step back.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Your clothes look a little wrinkled. Are you okay? Today is an important day. You can change if you want."
"... It's okay."
"What do you like?"
The Dmon King, with a grin, turned around and took the lead, as if asking him to follow him. Not long after he followed him carefully, his steps stopped in front of a room in the Demon King's Castle.
Suddenly he opened the door. A cool wind scratched his face as if he had been waiting, but Deon was not even aware of it and just slightly widened his eyes at the scene unfolding before him.
"... Oh."
"How is it? Is it fine?"
It's not okay.
A wide open window and three vivid moons visible beyond it. In addition to the gorgeous interior of the room, there was even a luxurious office desk and chair placed in the background.
"I can just stand anywhere... It's not important and I don't need to talk for too long, so there's no need to go this far..."
"Of course it's important. Today is the first day you stand in front of everyone, right?"
To be exact, it will be the day he stood before everyone as a traitor to humanity.
The day when Deon Hardt uses his tongue as a representative of the demon world to divide the human world that has formed an alliance.