Chapter 10: Just How Happy Will the Demon King Be~?

No matter how hard Grand Commander Elsa tried, she could never have imagined…that her older sister Gabriella was currently feeling absolutely fantastic.

“Hmm-hmm~ ♪”

A clear, nightingale-sweet humming echoed leisurely through the kitchen of the Demon King’s residential palace.

Gabriella gently stirred the ingredients in the pot, releasing a mouth-watering aroma.

The maids clustered around her, watching the cooking process with rapt attention. 

Some of the younger ones were even frantically scribbling down every single step in their notebooks.

“Remember to add the glass noodles before the water boils.”

“Got it!”

“Yes, Lady Gabriella!”

Truth be told, she rather enjoyed preparing lunch for the Demon King. 

Not because she liked it…

Absolutely not because she liked it.

She had simply grown accustomed to doing these tasks with ease, and it helped maintain her “character setting.”

As long as she remembered not to kiss and not to accept the Demon King’s [Gift], and since she had already figured out how to undo her demonification… all she needed to do was purify herself before the curse sank into her soul.

Gabriella still remembered exactly how to do it. 

She would have to make a trip to a human nation, but that wasn’t difficult; after all, the Demon King had already become completely obedient to her.

And finally, her power had been fully restored. 

The abilities that once existed only in the game were now fully manifested in her physical body!

If Gabriella felt like it, she could probably punch a hole straight through the Demon King’s Castle.

So if she truly wanted to run, no one could stop her~

That was precisely why Gabriella treated the entire Demon King’s Castle like her own back garden!

“Another day of raising the Demon King’s favorability points.” She murmured to herself with a tiny smile.

The sight of Gabriella bustling about in the kitchen left all the maids wide-eyed with admiration and envy. 

To them, she was practically their teacher.

Not only did their senior train and help them, she was incredibly gentle, pouring all her knowledge into them without reservation. 

And even as the Demon King’s wife, she still insisted on doing this kind, virtuous work~

Gabriella felt her own mental state was pretty great too.

Isabella had never properly explained the cause of her demonification, and Gabriella still had no idea what this so-called [Gift] actually was. 

She hadn’t yet grasped the full concept of the curse called [Demonic Corruption].

But,

Very soon, she would coax even more information out of the Demon King by pampering her.

As long as Lady Demon King was dazzled by my sweetness, I can pry any useful secret from her lips.

“Waa~ I did it!”

“Big Sister Gabriella, can we eat yet?”

“I understand now; this cooking method is amazingly efficient!”

The maids cheered one after another. 

These stews were actually the maids’ “brunch.”

Seeing the poor little things drooling, Gabriella ladled portions into small bowls for them.

The maids usually ate in the nearby maids’ work hall; a lounge-like space where they changed clothes, bathed, fetched water, and scheduled duties. It was their favorite place to relax and have fun.

Today, however, Gabriella did not join them for the usual chatty meal.

Instead, she took out the ham she had been preparing, sliced it, and turned it into delicious sandwiches.

She opened the oven, slid out the little cakes, unmolded them, and bagged them neatly.

Gabriella layered all the food into a lunch box: the small cakes, fresh fruit, sandwiches, and the freshly baked cookies; everything went into a little picnic basket.

She covered the box with a clean cotton cloth to trap the aroma and preserve the natural warmth of the cooking.

She was going to “deliver lunch” to the Demon King.

Today, the Demon King was not in the residential palace, not in the inner city, not even inside the Demon King’s Castle…

Because some reckless, suicidal humans had set up camp beneath the Blackstone Mountains; the very range that marked the boundary of the Demon Domain.

What exactly were they here for?!

At first, Gabriella hadn’t been particularly concerned. 

She only cared about whether she could deliver the Demon King’s favorite meal.

Isabella had left first thing this morning; she hadn’t even eaten breakfast properly before rushing off… Sure, there was food at the front lines, but none of it was to the Demon King’s taste, right?

Every time she thought about it,

She would remember that period when she had been brainwashed. 

Once, when Gabriella had fallen ill, she accidentally used far too many seasonings the Demon King disliked while making chicken stew.

Yet she hadn’t been punished at all. 

The Demon King had forgiven her, even smiling as she gently pointed out the mistake…

After that, her stews became the Demon King’s absolute favorite, and that idiot Demon King still wore that same delighted expression whenever she praised her.

Those little memories came as naturally as the lingering scent the Demon King left on her lips.

“What troublesome memories.”

She was leaving the castle now.

The cobblestone streets of the demon district were smooth and beautiful. 

Though not a blade of grass grew in the Demon Domain, many glowing plants had been cultivated; even in daylight they emitted a soft light that lifted the spirits.

Demon soldiers flew overhead, their hurried silhouettes hinting that something bad was about to happen.

Demons didn’t need vehicles; powerful wings were far more convenient than carriages.

Gabriella had no wings.

Whenever she left the castle, she ran across the rooftops, leaping from one building to the next.

Back when the rebel army had attacked the Demon King’s Castle, it was precisely because she had no wings that the escape route she took with the Demon King completely blindsided the rebels, allowing the Demon King to survive.

After that, that idiot Isabella had gradually started falling for her~

Thinking about such things, half an hour passed before she knew it.

There was a second problem when leaving the Demon King’s Castle: the entire castle was built on a floating island.

But Gabriella had her own method.

She stood at the edge of the cliff, hugging the basket with both arms, gazing out over the vast land below.

Because of the demonic miasma and the curses of ancient evil spirits, the soil of the Demon Domain was black and red, like volcanic rock scorched by eruptions. 

The surface temperature often reached forty or even fifty degrees Celsius. 

Yet paradoxically, the air was bitingly cold, frequently dropping to several degrees below zero.

Thus, the Demon Domain often saw snow falling upon mountains that burned with eternal flames.

Gabriella leapt.

Her soft silver hair merely fluttered in the wind. Thanks to the levitation magic, the skirt of her maid dress did not flip up embarrassingly in the airflow. 

Her legs, clad in white stockings, flashed enticingly beneath the hem; an exquisite sight no one was there to witness.

She landed steadily on the ground, hugged the basket close, and immediately began sprinting at full speed toward the direction the Demon King had gone.

Her very first thought was: These humans are such a nuisance…

They’re actually interfering with my plans!

But the moment Isabella’s smiling face popped into her mind, her mood instantly brightened, and the corners of her lips curved upward.

Just how happy will Lady Demon King be when she finds out I brought her lunch?

Harassed by those annoying humans, bothered by those damn troubles, yet still getting to eat sweets personally prepared by her wife~