“The portal has been installed well.”
That was fast too. He’d heard it was all completed early this morning.
“Have you already checked it? The technicians from Roath Tower have been silenced properly.”
Ruan didn’t seem particularly interested in those words. He merely gazed at Beni and the rabbit inside the Recording Orb that played in front of him.
“I assigned him the greenhouse management because I wanted to keep him by my side more often, but Beni seems quite tired. He hasn’t been coming to my room at night lately.”
The Beni he could see when going to the greenhouse was nice too, but since he hadn’t been able to see Beni nestling in his arms as a rabbit lately, Ruan had to come to this room every single night.
“…Ah, yes.”
“Moreover, the other night he almost fell while coming down the bed ladder. Beni’s head almost cracked open. Why are the dormitory beds so dangerous? Is the castle that short on money?”
“…If you’re that worried, how about you stop now and honestly tell the Spirit everything and keep him by your side?”
Ruan, hands clasped behind his back, turned around.
“Do you think I don’t want to? You’re so clueless it’s a problem!”
At the sudden outburst, Marcel’s mind became hazy.
“You keep saying obvious things, but if you act like that, your future mate will only be frustrated.”
At the Demon King’s scolding, Marcel felt wronged. He didn’t know what he’d said wrong to make him so irritated. Ruan let out an exaggerated sigh and shook his head.
“Beni is trying hard to hide his identity from me right now. He’s the kind of child who will speak up first once he gathers the courage to say it someday. There’s no reason for me to forcibly reveal it.”
Marcel barely managed to hold back the words “That fragile Spirit?” He scraped together his patience that had fallen to rock bottom and refuted in the most polite tone possible.
“Your Majesty didn’t just pretend to be fooled—you even created a nonexistent rabbit and made things worse. If he’s an innocent Spirit, he might believe those words completely and might never tell you for his entire life. Moreover, if he finds out Your Majesty deceived him, he might be disappointed.”
“…”
Ruan’s mouth closed. There wasn’t a single wrong word, and Ruan had secretly been regretting it too. At the time, it was a lie to help lower Beni’s guard. Still, the name was only as different as Ben and Beni, and he’d subtly dropped hints that could be noticed, but Beni hadn’t caught on at all.
Rather, he seemed quite interested in the fictitious rabbit named Ben, so Ruan’s lies only kept piling up.
In the end, unable to say anything, Ruan waved his hand dismissively.
“Get out.”
* * *
Late at night, Beni quietly headed toward the room at the very end of the corridor. The nighttime corridor particularly echoed with sounds, so Beni had to even take off his shoes to walk. When he grabbed and turned the doorknob, a creaking sound of rusted metal rang out, stiffening Beni’s entire body.
He froze like that and looked around, but fortunately no one came out. Only after opening the door again and quietly entering inside did his tension release as he let out a deep sigh.
Opening the small door, Beni busily took off his clothes and folded them neatly in a corner of the floor. They’d get a bit dusty, but it was better to take them off here.
Soon after, Beni’s body gradually shrank and a white ball of fur appeared with a poof. In the colder weather, his fur had become much fluffier than before.
Perhaps because he hadn’t transformed into a rabbit for the past few days, Beni felt somewhat awkward and groomed the long fur covering his eyes with his plump front paws. He couldn’t be messy when seeing the Demon King after so long.
After licking his body a few times with his pink tongue, once Beni was somewhat satisfied, he hopped bouncing toward the portal. Raising both front paws high, he tapped on top of the portal with a boing, and light flashed.
The rabbit, who had squeezed its eyes shut, revealed bright yellow eyes once the churning sensation disappeared. A pitch-black space—it seemed darker behind the bookshelf. Feeling somewhat tense, the white rabbit moved its steps lightly and soon encountered him. The Demon King, who was sitting leaning against the window.
Standing with the brightly risen moonlight behind him, he gazed languidly at the rabbit while wearing a thin gown. He smiled faintly as if he’d known the rabbit would come.
“You’re here.”
It was the moment Ruan stood up to head toward the rabbit. The small rabbit kicked off the floor and leaped high. At the unexpected action, Ruan froze.
The rabbit swiftly ran toward the Demon King, scattering its long white fur.
Its two eyes, gleaming like a teddy bear doll, sparkled as it looked up at Ruan.
At the rabbit hopping around energetically in front of him, Ruan was somewhat surprised but soon burst into laughter.
When becoming a rabbit, thoughts became somewhat simpler than in his original form. Crisis detection and judgment became faster accordingly, but emotions also became that much more honest.
There was the happiness of seeing the Demon King after becoming a rabbit in a long time, but there was also the fact that Beni had become much more comfortable and happier since being assigned the greenhouse management.
Moreover, indeed…
‘His stamina has improved a lot.’
He’d vaguely known it was gradually improving, but becoming a rabbit after several days made it even more certain.
“You seem to be in a very good mood today.”
The rabbit nodded its head slightly then looked up at the Demon King’s high, high bed. Today, it felt like he could jump up there with his own strength.
The rabbit, rolling its hind legs, suddenly ran toward the bed and leaped up as high as it possibly could. The Demon King’s red eyes widened enormously.
Thud—a loud vibration shook the room. Because Ruan had fallen forward while holding the rabbit with both hands. It was the first time he’d fallen since he was 13.
He was so startled in the moment that he didn’t even have the presence of mind to use magic. Ruan, who had slammed his chin into the floor, let out a hollow laugh at how ridiculous he looked.
“You really always catch me completely off guard.”
Ruan got up and carefully embraced the rabbit in his arms. The rabbit looked up at the Demon King, whose chin had turned bright red from falling because of him.
‘I think I did something unnecessary…’
Overcome with guilt, the rabbit raised its upper body and licked the Demon King’s chin. Ruan stroked the rabbit’s head while murmuring softly.
“You’ve gained a lot more weight than before, Be, Be…, Ben.”
Ben? That was the name of the Demon King’s rabbit. As Beni stared up at him, the Demon King looked somewhat embarrassed.
“Ah, I misspoke. You’re very much like the rabbit I love.”
Come to think of it, quite some time had passed since the Demon King’s rabbit Ben had disappeared. Beni had been so preoccupied during that time that he hadn’t even thought about looking for that rabbit, but he wondered how much the owner himself must be hurting. He picked up the rabbit and lay down on his bed, carefully placing the rabbit on the fluffy pillow.
Finally, their eye levels matched.
The Demon King gently scratched the rabbit’s cheeks and chin with his index finger. Beni lay flat on the soft cloth and rubbed his chin. Each time, long clumps of fur fell out in puffs, but Ruan didn’t mind at all.
Rather, he liked it. If he collected just a bit more fur, he could make a rabbit doll the same size as the real rabbit.
The rabbit, who had been meeting the Demon King’s eyes, glanced at his chest. That place was very warm.
Beni, who had been watching for an opportunity, crawled slowly and burrowed into the Demon King’s embrace. As expected, his white ears drooped at the warmth that quickly became toasty.
The Demon King, who had been gently stroking the rabbit’s back, whispered.
“You know, rabbit.”
Beni, with eyes half-closed, wiggled his white fluffy snout instead of answering.
“There’s someone I like.”
Someone… he likes…? For Beni, liking was simple. Beni liked Ren and liked the Demon King and liked Tallos. And he liked the fruit from the surface that he gave him and liked the various demons he’d met at the castle.
But somehow, Ruan’s confession right now seemed different from what he was thinking. As he quietly watched the Demon King, he spoke softly.
“Someone I want to make my mate.”
Mate…!
〈I already have someone I’ve decided on as my mate.〉
A forgotten memory surfaced. On the day Ruan became the Demon King, the words he’d said resolutely. Come to think of it, who exactly was the Demon King’s mate?
What kind of feeling it must be to like someone enough to want to make them your mate, how much more… gently would Ruan treat that person…?
Beni was enveloped in a strange feeling that was somehow difficult to explain.
