"So what you mean is, the moment you saw her, you felt she was special, and a strange feeling arose in your heart, so you decided not to eat her but instead want to keep her by your side and raise her forever?"
In Doma's grand villa, Mitsuba stood by the living room window, watching from afar as Kotoha happily trimmed flowers and plants in the courtyard below.
Listening to Doma's account beside her, she raised her hand to rub her chin, thought carefully for a moment, and finally reached a conclusion.
"Knight Doma, you're in love."
"Eh?"
Turning to look at Mitsuba's certain eyes, Doma blinked rapidly.
"What does 'in love' mean?"
"It means that from now on, your heart will no longer belong only to you. A part of it will from now on belong to another person."
Completely unable to understand this somewhat philosophical and profound statement from Mitsuba, Doma pointed at his own heart and explained seriously:
"That's not right, Holy Maiden. My heart has always been right here. It hasn't been taken away by anyone at all?"
"Oh? You don't believe me? Fine, I'll go down and kill that woman right now. We'll divide her up between us, half for each demon..."
"Don't! Holy Maiden! I beg you to spare little Kotoha~"
Instantly flying forward to tightly hug Mitsuba's leg, Doma lay on the ground, immediately putting on a mournful face.
"Little Kotoha is so cute. I really want her to keep living!"
"Hah? Since she's so cute, shouldn't that make her even more worth killing?
If I recall correctly, Knight Doma, you always loved eating pretty girls the most, right?"
"But, but little Kotoha is different! She's that kind, very special kind..."
Looking down at Doma on the ground racking his brains to organize his words, a smile of successful scheming finally appeared on Mitsuba's face.
She crouched down and lightly patted Doma's shoulder.
"So you see, Knight Doma, you are in love. And it's a very rare case of love at first sight..."
"Love at first sight?"
"Without a doubt, the moment you saw little Kotoha, you had already fallen in love with her.
That's precisely why you unconsciously resisted your body's instincts and decided to keep her by your side."
Truly incredible.
This creature who had always been empty inside, who had never felt anything for anyone, actually had a day when he cared so much about someone else?
And moreover, the other party was actually a human, whom he had always pitied and looked down upon?
This must be love!
Even if it wasn't, it must certainly be the precursor to love!
How absolutely wonderful—to actually witness such a spectacle in her lifetime?!
The probability of this occurring was no less than her brother Yoriichi using Muzan's appearance to go to the pleasure district, order ten beautiful courtesans, play until darkness covered heaven and earth, and then not pay!
[...Mitsuba?]
No good, she absolutely had to get involved in something this interesting!
Ignoring a certain suddenly added voice, Mitsuba made her decision in her heart.
She absolutely had to play matchmaker for Doma and that girl named Kotoha!
She absolutely had to see what this fellow looked like when he truly fell in love with someone!
Surely, it would be quite a magnificent scene!
"So that's how it is, so I have fallen in love with little Kotoha..."
Completely unaware of Mitsuba's current thoughts, Doma sat cross-legged on the floor, his expression thoughtful.
He suddenly looked up at the smiling Mitsuba before him and asked curiously:
"Holy Maiden, you wouldn't be tricking me, would you?"
"Knight Doma, am I the kind of person who would trick you?"
"Yes, Holy Maiden, you have often done this kind of thing in the past."
To Mitsuba's counter-question, Doma gave his answer without the slightest hesitation.
After all, they had known each other for over two hundred years. The two of them understood each other's personalities quite well.
"Well then~ don't worry about these trivial matters."
But Mitsuba didn't take the bait at all, directly brushing past this topic. She cut to the chase:
"Speak directly. Why did you call me here today? What exactly do you want me to help you with?"
"Actually, I wanted to request that the Holy Maiden... stay here for a period of time..."
Being stared at so directly by Mitsuba, Doma said somewhat embarrassedly:
"Because you see, Holy Maiden, there's usually no one else in this villa of mine...
Besides the maids, there's only little Kotoha as a girl, and me as a boy~
Perhaps because of this, little Kotoha often keeps her distance from me and isn't willing to get too close to me~
So I thought, if an outstanding woman like the Holy Maiden also lived here, it would definitely help alleviate that sense of distance in little Kotoha's heart~"
"No problem!"
As if afraid Doma would go back on his word, Mitsuba agreed quite readily.
"Knight Doma, leave everything to me with confidence! I swear in the name of the Holy Maiden! I will definitely make you and little Kotoha intimate as can be, never to be separated for all eternity!"
"Hooray! As expected of the Holy Maiden, able to easily accomplish what I cannot!"
In the living room, the sound of the two high-fiving rang out.
"You know it! Come come come, let me tell you, from now on you should do this..."
Thus, under the pretext of mediating and promoting the relationship between Doma and Kotoha, Mitsuba officially moved into Doma's grand villa from this day forward.
Although Mitsuba herself had absolutely no experience in love, that was fine, because it didn't matter.
Who made the rule that a love master must have experience in love?
This was a new era—no discrimination allowed, understand?
And essentially speaking, playing matchmaker for Doma and Kotoha wasn't actually a very difficult thing.
First, from Doma's perspective, this fellow was indeed very handsome, tall and imposing, with his appearance conditions maxed out.
Few women in this world wouldn't feel favorable toward him at first sight.
Secondly, although Doma had an abstract personality, a peculiar thought process, and numerous negative traits such as despising humans...
When acting like a normal person, he actually was quite human-like.
He used honorifics with everyone, was quite polite normally, and could barely be considered refined and courteous.
And more importantly, Doma was very wealthy and very famous.
In human society, these two things were, besides power and status, the biggest bonus points.
Imagine—an outstanding appearance, wealthy family background, considerable social status, and someone willing to treat you well for a lifetime, determined to accompany you until old age—how many people wouldn't be moved?
Overall, if we ignore the hidden identity of being a demon, Doma could more or less be considered a high-quality male, probably...
Then there was Kotoha's side.
As a woman who had already been married and fled because she couldn't endure her husband's domestic violence.
Kotoha's heart must be quite broken at this moment, desperately longing to find a stable harbor once more.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have followed him here after just a few words of persuasion from Doma.
So at this time, if a gentle, reliable male with good conditions in all aspects appeared by her side to accompany her, the relationship between the two would definitely heat up rapidly!
Besides all the above, there was one more pleasantly surprising point—little Kotoha actually had a child with her!
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This story has ended in chapter 315, you can read on patreon.com/dzeref887 for faster access or wait until August to read on WebNovel until the story ends.