Ren ate dessert for quite a while even after stuffing himself with dinner. On top of that, Tallos couldn’t easily pull himself away either, and after getting permission, he ate his fill of the desserts bestowed upon Beni.
As for Beni himself, his stomach was quite full, and just watching the two of them eat deliciously made him feel pleased, so he just watched from the side.
“As expected, the quality of desserts His Majesty the Demon King eats is completely different.”
Beni looked at Tallos questioningly as he suddenly used formal speech.
“Ah, I can usually only taste food like this occasionally when important people are around, so without realizing it, ahem.”
Tallos cleared his throat awkwardly as if embarrassed and took a sip of the black tea Ren had brewed.
“And His Majesty the Demon King also conveyed that the storage container has permanent food preservation magic on it, so don’t worry and take your time eating it.”
At those words, Beni muttered softly in admiration.
“His Majesty…… seems somehow kind.”
The Demon King he’d met again was so different from his first impression. Beni stared blankly out the window with somehow complicated feelings. It seemed like the reason the Demon King was kind to him was because it was only possible since he didn’t know he was that beastkin.
Tallos looked at Beni, who was lost in thought by himself, with bewilderment before finally accepting it.
When he’d gone to receive that storage container earlier, the Demon King had been there in person, and he had said to him:
〈I heard you slipped Beni into the servant registry.〉
So it’s finally come, Tallos thought, humbly closing both eyes and admitting it. The past 10 years of living in the Demon King’s Castle as inconspicuously as possible—it was ending like this.
〈……I have committed a crime worthy of death, Your Majesty. However, the Spirit is completely innocent…….〉
〈You did very well. I’ll raise your salary.〉
〈……What?〉
And so Tallos had returned with additional orders to immediately report to him if anything happened to Beni and to protect him inconspicuously.
The relationship between the Demon King and Beni was still unclear, but one thing was certain—the Demon King held great affection for Beni.
So that’s why Beni was saying such ridiculous things…….
Tallos just smiled. Since his wages had gone up thanks to this turn of events, he had no choice but to properly follow the Demon King’s orders from now on.
* * *
Late at night, Beni’s eyes snapped wide open.
Beni quietly got down from the bed so as not to wake the sleeping Ren. He carefully extracted the tart Ren had fallen asleep holding and set it aside, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Next time the Demon King called for him, he should give his thanks again then.
Beni, who’d been looking at the sleeping Ren with satisfaction, blew out the candle on the table beside the bed. But instead of getting back into bed, Beni very carefully slipped out of the room. Tonight, he’d decided to visit his burrow.
In the quiet quarters, Beni slipped out of the building and entered the bushes. And a few minutes later, what poked its face out from among the grass was a white rabbit.
It seemed better to visit his burrow as a rabbit, which was easier to hide, rather than in his true form.
Beni stretched fully as he emerged from the grass. Dried leaves were stuck here and there to his fluffy fur. The rabbit shook its body once with a flutter, then hopped along, heading familiarly toward its nest.
The reason for going to the nest was simple—he had to go get the doll he’d hidden in his fur and hadn’t been able to retrieve yet.
His body was much lighter than usual, so Beni quickly arrived near his nest. Since he’d made the burrow in the most remote place in the castle, as expected there were no signs of anyone around.
Still, since he’d been discovered once before at Niar Palace, Beni didn’t let his guard down in his own way. He stopped hopping and arrived in front of the burrow crawling slowly, but he couldn’t help but freeze.
‘There’s…… someone in front of my nest……!’
Beni held his breath and hid among the bushes, glaring at the figure that seemed to be rummaging through his nest. It was his precious sanctuary that he’d never been discovered at even once while living as a rabbit.
Even though he wanted to know who it was, he couldn’t see ahead because it was especially dark in the corner. He could only faintly see a vaguely massive build and what looked like arms moving about, which was how Beni had barely managed to stop.
From the looks of it, they seemed to be messing with his burrow…….
The rabbit focused all its nerves on the culprit rifling through the nest and crawled forward stealthily. It was to check who it was and then leave. But for some reason, the closer he got, the more familiar the scent that wafted over seemed. As his vision adjusted to the darkness, the figure gradually became clearer.
It was just before he recognized who it was.
Suddenly the culprit who’d been searching the burrow turned their head. Flash—two blood-red eyes glinted eerily like those of a predator.
The rabbit froze on the spot and even held its breath. Fortunately, since it was among thick bushes, as long as he didn’t make a sound, the other party—that is…… the intruder—wouldn’t discover him.
So he needed to stay as quiet as possible, but Beni heard the sound of his small heart beating rapidly—thump thump thump. The intruder was someone he’d never expected at all.
‘Wh-why is His Majesty there……?’
Of all people, why the Demon King was in front of his burrow—he couldn’t fathom the reason at all. And why did he keep looking this way? Had he already been discovered?
The rabbit’s paw pads grew damp with moisture. Though his body was certainly quite small and it was dark so there was no way he’d be visible, the Demon King’s gaze wouldn’t leave this direction.
It seemed the Demon King had definitely discovered him after all. He’d hidden well for 3 months, but after being discovered once, he seemed to keep getting caught consecutively. Had his concealment abilities deteriorated because he’d let his guard down?
Gulp—the rabbit who’d swallowed dry saliva came up with a strategy he wouldn’t have used before.
Since the Demon King seemed to like rabbits, if he went out first and rolled over to show his belly, maybe he’d just pet him a few times and leave. He didn’t know what color the Demon King’s rabbit was, but it seemed similar in size to him…… And more than anything, he didn’t seem to be as cruel a person as he’d thought.
It was the moment the determined rabbit was about to slowly approach.
“Your Majesty, the High Priest of the Evil God’s Church says if you don’t come quickly, he’ll sleep in the same bed as Your Majesty.”
Marcel’s voice came from somewhere. Perhaps he was a bit distant—the voice was quiet and his figure wasn’t visible. He could only roughly tell where he was by the direction the Demon King turned his head.
“Why is he visiting in the dead of night making a, fuss.”
“To the priests of the Evil God’s Church, it’s broad daylight right now. Didn’t he always visit at this time anyway?”
“……I mean, that…… hah…… let’s not talk about it.”
The Demon King seemed suddenly irritated as he roughly ruffled his hair and stood up. The rabbit held its breath and stayed in place until the Demon King had completely moved away. Time passed, and Beni perked up his long ears to confirm whether they’d really left.
From the surroundings, no sound could be heard except the noise of leaves rustling in the wind.
Only then did the rabbit let out a sigh of relief—whoosh—and popped out. He’d been sure the Demon King had seen him, but apparently not.
Looking back at where he’d been hiding, the bushes were a bit sparse since it had gotten cold, but it was so dark it made sense he couldn’t be seen.
After looking around once more, the rabbit finally walked toward the front of the burrow, his original destination. The entrance was only large enough for his body to barely fit, and he’d deliberately scattered leaves around it—how had the Demon King discovered it?
Every time the rabbit tilted its head, its long ears swayed. Worried that he might have ruined his burrow, he looked the entrance over from various angles first, but nothing seemed particularly different. When he stuck half his body into the crude entrance, the Demon King’s scent wafted faintly.
As expected, he seemed to have looked inside the burrow. Had he been trying to check what was inside? Wondering what the Demon King might have done, the rabbit frantically dug through the nest with its front paws.
Shuffle shuffle.
The paws rummaging through the sanctuary he’d lived in for 3 months moved faster and faster.
‘……It’s gone!’
The rabbit whose eyes had grown large went completely inside the burrow and examined the entire narrow interior. And then immediately cried out in anguish.
‘It’s gone!’
The doll he’d worked so hard to make had vanished without a trace. He hadn’t even finished it yet!
There was no need to wonder who the culprit was. It had to be the Demon King. At the fact that he’d stolen his precious thing without a word, his teeth ground automatically—grind grind grind. At this moment, he couldn’t even recall the moment when he’d been handed lots of delicious fruit and encouraged.
Or wait, was he in a position to be angry? He’d been living in hiding in the first place. But even so, there was no need to take the doll, was there?
If he’d demolished the burrow instead, he would have been sad—very sad—but he wouldn’t have been angry. From the Demon King’s perspective, he’d built a nest in his territory without permission. More than anything, Beni now had a bed where he could stretch out all four limbs to sleep, not this burrow.
Why had the Demon King taken that doll in the first place? It was an object the Demon King had absolutely no need for. Or had he perhaps thrown it away nearby? The rabbit experienced an identity crisis between anger and the rationality that he wasn’t in a position to be angry, and bolted out of the burrow.
As a last hope, he searched thoroughly around the burrow and even dug in the ground, but the doll wasn’t anywhere.
The rabbit with white fur and a moist nose covered in dirt looked up at the sky helplessly.
‘……My doll.’
Since the Demon King had taken it, finding it again would be impossible. Now that he could live in his true form, he could have refined the doll more precisely…….
