Even if you say you don't love me ~ The Former Demon King is Happy Being a Lady Fed by a Serious Soldier - Chapter 2

Even though I called myself the Demon King, I guess it’s only because humans called me that.

In my previous life, I would suddenly find myself in a place where there was nothing but rocks and dead grass. So eventually I would get hungry. I didn’t have hands or feet, so I think I just wanted to crawl somewhere. Slithering along.

When I said I think or thought, I meant, I was Abigail now, so I didn’t remember what I thought when I was the Demon King. I just vaguely know what happened. I also know that the Demon King was created and that I remembered.

At that time I was still small, and while I was wandering around, a monster flew down from above and grabbed me. I guess it was planning to take me back to its nest and eat me. Before I knew it, it was snatched away high into the sky. Of course I would struggle. I think I had instincts.

Then the flying monster suddenly let out a squeal and let go. I fell into a forest. There were lots of monsters there.

Well, they were small so you’d think they were just food. They attacked me one after another, but I was able to fight back and use them as food in return.

He was pretty strong. No wonder he was called the Demon King. He would strike things with electric lightning and set things on fire. Oh, I only burned something once. A tree was on fire and it was hot so I tried to put it out but it would not go out easily. In the end I solidified the air and dropped it, and the whole area became a wilderness.

That’s how I lived. And sometimes humans would wander in. By that time the Demon King was about the size of a human. Maybe because he had eaten so many different kinds of monsters. He grew lots of arms and legs. And eyes and a mouth too. Ah, but the Demon King only ate those who attacked him. I don’t know why.

All humans who saw the Demon King would make a fuss and run away. But occasionally, there would be someone who would give them food.

They would leave their lunch box behind and run away.

It was so delicious!

It didn’t smell like meat or blood, and it had a just a little bit of a nice salty or sweet taste.

I didn’t remember what I thought, but I remember the taste.

‘This morning’s sausage was much more delicious than the first time I ate meat that day… I’m glad I’m human…’

“…Ma’am…Ma’am!? What’s wrong! Ma’am!”

I was hiding in the corner of the room because I was hungry, but I heard the head maid scream from afar. See, these humans really are kind.

* * *

“Young master, what is the matter?”

As soon as I left, Tabatha, the head maid, came over to me, pushing the butler Ethan aside.

In the entrance hall, she was just staring at me, but when I realized that her eyes were saying “Come over here,” I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t. As soon as I closed the door to my room, the questioning began.

“…Young master, stop.”

“Young master, what is the matter?”

I naturally looked away because our faces were so close that our noses almost touched, but Tabatha appeared in front of me.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about your wife. Yes, I’m talking about her, the bride who was abandoned by her husband on her wedding night. I never thought the young master would be such an immature coward. I wonder how your husband’s training went. Ethan? I wonder what happened.”

Ethan, the butler, was also Tabatha’s husband. He didn’t seem like it in his everyday work, but he seemed to be quite angry. In this situation, Ethan couldn’t be relied on. When I looked at their son, Rodney, my foster brother and butler, he quickly looked away. You too.

“You know that this marriage is not a political one, but something that was forced upon me. Even Tabatha seemed to dislike it until the day before yesterday. She’s not even known in high society.”

“Young Master.”

“…Excuse me. Anyway, they forced me to marry the daughter of a distant relative of my boss, the general, to solidify my ties or to form a faction or whatever. I don’t get anything out of it. What’s more, she’s notorious. It’s enough that I accepted her.”

“About that notoriety? Would you like to find out the truth yourself, young master?”

“…No.”

“Oh! I heard that you were well-known for not only your strength, but also your intelligence, but rumors are just rumors, aren’t they?”

“…”

Tabitha’s hazel eyes were cold and sharp. I was supposed to look tough, but that didn’t work on Tabatha, who was also my wet nurse, and I didn’t feel like I could win.

“…Ma’am, your wife, collapsed after breakfast.”

“Oh, a messenger has come. Has the doctor been called?”

“Given the state of the room, I didn’t think that was the case, but I thought it might be possible that the young master had done something wrong, so I went right ahead.”

“No, wait, I’m talking about wrong.”

“Go right ahead! After examining him, he seems to be suffering from malnutrition.”

What? Malnutrition? The daughter of an earl?

As I froze at her unexpected words, Tabatha pressed on.

“He probably hadn’t had a proper meal in a while, and his breakfast was heavy… I don’t know his preferences, and I thought he was tired, so I gave him a variety of food, but it backfired. Even a little bird eats more. And he said he’d eat the rest for lunch, and… that’s where he took in his second wife right after his first wife died. He must have had a terrible experience there. How pitiful…”

I remembered last night, when he’d undressed without any shame or taste.

“…it was definitely a chicken bone. “Young master!? So you just looked at it and left it? Oh my, how outrageous of a young girl! How could you have raised such an immature coward?! How deplorable!”

There was no room for anyone to say that it was unavoidable or not.