Chapter 5: The Demon Lord’s Peculiar Secret

Yunajin always preferred the crisp, fresh air beyond the castle walls.

Despite the sweltering heat of high summer, the Demon Lord City remained untouched, shielded by a potent magical barrier. This harmonious blend of a temperate climate, a nurturing environment, and constant magical augmentation ensured that vibrant crimson roses blossomed almost ceaselessly throughout the year.

Other races had dubbed them the “Flowers of the Demon Realm,” perceiving these captivating red roses as potent symbols of both peril and desire.

A gentle breeze, redolent with the sweet perfume of roses, swept a few petals across Qiaolun’s face. He instinctively extended a hand, catching the delicate, airborne fragments.

Before they realized it, their stroll had led them to a thorny, overgrown courtyard. The recent gusting winds had stripped many of the long-blooming roses from their stems, and it would undoubtedly take time for them to flourish anew.

“This is the castle’s garden, a place I often frequent for solace,” Yunajin murmured, her fingers tracing a branch that stretched over the crumbling fence. “It appears we’ve arrived at an inopportune moment; even within the Demon Lord City, the roses wilt once every week.”

“Would you like to step inside and explore?” she inquired.

“Yes,” Qiaolun affirmed.

Qiaolun nodded in agreement, recognizing that such vividly crimson roses were a rarity in the human realm. Even with the majority having withered, the few remaining blossoms still radiated a breathtaking spectrum of color.

As they located a pavilion nestled within the garden, a figure clad in black and white materialized before them.

Vivi, having already arranged the refreshments, stood poised and waiting.

“Your Majesty, the Demon Lord, and Sir Hero, you may repose here for a moment,” Vivi announced.

Qiaolun cast a peculiar glance at Yunajin.

“Is something amiss?” Yunajin inquired, delicately brushing stray rose petals from her skirt before settling into a chair. She then lifted a pristine white teacup to her lips, taking a refined, small sip.

‘Ah, if only I could just gulp it all down! That’s how you truly enjoy a drink!’

Qiaolun, too, took up his cup. A sweet, fragrant black tea aroma drifted from it, yet he found himself intrigued by its distinctively hard, smooth texture, clearly unlike any ceramic he knew.

“It’s crafted from the bone of a certain type of dragon,” Yunajin explained with a light chuckle. “This material possesses the remarkable ability to absorb the essence of various beverages, ensuring that the distinct flavors of coffee or tea never clash.”

‘I wonder what would happen if I poured cola in there and let it mingle with the other flavors?’

Yunajin had pondered this very thought on more than one occasion.

“Truly befitting the Demon Lord’s prowess,” Qiaolun remarked, “to think even formidable dragons would fall by your hand.”

“Oh, no, no, you’ve completely misunderstood!” Yunajin hastily interjected, observing Qiaolun’s expression darken. Realizing he had instinctively assumed she was boasting of her strength, she quickly clarified, “Most of the chalices within the ancient castle are fashioned in this manner.”

‘Ah, so you’re implying you’ve slain *more* than just one dragon? Just how many, then?’

Qiaolun arched an eyebrow, a subtle hint of skepticism in his gaze.

“Oh, and they are all meticulously carved from dragon ribs, possessing remarkable resilience and the ability to endure for an exceptionally long time!”

‘I see. So you’re saying you’re quite particular about which parts you select, aren’t you!’

Yunajin, flustered, began to nervously twirl a lock of hair around her finger, pulling it from her shoulder.

“The truth is, they’re simply very ancient artifacts; they have absolutely nothing to do with me!”

“I haven’t even had the opportunity to lay eyes on a real dragon!”

Having delivered her fervent denial, Yunajin swiftly seized a slice of cake Vivi had prepared, eating it with an air of feigned nonchalance to mask her evident embarrassment.

“Don’t tell me you’re not adept at combat,” Qiaolun pressed, a hint of challenge in his tone. “Shouldn’t a Demon Lord of your stature be constantly waging war and wreaking havoc?”

‘Combat? I’d certainly relish the chance!’

As the esteemed and revered King of the Demon Race, Yunajin commanded immense respect. Much like a national sovereign, she was perpetually inundated with an endless stream of affairs, leaving her utterly devoid of time to hone her personal strength.

While she possessed the inherent right to indulge in laziness, there were always those who vigilantly oversaw the Demon Lord’s conduct and decisions.

Yunajin found it baffling that, despite her status as the Demon Lord, she was still subjected to the oversight of ‘that individual.’ They euphemistically framed it as guidance, asserting themselves merely as a mentor to successive Demon Kings and vowing never to meddle with their choices.

“It’s simply because that woman isn’t present; otherwise, things would be far more complicated…” Yunajin muttered.

Yunajin mumbled softly to herself, acknowledging that she currently held absolute sway over the entire Demon Race. Thanks to her meticulous arrangements, Qiaolun had effortlessly infiltrated the heart of the Demon Lord City, while her subordinates reveled in an unprecedented period of leisure.

‘Honestly, there can’t be a more benevolent Demon Lord than me!’

“What was that you were mumbling?” Qiaolun asked.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Yunajin quickly replied, deflecting. “Oh, how was your rest? Is there anywhere else you might wish to explore?”

Qiaolun gently set down his teacup, his gaze drifting beyond the imposing, towering walls.

Unfathomable thoughts seemed to swirl within his dark eyes, and Yunajin tilted her head, observing him curiously.

‘Could he be feeling a pang of homesickness?’

“You still haven’t addressed my question,” Qiaolun stated, finally withdrawing his distant gaze. “What exactly is your ability? Surely it can’t merely be brute strength, can it?”

“Well, about that…” Yunajin began hesitantly.

‘It appears Qiaolun still recalls how I inadvertently shattered his sword. Yet, that wasn’t true brute force; I barely exerted any strength at all.’

Each Demon Lord was endowed with exceptionally unique magical powers—be it destruction, devouring, or corrosion. They dedicated their entire lives to honing these abilities, striving to elevate their extreme talents to a point where they could instantly annihilate any foe they encountered.

The battles waged by Demon Kings were invariably cruel and merciless. Those foolish enough to challenge them almost always embarked upon a path from which there was no return.

Consequently, the true extent of a Demon Lord’s abilities remained largely shrouded in mystery. Naturally, for a Demon Lord like Yunajin to bring a human hero directly into her home was an unprecedented event, a first in eons.

Such formidable power, however, invariably carried inherent risks. The moment a Demon Lord’s abilities became known to their adversaries, those enemies could readily devise countermeasures. In such a scenario, the Demon Lord’s very innate talent would transform into a coffin, sealing their ultimate demise.

Yunajin fell silent, her features slowly adopting a solemn, serious cast.

‘It is, after all, the Demon Lord’s most profound secret. Why would she divulge it so readily to me, her enemy?’

Qiaolun had posed the question idly, never truly anticipating that she would reveal the answer to him.

“Never mind,” Qiaolun conceded. “At least you’re not so foolish as to disclose your weaknesses to me.”

“I can, actually,” Yunajin’s subsequent reply caught Qiaolun completely off guard. “Provided you beg me…”

The pink succubus before him revealed a flash of cunning amidst her fangs. Just as Yunajin had hoped, she intended to meticulously draw this human hero into her snare, not through overt force or the allure of beauty, but by cultivating a willing, desperate yearning within him.

‘Is it too wicked to think this way? Perhaps I should just tell him outright; after all, he still can’t defeat me.’

Yunajin’s awakened Demon Lord power was rumored to be not merely unique among her peers, but virtually unparalleled across the entirety of Kerqunda itself.

As the supreme ruler of the Demon Race, a Demon Lord was naturally expected to wield immense magical power. Yet, in Yunajin’s case, her magical energy registered at an astonishing near-zero.

Indeed, this succubus, a hybrid Demon Lord of the demon-human race, possessed not a single trace of magic within her being.

This stark reality had once led Yunajin to believe she was perhaps the most utterly useless of all Demon Kings throughout history—no, rather, the most worthless of all demons.

But was that assessment truly accurate?

‘Beg me, beg me, just beg me!’

Qiaolun calmly brushed a stray rose petal from his hair, straightened his collar with a pat, and then rose to his feet.

‘What in the world is he doing? There’s no need to kneel; how utterly mortifying!’

Yunajin’s thoughts ran along these lines, yet her eyes sparkled with an irrepressible excitement. She resolved to tell him candidly before he could make any further move.

“Never mind,” Qiaolun stated, a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’m not interested.”

“Huh?” Yunajin gasped.

‘What are you talking about? What do you mean, “not interested,” you brute! Just hint at it one more time, and I won’t be able to stop myself from confessing!’

“Qiaolun,” Yunajin declared, her voice rising, “I am truly getting angry now!”

Yunajin puffed out her small chest, her brows subtly furrowed, and she jutted out her lower lip, as if genuinely offended by Qiaolun’s nonchalant attitude.

“It’s *Qiaolun*,” he corrected firmly. “What kind of address is that?”

*Clatter!*

A sudden clatter broke the tension, and both individuals, locked in their standoff, simultaneously turned their gaze towards the source of the sound.

Vivi, who had been bending to retrieve something, froze mid-motion as she felt the twin gazes fix upon her. Her body became rigid, maintaining the awkward posture of reaching for a fallen plate.

Vivi, who had been observing from the sidelines, had taken in every nuance of Yunajin’s expression. Despite the Demon Lord’s apparent anger, Vivi couldn’t help but feel that her liege seemed unusually… adorable today.