Chapter 6: The Demon King Really Loves Me…

All day long, Gabriella’s mind was elsewhere.

In the afternoon, the question that had been tormenting her finally received a complete answer.

Normally, as the personal maid, Gabriella had to stay by the Demon King’s side.

After her afternoon nap, Isabella invited her to come see the “gift”: the holy sword.

The sudden request caught her off guard.  

It wasn’t that she hadn’t prepared herself mentally; she was terrified the Demon King would discover the secret hidden inside the sword.

Yet the furious Demon King she had imagined never appeared. 

That eased Gabriella’s heart considerably.

She was summoned to the study, where Isabella personally showed it to her.

It was a long rectangular box.

Inside lay a piece of red cloth, and upon it rested a sharp silver greatsword, quietly sleeping.

Roses and thorns decorated the hilt.

The silver-white blade was long, elegant, and razor-sharp; the whole sword exuded grandeur and grace, like a noble young lady among blades: refined yet unripe, dignified yet beautiful.

It was the holy sword.

If one ignored the countless cracks that had shattered it into countless metal fragments, it would undoubtedly have been a peerless treasure.

But the holy sword was broken.

It had been forcibly pieced back together and preserved inside a glass case edged with golden thread, like a sealed work of art.

“What do you think, Gabriella?” 

Isabella smiled.  

“The holy sword was actually destroyed five years ago. These fragments are what I personally picked up from the battlefield, little by little, a very long time ago.”

Gabriella remembered.

Back then, the rebels had secretly disposed of every weapon belonging to the Demon King in order to crush her completely; this sword had been among them.

Yet even though the holy sword was shattered, Gabriella was certain the power inside it remained.

Once she reclaimed that power, how could the current Demon King possibly defeat her?!

She accepted the gift and bowed her head in gratitude to Isabella.

And Isabella gazed at her with eyes full of anticipation.

Does this idiot really not realize I’m about to regain my strength?

…

The Demon King’s castle was divided into three main districts:

The inner palace, the central city, and the outer city.

The inner palace was a towering, palace-like structure protected by moat and walls.

Within the inner palace lay the residential area where the Demon King lived.

It contained a kitchen, bathhouse, café, bedroom, and a small office.

If there was nothing important, the Demon King could simply work from the residential area.

But when business called, she usually went out.

The inner palace had rotating guards on duty, while the residential area was staffed solely by maids.

They stood watch at corridors and every room entrance.

So for Gabriella, slipping out of the castle would normally have been child’s play.

But this time, she wasn’t trying to escape.

She was heading to a heavily guarded warehouse in the central city district.

Outside the warehouse stood several demon guards.

They were all ash-gray skinned monsters with enormous tusks.

The males especially were three-meter-tall hulking brutes with massive wings and rippling muscles.

The females were softer in appearance, yet their seductive bodies were covered in black markings.

Only high-ranking demons like nobles or the Demon King herself looked nearly human.

When they saw Gabriella, they bowed their heads slightly; they knew this was the Demon King’s wife.

“Lady Gabriella…”

“Your Majesty the Queen…”

She returned their greeting with a gentle smile.

Once inside the warehouse, she brushed off the dust that had fallen from the ceiling onto her black dress.

But Gabriella hadn’t come to take anything away; she had come to restore her power.

She walked to the deepest part of the warehouse, where rows of neatly arranged crates stood.  

She set the box containing the holy sword flat on the ground; this was where she would reclaim her strength.

She didn’t truly rely on the sword anymore, and in any case it had long lost its original function.

But right now, that sword still held ninety percent of her power.

Once she retrieved it, the entire Demon King’s castle would be nothing more than her backyard.

There would be no need to run; Isabella wouldn’t even be her match.

She reached out and stroked the glass covering the holy sword, feeling the magic flowing within the fragments.

But…

Where is my power?

“…”

Had her memory failed her?!

Was the holy sword fake?

No…

Suddenly, the fragments began flashing a warning light.  

Then, like ice, they melted; turning into a mercury-like metallic liquid.

That liquid slithered up her arm like a cobra and, faster than she could react, poured straight into the ring on her left ring finger!

The gem embedded in the ring turned silver, as though it had swallowed the entire melted sword and fused with it.

Soon, a warm, familiar magic flowed from the ring into her body, drawing a soft, pleasurable moan from her lips.

It was the sign that her magic circuits were gradually restoring themselves.

Then she felt power flooding back through her entire body; magical particles danced and rolled across her beautiful frame.

Her strength had truly returned.

“Phew”

Gabriella let out a long breath.  

The source of this power wasn’t the holy sword; it was the ring.

In just a few short minutes, she understood everything.

The holy sword had been destroyed precisely because its stored power had been transferred away long ago.

And no matter where it had been moved to, in the end, it had all returned to this ring.

In other words…

On the day of the wedding, the Demon King had intended to return her power all along.

Why? Why?!

Wasn’t she afraid Gabriella would regain her memories and take her head?

Gabriella realized that every suspicion she’d ever held had been utterly meaningless!

Because the Demon King really, truly loved her.

“Lady Gabriella, please don’t worry about the wedding banquet. We demons take our spouses very seriously.”

“Her Majesty will do everything in her power to pamper you.”

Liya’s words echoed in her mind.

A sudden possibility struck Gabriella.

Her memory returning had not been an accident; the Demon King had deliberately allowed it.

Isabella had done it so Gabriella could regain her strength.

Perhaps only “true love” could satisfy this greedy Demon King.

She was clearly the idiot who had once punished and humiliated me!

Gabriella’s whole body went limp.

As she muttered to herself, her thoughts drifted.  

She slid down the dark warehouse wall and sat on the floor.

Her heart pounded; pounded violently.

Her chest burned.

I love… I really love this gift.

“Isabella-sama… loves me…”

She wiped the corner of her eye. 

For some reason her body still felt weak.

She had even gathered the fragments, planning to restore my power for me; what a complete fool who’s totally unsuited to be the Demon King!

Her magic circuits continued recovering.  

As the mark on her abdomen grew hotter, a wave of guilt crawled up her spine.