Chapter 26 : Between “Like” and “Love” (1)

Today is a great day.

Because Charlotte is finally in my Demon King’s castle!

Now I don’t need to hide the fact that I’m the Demon King anymore.

I was worried that Charlotte might run away after finding out the truth… but she didn’t.

So I tried getting closer to her, even pressing our bodies together at times.

But for some reason, every time I crossed a certain line, Charlotte got flustered and backed away from me.

I couldn’t hold back these feelings, so I kept clinging to her.

But every time Charlotte reacted like that, it felt like ice was pouring into my heart.

‘Did I cling too much?’

‘Does Charlotte… hate this kind of thing?’

Is it because my body, wrapped in demonic energy, was too exposed?

It was hard to hide these impulses.

Without realizing, I would find myself hugging Charlotte’s arm.

To hide these feelings, I kept smiling at her.

So she wouldn’t notice this ugly desire to possess her.

I saw the Chief Maid walking from afar. She was walking quickly, so I called out to her.

“Did you take Charlotte to her room safely?”

“Yes. Just as you instructed, I brought her to Ruby’s Room.”

“Huh? What?”

“To Ruby’s Room, as you said.”

“Why there?!”

“Oh my… because she’s going to be the lady of the Demon King’s Castle. Of course she should stay in Ruby’s Room,

right?”

“She’s n-not the lady of the castle!!”

“Haa…”

Ruby’s Room is the bedroom reserved for the lady of the castle—only the official spouse of the Demon King can use it.

Since I’ve never dated or married since becoming the Demon King, I never thought it would be used.

But now Charlotte… Charlotte is in there?!

“Change her to another room, now!”

“Haaaaa…”

Rebecca sighed and looked at me like I was hopeless.

Why?! How is this my fault?!

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but…”

“Huh…?”

“The Saintess doesn’t have any romantic feelings for you, Demon King.”

I knew that. Yeah, I knew.

Even though I kept chasing after her, I knew that the way Charlotte treated me wasn’t love.

But… she still treated me kindly and accepted my clinginess. So that’s why…

“You need to make her notice your feelings—force it, if you must.”

“Force it…?”

“The Saintess does like you. But it’s more like how she likes a friend.”

“She likes you because you treat her well, and because you come close to her like a ‘nice person.’”

Every word from Rebecca felt heavy and painful.

But I couldn’t deny it—because that really was how Charlotte treated me.

“So make her feel something. Make the Saintess care about you too.”

“How…?”

“Let’s see…”

Just as the Chief Maid was about to suggest something, the Chief Steward suddenly cut in—when had he even gotten

here?

“If it’s about that, leave it to me!”

“If you teach the Demon King anything weird again, I’ll kill you. Last time when she greeted the Saintess with that 100-

year-old human greeting, I almost exploded!”

“Now, now. Retro is a good thing.”

“Retro, my a—ugh, I can’t even curse in front of the Demon King. Ugh, I wanna punch you.”

-Smack!

Rebecca punched the Chief Steward right in the head, but he just shrugged it off and continued, saying he had useful info.

“I’ve heard that human women sometimes gather at night wearing pajamas to talk. It’s a bonding ritual.”

“Pajamas?”

“Yes. Apparently, it’s something they do to deepen their friendship.”

“Oh, you mean a pajama party. Wow, for once, you’ve brought decent info.”

“Really?”

Since even Rebecca agreed with the Chief Steward, it must’ve been a good idea.

Still, when will these two ever stop fighting?

“Then let’s go pick out pajamas right now!”

“Can’t I just wear what I usually wear?”

“Absolutely not.”

Humming with excitement, Rebecca dragged me to the dressing room.

When the Chief Steward tried to come in too, she kicked him in the gut.

“Where do you think you’re going, you pervert?!”

“Ugh…”

After leaving the tumbling Chief Steward behind, we entered the dressing room.

Inside, there were so many women’s clothes I had never seen before—dresses, accessories, everything.

I didn’t even know a place like this existed in the Demon King’s Castle.

“Rebecca… did this stuff always exist here?”

“Of course not.”

“Huh?”

“I bought these from time to time when we went to the Academy together. Just like you said back then—your body is

beautiful, so you should dress up a little.”

She still remembered what I said back then… I felt oddly embarrassed.

Rebecca began pulling out pajamas and holding them up to my body to compare.

“Seductive or sexy… which style do you want?”

She pulled out a sheer pink babydoll set.

The fabric was completely see-through, barely covering the important parts. It looked dangerous.

“This isn’t even pajamas—it’s underwear!”

“Will you wear underwear under your pajamas?”

“Well… I mean…”

“Underwear is important too! If you’re only wearing pajamas, you have to assume the other person will see it.”

“W-W-What?!”

See it?! Why would someone see the underwear during a pajama party?!

Are pajama parties really that dangerous?!

Is this some secret human mating ritual?!

“Did you really think you just sit and talk during these?”

“What?!”

“You’re supposed to sleep together, obviously.”

“S-S-Sleep together?!”

“Geez…”

Rebecca sighed deeply, then pulled out the same pink babydoll set along with a pajama dress.

“Am I really supposed to wear this…?”

“Then should I wear it?!”

“Why are you yelling?!”

“Because I’m frustrated!”

I was startled.

Rebecca doesn’t usually get angry, so I must’ve really annoyed her.

‘Right… she’s doing this for me. If I complain too much, she’ll get upset too…’

While she picked through the pajamas, I stared at the pink lingerie.

Was this… really wearable?

It barely covered anything except the essential parts.

The fabric below the bra was so sheer it looked pointless, with frilly trim that made it… cute?

“Demon King?”

“Eek!”

“What are you doing? Come look at this.”

I had accidentally started imagining Charlotte wearing that outfit and totally zoned out.

The pajama dress Rebecca picked out covered my whole body, but it was thin enough to show my curves when the light

hit.

“Isn’t this too see-through?”

“It’s fine. Now you can go to Ruby’s Room in this.”

“Ugh…”

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed too much.

But Rebecca looked so proud that I couldn’t say no.

She rarely got things wrong, anyway…

Once I put on the lingerie and the pajama dress, I felt strange.

The air brushing between my legs reminded me of the first time I wore a skirt. It gave me chills.

“Is this really… how I’m supposed to wear it?”

“Perfect! At this level, the Saintess might actually start noticing you.”

Rebecca gave me a thumbs-up.

She rarely praised anyone, so this gave me confidence.

“R-Right! I’ll go now!”

“Yes! That’s the spirit!”

“Yeah!”

I walked to Ruby’s Room… but I didn’t have the courage to show myself like this.

If Rebecca saw me fidgeting like this, she’d definitely scold me.

Still…

I couldn’t just appear in front of Charlotte in a see-through nightgown.

So I ran to another room, grabbed a pillow, and covered myself with it.

This felt a little more doable.

After a deep breath, I knocked on Ruby’s Room door.

“Charlotte… are you sleeping?”

“Morgan? What’s going on?”

“ humans… apparently they have a culture where girls wear pajamas and… talk at night…”

I was so embarrassed I couldn’t explain properly.

When Charlotte looked at me, it felt like she was seeing me naked.

What if the Chief Steward and Rebecca were wrong?

What if this was some 100-year-old outdated human custom?

I started rambling nonsense.

But Charlotte smiled slightly and gave the perfect answer.

“Come in.”

“Yes!!”

It was my first time entering Ruby’s Room.

I didn’t have any memories here… but knowing Charlotte was using the room meant only for the Demon King’s official

spouse stirred something in me.

“I want to ask you something too, Morgan.”

“To me?”

“Yeah. But since it’s a pajama party, let’s take our time talking, okay?”

“Yes!!”

I’m so glad I listened to the Chief Steward and Rebecca!!!!!