The land where the Demon King’s Castle stood was mostly surrounded by the enormous and deep Lake Belluard, and even the land connected to the continent was blocked by dense forests and high mountains. Because of this, even though the capital Elneil was nearby, the only way to enter the Demon King’s Castle was through the lake.
In this way, the Demon King’s Castle stood tall as if forming its own world, and was also isolated.
Beni looked through the carriage window at the massive, gloomy castle visible in the center of that distant lake.
That’s… where I’m going…
Until yesterday he’d been scared and a little sad, but now that he was actually outside the mansion, his heart pounded with excitement rather than negative emotions. The outside world he actually faced was vastly wider than the world he’d seen through the mansion windows, overgrown with vegetation, and the lake water sparkled.
“You’ll need to get off soon, so get ready.”
The Count kicked Beni’s shin with his foot—Beni who had been staring out the window with a stupid expression for the entire 8-hour carriage ride. Since it had ten times less force than usual, Beni wasn’t that hurt, but he was a little disappointed he couldn’t watch the window anymore.
Before long, the carriage stopped at the lake’s dock. Trellou got out first and extended his hand inside the carriage.
“Elder brother, please come out.”
At the polite tone he was hearing for the first time in his life, Beni’s golden eyes trembled finely. There were even tears welling up faintly in the corners of Trellou’s eyes.
When Beni flinched in surprise, Trellou made a face visible only to Beni and grabbed his wrist.
“Urk.”
It was strong enough force to make Beni, who rarely showed pain, let out a low groan.
“If they find out you’re a half-breed, you’ll be kicked out immediately, rabbit.”
Hide it well, you’re good at hiding. Trellou whispered softly and forcibly pulled Beni out of the carriage. Outside were other demons. Several demons wearing black clothes and face coverings bowed politely when they saw Beni.
“Greetings, we have come to safely escort Lord Beni Ravencoat to the castle entrance.”
One of them approached Beni and pointed with his arm toward the dock. There stood a ship larger than the carriage. The servant carefully took one of Beni’s hands and moved forward, and Beni followed him in a daze. Perhaps because he was wearing such thick layers of clothing, Beni waddled as he walked.
“Beni, take care. We’ll miss you!”
“Elder brother! You must eat well and sleep well!”
Beni got goosebumps at the horrible remarks heard from behind. When he glanced back once, both Trellou and even the Count were dabbing at the corners of their eyes with handkerchiefs. Far from being moved by that sight, Beni broke out in goosebumps all over his body.
“Shall I give you more time to say goodbye to your family?”
When the servant guiding Beni asked, he shook his head without thinking.
“N-no, it’s fine.”
At that reaction, the servant stared intently at Beni.
“Are you not on good terms?”
Somehow it felt like he shouldn’t answer no. Beni hesitated for a moment before shaking his head again.
“…No, we’re on good terms.”
“That’s fortunate.”
Would it be bad if they weren’t on good terms? Somehow the servant didn’t seem to be simply worried about his family relationship. Just as he felt strangely out of place despite seeming kind—
“His Majesty likes things that are loved, you see. If that is not the case, you cannot enter the castle.”
Beni’s gaze trembled finely. He was not a loved existence. Somehow suffocating, Beni looked back. Then, as if entering a vacuum, the tightness in his chest constricted even more. Beni swallowed with his parched mouth and looked forward again, muttering.
“…I’m on good terms with my family…”
“Yes, it appears so.”
The servant answered cheerfully at an odd time. Beni looked at the castle beyond that lake. A place where unloved things cannot enter—a place he should absolutely never enter.
But Beni… didn’t want to return to the mansion. Absolutely not.
* * *
“Th-this is my room?”
Following the servant into the castle and arriving at his bedroom, Beni’s eyes widened. Until he arrived at the castle entrance by boat, he’d been so nervous his stomach churned.
He swallowed down his nausea while watching the servants’ reactions, afraid they might notice he was an unloved existence. It was actually seasickness, but there was no way Beni, riding a boat for the first time, would realize that.
However, the moment he saw the space shown to him as his room, Beni couldn’t help but be excited. The room had a bed, and a wardrobe, and a mirror, and a washstand, and even a private bathroom inside.
Beni looked at the white, fluffy pillow placed on the bed and pressed it with his finger.
“It’s cushioned.”
At Beni’s appearance, the servant tilted his head.
‘Is he lacking somewhere?’
Usually, the demons who came in as concubines were all noble offspring, so when shown this room, they would get angry first. Saying how could it make sense to tell them to live in a pigsty like this. However, giving good rooms to those who weren’t even official consorts and didn’t even have a proper title was wasteful.
Especially when they might be kicked out tomorrow.
So when he politely refused, they usually threw fits asking if he knew who they were, but this spirit’s reaction was extraordinary—too extraordinary.
Fluttering his white hair, he looked around the not-very-spacious room as if viewing some grand plaza and exclaimed in admiration. The servant observed Beni suspiciously, wondering if he was putting on an act, but he was sincere.
At the mansion, Beni had slept on the floor without a bed, shared the bathroom with servants, and his only wardrobe was a small dresser. A small room with a palm-sized window—that was the only space permitted to Beni at the mansion.
In comparison, this place had very wide windows and beyond them he could even see the vast lake. Beni turned to face the servant, closing his eyes prettily.
“I really, truly love it so much!”
When he even smiled brightly with clear eyes, the servant scratched his head in embarrassment and blushed.
“No, I’m just a servant. You can lower your speech with me.”
The servant thought this spirit was a bit—that is, quite a lot—too good to be the Demon King’s concubine. Beni seemed excessively pure to fall into the hands of that filthy, lustful Demon King.
Even wearing thick clothes, his exposed nape and wrists were unusually slender. His jawline was emaciated without an ounce of flesh, yet only his hair was like silk.
The servant who had been examining Beni without realizing it coughed hastily when their eyes met.
“Ahem, first you’ll rest here, then after a simple meal, you’ll prepare to enter the secret chamber.”
“…Secret chamber?”
The servant looked at Beni as if to say he really didn’t know, but he truly didn’t understand. Living only in the mansion, there were limits to learning about the world, and even that was difficult because the servants interfered. Everyone wanted him to exist somewhere in the mansion like an object.
Not breathing, not making sounds, not eating—like that kind of thing.
“I’m sorry… I’m not very smart so I don’t really understand…”
Beni, who at least immediately read the servant’s changed atmosphere, clasped both hands politely and bowed his head. At that appearance, the servant jumped and waved both hands instead.
“No! No! Please don’t do that, Lord Ravencoat!”
When Beni cautiously raised his head while reading the mood, the servant lowered his voice to explain.
“When you enter as His Majesty the Demon King’s concubine, you must… copulate with His Majesty that very night.”
“Ah…!”
He could understand copulation. All the sexual words Beni knew were things Trellou had said. More than that, today immediately, I have to do such things with the Demon King. Sweat formed in Beni’s palms.
Though he didn’t know the details, he knew roughly how that kind of thing was done.
“Will I… be able to do it well…?”
When Beni’s transparent pupils trembled finely, the servant hesitated, almost about to ask, “Shall I teach you?”
“That… if you ask His Majesty the Demon King exactly as you just asked me, I think there will be absolutely no problem.”
Because with that face, looking like that, any demon would surely fall for it. Unlike ordinary demons, Beni gave off an unfamiliar atmosphere. Something that subtly stimulated lustful thoughts.
But Beni thought the servant was telling him to figure it out himself and just nodded his head glumly.
“Then I’ll be going now. If you need anything, please ring the bell placed on the console here.”
The servant left, and Beni looked at the closed door before heading to the window. In the fading sunlight, the shimmering water sparkled on the mysteriously purple-tinted lake. If he could stay in a room like this, Beni could do anything.
〈My baby, my child. Don’t die, you must survive somehow. No matter what happens, even if people point fingers at you, you must live.〉
These were words his mother had said when he was very young. Though he couldn’t recall her face or voice anymore, those words were engraved very deeply in his mind.
* * *
Wearing clothes thinner and more see-through than usual, Beni sat alone on the large bed. He kept breaking out in goosebumps, unable to distinguish whether it was because the room temperature was low or because he was nervous.
They said if he waited like this, the Demon King would come in. Beni put strength into his back and thrust out his chest to straighten his shoulders as the Count had taught him.
“It’s okay, it’ll be over quickly.”
His hands and feet trembled at having to join bodies with someone he was seeing for the first time today. Beni clenched his ice-cold hands tightly and muttered. After calming himself like that for a while, Beni felt something was strange.
The servant had definitely said he’d come “soon,” but it seemed quite a bit of time had passed. Moreover, it seemed somehow noisy outside.
Beni agonized before finally disobeying the servant’s order to stay still on the bed and moved toward the door.
Just as he was cautiously moving to press his ear to the door—crash.
“Kyaa!”
At the roughly opened door, Beni fell flat on the floor. So startled, Beni’s long ears popped out from between his white hair without him realizing it.
To be discovered as a half-breed with beastkin on the very first day—urgently, Beni tried to hide them by pressing both hands firmly over his ears, but his whole body soon froze.
Because an intense smell of blood filled the room.
Spirit / 영식 – Term used by servants to refer to concubines entering the castle
