CH 140

“You don’t have to make a friendly expression. Anyway, the Duke is doing everything he can to protect the territory…”

About two hours after coming out to the streets, Alan and I sat alone in the empty audience seats.

Unexpectedly, only the two of us were left. The reconstructed stadium was not yet completed, so only authorized people could enter, and the two brothers were still hanging around on the streets due to circumstances.

“Because of you, I can’t approach my angel.”

In short, Hugo, who was swept away by the crowd, used magic to make the streets a mess. No one was injured, but the middle of the road cracked and a store stand fell. Alan had a word with Hugo, and Pedro decided to also stay on the streets to help with the situation.

“I like the Duke. I’m sure the citizens would feel the same way.”

As I kept saying anything to endure the awkward atmosphere, my heart kept pounding hard.

I blushed belatedly and looked around.

‘Where did Benny go?’

Benny, who was always next to me, was nowhere to be seen from the moment I came out onto the streets. As I busily looked through the shadows, Alan spoke softly.

“Benimus will come to you soon.”

That’s right. Benny always appeared by my side when I needed him.

I fixed my blurred eyes on my knees and put my hands together.

The silence was heavy. I couldn’t even hear the noise of the streets inside the stadium, so it felt even quieter.

Alan spoke as he tensed his whole body.

“You’ll need enough space to train your demon’s abilities.”

“What?”

Alan got up from his seat and touched the railing of the stadium.

“This is designed to withstand most earthquakes easily. It is also suitable to hide you from the imperial family because it’s blocked from the outside world.”

The man looked back at me and said calmly.

“I’ll give you this stadium.”

I was dazed by the dream-like declaration. Alan added as if nailing it to reality.

“Use it as a training ground. If you don’t like it, I’ll find another place for you…”

“I-It can’t be!”

I jumped up from my seat. Tears welled up at the same time as laughter.

“Thank you. Really…”

I grabbed Alan’s sleeve. It was a habit that came out unintentionally.

Alan was surprised, but he didn’t shake me off as before. I was more grateful over that fact than having the entire circular stadium as a gift.

“I… I’ll be strong and protect you.”

I wiped the wet eyelids with the back of my hand.

Alan might only be trying to cultivate a useful demon, but even the purpose felt so sweet to me.

“…….”

Suddenly, I felt a light touch on the top of my head. Someone seemed to be touching me with their fingertips.

As I slowly raised my head, the sensation quickly disappeared.

Even before I could look at Alan’s face, he turned his back on me.

I pulled down the hood of my cloak and pressed down the scattered baby hairs.

‘It’s probably just my feeling. There’s no way Alan would pet me.’

At that time, a callous hand popped out behind my back.

“Princess.”

“Ah!”

I turned back in surprise.

Benny, who approached silently, held out an elongated glass bottle. The bottle was full of vibrant orange liquid.

“Sammy’s juice.”

“Huh?”

“This is from the place that the First Prince said was delicious.”

I was wondering where he went. It was to buy this.

I accepted the bottle. Before he handed it over, Benny opened the bottle and put a straw of an appropriate length.

“Oh… Thank you.”

“They were running out of stock due to overwhelming orders. I fought with the person in front of me and won.”

There were strange words mixed in, but I pretended not to hear them.

“Wait, is it just mine?”

I was about to suck the straw, but I immediately took my lips away.

Benny only bought one bottle of juice.

“Yes.”

Benny tilted his head as if asking if there was a problem. He didn’t even buy a drink for himself.

It was ridiculous, but this had happened more than once in my life with this boy. I sighed and pulled the straw out of the glass bottle.

“Benny, say ah.”

“……Ah.”

Benny followed the order without any resistance, not knowing what I was about to do.

On my tiptoes, I poured juice into his mouth. Benny didn’t cough once and drank it well.

It was Alan’s turn after Benny. I grabbed Alan’s cloak, which made him turn around. Then I whispered,

“Duke, please have some.”

Alan looked back at me silently. He gazed alternately at the juice and me for a long time and went down on one knee.

Beautiful jade green eyes filled my view. Alan took out the straw from my hand and put it back into the glass bottle. And he moved the bottle to the edge of my mouth.

“Drink it.”

Despite being on high alert, I unknowingly followed him.

The juice pushed out of the straw wet the dry tip of my tongue. The sweet and sour taste was so cool that it made my cheeks blush.

Alan stood up, satisfied, and tapped me on the shoulder.

“Good job.”

The part where his hand touched was warmth. I thought I could do anything if I could get this kind of compliment.

For example, like asking an annoying person to be a teacher.

***

“Argh!”

Whoosh!

Blue sky filled my view.

I was lying in the middle of the circular stadium without being aware of what had just happened, and Crown Prince Garou looked at my face and laughed.

“You’re really clumsy. Lilietta.”

I wanted to punch that annoying face.

I swallowed my anger and repeated to myself.

‘I’m the student, and he’s the teacher…’

Garou was the only person I could train the power of the demon with. He was not something that could be replaced just because he was annoying.

The fact was unfair and I almost cried. As I came to my senses up helplessly, I sighed.

“By the way, I was surprised. I thought you’d definitely ask Benimus for help.”

Garou grumbled as if he was fanning the house on fire.

I answered grumpily, wiping the dirt on my pants.

“…Benny just tries to protect me. If I don’t learn properly, I’ll be in trouble.’

Benny was a child who cared about me more than anyone else, but that was the problem.

I had to do my part in the rebellion that would take place four years later. That’s why I have to choose a much more ruthless person as a teacher.

I tidied up the clothes Roxy had lent me here and straightened my head.

“Demon’s power, I’ll try it again.”

“As much as you want.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was trying to feel the sensation of black magic power rising in my body, but my knees suddenly bent.

Dugh!

Garou, this darn guy whipped my leg. I grabbed my sore knee and screamed silently.

“Ack, you really…!”

“It shouldn’t take that long to transform into a demon.”

The boy smiled slyly, waving a stick that he brought for bluffing.

My stomach was boiling, but I couldn’t refute it. Although there were only a few, all the demons I had seen so far were able to transform their bodies freely.

“Why am I the only one who’s weak? Benny said he was able to deal with the power of the demons freely since he was five years old!”

I sighed towards the ground. It was a question that couldn’t be answered, but I couldn’t help it because it was unfair.

Rather than comforting me, Garou cupped his jaws with both hands and squatted in front of me.

“You’re not crying, are you?”

“I’m not crying, f*ck…”

My childhood habits popped out. This was because even an annoying person was next to me as a bonus when the situation was difficult.

Even if I poured out vulgar curses in front of the crown prince, Garou laughed as if he was having fun.

“Lilietta, I like it when you speak vulgarly.”

“Do you have any weird hobbies?”

“When you first met me, you tried to be polite unnecessarily. I’m glad we’re closer than then.”

“You’re not teaching me in a weird way for a reason, are you?”

I regretted it right after I blurted it out.

‘Damn habit.’

It’s been a long time since I got out of the slums, but the vulgar dictionary still remained in my head. If I was going to live as a princess in the future, I had to throw everything away.

“…I’m sorry. Please teach me again.”

“If you’re sorry, won’t you abandon Benimus and marry me?”

“Get lost.”

“Haha!”

Garou jumped up like a rabbit and swung a whip in the air. He brought it along instead of a simple stick, but frankly, he did not use it other than to spin it around and play with it.

“…Garou, who taught you?”

Suddenly, another useless question popped out. I wanted to ask why, even though I thought it was a part of his old story.

Garou stopped twirling the whip and looked back at me.

“Black magic? Of course it’s my mother.”

“…Her Majesty?”

“Yes. My mother is a spirit, but she has a lot of knowledge about the demon race.”

No wonder it was strange. Whenever I heard Garou speak of her, he seemed to have considerable respect for his mother.

When I squinted and stared, Garou burst into laughter as if he knew what I was thinking.

“Is it weird that I don’t hate my mother?”

“Oh, well…”

“Don’t believe what you see.”

Garou squatted down next to me. Wearing a light training suit, he looked more like a boy soldier than an imperial family member.

“I hate my mother so much, really, tremendously. I want to eradicate the existence of the World Tree so that there is no trace left.”

As he spoke, his voice was constantly cheerful, even a kind of madness was felt.

“The reason why I hate my mother so much… There are many things, but indeed, that’s the thing.”

The boy patted his lips and said something strange.