I’m actually… wearing a maid outfit?
Via stood before the mirror, staring at the pink-haired girl dressed in a maid uniform reflected within it. For a moment, she felt utterly shaken.
She was the great Demon King, after all.
“Mm-hmm, it looks really good on you, Lord Demon King,” Melu said as she rested her hands on Via’s shoulders. “So cute! Pink hair with a white-stockinged maid outfit is just perfect!”
“That’s not even a compliment!”
Via had never expected Melu to force a maid outfit onto her and make her wear it first.
“And why do I have to wear this thing? Is there some special reason?”
“There’s no special reason, Lord Demon King,” Melu replied. “Kurei and I simply wanted to see it.”
“Just… for that reason?”
Via turned her gaze toward Kurei.
“Yeah, that’s right, Lord Demon King. I wanted to see it too. After all, you’ve reincarnated as such a cute girl!” Kurei said cheerfully. “It feels so fun!”
“I’m not doing this!”
Via grabbed the tie at her chest and grumbled.
“It’s so stuffy. It feels suffocating!”
“We had to put it on you. This is Kurei’s head maid uniform. I noticed her height is about the same as yours,” Melu muttered.
“It’s Kurei’s?”
Via looked at Kurei. Kurei wore a devastated expression, looking quite heartbroken.
“Lord Demon King, I’m flat-chested. I’m so sorry!”
Via really felt a headache coming on.
She hadn’t meant to mock Kurei at all. It was just too tight.
Although she hadn’t inherited Sylvia’s talent for holy arts, she had fully inherited her genes for looks and figure—a perfect score.
“You two used to be my maids. Do you really have to tease me like this?”
“Lord Demon King, back then we were your subordinates and you paid us wages,” Melu corrected. “Setting strength aside for now, not only can you not afford to pay us a single coin right now, but you actually need us to provide you with housing and food for free.”
Via looked somewhat embarrassed. She really couldn’t refute Melu.
“Lord Demon King, how about trying this set?” Kurei pulled out another outfit—this one a lolita dress.
“Can I… not wear it?”
Via averted her gaze.
She felt like she had truly become a dress-up doll for Melu and Kurei.
“That won’t do, Lord Demon King. You have to cooperate nicely!” Melu grabbed Via, looking delighted. “For food and shelter, you need to show some sincerity!”
“Is that enough? You two should be satisfied by now, right?”
Via lay on the sofa in a set of pajamas, completely exhausted as if she had endured heavy mental torture.
Piles of various clothes surrounded her—all belonging to Melu and Kurei.
The two demonkin maids had played dress-up with her the entire night.
“Looks like that’s all of them. I guess we’re done,” Melu said, her tone clearly a bit regretful.
“You two are finally willing to let me go.”
Via glanced out the window. The sky was already showing the first light of dawn—it was morning.
“Lord Demon King, you can stay here with us from now on without worry!” Kurei patted her own chest. “With me around, I’ll go scavenge trash from the Demon King’s Castle ruins to support you! I guarantee you’ll never go hungry!”
“Yeah, Lord Demon King. If you don’t want to struggle, just stay here,” Melu smiled. “Kurei will handle the trash scavenging.”
“Hey, Melu, what are you saying?! You have to come with me to scavenge at the Demon King’s Castle ruins. Don’t push everything onto me while you stay here with Lord Demon King!” Kurei said angrily.
“You two… how long are you willing to let me stay?” Via asked tentatively.
“As long as you want, of course. I have lots of comics here—we can read them together,” Melu replied.
“Even though Lord Demon King has changed, being with you is still pretty fun! It’s just one extra mouth to feed, no big deal. You can stay as long as you like!” Kurei didn’t mind at all.
“…I see.”
Via thought about it. In the Desolate Fallen Continent, Melu and Kurei could guarantee her livelihood. She wouldn’t even have to go out and work. It sounded pretty nice?
Even after reincarnating as a human, Melu and Kurei didn’t despise her because of their admiration from her previous life.
“Hahaha, Lord Demon King, it looks like you’ve happily accepted the fact that you’re living off your maids’ charity?” Desolate Fire jumped in at the wrong moment.
“You were just telling me you’d rather die than submit, but your attitude changed so quickly. I bet you’re already thinking about lazing around like this from now on!”
“You… shut up! A true man can bend and stretch!” Via retorted. “This isn’t charity at all. It’s the assistance I need in my current situation, understand? It’s not the same thing. I won’t settle for this forever!”
“Lord Demon King, does that mean you still have future plans?!” Kurei looked at her with eyes full of expectation. “Although you don’t have to work from now on and can be as unmotivated as Melu, I still hope to see you reclaim the demonkin throne!”
“I want to see that side of Lord Demon King too,” Melu agreed.
“Well, about that…”
Via looked at her two little fangirls, who still held such high expectations for her. She couldn’t bring herself to say that she had actually been forced to flee here and wasn’t prepared at all.
She couldn’t say something like that.
“First, I need to replenish the energy for the Demon King Armament. As long as it has enough energy, it can greatly boost my combat strength. Except in special extreme situations, I can operate under my previous identity as the Demon King.”
“I remember replenishing the Demon King Armament requires quite a lot of magic stones, right?” Kurei thought for a moment. “That’s actually a significant amount of funds.”
“Yes. One time definitely won’t be enough. I’ll need many times, so I need sufficient financial support considering future activities.”
Via understood that Kurei and Melu didn’t have much money; they could only help her in an emergency.
If she wanted to regain power, she would need money in addition to strength.
“How much of my legacy remains in the Demon King’s Castle?”
“Basically nothing. After you died, everything was taken away by the others,” Kurei said regretfully.
It really was all gone.
Via wasn’t surprised in her heart. It looked like she would have to consider other options.
“However, Lord Demon King, I really didn’t expect that you would actually perish together with the Silver Sword Princess. At the time, I thought that order you gave was a trap you set,” Melu suddenly said. “I was under the impression that you had victory firmly in your grasp.”
“Hm?” Via frowned. “Melu, what are you talking about?”
“The order you gave me to shut down the defense mechanisms, deliberately allowing the Silver Sword Princess to enter the Demon King’s Castle without letting the court members stop her.”
“When did I ever give such an order?”