The window of Celestia’s spacious room was open, and the moonlight and cool breeze entered through it.
Under the faint glow of the light, on the chaise that Celestia usually used, there was a being who sat gracefully with his legs crossed – the embodiment of a ‘demon’.
His evil magical energy filled the interior of the room, but not a single trace of it leaked out of the room.
Feeling the unusual and miraculous operation of the magic power, Celestia, who was continuously exposed to this powerful magic power, responded with anxiety while holding back her violent heartbeat.
“Welcome to you, Your Majesty the Black Demon King.”
“……. Now, let’s continue with the previous topic.”
The man with the faintest of smiles, Chrono, said to the owner of the room standing before him.
“I understand.”
“Before we start talking again, why don’t you come and sit down here?”
“Eh …… that, may I?”
Feeling a little surprised, Celestia confirmed with a surprised look on her face.
“Yeah. I’m a positive demon king. No matter how desperate the situation is, I’ll definitely win.”
“……?”
“Come on, sit down.
“I’m very sorry …… then, excuse me.”
Although hearing that kind of statement from Crono, Celestia couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion, but because she couldn’t keep him waiting so she hurriedly approached over in a panic and sat down with maximum nervousness.
“……”
Next to Crono.
The unusual scent of Celestia reached Chrono beside him.
Although there are chairs on the opposite side, it is inconvenient if she have to change seat again.
“Then, let me confirm it, Princess Celestia, you… you want to come to my side, am I right?”
He asked as he cast a sharp glance at the calm Celestia.
“Yes. I have decided that it is time for us to come together as we promised.”
“…… Hmmm.”
The response was accepted, and he placed his hand on hos chin for a moment …… before speaking slowly.
“If you come to my side, maybe there’s no turning back.”
“Your side is the only place I can go.”
Celestia said this without a moment’s hesitation.
“I may become the enemy of the Kingdom of Light …… and even the world.”
“I will cleanse anything that dares to disobey you.”
Those were words of unwavering determination.
“We don’t pay much here… are you okay?”
“I don’t need money at all. I’m happy to be at your side and at your disposal.”
Although Celestia’s excessively beautiful face was a little stiff with nervousness, she still gave a serious response.
“…… That determination doesn’t seem to be wavering.”
“Yes, absolutely not.”
She was sure of it.
The question and answer was something like a final review.
“Then ……”
With a slight shudder, Celestia, still frightened of the eventuality, jumped up from her chair.
“…… Welcome to my organization, Celestia.”
Chrono, who stood up, was bursting with a dark magic that seemed to swallow the shining moon in the sky behind him, and he reached out his hand.
It was, so to speak, the guidance of the Demon King.
“Yes …… Your Majesty!”
“Oh!?”
So it was that Celestia, who had been accepted, acted as if she had reached the peak of happiness and just jumped into Crono’s arms.
“… I’m glad you’re happy.”
Although being held tightly, even that plump bre*sts squeezed over, Crono kept stroking her back until Celestia calmed down, maintaining this posture for a short time.
Then, after an unknown length of time, Celestia, whose inner whirlwind of joy had gradually weakened, sat down again and tried to broach the important subject to Chrono.
That’s right, there were other things to talk to Crono about.
“I’m very sorry for being so alarmed. And please address me as Celestia afterwards.”
“Alright. Then you can call me by my first name, Chrono.”
Celestia, who had regained her aura of maturity, did not know what Chrono was saying when he told her, causing a strange pause for a moment.
“…… ah, I understand …… Chrono-sama.”
But soon Celestia understood, and somewhat sheepishly called the demon king’s name for the first time.
Crono, who gave a slight nod in response, looked at Celestia, who had once again changed from her cool vibe to that of a young girl in love, and cut to the chase with trepidation.
“Yes, that’s natural. I only communicated it to two people who could be of use to Chrono-sama, according to the necessary minimum.”
At the moment when she blurted out an answer to show her prowess, Chrono’s magic power became a little thicker.
In the face of the sudden increase in pressure, Celestia instinctively felt a little intimidated and shrank slightly.
Celestia, who could overwhelm any opponent with her awe-inspiring demeanour and radiant beauty, was now trembling like a puppy being reprimanded.
“No more of this. You can’t do that on top of that.”
“I understand. ……”
After confirming that Celestia had accepted it properly, Chrono nodded solemnly.
“Listen carefully. From now on, Celestia and I are on the same page, so you can’t just decide to do something like that on your own, okay?”
“I understand, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good!
Chrono was satisfied with Celestia’s answer, and felt slightly relieved to have avoided the worst possible scenario.
Then, after being begged by the regrettable Celestia, they chatted and drank tea together before Chrono left the kingdom at a time when the people were all quietly asleep.
♢♢♢
After giving the order to maintain the status quo in person, Chrono left the room, and Celestia, who couldn’t calm down her excitement, immediately told Mary and others that she would be joining Chrono’s organisation, and she was still in a state of ecstasy.
“…… the Demon King, is he really as good as you say he is?”
Mary asked, looking at Celestia, who was sitting demurely in her chair in front of her.
“Of course …… Mary is too sceptical, after defeating Lionel I made sure properly. When I asked him, Chrono-sama really remembered the existence of that promise.”
Celestia, who had already received confirmation of that line that she had heard so many times, gave a strong answer.
When she was a child, Celestia had made a pact with the Demon King.
But Mary thought it was just an over-interpretation of Celestia’s own ideas, and had persuaded her many times.
“I’ll take your sword.” …… At that time, the decorative sword, a ‘relic’, was a gift to me. When I became a woman worthy of him, he would give it to me. And when that time came, he would take me away with him. …… Sure enough, I was proposed in by Crono-sama at that time.”
“……”
Celestia said so to the somewhat obstinate Mary.
It is true that it is a custom among the princes and nobles of the Kingdom of Light to present a sword during the marriage ceremony.
But Mary, no matter how many times she had heard it said, could not help but think that Celestia was being overly optimistic.
“I was a little scolded when I mentioned the existence of you two a while ago. I’m sure he got a bit jealous. ……fufu.”
Although Mary felt the highest level of cuteness at seeing Celestia first display of that level of joy, but she couldn’t relax anyway, so she spoke to the other person beside her.
“What do you think, Mob?”
“I …… don’t know if there was a promise like that. Although I have to admit that his strength is terrible, I still can’t believe that he has seen through the plan of Celestia-sama.”
It was a monster (魔物=Mamono) with the appearance of a youth called Mob.
“Doppelganger.”
They are often mistaken for demons because of their high intelligence, but in reality they are monsters that are created for unknown reasons and can be described as a natural phenomenon that happens suddenly.
They can take on the image of another person as they wish, and can walk through that person’s life in their place, making them a formidable monster.
Such a person was rescued by Celestia and Mary, who happened to pass by at a smuggling site in a neighbouring country, and since then he has been a follower behind Celestia, just like Mary.
So, of course, he was aware of Celestia’s extraordinary abilities in various areas.
That’s why, even if it was a demon king, he couldn’t believe that he could see through Celestia’s plans and use them in turn.
“Yes,……, but it was true that he had replaced the assassin that Celestia had hired for insurance purposes, and it was also true that he had reached the tower where Lionel had been lured ahead of him.” (Mary)
When she heard from Celestia about the true identity of the Black Knight and Glass Kurobuchi, and the fact that her plan to lure Lionel had been seen through, both Mary and Mob thought that their hearts would stop.
It had become completely incomprehensible. If all of those were composed of one person setting up a scheme, it could simply be said that only a god could have done it.
Celestia, considering the eventuality of Harmal’s failure to act, planned to hire an assassin to forcibly execute King as if it had been sent by Lionel.
If he saw through this by virtue of his talent, then he could be said to possess a wisdom beyond human intelligence.
It was a level that would have been impossible to see without observing Celestia regularly.
In retrospect, the one who saw through the evil deeds of Count Seeley, who was associated with the Angel Cult, and who was able to use it as an opportunity to arrest him, was also the Black Knight …… or the Demon King Chrono.
All of this can only be thought of as an operation with Celestia at its centre.
If we consider this, then Celestia’s words are not wrong, right?
“It was a test of my ability to notice by Chrono-sama. The way they were thrown, the way they were moved, they were all very simple and easy to understand.”
Putting her hand to her chest and feeling the rousing heartbeat, Celestia closed her eyes as if she were praying.
In the light of the moon, her posture was as sacred as the moon goddess.
“…… From now on, you two will also serve Chrono-sama as his faithful servants, risking your lives to serve him.”
It was an attitude full of energy that had never been seen in Celestia so far.
She straightened her back and looked with eyes burning with the fire of mission and said forcefully.
“I… I got it.”
“I Understood ……”
The two men felt the pressure released from Celestia’s side that would cut them down and discard them without mercy if they dared to disobey, and could only bow their heads honestly.
♢♢♢
At the same time, the demon king, who was the party in question, was ……