“Grand Commander!”
Philina cried out happily and dashed toward Elsa, only to instinctively slow down when she remembered the cross would punish her with chains if she moved too quickly.
She waited until the maid-dressed Elsa gently pushed the dinner cart closer, then she and Tina cautiously approached.
By now, both of them had calmed down.
The meaning behind Grand Commander Elsa wearing a maid uniform needed no explanation.
“Lady Elsa… have you been controlled by the Demon King too?”
Tina asked carefully.
Elsa did not answer immediately.
She closed the tower door, walked to the beds at the edge of the chamber, and began laying out dish after dish of fragrant food on the nearby table.
Truth be told, for a prisoner’s dinner, it was far too lavish.
“I lost to the Demon King. Becoming a maid is my duty.”
“Did the Demon King seal your power?” Philina asked anxiously.
“My power is still intact.”
“……Oh.”
Elsa’s replies were perfectly calm, as if all of this were only natural.
The three of them sat on the beds.
With their heavy armor removed, Tina’s slightly torn dress looked rather battered, revealing glimpses of pale skin beneath.
Fortunately, she was unharmed.
Elsa quietly told them what had happened recently—how she had been defeated by Gabriella, sent to the Demon King’s Castle, and made a maid… but she could not bring herself to speak of the rest, of her older sister.
Philina found it even harder to accept. Ever since seeing the Grand Commander, she had been agitated.
“You… became a maid? Why not escape with us?”
“……”
Elsa didn’t know how to answer that.
Because she had realized—her sister might genuinely not want to leave the Demon King’s side.
Every day, her sister acted spoiled with the Demon King, solved her problems, cared for her in every little way, even forgave her mistakes without a single complaint.
Elsa wanted to stay by her sister’s side.
Faced with Philina’s questioning, she had no reply.
And although the perfect chance to assassinate the Demon King and rescue Gabriella had been right in front of her, she hadn’t even tried.
For a human—for the Grand Commander—that was betrayal.
She was not a good commander, but she believed she could at least be a good little sister.
“Philina, Tina… I’m sorry.”
Elsa bowed her head slightly.
“Staying here is my own choice. I have not been brainwashed. I believe this is also best for humanity—at the very least, the demons have no intention of starting a war with humans.”
“You believe this war should never have happened…” Tina shook her head.
“But the Evil God will eventually revive. Humanity will face annihilation.”
“There is no Evil God,” Elsa replied calmly.
“……”
Tina’s gaze unconsciously drifted to the dinner on the table—dishes that were favorites at knight order banquets.
Preparing them must have taken a very long time.
“Did you make all of this, Lady Elsa?”
“No. Big sister made it for you.”
“Lady Gabriella?!”
“Yes…” Elsa nodded.
“Actually, I didn’t come just to bring you dinner. There’s something I need to tell you. The other humans who came to the Demon King’s Castle with you have also been captured. Big sister is going to release them—and release you along with them.”
“…”
Tina fell into thought once more.
Release us?
Even before the battle began, Lady Gabriella had warned them to flee.
Now she still hadn’t forgotten them.
She was trying to preserve the spark of humanity, to keep it safe from the Demon King.
But… wasn’t she under the Demon King’s control? Why would she let the other humans go?
Suddenly, Tina remembered what the demon maid had said.
Lady Gabriella and the Demon King are already married.
The more she tried to deny it, the more Lady Gabriella’s actions seemed contradictory.
Tina picked up her knife and fork, cut a piece of meat, and chewed slowly.
Seeing this, Philina also began to eat.
They had gone an entire day without food.
Since it was supposedly prepared by Lady Gabriella herself, they chose to trust it.
The meal was exquisite—perfectly suited to human tastes.
Ten minutes later, when the plates were nearly empty, Elsa continued from where she had left off:
“Tomorrow night, I will get you out of this tower. Then you can leave the Demon Domain with the rest of the knight order. This is not a place you should have come. That is also big sister’s wish.”
“And what about you two?” Philina asked anxiously.
“I already told you—I’m staying,” Elsa answered instantly, without the slightest hesitation.
“…”
Philina could not understand.
If they could rescue Gabriella, wouldn’t Elsa be able to be with her sister every day?
Tina noticed the same issue.
From the very beginning, something had felt off about Grand Commander Elsa.
She seemed to have fully accepted the role of a maid—that was why she didn’t want to leave the Demon King’s Castle.
Or perhaps… she had been controlled by the Demon King as well.
In Tina’s memory, Grand Commander Elsa was not someone who would surrender or fall so easily.
Before the expedition, she had led all the knight captains in taking a solemn oath.
Philina clenched her fists.
She knew she couldn’t persuade Elsa, so she turned to Tina with determined eyes.
“Lady Ice Saint, we must report everything that has happened here to the Holy King. His Majesty will surely take it more seriously!”
Yet strangely, Tina did not reply.
A long-buried memory surfaced before her eyes.
She remembered the day she, still a young knight, had marched with Gabriella toward the Demon Domain.
That day had been exactly the same.
When Lady Gabriella fought alone, Tina—then only a squad captain—had been mere moments away from reaching the Demon King’s Castle and linking up with her.
But she had suddenly received orders from the duke—her father—to withdraw.
The reason: the Demon King and her army were far stronger than anticipated.
Continuing the fight would lead to catastrophic losses.
They were to prioritize preserving their forces and trust the Silver-White Sword Empress.
That had obviously been a dangerous situation caused by her father’s incompetence—an excuse he fabricated to sabotage the Silver-White Sword Empress.
How could Tina not have known?
Of course she knew.
She understood it was all a lie.
She should have led her elite knight squad straight into the castle and carved a bloody path to Lady Gabriella.
But that day, at just sixteen years old, she had been afraid.
Yes…
The demons’ bizarre magic, the terrifying aura radiating from the Demon King, the retreating reinforcements and severed supply lines—if they pressed on, it would have been all or nothing.
She had been terrified.
And so she had lied to herself, obeyed the duke’s orders, withdrawn with the other knights, and placed her faith in the Silver-White Sword Empress.
That decision had led to the outcome they faced now.
The defeat of the Silver-White Sword Empress.
Tina closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, her gaze was resolute as she looked straight at Elsa and declared:
“I don’t want to leave either. I want to stay too.”