Maouyome

Chapter 26 : Whose Lost Item Is This?

I found a lost item .

It’s quite old, and it was as big as my thumb . But it’s definitely not a simple item . I mean, it’s embellished with gold . It also looks like an antique item . I found it in a corridor of the Maou Castle . Looks like it’d fallen down because I noticed that the chain was broken .

You know the tip that’s found in every pendant, that was the part that seemed to be broken .

In the center of that antique pendant I found  an almost realistic picture . While the picture had faded with time, I think that it’s a woman’s picture . Why did I think so? Simple .

There were words engraved; tiny letters on the bottom part of the pendant that said, 『For Alicia』 .

Definitely a woman’s picture!

Right, Alicisan . [TL : …………………… . . Oh well! E/D: …well, now I’m certain the MC is not right in the mind . ]

…who was that you ask? I definitely do not know…but she could be someone’s acquaintance .

And not young anymore, if we looked at this antique pendant . The other possibility was…a memento . Perhaps, it’s a memento of someone?

When I noticed the other possibility that this could be a memento of a deceased, I could feel the emotions of the owner . A grief that seemed to have been carried on for a long time, looking at the age of this pendant, and the care that was given to it .

Who could it be, I wondered? I have to immediately return this pendant to them .

Two weeks have pa.s.sed since that event .

Barurun is doing his best to restore the devastated entrance hall of the White Palace . And his efforts showed as the entrance hall was roughly restored to its former appearance . The only thing left was to just furnish the interior .

Well, it looked like I have to move away from my temporary room soon .

I wasn’t in a hurry to move, but Barurun had brought in a huge sum of funds to repair my place . Since he prioritized my place, the reconstruction for Maou’s Castle was delayed…well, do your best, old man!

As for me, I really am satisfied with the open ventilation I’ve made in the castle . Yup, the memory of a certain beautiful girl running around inside the Maou’s Castle that had resulted in the White Palace’s sorry state later, regardless of how many times I reminisced, was satisfying .
 

However, repairing the inner palace first instead of the Maou’s Castle, just because I’m the bride candidate…honestly, could you really allow that, Maou-sama? I mean, what about your castle?

Eh, but it’s not really my problem though . More importantly, I’ve another bigger impending problem right now .

「Lefiysama . You can’t run anymore . 」

「……」

A stern voice called my name from behind .

Reanschild really is going all out . I really couldn’t sense her approaching at all . Even though deep inside I felt shocked, I hid my inner turmoil under a calm facade .

「I don’t have any intention of running away though . 」

「That was my mistake then . Well, let’s go back to your room to change your clothes . 」

「……」

After that event, Reanschild, who had become my personal maid, had been treating me in the most polite way and letting me to do as I pleased… Yeah . That was only in the beginning . After that…

I suppose, the matter of her forgiveness and the wall she’d put between us starting to crumble, must’ve been just my imagination .

Her hiding her anger with a smile whilst telling me stuff like “You can’t do that, not that, and rejected” is just like the way my mother used to tell me off back in the village . And yet, the most troublesome thing is the fact that she’s trying to put those frilly dresses on me .

Why in the world do I have to put on those troublesome looking dresses?

「Because this is the full attire of this place . 」

You just read my mind right, right?

「You see, there’s one thing that I understood after coming to Maou’s Castle . 」

「And what would that be? Do tell me . 」

「Dress is something that is least suited for me . I really want to teach my past self not to get cheated by such glamorous silhouette . Though it have a splendid appearance, it is in fact a genuine torture instrument . 」

「Even so, that glamorous silhouette is one that is suited to Lefiysama’s beauty . That said, please stop this useless chit-chat and change your clothes immediately . 」

Reanschild refuted my argument with a calm tone…

the close distance between us was anything but warm . .

「Oh my? If it isn’t Reanschild? 」

A voice calling out her name whilst she was trying to drag me back to my room interrupted our stand off .

We stopped our discussion and turned around to see who the one calling for her was only to see a group of people coming towards us .

I had never seen the face of the leading woman though . Who was she?

「If it isn’t Belladone-sama . It’s nice to meet you . 」

My hand that was grasped by Reanschild was freed as she stood in front of me, as if shielding me before she bowed to that woman in silence .

Seeing that, I bowed to her while stroking my wrist that was screaming in pain .

EH？ This is? Could it be, to protect me?

「I heard that you had gone back to your hometown . 」

「I did go back, you know? But then, I heard that his majesty has chosen his future wife . Thus, I had to return to this place . 」

Is the red flower on black background motif on her l.u.s.trous garment called Licorice flower? How luxurious! And, her l.u.s.trous garment was done very well . It even had vivid shawl-like cloth put on top of it!

I was later told that this sort of garment the lady wore is called a Kimono . And that there’s a culture that wore this kind of clothing in the human world . However, it’s more frequently used in Demon Kingdom as only a certain region of the human world wore it as apart of their culture .

It’s less showy compared to the dresses that is more common to majority of [humanity] Kingdoms and cultures, but that splendid and brilliant cloth couldn’t hide its attractiveness, and would most a.s.suredly manage to ensnare people’s attention should it appear in the kingdoms of humans .

However, I couldn’t see the face of the wearer of such splendid clothing’ very well since she had hidden her mouth with a black folding fan, but even then, I could see that there’s this beauty-like aura about her .

「Should I say my congratulation first? I never expected you to be this stubborn though . 」

Saying that, the Kimono Beauty stood in a more formal way as she neatly rearranged her hair gathered on her back, glaring at Reanschild .

She seemed to be annoyed for some reason .

There’s a strangely appealing look on her .

[E/D: …Lefiya…are you les? Maori, your rivals are definitely the girls instead of boys . You really should not let more girls approach her . ］［TL : don’t worry, Lefiya isn’t a les］

But then……… . . Eh? Something seems to be amiss in there?

「Belladone-sama, I’ve told you before that you should properly listen to what other people say . Please don’t be so hasty in drawing such conclusions . 」

「How shameless! While it’s true that you’re a bit more beautiful than I am, don’t think that you have won this match . You have yet to become a queen . I’ll s.n.a.t.c.h His Majesty from you immediately . 」

「I think that’s impossible, Belladone-sama . His Majesty’s decision is final in this matter . 」

「You sure are confident with your beauty, aren’t you? But then, I wonder how long you will be able to remain this calm . 」

This Belladone-sama . She really was going at her own pace, huh . Although her attendants were tilting their heads in confusion, she still went on, not minding anything except what she was focused on .

Yeah . This person is a sorry person, huh .

Wait, no . The correct way to call her should be “Sorry Beauty”, isn’t it? .

This was the first time I’ve seen one though .

As expected, even her entourage couldn’t watch this misunderstanding anymore, thus one of them whispered something into Belladone-san’s ear .

Yup, let her realize her misunderstanding as soon as possible; to minimize her embarra.s.sment .

「N?   What’s the matter? I’m talking with Reanschild right no-… What？  I misunderstand? Eh, It’s not her? ……… . WHAT! ? 」

She finally realized her mistake .

「Reanschild! ? You’re a…… . HUMAN! ? 」

A~h, this girl is an idiot huh .

While I was thinking about that, Reanschild and her entourage heaved a sigh of helplessness when she misunderstood things even more and when they saw her dumbfounded face .

「Hey . Who is this person? 」

「Her name is Belladone Hisaksama She’s the youngest child of one of the four Archdemons, Archdemon of Illusion, Shiki Hisaksama . 」

「Four Archdemons . That’s quite an amazing t.i.tle, isn’t it?」

「Including Celazam-sama, the Archdevil as their leader, the others three Archdemons aren’t His Majesty’s subordinates, they’re his cooperative partners . 」

「EH? Celazam-san is one of them? I thought he was His Majesty’s subordinate . 」

I wasn’t aware of the fact that he’s not Maou’s subordinate . Wait, before that, didn’t the Archdemon t.i.tle sound really overbearing? She basically said that Celazam-san was a Devil…

「Hold on, girl . You don’t know about the four Archdemons? That’s common knowledge you know? How could you not even know about that…」

「EH?  Ah, my apologies . 」

I was suddenly scolded by Belladone .

I never expected her to scold me like that since it didn’t look like she was paying attention to me nor did she look in my direction . Seems like I was wrong .

I did apologize to her, but for some reason she’s staring at me . Was there something on my face, I wondered? Then again, she looked like there’s something she wanted to say, but forgot . Was that the reason she was staring?

E?  What’s with this silence? Did something happen just now?

What should I do now?

You wouldn’t get anything even if you keep staring at me like that, you know .

「Uhm……… What’s the matter？  Do you need something from me? 」

「Eh! ? N-No, it’s nothing . You . Aren’t you quite beautiful yourself? Or rather, you’re really beautiful . Your style isn’t bad too . And you’re an apprentice soldier with that level of beauty . Are you a newcomer . May I ask your name? No, TELL ME YOUR NAME!」

My face reddened immediately as I was heaped with praises by this beauty in Kimono .

Thank you for the treat .

Oops, should I say, thank you very much? Which one do I have to use in this case?

「Well then, tell me your name? 」

「This personage’s name is Lefiysama . The one chosen by His Majesty, and even received a direct marriage proposal from him . 」

「Lefiya…Is it?」

「EH?  」

Belladone froze, stupefied for a second time .

She’s the kind of girl who often did this kind of thing, huh .

「Wait a minute . “Chosen by His Majesty” you say, His Majesty didn’t choose you? I mean if His Majesty had chosen his wife and refused someone as beautiful as me, I couldn’t consider anyone else but YOU who is chosen . What in the world is happening here . E?  Are you, a human? The human girl chosen by His Majesty? 」

She was really shaken by that fact, huh .

「Hmm, at least, according to what people have told me . Rather, aren’t you quite a beauty yourself? Well, more importantly, don’t you think that you need to properly listen to what people are telling you?」

「Really now . I hope that you have self-awareness in that regard too . 」

Reanschild agreed as well .

But then, why were you looking at me?

Your target is over there, right? O-V-E-R-T-H-E-R-E .

「Anyway! That’s aside! The one who’s going to enter the White Palace is me！ REMEMBER THAT! 」

「Ah, feel free to go . Here you go」(Lefiya)

「That’s impossible since it’s still under construction . 」(Reanscild)

「What do you mean! ? 」

The one who became her retainer must have a hard time to cope with her . I meant…that retainer of hers had been explaining to her since a while ago regarding the situation . Look, that person’s expression had already became ghastly, tired from all the explaining they had to do .

「N-No way . THOSE BEAUTIFUL SCULPTURES OF HIS MAJESTY! ? 」

I can heaar you~ .

Though I really didn’t know if you could call those sculptures as beautiful . And by that I mean that I didn’t see anything that came remotely close to beauty in those sculptures at all .

After all, what I saw and know of were some disgusting sculptures, that I’ve long since destroyed . Could it be…she was referring to those White Machos sculptures? Well, I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder . I couldn’t understand what she sees at all .

「Is that, something with that Demonic-like thing? 」

「It’s only one part . 」

Yup, only one extreme part between the legs .

I’m sorry .   I destroyed all of those White Machos .

Knowing that someone liked those White Machos, I gave a silent apology to her . Especially since she is starting to look like she was about to cry for no reason .

If you want to curse at someone, please save your curse for Adolphus .

He was the culprit after all .

Just when I was wondering about what to do now, my finger touched the golden pendant in my pocket .

For some reason I could feel a whole load of emotion coming from it, but I couldn’t do anything for now, I had to find it’s owner first .

Ah right .   Reanschild might know something about this pendant .

「Hey, I just foun-…… . . 」

「AH, MAORI-SAMA! ? 」

……

……HAH？

Just when I was about to ask Reanschild, Belladone suddenly raised her face and rushed to a certain direction .

But I couldn’t be bothered with her move at all . All that was filling my mind was what I heard just now . Whose name did she call out just now?  I couldn’t believe it .

Thus, I turned around, and there I saw Maou-sama walking in our direction . Alongside him (Full Armor Form) was a frolicking Belladone,  like a puppy finding her owner .

「Mao-…… . . -Ri? 」

Maou-sama’s body twitched, he stopped moving as soon as I uttered that name .

While I believe that it was just my imagination, I felt that his eyes, that were supposed to be covered with armor, met mine .