Chapter 171 - How Do I Look?

It was during the demonic creature subjugation campaign.

The young lords had gone out to battle, while the young ladies and their escort knights remained at Valdrova Castle.

And what was there for the young ladies to do?

Those women, who had never so much as gotten a drop of water on their hands, could do little more than gather together in their rooms.

Among them, the young ladies with nimble fingers expressed their feelings by embroidering the clothes of the young lord they fancied.

In any case, having sent the men away, they were in an extremely anxious and lonely situation.

Even if they believed victory would come, defeat constantly whispered in their ears and shook their hearts.

It was the perfect environment for beings that slipped into the cracks in such hearts.

And by coincidence, such a being lived in this castle.

"I'm bored."

Penelope muttered that with an empty face.

"I fulfilled the long-cherished wish I wanted to accomplish in the surface world, so why does it feel so unsatisfying?"

Creating the "garden" that had been called her long-cherished wish.

Even though she had succeeded in making it with precious, innocent young ladies, she felt no sense of achievement.

Of course she didn't.

What Penelope had done was merely cast a net into a stocked pond, and merely put a spoon piled high with rice into her mouth.

'That's right.'

Penelope thought like someone who had suddenly awakened.

'If I aim to become a first-rate demon, I should be able to do it myself!'

She clenched her fist and made a vow.

'Next time, I'll infiltrate the imperial court and create a garden there!'

It was confidence completely devoid of any thought that she might get caught.

With that vow in mind, she wandered around the castle.

"By the way... where am I?"

After walking like a layabout, she no longer even knew where she was.

Valdrova Castle was vast.

Wandering around without thinking also meant being ready to get lost at any time.

On the other hand, because of that, she arrived at a place she normally would never have seen even once.

"Is this the audience chamber?"

A place where the king of a nation officially received his subjects.

And since it was not just any king's audience chamber, but a dragon's, its scale rivaled that of an emperor.

"Come to think of it, I've never seen this place used."

It was the throne Valdrova was supposed to ascend, and Ferda, as Regent, could not sit there.

He could have created enough justification if he wanted, but Ferda refused and chose to meet people mainly in the reception room or his own office.

So not many people knew what the inside looked like.

"Hmm..."

Penelope narrowed her eyes.

Within them dwelled a light called interest.

"Should I take just a little look?"

Fearlessly, Penelope opened the closed door and went inside.

"Whoa...!"

What burst from her was an exclamation of admiration.

Since no one used it, she had imagined furniture covers and heaps of dust.

But even without a king, the place was meticulously maintained.

The structure was such that, once the chandeliers were lit, the interior would become as bright as midday.

The mural of a Red Dragon behind the throne had been painted with such majesty that it would intimidate visitors.

"As expected of a dragon, this sure is fancy! Why have they been leaving something like this unused all this time?"

As Penelope scanned the audience chamber, her gaze fixed on the throne.

She imagined it.

If she sat on that throne, it would surely feel incredible.

"Hmm..."

When one wants to sit, one wants to lie down, and when one wants to lie down, one wants to sleep.

Her feet fidgeted and moved forward.

"Ah, whatever."

In the end, she chose to be faithful to her desires.

She climbed onto the throne as she pleased and sat down right there.

"Ooh, whoooa!"

The moment her backside touched the throne, Penelope shuddered.

"So this is the air a king breathes...?!"

It could not compare to the sense of achievement she had felt when creating her garden.

It felt as if every desire she had been deprived of was being fulfilled.

Penelope recalled the past.

Why had she fearlessly stolen the Life Vessel of her mother, Sitri?

To drive out that Great Demon and become a new Great Demon of Hell.

Though, since her entire plan ended at stealing the Life Vessel and assuming something would work out, she had ended up being chased by her mother.

The important thing was that her ambition was still alive.

Immersed in playing queen, Penelope could not hold back and shouted.

"Ohoho! Attend me! Is anyone there?"

Her ringing voice boomed throughout the audience chamber.

"We wish to proclaim the Penelope Harem Kingdom from this very throne! Which woman wishes to become the first concubine of this Great Demon, Lady Penelope?"

She savored the fantasy of imaginary beautiful girls pleading with her as she sat upon the throne.

"Is it you? Or is it you? Anyone will do, so come closer to me and..."

Her words trailed off.

"... Eh?"

The imaginary beautiful girls who had surrounded her scattered like smoke, and she returned to reality.

And yet, something that maintained its shape stood at the tip of her finger.

A woman with an ordinary woman's build and red hair.

But two pairs of horns utterly distant from that ordinariness.

Golden eyes and vertically split pupils.

Penelope had never faced her even once, but even the most oblivious child would have realized it at once.

The master of this audience chamber, the subject of the mural behind her back, Valdrova.

Right now, Penelope had not only entered the audience chamber as she pleased, but had sat upon the throne and even pointed her finger at its master.

"Uh, um..."

Her slender finger curled up like a fern shoot, and her gestures gradually turned polite along with it.

"A-Ahaha!"

She laughed loudly as if it were nothing at all.

"My goodness... I have been terribly rude! I was looking around without knowing anything and ended up presumptuously coming to a place like this and talking to myself!"

Penelope tried to slip past Valdrova and leave.

"T-Then this lowly one shall take her leave now!"

Just as she was about to dart away past her shoulder,

"Wait a moment."

Penelope was caught before she could cross the entrance.

Valdrova had simply uttered three syllables, but her body would not move any further.

It felt as if the flow of her mana, her heart, and everything else had been seized in that hand.

Penelope learned for the first time then.

That this was what a dragon was.

Valdrova spoke to Penelope, who was trembling like a helpless prairie dog.

"Can we... talk for a moment?"

Penelope sensed what would happen afterward.

'Zed... I'm going on ahead.'

She left a silent will.

'I put your money to good use. Thanks to you, I met many connections before I go. Paying you back in this life is impossible, so I'll repay you when you come to Hell. Come to think of it, if I go to Hell, I'll die in Hell too.'

Penelope lamented.

'Ah, shit. If I'd known this would happen, I should've just spent all that money.'

Ten minutes earlier, Valdrova Castle.

'It's quiet.'

Valdrova was walking through the castle.

Normally, she would have been walking around in armor, but now she was dressed as a woman in a gown.

After the Start of Spring Festival, even walking around this castle without armor was something worth trying.

'Still, meeting people is hard as ever...'

Ironically, the person Valdrova found most difficult to face was Ferda.

She feared that the way he listened carefully and showed consideration might, rather, burden him.

She mainly went around places people rarely visited.

The audience chamber was on that route.

'This was... where I was supposed to sit, wasn't it?'

When she first became engaged to the 3rd Prince, she had made only one throne.

She had never intended to rule this place in the first place.

That seat had originally been meant for the 3rd Prince.

Though she had obtained the title of Grand Duchess, she thought it better for the prince to reign than for herself, who had done nothing.

The 3rd Prince would become the one who reigned, and Valdrova dreamed of supporting that prince as his wife.

'But...'

Reality had not flowed that way.

On the night the 3rd Prince arrived in the Grand Duchy's territory, he said this to Valdrova.

["You spout worthless nonsense like love. I suppose it was true that you're nothing more than a guard dog."]

His kind appearance from that morning was nowhere to be seen, and with a frown, he spewed abuse.

["I only came here to use you. I planned to please you a little, and then put a dog collar on you. Did you think I would truly love you? You, a butcher of the Dragon-Demon War? A dog should act like a dog."]

He spoke cruel words without hesitation.

There was no doubt that some magic had made him say it.

But what did not change, even so, was that those words were the 3rd Prince's inner thoughts and the truth.

Hearing those words made her blood boil.

Valdrova could not control the storm of emotions raging through her.

In the end, she killed that 3rd Prince with her own hands.

Unable to overcome herself, she had killed someone yet again.

She loathed the sight of herself losing reason.

She blamed herself, saying she had no right to be happy.

And yet, just a little.

Selfish though it was, she wished she could have just a little more chance to be happy.

She vowed that if she was wrong even this time, then for everyone's sake, she would no longer hold any dream of wanting to be happy.

And the last one to approach her was that man.

["It is my first time meeting you, my heart."]

That man named Ferda was the complete opposite of the 3rd Prince.

The eyes she met for the first time were looking clearly at Valdrova.

He strongly felt like a person who was not marrying in order to rule, but ruling in order to marry.

Why had she been unable to meet a man like this from the beginning?

'If only I had met Ferda a little earlier...'

Then there would have been no need to be so afraid of meeting people...

She might have mustered more courage to help Sir Ferda more and achieve more things...

She wanted to shake off this fear and help such a Sir Ferda herself.

That was what Valdrova longed for.

"Ohoho!"

Just then, laughter suddenly rang out.

It was undoubtedly coming from beyond the door.

'What is that?'

Valdrova cautiously entered the audience chamber.

Then she saw some pink-haired demon sitting on the throne, wholly immersed in her role.

'That child is... the one Sir Ferda brought with him, isn't she?'

Her name was Penelope, a demon.

Valdrova had heard from Luri that she did not know what Penelope's role was, but that Ferda was keeping her because she was important.

'... That child?'

No matter how she looked at her, she did not seem that way.

She looked like an immature child.

"Is it you? Or is it you? Anyone will do, so come closer to me and..."

And then she pointed at Valdrova with her finger.

"... Eh."

She froze.

After that, she tried to slip away, but Valdrova did not let her.

"Wait a moment."

Normally, she would have pretended not to notice someone and let them go, but for some reason, she could not simply let her leave.

Without even knowing the reason herself, Valdrova said this.

"Can we... talk for a moment?"

Penelope and Valdrova sat side by side on a bench bathed in deep blue moonlight.

The two sat primly.

Neither said a word.

'I want to run away.'

Penelope felt as if a cushion of thorns had been placed under her backside.

She was faithful to her instincts, but even she could not easily move in this situation.

In order to escape this situation, Penelope barely managed to open her mouth.

"Um..."

"..."

"I have committed a crime worthy of death."

"..."

"But now that I think about it, I don't think it's worthy of death. I only sat on a throne, didn't I?"

"..."

"No. Now that I think about it, I think it is worthy of death. Especially with me running my mouth like this!"

"..."

"Oh dear, I was talking way too much nonsense, wasn't I? I'll shut up."

The saying that the mouth was the gate that opened disaster suited Penelope very well.

Silence piled up again.

Along with that silence, Penelope felt as if her heart were gradually stopping too.

"Excuse me..."

"Y-Yes! Please speak!"

This time, Valdrova opened her mouth.

"Well... I didn't stop you to scold you for coming in here."

"I-Is that so? Whew! Of course, since you are the generous and merciful Lady Valdrova, you would surely have the magnanimity to show mercy for the mistake of a lowly one like me!"

"Mm... I was just a little curious about something."

"Something you were curious about!"

A way out had appeared.

Penelope smiled brightly and struck her own chest.

"This Penelope will answer anything she can!"

"Then... what is that harem kingdom?"

"Eh..."

Penelope faced a great trial right from the start.

A question too difficult to answer to a woman.

Moreover, had she not pointed at Valdrova herself and offered to recruit her as a harem member?

"A-A harem is, well... you can think of it as polygyny."

"Polygyny? What does that mean?"

"It means one man keeps several wives, and I suppose you could call it the kind of paradise any man might dream of at least once?"

"Hm? Were you a man?"

"No, I'm a woman."

"Then what meaning does that have?"

Good question.

"Oh dear, what I meant was that I intended to build a harem kingdom for Lady Valdrova!"

"But I'm a woman."

"Women can have harem kingdoms where they keep women too!"

"Hm... Women..."

Valdrova imagined herself surrounded by countless women.

She imagined what women usually did when they gathered together.

'Something like tea parties?'

She imagined herself enjoying the sight of them chatting.

Her heart floated as if she had become the young lady she had dreamed of being.

"So a harem kingdom is a good thing?"

"Pardon? Ah, o-of course it is!!"

It was certain Valdrova had misunderstood something, but that was not important.

Penelope laughed, "Ahaha!" and glossed it over.

"You said you were Sitri's daughter... so you're a demon of lust, right?"

"T-That's right?"

"Then... do you know a lot about men too?"

"Uh..."

To Penelope, men were like stones lying on the roadside.

They were things she did not care about, but if she tripped over one for no reason, it pissed her off.

Unless they were noticeably pretty-faced like Zed, most of them were like that.

"I know what makes a woman attractive!"

Penelope dodged the unfavorable question with a different answer.

"An attractive woman..."

But perhaps that answer had been the correct one, because Valdrova's reaction was not bad.

She touched the chin that her mask failed to cover.

Just as Penelope was anxiously wondering if she had stepped in shit,

"Do you really know a lot about women?"

"Oh, of course. I know all about the kind of feminine beauty that drives men crazy!"

"I see..."

Valdrova thought deeply about something.

"All right."

She nodded.

Unlike her voice, which sounded as if she had made some great decision, what she did was very simple.

She removed the mask she had been wearing and showed her bare face.

"How... do I look?"

She asked shyly.