DKFTI 22

Sibel’s hands began to tremble once he realized that the culprit in this conversation was himself. His eyes rolled around nervously.

What do I do. Hide it? Confess? Now? Maybe they’ll pass it off as a rookie’s mistake?

In that short moment he even imagined himself kneeling on the round table with his forehead pressed down.

Honestly, it didn’t seem that hard. He had shown guts once before. But… embarrassing was embarrassing!

Biting his dry lip, Sibel cautiously glanced to the side.

When he turned his head, he immediately met Leviathan’s eyes. Startled, Sibel froze, but Leviathan simply smiled gently.

How long had he been watching this way?

Then Leviathan moved. Sibel’s eyes followed him. Leviathan placed his hand over Sibel’s trembling one. Sibel realized then that his pen had strayed off the notebook and was drawing a line across the table.

“Ah.”

Leviathan lightly set Sibel’s hand back over the notebook. Then he brought his index finger to his lips and smiled faintly.

Was that a sign to keep quiet?

The timing was perfect. Of course, what he meant to keep secret was only the small scribble across the round table.

“A thousand years ago, we tolerated them only because they kept rising up in revolt. How could humans possibly match us in a fight?”

Molgramoon snorted. Darzeon tapped the table with the sheaf of papers in his hand and answered.

“During the war of Aeteran and Genzar, the Demon Realm made an implicit pact with humans.”

“That was thousands of years ago. Why still fuss over it?”

“Are you intending to forget Silvaren’s will?”

The atmosphere in the hall instantly turned heavy. Sibel wondered why such silence had descended.

It felt like some important name had just been spoken.

“…The discussion…”

The voice seems to be coming from beside him. All the chatter instantly hushed.

“…Seems to have gone astray. Perhaps it is best we change the subject.”

It was Leviathan, who until then had listened in silence. His voice was calm and unhurried, but it overpowered the room and drew all attention. Now even the silence seemed to revolve around him.

“…Then let us end this meaningless quarrel here.”

Darzeon hastily closed the debate, and though Molgramoon looked sullen, he did not object further.

At that moment, Sibel’s gaze met Lilianthes’s across the table. When their eyes met, she winked one eye at him.

A wink all of sudden?

Sibel wondered if he should close one eye in return, but then he felt someone tapping his hand.

Leviathan’s fingers were drumming lightly on the back of his hand. When Sibel looked at him, Leviathan twirled the pen out of his grip with ease. The pen passed into Leviathan’s hand.

“Now then, next we will discuss the conduct that has been degrading the dignity of demons lately…”

The meeting carried on, while Leviathan wrote in Sibel’s notebook.

Each stroke across the page gave Sibel the impression that Leviathan’s handwriting, like himself, was sharp and flawless.

‘Ice… lake.’

Before he knew it, his attention was fixed on the words Leviathan wrote rather than the meeting itself. The noise of the room faded further away.

‘Don’t you want to see the ice lake.’

Leviathan had once told him that in his territory there was a lake of breathtaking beauty.

The memory flashed in Sibel’s mind, and he nodded vigorously.

Leviathan tilted his head, studying Sibel’s face, then reached over to stroke his hair. At this point, it felt like touching Sibel’s head had become his habit.

The tension inside him finally eased.

Well honestly, huh? A rookie Demon King can make some mistakes here and there!

-He didn’t have the confidence to say it out loud, but Sibel tried to achieve a mental victory like a cornered Lu Bu¹.

He felt better right away.

“Are we going today?”

Sibel whispered softly, leaning to the side and watching the surroundings. Meanwhile, Lilianthes across from him kept her eyes locked on him, her red lips parting ever so slightly now and then.

At Sibel’s question, Leviathan nodded.

Yes!

Sibel nodded back several times in excitement and adjusted his posture. He glanced down at the end of his notebook where Leviathan’s handwriting lingered, then flipped the page.

He began taking notes on Darzeon’s speech again.

The only difference this time was that Sibel’s feet were swinging back and forth under the table in a cheerful rhythm.

***

Ah. It’s finally over.

It had been a long, long meeting. Sibel rubbed his sore shoulders and greeted the seniors leaving the chamber in different directions.

“Farewell!”

Whenever he bowed ninety degrees and told them to go safely, any Demon King would look satisfied.

Life as a Demon King is hard. So hard.

Suddenly he missed the ones back at the castle. Shanti, Ruru, Pudding, Raccoon… the Hero… Hm? Hero? Since when was he counted as part of the Demon King’s household?

Without realizing it, he had slipped in. Was this right?

“Cutie.”

At that moment, Lilianthes appeared behind him, resting her arm on his shoulder and pressing his cheek with a finger.

Did she always prefer to show up from behind?

“Lady Lilianthes.”

“You’re unusually stiff today?”

“Ah, it’s just… there were so many senior Demon Kings around…”

“Mhm, cute.”

Lilianthes poked his cheek again. Her black hair brushed against Sibel’s shoulder.

“Do you want to have something delicious together now that the meeting’s done?”

She asked him, her alluring face making him almost nod before his mind flashed to the note gripped in his hand. The ice lake.

“Ah, well…”

He opened his mouth to refuse, but at that instant, the hand draped on his shoulder lifted away into the air.

Lilianthes’s smile, curved like a crescent, faded. Her sharp eyes turned toward the interrupter.

“Excuse me.”

Leviathan had removed her hand and was now standing beside Sibel.

“Shall we go?”

“Ah, um, Lady Lilianthes. I’m supposed to go see the lake on Lord Leviathan’s land today… I’m sorry. If you set another day…”

“Lake?”

Her face, a moment ago sour, suddenly brightened. Leviathan only regarded her with indifference.

“Hm, is that so.”

Her gaze moved between Sibel and Leviathan, then she tapped the bridge of Sibel’s nose.

“Don’t forget my warning.”

Warning? What warning had Lilianthes given him?

Sibel furrowed his brows, trying to recall. Lilianthes curved her lips into a strange smile and pressed her finger right between his brows.

“Lilianthes. That should be enough.”

Leviathan placed his hand on her wrist. His gaze, which was gentle when she looked at Sibel, turned sharp.

“When I’m told not to touch, I only want to touch more.”

She laughed, and Leviathan only sighed.

Hm, do these two not get along? Why are they like this?

Caught in the middle, Sibel scratched his ear awkwardly, not knowing what to do with himself.

Suddenly he wanted to see the castle household again. At this point it felt almost like separation anxiety.

‘Shanti, Ruru, Pudding, Raccoon… are you all happy back there?’

No matter how much of a mess the castle was, the outside world was a battlefield.

***

The Demon King’s castle.

“Hm? Didn’t you hear the Demon King’s voice just now?”

“What nonsense are you spouting. Hurry up and deal the cards.”

In the castle, Shanti, Ruru, Aizen, and Raccoon were playing cards. Pudding was perched on Aizen’s shoulder, bobbing as usual.

“I’m all in!”

Ruru wagged his tail fiercely with a grin. Aizen laid down his cards on the table.

“I fold.”

“What, why! Why fold! Bet, I said bet!”

“Maybe hide that tail thrashing around first. You think I’m stupid?”

“I fold too.”

“Noooooo!”

Ruru wiped away tears like he had been wronged.

“Hey, isn’t someone cheating? My hand’s the only crap one!”

Raccoon threw down his cards angrily.

“Pupu-!”

Without Sibel, the castle was strangely peaceful. The game, suggested by Ruru, had been going on for more than two hours.

Unlike a certain weary Demon King, the castle was lively and noisy.

“Come on, deal! Deal!”

As a new round began, Aizen leaned back deep into his chair, his eyes turned toward the sunset outside.

1. 방구석 여포 is Korean slang. It literally means “Lu Bu in a room corner,”, refers to a person who is actually very timid but act vicious or strong in their room (mainly on the internet) ↩︎