New chapter of Demon King is out! (1/1 chapter)

A Dream by the Pillow

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

Three days had passed since the liberation of the royal capital.

I was using Myaro’s office on the grounds that my own office had been stained with blood. The ebony desk, now piled high with miscellaneous documents, had been made entirely in accordance with Myaro’s physique. When I sat in the chair, the desk surface felt uncomfortably low.

Stationery lined the edge of the desk, and among them was the ivory pen I had once given her. It had been used so much that the part touched by the fingertips had changed to an amber hue. Reports poured in like a mountain. The intelligence network Myaro had built was still partially functioning, and it brought word of signs of rebellion in the eastern region where Shantinion lay.

The cousin of Liao, who had usurped the succession of the Rube Household, had offered unconditional surrender. The Papal States, however, had shattered Dimitri’s pursuing army in a field battle, and in the interval of vigilance had miraculously broken through enemy lines. Now they were entrenched in a coastal town they had secured in advance, retreating by ship. With stocks of armor-piercing incendiary shells exhausted, and all the gunboats dispatched, we could not intervene until the artillery had been redeployed.

I listened to those reports absentmindedly. Perhaps I ought to go myself to the coastal town where the Papal States’ forces had entrenched and take direct command. While such thoughts drifted through me, they felt strangely distant, and I lacked the will to rise from my chair. It felt as though something had ended when I killed Liao.

Though the Papal States had conspired against me, the desire for vengeance would not well up. Instead, regret and self-reproach alone rose within me. It was my fault that Myaro had died.

I still hated the Papal States that had killed Carol. That feeling had not disappeared.

Yet, had it truly been necessary to march southward and eradicate the Papal States? As a result, I had let Myaro die. Did my revenge truly require Myaro’s death in order to be fulfilled? What, truly, had I accomplished? Perhaps it would be better to seek peace with the Papal State. Yet, if they had learned of the New Continent, then it is necessary to continually weaken their naval power to prevent them from crossing the sea.

Sooner or later, the Albio Republic would also learn the truth. Though the friendship and trade treaty contained traps that would make them recognize the New Continent in its entirety as our territory, there is no guarantee that they would abide by such a deceitful promise.

Various thoughts crossed my mind, but for none could I find a clear answer. I wanted to consult with Myaro. I could not think of anyone else with whom I wished to consult.

 

—

 

As I sank into vague and drifting thoughts, the sun set, and the skylight grew dark. The only illumination was the wavering fire in the hearth. As the night deepened, even the constant stream of reports ceased.

While sitting in my chair, I drowned in aimless thought. Eventually my consciousness grew hazy, and I closed my eyes. Like sinking into a lukewarm, dark sea, my awareness slowly faded away.

“Hey, Yuri. Do not sleep at your desk. There is a bed nearby, is there not?” (??)

It was a familiar voice. I opened my eyes and looked toward it, and a fair face with golden hair tied back came into view. It was Carol, whom I had not seen in a long time, clad in the uniform of the knight academy. And before I realized it, the place was my room in the dormitory.

“Ah, so it is.” (Yuri)

I lifted myself from the desk and stretched my stiff legs while seated in the chair. Though I had slept sitting, I felt no pain in my body. Nor did I feel lingering drowsiness.

“Is it not too soon to be absent-minded? You still have a mountain of duties before you.” (Carol)

“What is it? Do you mean the company? Cuffe is running it, so it is fine to leave it for a while.” (Yuri)

“I mean this country. Were you not to bring about a thousand years of peace?” (Carol)

Ah, that. I had been feeling as though I were still a student. Back then life was carefree. There was no need to concern myself with the fate of a nation.

“Well… somehow it will work out. If I stabilize the Tyrelme region, the purpose will be half fulfilled.” (Yuri)

“You feel at ease simply by creating one buffer state? Even if you form friendly ties with that woman who resembles me, the next generation may be steeped in the Catholica faction. If that occurs, it will all return to the beginning.” (Carol)

For Carol, she was making rather logical arguments.

“I have grown weary of it all. I strove to protect those dear to me, yet one after another they disappeared.” (Yuri)

Indeed, of the four who had served as executives in the expeditionary force, I alone remained alive. Carol, Myaro, and Liao were all dead. Not one of them had died naturally. All had been slain by human hands. Three out of four, all killed before reaching 30 years of age. Such a thing could only be called abnormal.

“Even if I dismantled the Papal States, if none remained around me at that time, what then? Would I rule a nation in solitude? I never wanted a nation for myself.” (Yuri)

“It is not as though no one remains. You still have many people around you.” (Carol)

“Those I truly want to protect are only a handful. And among them, the one I most wanted… I myself killed.” (Yuri)

“Whom do you mean?” (Carol)

“Myaro, of course.” (Yuri)

When I said that, Carol made a feigned expression of ignorance.

“Myaro died? Who killed her? Surely not you yourself?” (Carol)

“Though Liao was the one who killed her, it was as if I had done it.” (Yuri)

“Liao killed Myaro, you say? Ahaha.” (Carol)

Carol laughed merrily.

“That is hardly possible. I saw it with my own eyes, he was utterly devoted to Myaro.” (Carol)

“It is the truth. I saw her corpse.” (Yuri)

“A charred corpse, perhaps. Yet the ivory pen you gave her rests properly upon her desk.” (Carol)

…Memory stirred within me. I loathed to recall it, but the pen that had pierced that corpse had been a black-shafted one, of ebony or something similar, I thought.

“Well then, it is time. I must go.” (Carol)

Carol turned on her heel and showed me her back.

“Wait.” (Yuri)

I leaned from the chair and seized Carol’s hand. The longing was unbearable. Carol turned toward me and drew me into an embrace, cradling my head. My face was buried in the softness of her chest. A nostalgic fragrance enveloped me.

“Do not remember me anymore. You left your heart behind with me.” (Carol)

Her quiet words whispered against the cheek pressed upon my head, and then Carol slowly released me.

“Farewell, then.” (Carol)

With a satisfied smile, Carol once more showed me her back.

Do not go. Do not leave me.

I wanted to say it, but my throat clogged, and no sound emerged.

“I forgot to tell you. Teach our daughter the tea ceremony. Do not let the tradition of our household die.” (Carol)

The door closed.

 

—

“Yuri-kun, what kind of place is this to be sleeping?” (??)

When I blinked, a small silhouette was lit by the glow of the hearth. Perhaps because I had slept while sitting in the chair, my body ached.

“…Myaro?” (Yuri)

“Yes, it is I, Myaro. What is the matter? You look as though you have seen a ghost.” (Myaro)

“Still dreaming…” (Yuri)

Carol had appeared as a ghost, and now it was Myaro. It seemed a dream that would leave me in anguish upon waking. In that sense it was the worst of dreams, but if it meant that Myaro appeared before me, then it was also the best of dreams.

“This is no dream. When I returned from the safehouse, I found Your Excellency the Regent dozing in my chair. It gave me quite a surprise.” (Myaro)

“My body aches.” (Yuri)

Especially my neck.

“Of course it does. That is no place to sleep. Come, there is a bed in the adjoining nap room. If you are to sleep, then sleep there.” (Myaro)

Myaro took my hand, and when I passed through the door, I lay down upon the bed in the nap room.

What sort of dream is this?

The heat from the hearth on the other side of the wall made the nap room warm enough. It hardly required a blanket, yet Myaro laid one gently over me. She remained at my side, holding my left hand outside the blanket, as though intending to watch over me until I fell asleep. It was strange to sleep within a dream, but if I awoke from it, perhaps I would never see Myaro again. Before that happened, there was something I wished to ask.

“Hey, Myaro.” (Yuri)

“What is it?” (Myaro)

“What Liao said… was it true? Why did you choose death? Was it so unbearable to return to me?” (Yuri)

Had I treated Myaro so cruelly that she chose death instead of returning to me? That was what I longed to know.

Myaro did not blame me, but seemed to ponder my words, as though searching for their meaning.

“Well, I do not know what Liao-san told you, but if I had hated returning, I would not be here now, would I?” (Myaro)

Then, with a slightly embarrassed face, she squeezed the hand of mine she held,

“…I only disliked the idea of returning to the man I love as a divorced woman. That was all.” (Myaro)

Perhaps those words were only my wishful delusion. Yet, even so, I was overwhelmed with feeling. I pulled her small body into the bed with me.

“Hey, hey, what is this about?” (Myaro)

“I am sorry.” (Yuri)

I embraced Myaro’s slender body.

“I never did anything for you. I only used you, and in the end, I never once responded to your feelings.” (Yuri)

“…It is fine. If you say so, then I too never acted. If I had wanted to be loved by you, I should have been as forward as Carol-san. Only waiting was not right either.” (Myaro)

“Do not forgive me. It can never be undone.” (Yuri)

“Are you still half-asleep…? Well, it is fine. I did wake you at midnight. For tonight… good night.” (Myaro)

Within the dream, Myaro gently caressed my back as though cherishing me.

I closed my eyes. After a while, her hand stopped, and I began to hear her sleeping breath. Before long, my own consciousness grew drowsy.

 

—

 

When I awoke, I was in the bed. Of course, no one was beside me.

I remembered falling asleep in the chair, so perhaps I had moved here during the night. I did not know. Perhaps it was merely a mistaken impression, and from that I had created such a blissful dream. In the dim room with curtains drawn, an overwhelming sense of loss struck me. Even after my mind fully awakened and I raised my body, I had no strength to stand from the bed where I sat.

I heard muffled voices outside, then the sound of a doorknob turning, and the door opened. The light of the office spilled in. Standing there was a maid of the Queen’s Swords whose face I knew. She had come to clean.

“You are awake, I see. Please leave the room while I clean.” (Maid)

The maids of the Queen’s Swords were cold to me.

Well, that’s fine. I have no strength for arguments, and work awaited regardless.

“Ah.” (Yuri)

I rose from the bed.

“…I say this only as a precaution, but please do not appear before Her Majesty Shulika in such a state.” (Maid)

“Simply because I have not bathed for a day? You exaggerate.” (Yuri)

“That is not it. I meant not uncleanliness, but rather unseemliness.” (Maid)

Not bathing is uncleanliness. How is that different? Well, it doesn’t matter.

I slipped into the slippers I used indoors and stepped out of the room.

“You are awake. Good morning, Yuri-kun.” (Myaro)

Myaro sat in the chair as though it were the most natural thing.

What? Am I still dreaming?

“Myaro, you…” (Yuri)

“Yes, I am alive. Are you still half-asleep?” (Myaro)

The emotions surging within me drove me to embrace Myaro where she sat.

“…It cannot be true. Was it not a dream?” (Yuri)

“…Do not worry. It is no dream.” (Myaro)

“Truly? It is not simply my convenient delusion?” (Yuri)

“It is not. I am truly here.” (Myaro)

Relief slowly suffused my heart. My body trembled. Myaro wrapped her arms around me in return, as though soothing a child.

“…It seems I caused you worry.” (Myaro)

“Worry? I thought you were dead.” (Yuri)

“That was Liao-san’s lie. Be at ease.” (Myaro)

We embraced like that for perhaps five minutes. When at last my heart had calmed, her hand patted my back lightly, and I released her.

“What on earth happened? How are you alive? Did Liao hide you away?” (Yuri)

“Yuri-kun? Let us leave that aside. If you have regained your senses, could you not begin working?” (Myaro)

Eh?

“When I was organizing the papers that had piled upon your desk, what is this? Look at it.” (Myaro)

With a faint smile on her lips, Myaro struck the desk with a thick stack of documents. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes did not. On the bundle of papers that had landed upon the desk was a note that read, ‘Process Immediately! Highest Priority’.

“I was about to fetch a thick dictionary and beat you awake with it. Why on earth did you neglect so many crucial matters and fall asleep? Do you mean to make this nation collapse?” (Myaro)

Well…

“It seems I cannot find the will to work without you.” (Yuri)

When I said that,

“…What nonsense are you speaking?”

Myaro averted her gaze in embarrassment.

“Such words will not deceive me. Now, come here. Let us work, let us work.” (Myaro)

 

—

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)