Chapter 121: Chapter 124]

Guys, You Don’t Have Any Plans, Do You?

Bella resumed her work as the Crown Princess. At least so that Kiehl could rest well, she would take care of what he needed to do. Still, when she looked at the papers piled up on the desk, she could only sigh.

‘…This is too much.’

She sympathized with why kings throughout history were so stressed and sometimes suffered from mental illness. Even though there was a lot of work, it was just too much. It wouldn’t be enough to just make happy memories during Kiehl’s life.

If things continued like this, it seemed like she would be piled up with these papers for the rest of her life. Of course, it was true that the empire was large, so there was a lot to do.

“Why do we have to check everything like this?”

Nonetheless, she did not like the idea of having to get the Emperor’s approval for everything that could be organized by the underlings.

Jenkins, who heard Bella’s complaints, nodded.

“It means that there’s no one that can be trusted.”

Bella frowned. So far, the power of the empire has been maintained thanks to the absolute magic of the Emperor.

Right now, it was really neither this or that.

They recognized the Crown Prince’s abilities, but he lacked basic magic in him. Consequently, nobles had no choice but to focus more on managing their own territories rather than moving to the center of the empire.

“We need more civil servants.”

…People who would work hard for the empire regardless of family.

Bella lifted her head from her thoughts.

“Now that I think about it, Iwer’s cooking class was today, right?”

“Yes. That’s a good idea.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

80% of the concerns of the ladies who chased after her during the contest were that they did not want to live the life that their family had set for them. So, if the empire hired them and paid them a salary, there would definitely be many ladies who would like it.

Bella crossed her arms and looked at Jenkins disdainfully.

‘How could he know my deep thoughts?’

“Weren’t you trying to get those ladies who have nothing to do to work?”

“… That’s right.”

He did know.

“If possible, please give some suitable work to Zanbar and Pur. They just play and get in the way all the time.”

With those words, Bella looked blankly at Jenkins.

“…Now that I think about it, where have they two gone?”

“They haven’t come back since they left to bet on the hunting contest.”

“Didn’t the hunting contest end almost a week ago?”

Strictly speaking, the two actually disappeared together when Kiehl went missing. However, since the demons, who were not worried, did not say anything, no one in the Imperial Palace even knew that they were missing.

“Don’t you have any camaraderie? You’re not interested.”

“… Didn’t you find out about it after three days?”

Bella closed her mouth for a moment and thought carefully.

Zanbar, who got lost last time, and a teddy bear who never developed any strength in the demon world. Feeling just a little worried, she put her feet on the floor for the first time in a long time and spread out her summoning circle.

Soon, Zanbar and Pur appeared.

“….”

She was reminded of what they looked like a few months ago.

“What are you doing?”

It was because Zanbar was summoned while eating the head of a deer.

Bella was annoyed that she was needlessly worried.

‘…Yes. If you do that, that’s fine.’

At that time, Pur looked back and forth between Bella and Zanbar and then stood up.

“Zanbar! I told you not to eat it!”

“…Wipe your mouth and speak.”

“I, I just kissed the deer’s head!”

Pur wiped the bloody fur around her mouth.

“What can I say about eating deer rather than eating people?”

“Then, can I keep eating this?”

Bella spread the summoning circle to the demon world, snatched the deer head from Zanbar and threw it away.

“Don’t put anything ugly in my room.”

“… Aren’t there a lot of things like this in the princess’s room?”

Bella paused for a moment. It’s not wrong.

“Well… Anyway, what have you been doing all week?”

“Zanbar caught a wolf and went bangbangbang!”

“That’s what you did, Pur.”

‘What is bangbangbang?’

As Bella frowned at Pur’s expressiveness and crossed her arms, Zanbar explained.

“A landslide occurred while Pur was chasing her prey.”

Hearing those words, the voices of those explaining the circumstances at the time of Kiehl’s disappearance passed by.

— “I suddenly heard a loud noise.”

— “His Highness’ horse was alone.”

Kiehl also said that he fell off the horse because the horse was startled by the sudden noise.

‘…It was you guys.’

Bella let out a deep sigh.

“Anyway, you are not helping.”

Even if she gave them a suitable job, it was obvious that everything would be ruined anyway. Iwer seemed to have a knack for gathering ladies from the social world, but what on earth could these people be used for?

* * *

She heard that Iwer’s cooking class had grown stronger by the meeting even while Bella was away.

— “The solidarity there is amazing. They are having a meeting even though Miss is not there.”

Although Jenkins suspected that Iwer was strange, Bella was actually proud of Iwer. Whatever it was, wasn’t it great to continue to bring people together?

Unlike Pur and Zanbar.

It was different from Jenkins, who just nagged. However, when she actually arrived at the conference room where the meeting was to be held, she was a little hesitant.

‘Hmm… It’s embarrassing to just go in.’

There was the crown princess ceremony, and these ladies were invited to a ball.

Bella didn’t show her face at the ball and watched them from the window while waiting until they finished cooking. She then would apologize for being away, compliment the dish they made and say it would be nice to get to the point.

However, somehow, as time passed, instead of cooking, she could only hear everyone laughing. Bella opened the window slightly and overheard their conversation.

“The bigger it is, the better.”

“I actually like fingers better.”

Why did it sound strange? Was it just her?

“Come to think of it, Iwer, have you ever seen them? His… His Highness and Lady Bella?”

“Oh, I haven’t seen it yet. Maybe I’ll see it soon?”

Bella’s expression became increasingly hard. What was being talked about in that room right now?

“I heard His Highness has woken up?”

“It’s true. It was so hot. I caught the two of them kissing.”

“Oh, then maybe…”

“Oh, unfortunately, I don’t think our Miss has seen the Young Master’s eggplant yet.”

“Well. They said he still needs to rest, so it must be difficult.”

The ladies nodded to each other with serious faces.

‘Are… are they crazy?’

She wanted to go in right now and disrupt the meeting. The more she listened, the more the level of the story rose, and Bella’s face became increasingly red.

‘This… Isn’t this too 29+?’

In addition, an unexpected person, Lady Marianne Merken, was seen actively participating in the conversation with her fists clenched.

Iwer said she was cooking when she was told to spy on Rosanne!

Since when did they unite over dirty talk?!

* * *

A little before evening.

Bella soon came to Kiehl’s room and chatted about what had happened during the day. He sat on the bed, and she drank tea next to him to calm her mind.

“Anyway, they’re not helping!”

He looked at Bella, getting angry and smiled as if finding her cute.

“Still, it’s still fun for everyone.”

“It’s not fun. I get upset when I’m next to you, really.”

“You’re cute.”

“What cute! Why on earth am I alive? How can I live?”

Despite Kiehl’s defense, the more she thought about the demons, the angrier she became. Pur made an accident and caused Kiehl to fall from his horse.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if that bastard could smell you well and help with the search?”

She didn’t like Zanbar either, as he just played around without doing anything.

“That Zanbar guy keeps catching something alive whenever he gets the chance. If that’s the case, he should just go back to the Demon World. Why is he still here?”

In addition, Iwer even created an impure gathering.

“And how dare Iwer create a gathering like that under my name?”

“That cooking class?”

“That’s not a cooking class…!”

Of course, at the end of the cooking class, Bella went in and pretended not to know the conversation they were having and recruited the ladies to help her.

It was a good result, at least.

…She believed in Iwer!

As her foot was struck by the ax she trusted, Bella became increasingly angry and broke the teacup she was holding with her bare hands. She broke into a cold sweat as she stared at the teacup that had shattered with a clanging sound.

“… Isn’t this expensive?”

“Are you hurt?”

Of course, there is a little bleeding, but this is nothing.

At that time, Kiehl held Bella’s hand, looked down at her slightly, and spoke in a sweet voice.

“Come to think of it, I heard that Bella has been giving away your blood all this time.”

“Yes.”

Without saying a word, he slowly brought her finger to his mouth. The moment his lips touched it, he smiled slightly. Maybe because she had just spilled tea, so the scent of the tea was all over Bella’s hands.

He opened his small lips and carefully placed her bleeding finger into his mouth.

“Ah…”

His soft, warm tongue grazed her finger.

His gaze slowly moved up from her finger to meet her eyes. His eyes were half-opened, and the corners of his mouth went up as if he was being mischievous.

— “I actually like fingers better.”

Bella remembered what she had overheard earlier — even though it wasn’t meant like this. Perhaps it was because she heard something like that for no reason. His eyes seemed deeper as he moved his lips from her finger to her palm and to her wrist.

Those dark eyes didn’t take his eyes off her.

‘Well, if you look at it that way…’

Even though her entire body felt weak, one part of her body felt tense.

Gradually, he grabbed Bella’s waist and pulled her towards him. The moment her body was on top of him, he briefly tasted her neck and returned the taste to her tongue.

Flutter.

As her dress rode up her thighs, her bare knees touched his hard place.

“Ah.”

Bella placed her hand on his shoulder and parted her lips in surprise. It was the first time since possessing the novel that someone had coveted her body.

Kiehl just smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I won’t do it if Bella doesn’t want it.”

Who said she didn’t want it?

“That’s not it…”

Although she was excited because he was the person she loved so much, she felt like she had to protect him because he was the person she loved so much.

“No human has ever become the Demon King’s companion…”

Even as Bella spoke, his hands caressed her hair, her ears, and her cheeks.

“I don’t know what might happen to you.”

“….”

“Your body may change in the future… So, think carefully….”

“Bella.”

He called her name softly. He wrapped his arms around her and immediately laid her down next to him.

Bella gulped as her back landed on the soft bed.

“You still don’t know?”

Before she knew it, his shadow floated on her face. The cute Kiehl was nowhere to be found. Desire seemed to flow from the firm chest visible through his slightly opened clothes.

“I just need you in my world.”