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The next day──

From the morning mist that had yet to clear away, the timbre of flutes and harps could be heard.

They were probably preparations for the wedding.

Diablo raised his body up.

He turned his gaze towards the door.

Rose the Magimatic Maid that stood alongside the wall courteously made a bow.

「Good morning, Master. Are there any hindrances to your body?」

When she gets to a distance of one step away from Diablo when he is awake, her magical power starts charging. She surely sensed that he didn’t sleep.

「Ever since we came to this forest, I have not used magic all that much. It is to the point that my body feels like it is growing dull. There is no way there would be any problems.」

「Please excuse me.」

Rem, who slept in the same bed as him, was still making a sleeper’s breathing. Since it was still early morning, he decided to let her keep sleeping.

Quietly slipping out of bed, he headed to the room’s door.

「Rose, just in case, stick close to Rem.」

「......Understood.」

Showing only a moment of dissatisfaction with silence towards the fact that she would be separated from Diablo, she obeyed.

He came out to the common room.

Suddenly, he noticed that the entranceway door was left slightly opened.

Since this was a country where the other residences did not even have walls let alone doors, and used tree branches as beds, he wouldn’t say that was careless.

──Did someone come in or out?

From the common room, there were doors that went to the two private rooms.

One of them was the one that Diablo had just come out from.

The other one was the room that Rafleisha was using. The door to her room was also partly open.

Come to think of it, the buildings of the Dark Elf village practically did not have doors. She might not have the habit of closing opened doors.

「......Did she go for a walk?」

So Diablo wasn’t the only one who didn’t go to sleep.

If a new king is enthroned in today’s wedding, it will be closer to Rafleisha’s objective. However, it still wasn’t decided as to whether or not that new king would transfer any territory.

Since the life of the new Queen Shera who would become his wife was at risk, they would first try to annul that but......

Even so, in the world of politics, outrageous things will happen on occasion. People that take only what they can take and then don’t keep their promises could be found anywhere.

「I guess it’s reasonable that she feels restless.」

Diablo went outside.

If he remembered correctly, according to Shera’s story, the wedding would be held in the plaza of the country’s largest tree.

He thought that all of the Elves would be feverishly working, but that wasn’t the case.

As usual, there were some that sprawled out up in the trees and were strumming their instruments, and there were some that were nibbling on fruits.

His field of vision opened up.

「Oh......」

It was a magnificently large tree, to the point that he involuntarily leaked out his voice.

It was tall enough to make him think that it might reach the heavens, and was thicker than the Magician’s Tower. It was big enough that the surrounding large trees seemed like saplings.

In front of that large tree, an altar was prepared.

It seemed that the arrangements still weren’t completed. The flower beds that encircled the venue were halfway prepared, and and the chairs were in the middle of being transported one by one.

One Elf was giving out directions.

「Yosh, that chair, goes here. Hurry up, we need to finish up the bottom by eight o’clock. How about the upper decorations? Are they still not here? Tell them to hurry up with that as well.」

「Durango-san, the additional benches have come.」

「Oh, is that so. Ahhh, the design is slightly wrong......Yosh, let’s put those at the back.」

Diablo opened his eyes wide.

──Durango!?

He really did have a pig face that did not seem like it would be that of an Elf, but Diablo could tell that he was respected and relied on by the people around him.

Above all, he did not have that strange way of speaking.

「Is the preparation of the food progressing well? We don’t have enough meat......It can’t be helped, have about five people go out hunting. Please do it in two hours.」

「Durango-san, the upper decorations, half of them have come first!」

「Yosh, yosh! Fumu fumu, yoーsh, this is good quality. Well then, adorn these from above. In groups of two, one person does the decorating, and the other carries a whole bunch. It’s because carrying a whole bunch while working will be faster than coming back down every time.」

「Yes! Yosh, let’s go, you guys!」

The young Elves moved in groups of two just as Durango said.

Diablo headed towards his direction.

「Hmph......You have quite the leadership, don’t you? I suppose I should say as expected of the next king.」

「Ah!? Sorry, for this and that. You are quite early!」

「You, that strange way of speaking is......」

「Dufufufu......Is there, something wrong with my manner of speaking?」

What could be the reason for him expressly doing such a strange act. This didn’t seem like it would be a hit with the ladies.

The Queen nominated Durango, but it wasn’t like she praised his appearance or mannerisms.

Diablo, who did a Demon King role play, knew──that making up a persona couldn’t be done half-heartedly. Since he went through that much hardship to make it, there should be some sort of reason for it.

That being said, there would be no way he would confess if he merely asked about it.

「You suspicious fellow.」

「Well now, I give up. Ahh, the wedding of me and Princess Shera, it will happen one hour past noon. Until then, please eat some of the rich fruits. Reserves have been prepared, so do take your time.」

「I have grown tired of eating. More importantly, there is one thing I was thinking of asking you.」

「Hohou, and what might that be?」

「Shera feels that she wants to continue going on adventures. She will surely say that she wants to leave the country even after she becomes queen.」

「Dufufufu......That sure is a troubling Queen.」

「So that, is what you think.」

Durango put a hand to his own mouth.

He suddenly changed to having sharp eyes.

「............Diablo-dono, you saw that, didn’t you?」

「Mu?」

「Princess Shera is constantly under surveillance. How she had brought everyone to the royal family graveyard, and how she came out with a pale face after that, all of it has been understood.」

「So you also knew about it.」

「It is because I have served as the king’s close aide.」

「In that case, this will make the talk go fast.」

「In regards to that, I ask that you do not reveal it in front of the Elves.」

As they thought, the fact that the 《Demon King of the Heart, Cardia》 was sealed here was a secret only to the royal family. He knew about it since he worked as the king’s right-hand man though.

「Even if I am enthroned, children are needed. If something were to happen to Princess Shera in her travels, the bloodline of the royal family would eventually cease to exist after all.」

「Fumu.」

Adventurers are always next to danger. That concern was inevitable.

「At the very least, until she is blessed with three children, I will be troubled if she leaves Greenwood. That is what I am thinking.」

Diablo breathed a sigh.

It was as if she were a milk cow. So the number of children was the quota.

The requirement of three children, it was probably because the current Queen gave birth to three, and now only Shera remained.

He now understood why Prince Kiira was treated with great care within the kingdom even with his ill-natured personality.

Durango pressed his concern.

「I sincerely ask that in regards to that......」

「If it were made common knowledge, the Faltra Feudal Lord would not have sent the Elf Prince’s head flying though.」

「That would be outrageous! If that matter were to be spread, the Demon King Worshippers would surely target the lives of the royal family.」

「Hmph......I understand your way of thinking very well.」

The reason why he was doing such an act with a strange tone was unknown though.

So, as he thought, in one knew about the seal, they would make that kind of decision.