A well-dressed man walked through the wide corridors of the imperial palace, overhearing the maids whispering to each other about how handsome he looked. "The Demon King looks different. Is he more handsome?" one maid murmured to her colleague. "Strange, he seems much more natural. His skin also looks more alive," she replied. He merely smiled as he continued walking alone.
"The World Tree's blessing had some effect, it seems," he said, having just taken a bath after returning exhausted from his little trip to the World Tree. "Unfortunately, it looks like my vacation has come to an end," he murmured as he walked, beginning to think about a few things. "Protecting this world... Maybe I can do it?
I don't know, I may be confident in the strength of my lovely wives, but I'm still far behind them... I need to train." Dante said. It wasn't common, but when he compared himself to wives like Valentina, Morgana, and even Voralith, who hadn't accepted yet but he knew she would, it made him somewhat disheartened. Strength was crucial at this moment, and he didn't want to go through that again.
"I won't let this bother me anymore. I'll get stronger, even if I have to sacrifice parts of myself in the process... No one else will suffer," he said, opening the enormous door where a single woman sat on the throne, clearly waiting for him. "It seems my beautiful Aldria was already expecting me," Dante said with a mischievous smile. It was time to finish what he had decreed.
"You again," Aldria said. Truly, she was a difficult woman.
Aldria sat on the throne, looking like a bored woman who hadn't heard anything interesting in years. "I'm sure you already know what I've done in the last few hours. What do you want to hear first?" Dante asked as a Blood Throne formed, now making it seem like a real conversation.
Two emperors were facing each other. One represented only his empire and citizens, and the other represented only his desires and self-satisfaction, something the other would never consider in this situation.
"Before you start talking, are you okay?" Dante asked. Above all, he was a man who cared about her, not because Adam asked him to—screw Adam—Dante didn't care about the man who made Velryna and Aldria suffer. It was more than right that he was dead, despite knowing the pain they felt about his death. It was better than remembering the many things he caused over the years.
"Ah~" She sighed heavily and began to speak.
"You drive me crazy, you know that? I've received hundreds of reports from all sides about a Black-Winged Demon flying at supersonic speeds across the continent. Could you be more discreet? You're not a child who can do whatever he wants! Every two hours, at least six guards came here to report minor actions." Aldria said, putting a hand to her head.
"Killing a person I understand, but cutting off everyone's arms? Or better yet, dismembering a person in front of their friends. Who were you trying to traumatize? One of the soldiers who saw it is undergoing treatment from vomiting so much at the grotesque scene you caused!" Aldria scolded him, but at the same time, he just smiled.
"Wipe that confident smile off your face!" She scolded him, but he continued to wait for her to finish.
"Seriously, what do I do with you?" She continued her complaints. "And about the mine! What was that! You polluted half the forest with blood!" She shouted, and Dante smiled, almost laughing out loud because the scene of the giant worm dying was very funny in his mind.
"Hey! I'm being serious here! You gave me a massive headache!" She said, truly looking angry, but... "Even so, after all this! You still solved all the problems, and it's driving me crazy!" She admitted. In a few hours, despite all the problems he caused her, he resolved them all perfectly in a time that could have taken months to solve.
Who knows how many people could have been affected by the actions of the nobility? Well, that would be resolved only by killing them all and replacing them, something Aldria could very well do if she took on the role of a dictator, and that wasn't what she wanted. But the real problem was, what if that huge worm had gone to an inland city? What if someone had died?
Dante should actually be treated as a hero in this respect... and she didn't even know about the beasts.
"Are you done?" Dante asked, his voice very close to her. Aldria, who was thinking about many things at once, heard his voice almost like a whisper. When she blinked twice... she was sitting on Dante's lap. "Huh?! Put me back on my throne!!!" She quickly shouted.
"Nothing of the sort, I'm collecting my reward," Dante said, holding the woman firmly on his lap, placing her head on his chest.
"W-We didn't talk about rewards! Y-You did this because you wanted to!" She quickly stammered, knowing what this man wanted. "I don't work for free, my little Sapphire," Dante said gently, which sent shivers through Aldria, who tried to pull away but was stopped again. "Why did you call me that! What is that!" Aldria said quickly, truly not knowing what it meant.
"It's a gem, a very rare blue-colored gem... like your eyes," he said with a smile. Aldria didn't know how to react; it was the first time she had received such a compliment, so she just shrank and blushed like a cute little girl. "Hahaha," Dante laughed and ran his hand over her head, gently stroking her hair.
"Now that you're calmer, let's talk about serious matters," Dante said while continuing to hold the woman who seemed like a different person, her face completely embarrassed... but even she didn't know what to do, and she didn't want to leave that position. It felt like... she lived to be there; it was so... comfortable.
"What do you mean by serious matters?" she murmured, and Dante only smiled. "Don't you want to know how I met the World Tree of Elysium?" Dante said, and the woman's eyes almost popped out as she quickly straightened up. He let her move without holding her, after all, he realized she wasn't going to leave his lap.
She just wanted to listen attentively while looking at him, and he was pleased to notice that. "Y-You met a World Tree?" she stammered, knowing what that meant, and Dante began recounting to her what had happened, up to the part about the ritual.
"A Qilin? I've never seen one on this continent... Why is a Qilin not in the East, but in the West? I mean, the climate here shouldn't allow something like that to live here..." Aldria murmured, truly intrigued by this, but what was really important was the ritual. "I thought we had cleansed the Empire that day..." she murmured, blaming herself, but Dante didn't let her. "It's not your fault.
I couldn't identify the energy of this ritual either. It wasn't demonic. I still don't know what it was, but Fey and I believe it was a curse," Dante said. Many things were going through his mind, especially after all these events, and he felt a certain discomfort.
"D-Dear?" Aldria stammered. "Ah... well, I was just getting to that part..." Dante murmured, and Aldria's gaze broke. Her mind began to generate a theory that, unfortunately for her and fortunately for Dante... she was completely correct. "D-Don't tell me you proposed to her," Aldria said, and Dante just smiled without saying anything.
Aldria... for some reason, broke...
"I... I thought..." she murmured to herself, struggling with things she wanted and things she fought against wanting. But this... made a tear fall. She didn't even understand why. Memories of what Evangeline said to her quickly returned...
"Do you think my master, who has the best women by his side, would waste his time with a woman he's not interested in? He should be spending time with Morgana Arcano now, but he's using his precious time to fix an Empire that isn't even his," she heard echoing in her mind like a heavy hammer blow. She could only wonder... If he was interested, why did he find someone else in the meantime?
Perhaps it was a silly thought, perhaps a thought that didn't even make sense to Dante. After all, unlike him, Aldria had never shared a man with anyone, and Dante shared his heart with several women. Aldria felt... discarded, for some reason. She didn't even know if she felt something for this man... she was...
confused about it...
"Looks like someone is jealous," Dante said, almost completely reading the woman. But of course, he did. He still had one of the abilities from his dear mother, the ability to read people, and it seemed to only work with the women he was interested in... well, actually, he was just too clueless to remember it at necessary moments.
"Jealous! I'm not jealous!" She quickly shouted, trying to pull away from him. She really felt uncomfortable, but she was in the hands of the greatest demon of all! "Quiet," he commanded imperiously, making her startle. "Sorry, but you don't help yourself either," he said. Now, however, he pulled her even closer, her chest pressed against his torso, and he leaned in close to her ear.
Aldria felt this man's breath almost touching her. Her skin grew hot, and her face turned red. Dante only whispered in her ear.
"Regardless of who is by my side... You will be mine, one way or another. Aldria Scarlet sounds good..." Dante said, and the woman trembled as if her body was being completely devoured. Before her, like a mirage, a demon was seated on her throne that only Aldria could see. After all... it was an illusion of her greed.
"I said... my master wants you for himself," Evangeline said with a mischievous smile.