This is fine.
1255 Words
"If you’re not comfortable sleeping in this room, Mr. Ira, feel free to call for me. There aren’t any extra personal maids in the Demon King’s Castle, but if you’d like, I can reassign one from His Majesty’s side."
Shirina said this with a smile she couldn’t quite suppress. Though she led Ira to his room in a respectful manner, for some reason, she just couldn’t help but feel amused.
Even though Miss Vera kept saying things like 'No,' 'Irrelevant,' and 'Ridiculous,' she still easily let Mr. Ira stay…
There was an inexplicable sense of excitement.
As a succubus, Shirina found the act of stealing talent away from the empire quite fascinating.
"No need. Funny enough, if I really had a maid attending to me with such meticulous care, I’d probably feel uncomfortable instead."
Ira replied as he sat down on the somewhat firm bed. He wasn’t picky about his living conditions, and the room he had been assigned was certainly not bad…
No matter what, it was better than being on the battlefield.
That said, while he didn’t care for the extreme attentiveness of personal maids, he did appreciate the convenience of a good housemaid…
If he ever needed something, all he had to do was call out.
"I specially arranged for your room to be near the kitchen and next to Mr. Laim’s. If you ever feel hungry, you can ask him to prepare something at any time."
You’re really thoughtful, huh?
Ira shook his head in exasperation, sighing, "It’s true that I enjoy refined and delicious food, but that doesn’t mean I’m some glutton who’s always thinking about eating. I appreciate your kindness, but I won’t be needing that."
"Hahaha~ My apologies, that was my mistake…" Shirina nodded lightly, having just about figured out Ira’s personality. With a chuckle, she said, "Mr. Ira, it’s almost midnight. Please get some rest. If you need anything, just ask the little fairies."
After saying this, Shirina turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"…"
"Sigh…"
Ira let out a soft sigh as he sat alone on the bed. He took off his tattered coat—damaged from his recent escape—and placed it on the bedside table…
Even though there was a coat rack in the room.
In the end, he had agreed to Satania’s request to stay in the Demon King’s Castle for a while as her teacher.
Since this had happened once before, he didn’t feel too burdened by it, but now he had to think about how to teach his student.
Preparing lesson plans was always the most exhausting part.
Should he prioritize improving Satania’s combat abilities?
Or should he first strengthen her political and ideological thinking?
No…
The latter should be set aside for now—otherwise, he might end up raising another Isabella. But their countries were different, so their educational needs naturally differed as well.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in 'teaching without discrimination,' but this time, Ira wanted to try a different approach…
To be honest, back in the empire, Ira hadn’t engaged in any significant research or reforms.
Despite the common knowledge among transmigrators, he had never introduced classic agricultural advancements like the curved plow or crop rotation.
After all, during times of war, his priority had been to strengthen the empire’s military power.
So instead, he focused on rapidly training noble children into capable warriors and persuaded Isabella to implement the law of exchanging military merit for noble titles.
That was one of the key reasons for the empire’s growing battlefield advantage.
Originally, he had planned to use a 'buy land for noble rank' scheme to trap the aristocracy after the war settled—gradually reclaiming land and transitioning into a kingdom of agriculture and governance…
But now, that opportunity might never come.
Ira had taught Isabella the art of ruling, the techniques of balance, and the inevitable relationships and restraints between clans, kingdoms, monarchs, civilians, and merchants…
Yet she had only learned half of it.
If he had known earlier, he would have racked his brain to make sure she became stronger in combat first.
Feeling a twinge of regret, Ira recalled something Yuse once said—
"Uh… So you're saying that even the most loyal and respectful minister, if too powerful, should be at least nominally suppressed?"
"That all power should belong to the eternal emperor?"
"I’m touched, really, but Ira, are you tired of living?"
"Aren’t you the most powerful minister in the empire right now?"
"…"
Ira hadn’t just told this to the late emperor; he had taught Isabella the same thing.
But the biggest issue was…
This so-called 'performative suppression'—one had to time it properly!
Now it had backfired, hadn’t it?
Just as he was lost in frustration, he heard footsteps outside the door…
Knock, knock, knock~
A young, innocent voice came from beyond the door—
"Mr. Ira, I’m sorry if the banquet disappointed you… I brought some snacks. Are you available right now?"
The Demon King?
Why are you coming here in person?
"Come in."
At Ira’s invitation, Satania, with her small frame, pushed open the wooden door.
She was holding a tray with two bowls of sweet-smelling desserts.
"I heard that people from the empire love sweets, so I asked Mr. Laim to prepare these for you."
"…"
But Ira didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, he glanced toward the empty doorway, as if searching for something.
Satania set the bowls on the table, then asked in confusion, "Mr. Ira, what are you looking at?"
"Where’s Shirina?"
Ira asked.
"Eh?"
Satania made a puzzled sound, clearly not understanding why he was asking this.
"…"
This Demon King had absolutely no awareness of her position.
She hadn’t even considered what it meant for a monarch to visit someone at night, bringing snacks…
On top of that, she hadn’t even brought a maid with her.
What if I meant her harm?
Even her way of addressing people was a problem—
Not just toward him, but toward other leaders as well.
Using "Mr." and "Miss" to refer to everyone… A king shouldn’t speak like that.
This wasn’t right.
Ira had initially planned to point out Satania’s mistakes, just as he had done when teaching Isabella in the empire.
But then he hesitated…
Was this closeness and respect really a bad thing?
Maybe he should have just held Isabella hostage and used her to control the aristocrats…
She probably would have been more than happy with that.
"Mr. Ira, what are you thinking about?"
Hearing Satania’s curious voice, Ira hesitated for a moment but chose not to say anything.
Instead, he simply smiled and shook his head.
Then, chuckling lightly, he took the situation as it was and said,
"I was just thinking that if the two of us secretly eat a midnight snack without Shirina knowing, it might not be very fair."
"Hmm… Should we invite her then?"
"But if we do that, we’d have to ask Mr. Laim for more food, and that might not be ideal either."
Satania seemed to be genuinely considering whether to call Shirina over.
"No, this is fine."
Ira said, taking a seat across from her.
He picked up a fork and speared a piece of candied fruit, stirring it in the syrup before holding it out to the small Demon King sitting before him.
"This is fine."
As if saying it again was also meant to convince himself, Ira murmured the words once more.
- Writer
