A dizziness as if the floor was swaying.
It was a familiar sensation. It was exactly like when the Demon King held him and teleported. No, it was identical.
Beni, who had squeezed his eyes shut against the bright light, gently lifted his eyelids as the dizzying sensation subsided.
Right in front of Beni was none other than the back of a massive bookshelf. What on earth was happening all of a sudden? Beni, who had been crouching, carefully stood up.
The bookshelf that seemed to be made of old wood felt unfamiliar yet familiar. To figure out where this was, Beni stayed in place and sniffed quietly. A subtly sweet scent—Ruan’s smell. Beni, who immediately brightened, came out from behind the bookshelf and couldn’t help but be shocked.
“…The Demon King’s bedroom?”
A massive bed decorated with dark carvings, a large and spacious room. No matter how he looked at it, it was the Demon King’s bedroom. But he couldn’t comprehend why he’d come here. Beni, who was looking around in bewilderment, went back behind the bookshelf. There was a pattern much smaller in size than the one he’d seen in the small room earlier. Could it be that?
Beni gulped and carefully placed his hand on it again, and with a flash, he returned to the original room.
“Huk.”
It must be a magic circle that could teleport! Beni plopped down on the floor and stared at what he’d discovered with a trembling expression. Still dazed, Beni rubbed the pattern several times and continued to go back and forth between the Demon King’s bedroom and the room. Seeing that it kept going to the Demon King’s bedroom no matter how many times he used it, it seemed to be connected only to that place.
Beni spun around in small circles in the Demon King’s bedroom, pondering. Why was such a thing in the servants’ quarters, whose room had it been in the first place, and seeing that they were organizing to check if there was anything to repair meant someone might move in, so was it okay for a magic circle to be there?
And should he report this to Tallos too?!
Beni pondered for a long while. It would be dangerous to have a means to easily move to the Demon King’s bedroom in mere servants’ quarters, of all places. So it was right that it should be removed, but at the same time, in the back of his mind came the thought that if he used that magic circle, he could come to the Demon King’s bedroom more easily and quickly in his rabbit form. The desire to pretend not to know and leave it for a while gradually crept up.
Furrowing his brow and grunting in contemplation, Beni slapped both his cheeks with his hands.
“Pull yourself together, Beni.”
Under any circumstances, the Demon King’s safety came first. Beni took out the notebook and pencil he’d put in his apron pocket and knelt on the floor. Using the floor as a desk, he began to slowly write in crooked handwriting.
*I found something like a magic circle that can move to Your Majesty’s bedroom in a small room. Your Majesty could be in danger.*
He was someone who had roamed the Demon King’s Castle as a rabbit, avoiding people’s eyes this way and that, fighting against the cold wind. Now the greenhouse work had become easier, and he knew it was okay to go around in his true form at night, so he didn’t need such a thing.
Then wouldn’t it be better to inform the Demon King of this fact first? Beni didn’t know if such a magic circle could be removed immediately. Since he’d come to the Demon King’s bedroom, it didn’t seem bad to quietly slip out and try visiting the study where the Demon King would be. He couldn’t be 100% certain he’d really be there, but if not, he could just come back down. Beni was still lying prone, tapping the paper with the tip of his pencil and racking his brain.
A shadow fell over him, and black shoe tips entered his field of vision.
Uh…
Beni froze right there. Looking up slowly with widened eyes, Ruan was looking down at him with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
“Hello, Beni.”
It was a fresh tone, but Beni shrank completely. And for good reason, since he was currently in the Demon King’s bedroom. Of course, since it was daytime, he hadn’t thought the Demon King would come here. For Beni, a bedroom was a place you only went to sleep, and the Demon King had a separate resting space, so he’d naturally thought so, but thinking about it, what did it matter if the homeowner wandered around his own home?
“Uh, um, so Your Majesty, the reason I’m here is…!”
“Why are you like that on the floor?”
Just as his field of vision lowered, two large hands dug between Beni’s armpits. Without time to be surprised, his body was lifted high into the air and stood upright at Ruan’s eye level.
Ruan’s touch as he personally dusted off his knees was excessively polite yet persistent. Though there was no dust since it was the Demon King’s bedroom, Ruan rubbed Beni’s kneecaps with his hands several times for no reason.
Too flustered, Beni couldn’t stop him and just stared blankly at what the Demon King was doing. Only when he straightened up and looked down at him did Beni hastily grab his sleeve.
“Ah, the reason I’m here! Come over here.”
When Beni pulled the Demon King, Ruan was dragged along without much reaction. Where the two arrived was behind the bookshelf where the warp portal was. Beni pointed at the round pattern emitting a subtle golden light with his finger.
“Look at this! I ended up cleaning an empty room in the servants’ quarters instead of the greenhouse today.”
“Mm.”
“But that room was bigger than other places and had another room inside. And there was this magic circle inside, and when I rubbed it, I immediately moved to Your Majesty’s bedroom!”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Ruan, who had been watching Beni rattling off words, immediately turned his gaze away when he looked at him. Ruan walked past Beni and slowly approached to quietly stare at the warp portal.
It was a familiar pattern. Of course it was, since Ruan had created it. But Ruan, who was acting as if seeing it for the first time, asked Beni.
“So the quarters and my room are connected?”
“Yes yes, it’s still an empty room, but seeing that Tallos-nim told me to check it, someone else might move in.”
Ruan pretended to carefully listen to Beni’s words while lightly stroking his chin. Then he fiddled with the portal, seeming to ponder something intently before standing up.
“After checking, it seems there’s no need to remove it.”
“What? Is that okay? What if just anyone enters Your Majesty’s bedroom…?”
No matter how strong the Demon King was, Beni still vividly remembered him collapsing the other day. He’d heard at the estate that there were many who targeted Demon Kings, so leaving such a portal seemed dangerous no matter how he thought about it.
“It doesn’t seem like just anyone who touches the portal can move, Beni.”
“Then?”
“From what I see, it seems to be set up so only those who like me can come over.”
It was a lie. In truth, it was a portal created so that only Beni could come over from the start. But there was no way Beni could discern Ruan’s inner thoughts as he shamelessly lied with a serious face. Beni, who had been looking up at Ruan as if gaining great enlightenment, exclaimed.
“That’s a relief!”
So that’s why he had moved. Beni looked down at the portal anew, and at Beni’s unexpectedly indifferent reaction, Ruan asked back more puzzled.
“Beni, do you like me?”
At that question, Beni immediately nodded his head. At such an honest answer, it was the moment when the Demon King was instead flustered and only smacked his lips.
“You’re so good to me even though I’m just a servant. I always have a grateful heart toward Your Majesty.”
“Ah…”
It was somehow a disappointed voice, but Beni didn’t notice at all.
“But I’m still worried. What if other servants besides me who like Your Majesty discover this and come over?”
Most seemed to fear the Demon King, but their true feelings might be different.
“That won’t happen.”
Even at the firm answer, Beni couldn’t let go of his worry.
“I’ll tell Tallos to make it so only you can access that room, Beni.”
“Only me?”
“Yes.”
Thinking this should be enough, Beni hesitated with a somehow unconvinced face. Waiting quietly for him to speak on his own, it wasn’t long before Beni carefully asked.
“By any chance… would it be okay for, um, the rabbit to come here?”
“Ah.”
Ruan let out an exclamation as if he’d forgotten about the rabbit for a moment. Had he forgotten because he hadn’t seen it for a few days? Beni suddenly wondered if the rabbit wasn’t that important to the Demon King. Or perhaps his rabbit had returned. While Beni was pondering, Ruan lightly stroked his head.
“Of course, tell the rabbit to come anytime, Beni. I’ve been worried since it hasn’t come for the past few days.”
He still needed him! Beni immediately brightened and nodded his head vigorously.
* * *
“You called for me, Your Majesty.”
Marcel, who had entered the Demon King’s secret room, bowed lightly at the waist.
Ruan reached toward the display cabinet. What he carefully took out was a clump of pure white fur resting on premium silk. Ruan combed it strand by strand with a delicate brush, as if handling a living creature. Despite it already being smooth enough, under his touch the white traces emitted an even more peculiar luster.
Only then did Ruan’s face become satisfied.
