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After all this time. I'M FINALLY DONE COOKING. This chapter is brought to you by a painful amount of time spent agonizing over grammar and the like.

Also, who tha hell let me cook?

 

 

Yeet~~~

*POV MC*

When I was done changing, it was time to get going. With the twins at my side and Elize following silently behind us. We stood near the gold-plated doors waiting for a signal to enter.

"You can come in." Philip answered.

I finally saw them; Lary looked like he was losing his composure, and Philip didn’t show much change. He was still as calm and sharp as he was when we first met him.

"I am ready; when is the fastest you can gather your men?"

"Two days if everything goes right, three at most." Philip answered instead of Lary, who still seemed lost in thought.

"How much time does it take to go to the capital?" I turned to him then.

"Considering we are a border town and the capital is literally in the center of the kingdom, I say about three days if you travel with nights included. Five if you include resting through the night."

‘The horses also need rest to keep going. Fuck, just as I am close to my goal, there has to be some sort of problem.’

"I have made a decision."

"What is it? Please tell us about it." Lary seemed to have woken up.

"I will go to the capital first and see it for myself. When your men arrive, they should just go straight for the castle and sweep up my mess. I would like to keep everyone alive for myself to judge, BUT if there’s no other way, then they can kill."

"U-Understood. We shall arrive shortly after you." Lary was still shaken.

I was about to go when I remembered one little detail.

"Oh yeah, when I acquire the last mark of royalty, I might not leave the castle for some time, and that is intended to happen. You are NOT to enter the castle; you will have to camp outside of it. Understood?"

I looked over at them and saw that Elize and the twins understood their roles. Lary nodded in agreement."

"Yes, we will abide by these rules."

Once the sun rose to a certain point, we were getting ready to depart. Elize was with the twins, checking if we had everything we needed. Denis was checking the carriage for any problems. Then here I am, just standing on the roof, looking over the yard where all the intense stuff is happening. When I asked if there was anything I could do, she replied with...

"You are a ruler." You just wait for your part while we do ours."

It seems like she really wants me to win. She doesn’t even know if I plan on doing my role properly. What if I decide to disappear after stealing the power? I would feel bad if I did that. So I won’t. But what if, hypothetically, I ran away? Even then, she still trusts me a lot.

I was thinking about everything that was going through my mind, just letting it roam free and do random shit. I felt a wave of heat rush through me.

"Wha-" My vision blurred a little, and the heat kept rising little by little to the point of being unbearable. Realizing what was happening, I jumped down to the main entrance and asked the guard nearby.

"Where’s Elize right now?" ‘What’s wrong with my voice? Is it just me, or is it a little higher than usual?’

"She’s in the kitchen preparing something!" He looked a little startled at first, but then regained composure.

I dashed through the halls all the way until I found the kitchen and saw Elize standing as if she were ready for something.

"I knew you would come one day." Come here."  She opened her arms.

“We’re ready to depart!” I heard Denis shout. I rose from the shadow near the door and nodded.

“Then let us go.”

After ten grueling hours of sitting inside the carriage, we finally arrived at the second town. The sun was setting, or so I was told. Denis was on the lookout for lodging while I and Elize were touring the city streets a little.

Rivenwood, or so it was called, was nestled in the heart of a dense forest in the Demon Kingdom, a long way away from the border town where Lary was governing. The town is surrounded by high walls and guarded by watchtowers that provide a sense of security to its inhabitants. Despite its distance from Lary’s town, the townspeople have always been wary of outside threats and have taken measures to protect themselves.

As I was walking through the winding streets of Rivenwood, I saw that most of the buildings are made of timber and stone, with thatched roofs and narrow alleys. The town square is a bustling hub of activity, where merchants are selling their wares and locals are coming to trade and socialize. I could faintly hear the clanging of blacksmiths' hammers and the chirping of birds in the trees.

"It really is a beautiful town." I spoke with slight disbelief, as it was my first time seeing a city full of life without danger looming over it.

"It hasn’t changed much in the last sixteen years since I left." I heard Elize mumble.

"You lived here?"

"I used to. My parents moved here with me when I was young. Once I reached fifteen, I left our home to seek employment somewhere I liked."

"During my trip to the capital, I got kidnapped, transported to the Beastmen kingdom, and ended up in the royal palace."

She looked like she was really going to cry. Me, being the awkward fuck I was, still am, and will be. I didn’t know how to comfort a sad person. But then a sudden idea shot up in my head.

"If you want, we can go meet your family? If they’re here. We can’t stay long because we are a little strict on time." I suggested it awkwardly. Her eyes immediately lit up.

"Thank you, your highness."

"Cut that out; I’m not your ruler yet."

After a short five-minute walk, we arrived at a place that was further away from the center. It was starting to get dark, and you could see magic lamps starting to get brighter to light up the way. But where we were going, the light couldn’t reach that far. Finally, we arrived near a small, wooden house that was a little crooked, had oiled clothes for windows, and the doors looked like they were going to give out.

"This is the place where I hail from. I'm sorry that it’s in such disarray. We weren't one of the wealthiest families."

"Don’t be sorry. It's not like I grew up in a better place. At least you have loving family members." I recounted my days living in the cold basement.

‘It really was cold there for the first few years.’

She didn’t say anything; she walked over to the door and gently knocked. Five minutes had already passed, and no one had answered the door. Then, all of a sudden, I felt a gaze that fixed on my tiara that I was wearing as part of my normal attire, and only then did I remember why I was getting so many strange looks earlier.

"Now that I think about it, do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked her in hopes of learning who this sneaky little viewer was.

"I had two little brothers and a younger sister. I am the oldest child at thirty-one years old, so my youngest sibling should be 22 right now."

"That’s quite the family you’ve got. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only child in my family." I was honestly astonished.

Ten minutes have passed, and we have been standing here all this time, and I can still feel the small gaze on me. It was starting to get on my nerves a bit; it kept piling up until I could no longer hold it in. I walked over to the door and knocked myself. I held back as much as I could, but I still left a good dent in the door.

"Open up; I know somebody’s in there. Don’t think I don’t feel the eyes on me." I said visibly annoyed.

As soon as I said this, the door flung open and revealed a pregnant woman standing in the middle with two little girls hiding behind her. The woman stood at an average height with a slightly curved posture from years of manual labor. Her skin was sun-kissed and had a weathered look from working outside, and her hands were rough and calloused. She had long, bright hair that she kept tied back in a simple braid. Her eyes were dark and almond-shaped. You could see that she hadn’t bathed in a lengthy time, as both her hair and skin were oily, and you could smell a faint odor from her.

When she got a better look at me, I could see fear fill her eyes.

"Please! Do anything you want to me, but please don’t hurt the kids!" She fell to her knees and started pleading.

"Elize, calm her down. I don't have both the experience and patience to deal with her." I quickly materialized a chair made of ice and looked over to Elize while resting my head on my palm.

"But I don’t have experience either!" She was clearly panicking.

"Then this will be your first one." I encouraged her.

Elize was trying to calm her down, sadly to no avail. I could only watch the spectacle from the sidelines. As all I ever did was kill and deal with death, not emotions, Then, after a couple minutes, I could hear a male voice call out.

"Leave Margaret alone!" I felt a small wave of killing intent wash over me; it was so minuscule that I thought about disregarding it altogether. But there I saw a man who looked to be in his thirties run over and try to shake off Elize from the woman he called Margaret. Only to freeze a little after he walked closer to her.

"E-Elize! What are you doing here?"

"Hugh!  Please help!"

As they were talking, I was watching this spectacle from the side.

When all of them finally calmed down and could think rationally again, I started laughing. Sure, it may have been a bit unethical, but I can’t help it. It was funny.

"Ahaha, it was fun watching you guys, especially you, Elize; you were the pinnacle of all this." I started cracking up again.

"Who are you? Why’re you here?" He asked.

"Let me introduce myself then. I am Liliana Daemonium, the 5th Ruler of the Demon Kingdom; some call me Bloody Queen Liliana. If you want a simplified version, I’m your Demon Queen." I enhanced my chair with more ice and made it a throne.

"You’re WHAT!?"  He hurriedly started prostrating himself.

"As for what I’m doing here, you can ask Elize. She wanted to meet you guys again."

"What are you doing here? I thought you left us for your own gain." He looked over suspiciously at Elize.

"No! That’s not the truth! But, can we talk inside?"

A minute later, we were led into a room that had one table and six chairs that were all crooked or somehow disfigured.

"Sorry, this is all we have." I heard Hugh apologize. I elegantly sat on the chair while using ice to stabilize it so that I don’t fall over.

"So? Tell me your story, Elize; I wanna know what happened to my older sister."

I heard her go into detail, making it a hard story to hear for a normal person. I simply sat there, listening. In the corner of my eye, I saw two little kids—one boy and one girl—looking at me curiously.

"Kids, you can’t bother our guest." I heard the woman, who has calmed down now, speak to what I presumed were her kids.

"Don’t worry. I don’t make myself a habit of torturing or killing kids, even though I’m not a fan of them. I can relieve their curiosity about the outside world if they want. Not like I have anything better to do."

"Your choice of words makes me believe you actually did that."

I narrowed my eyes at her words.

"Go on, kiddos, ask me anything before I leave." I turned to them.

"What’s it like in other towns?" The boy shot first.

"It’s not that different. There are guards, adventurers, and the like. I used to be an adventurer, but due to an incident, I’m out of the guild." I remembered the orphanage incident.

‘Damn, it really was uncomfortable to rob an orphanage, then demolish it."

"Miss, you were an adventurer!?" I could practically see the stars in his eyes.

"Eh, there he goes again with his adventurer nonsense. I keep telling him he’s going to be a guard like Hugh, but he doesn’t wanna listen." Margaret commented.

"U-Um. I have a question too…" The girl shyly asked.

"Sure. As long as I can answer, though." I looked into her eyes.

"You are really pretty; how did your hair turn white? Why are your eyes pink? Why are your ears different from normal demons? Why are two of your teeth sharper than others? Why-" I got bombarded with questions.

"Okay, stop right there, little girl; that’s too much. I’ll answer them all, as I promised."

"Sweetie, that’s too many questions at once. You have to ask them one at a time." Margaret interrupted again.

"It’s okay; it just shows that she is observant and doesn’t like to waste time. When she grows up, she could even get a high position in the capital." I turned towards the girl. "Now as for your questions, both my hair and eyes are natural; I was born like this. The rest? It’s because I’m a vampire." I smiled at her, flashing my fangs. Both Margaret and the kids turned pale at my revelation.

"What’s wrong?" I looked at them, confused.

"There are no vampires left after the Great War fifty years ago. How are you one?" Margaret explained.

"I won’t be telling you about myself. Just know that I’m a pure vampire, and I will be leading this country."

As such, we were chatting for a good ten minutes until we heard the doors open and a small thud. I turned over to see two older people who were presumably Elize’s parents and a younger person who should be her youngest brother. All of them had fallen to their knees.

"Mother, Father. Elize has returned with some news!" Hugh was visibly happy.

Both of them walked over and helped their parents stand up and move to the table. Lots of questions were flying both ways. Elize was mainly concerned about her family, and her parents were asking what she had been doing for so long. Until it ultimately came to me.

"I can see that you’re a maid now; who do you work for? Can you quit? We need your help."

I noticed that Elize’s mother stole a glance at me. Right as I was checking if my scabbard was attached the right way.

"You there. Is she working for you?" The youngest brother asked me out of the blue.

"Hmm? Oh, yea, she is." I was distracted at the moment.

"I’m a guard of this city. I’m one of their best guards, to be honest. I want to challenge you to a swordfight for Elize’s resignation." I could hear it in his tone that he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

"Okay, but what can you offer? I am not interested in money or anything material." I bit him back.

"If so, then all I can offer you is my head." I perked up the moment I heard ‘head’.

"Haha, are you willing to risk your life for a family member? That’s a new one. Sure, let’s go right now; I’m busy after all." As I was walking outside, I could hear everyone except Elize trying to talk him out of this.

"Elize, can you talk to your lady? Maybe you can change her mind?" I faintly heard her mother talk.

"I can’t; once she makes up her mind, no one can stop her. She has stopped The Hero two times, or so I heard. And I have personally witnessed her stop the Great Fire Dragon. Her resolve is different from normal demons."

I stood in front of the house, waiting for the man to come here. When he was here, I picked up a rock and spoke.

"When this rock hits the ground, attack me with all you've got. If you don’t, you can kiss your neck goodbye." I looked into his eyes, only to see determination.

He drew his sword and assumed a fighting stance. I tossed the rock into the air, and it landed on the ground with a soft thud.

He ran right at me, appearing to be really slow compared to the false hero’s light attacks. He gripped his sword tightly, and I saw him aiming at my waist. Standing there, I kept waiting. My left hand was ready to summon the Demon Blade whenever needed. In his eyes, I saw that he was going to perform his stunt right now. A loud clash of metal could be heard as I effortlessly stopped him using my high-speed reflexes, stopping his sword using the flat side of my Demon Blade.

"Wha-" He couldn’t end his sentence because I punched him in the gut and he fell over.

"Consider yourself lucky. Since you’re Elize’s relative, I won’t hurt you. I don’t want my maid to be sad now, do I?"

After a barrage of thanks and the like, both of us left the place and returned to the inn where we were staying for the night. From the outside, it looked pretty ordinary. The inn is a charming two-story timber-framed building with a steeply pitched roof and small, diamond-paned windows. The walls are made of wattle and daub, with exposed wooden beams and posts visible on the exterior. The front entrance features a sturdy oak door, intricately carved with geometric patterns, and metal studs for added protection. Above the door, a wooden sign swings gently in the breeze, displaying the name of the inn in elegant calligraphy. "Golden Goose Inn"

We stepped through the wooden door into a dimly lit room. The air was filled with the scent of roasted meat and freshly baked bread. Which would’ve made me hungry if I wasn’t a vampire. The floor is made of polished wood, and I could hear the faint chatter coming from the patrons.

I saw that the inn is divided into two sections: a common room and a private dining area. The common room is filled with a mix of locals and travelers, all enjoying their meals and drinks. Wooden tables and chairs are arranged neatly around the room, with a cozy fireplace at one end of the room.

The private dining area is a more exclusive space, reserved for the more affluent guests. It's adorned with elegant decorations such as silk curtains and silverware. The tables are made of dark wood and are placed apart to give each group of guests their own privacy. I could see Denis sitting at one of the tables, and he waved to us.

"Tch, lucky guy. Getting to sit with two beauties all for himself in the expensive area." I could hear such murmurs.

"What would you like to order?" A maid soon came over.

‘Ma'am, your breasts are about to spill out of your dress!' I made sure to keep this thought locked in my mind forever.

"U-um, I’d like this." I pointed to some hard-to-pronounce drink, that looked like higher-quality wine.

"Okay, anything more?"

"I’ll take this and a glass of water." Elize pointed at some dish; I bet she wasn’t able to say it either.

"I’ll take the same." Denis didn’t even look at the menu and decided to place his fate in Elize’s hands.

‘May you rest in peace; you were a good man. You will be missed.’ I offered him a small prayer.

A couple minutes later, our food arrived. Elize and Denis both got a plate of curry. Meanwhile, I got a glass of slightly cold wine. After our little drinking party with Eldur and Rotsgard, I was not happy to be reminded of it. Yet that moment brought a smile to my face. I quietly chuckled to myself.

After noticing the stare from Elize, I turned to her.

"What?"

"This is the first time I have seen you genuinely smile. You should do it more often; it really suits you."

"Is it really that rare for me to smile?" I raised a brow.

"Yes." After this small exchange, I saw her dig into her food. So I started enjoying my glass of wine. Like this, our day ended, and we each went to our rooms for the night.

Apparently, the twins were guarding the carriage.