Chapter 2 – Have you gone mad?

TL: Eevee

Ed: Hungry Panda

The whateverth year of King whatever’s reign. One day, at the famous tourist attraction that was the demon king’s castle, the seal on the demon king broke. It seemed that a tourist had accidentally removed the demon king’s seal to take home as a souvenir. The unsealed demon king brought her scattered forces, and rose up with the demon king’s castle as their base.

The demon king, very much like the thirsty bitch the history books made her out to be, kidnapped the kingdom’s young boys and started a feast overflowing with roses.(1) The kingdom, enraged decided to perform the hero summoning ritual to bring a hero from a world where heroes were said to gather.

The ritual was a success, and the young hero wearing odd clothing ‘Park Minwoo’ was summoned. However, contrary to the kingdom’s hopes, Park Minwoo was drunk on chuunibyou and stirred up all sorts of troubles, and meanwhile, the thirsty demon king, having realised that she had no princes in her collection, created the incident where she stole the prince known as the kingdom’s treasure, Prince Clarice.

The shunned hero Park Minwoo received a single wooden sword and left on an adventure as if he was being kicked out. All expected the hero Park Minwoo’s journey to end in failure, but on the contrary, to save the only person who treated him brightly in the foreign other world, he endured harsh trials and temptations, maturing in the process. And so Park Minwoo defeated the demon king and proudly returned as a genuine hero that had saved the prince.

And now, when everything had been resolved peacefully-

The palace was faced with another problem.

“Hasn’t the kingdom already chased out the hero once before? Who knows what resentment he might hold if we ignore him again!”

“But if we give him power now, then there will surely be problems in the future. Even now you can hear people chant his name as soon as you step outside the palace, who knows what they’d do under his bidding?!”

Neither the Prime Minister nor the Commander-in-Chief were giving each other an inch in their argument. Stuck between them, the king groaned with a hand planted onin his forehead.

At the present, the palace was faced with a problem arguably even more troublesome than the demon king.

It was how to deal with the hero. Having returned from defeating the demon king, at the fervent pleas of Prince Clarice, who had said he wanted to treat his benefactor, he was currently living in the palace. Perhaps it was due to the cold way they had treated him in the past, but the palace was at loggerheads with itself on the hot seat.

Although he was spending time peacefully for the time being, there was no way they could comfortably host the hero who had strength even greater than the demon king.

Whether they should leave him in the castle as is, or give him a title and send him to the regions, or trust in his sincerity and give him command over the palace, opinions were thrown around the tabletop debate.

As the debate heated up and the king was about to tell his advisors to calm down, the Minister of Internal Affairs, who had been quiet till now, offered a suggestion.

“Your highness, how about marriage between him and royalty?”

“Marriage?”

Both sides of the table turned to face him.

“Yes. If the hero becomes family with the royal family then he will not be able to bare his fangs so easily.”

“Hohhh…”

“As well, under the excuse of looking after the hero who has now become part of the family, it will be easier to put him under our surveillance.”

“A good plan. As expected of the Interior Minister.”

“Your servant is thankful for your praise.”

The Internal Minister looked to the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief and smirked, shrugging his shoulders. Ho! As the two let out irritated noises, the king rubbed his chin and said.

“But I only have princes so how could this work…”

“Then Her Highness’ side of the family…”

“Her Highness married into His Majesty’s family, so they are not royalty, are they not?”

“I’m afraid the Interior Minister’s gotten so old he’s forgotten how titles worked.”

The Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief smirked together. A vein bulged out on the Interior Minister’s wrinkled forehead.

The king sighed as if he truly regrets it.

“Huuuhh, it’s not like I could get the hero in a gay marriage with the prince…”

Flash!

As if struck by lightning the king yelled ‘That’s it!’

“How about we turn the prince into a girl and marry her off to the hero?”

…………eh?

At those brilliantly stupid words the gallery quietened down like they’d been doused with cold water. As they glanced at each other it seemed like they were all thinking the same things. The advisors all looked to each other for them to represent them all.

In the end the Interior Minister who had first suggested the idea reluctantly opened his mouth as if he had been forced to eat mustard.

“Your Majesty. May this shameless servant have permission to ask you a question?”

“Hoho, to think you’d call yourself shameless, how rare.”

The king’s eyebrows twitched as if to urge him on.

“Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

With a worried face the Interior Minister asked.

“Have you gone mad?”

At those direct words that could indeed be called shameless the king couldn’t help but start laughing. The advisors, having finally caught onto the joke, relaxed. They say laughter is infectious. The meeting room where you could have heard someone gulp was awash with laughter.

Hahahaha.

Kukukuku.

The Prime Minister that had been cracking up smacked! the table.

“As expected of Your Majesty. Your humour is on another level entirely! For a moment there I really thought you were serious!”

The Interior Minister who had been clutching his belly button clapped! his hands.

“While we’re at it, how about compiling Your Majesty’s jokes into a book? The treasury will be overflowing with cash!”

At those words people started putting their hands up left and right.

“Reserve a volume for me!”

“Hey now! What’s with only one volume? You should order at least ten for your entire family!”

Hahahaha

Kukukuku

The king’s face hardened.

“I’m serious?”

The peanut gallery froze instantly.

***

The Rien Palace where the princes resided. In a room in the deepest part of the palace, there was the one who had been gone through the ordeal of having been kidnapped by the demon king, the fifth Prince Clarice, was being protected.

“Father. Your son Clarice greets you.”

When his father the king came to see him, Clarice said according to protocol. The modest personality that remained unchanged even after the suffering at the hands of the demon king was suited to the one called the treasure of the kingdom. In contrast, his appearance that resembled the queen gave him a pitiful aura, which tugged at the heartstrings of all that saw him.

“Is your body alright?”

“Yes. It’s all thanks to Father and everyone else, and… the hero that’s looked after me.”

The slight happy flush that bloomed on Clarice’ face when he mentioned the hero didn’t go unnoticed by the king.

“Well, he’s still in the kingdom due to a certain someone begging and pleading for him to stay, isn’t it obvious?”

“Father!”

Clarice blushed brightly as if he truly was embarrassed. Laughing jollily, the king thought to himself,

‘He’s really my son but sometimes I wonder if he really is a son.’

“Clarice. Do you like the hero that much?”

“……I yearn for him.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

That was the truth. Unlike himself who had only grown up being protected like a flower in a greenhouse due to his status as a prince, he couldn’t forget the figure that frolicked around(=chuunibyou) despite being in a foreign world while receiving the cold shoulder and being ignored by those around him.

He never could have done that if he had been in his shoes. He wouldn’t have been able to go on an adventure with a single sword, nor would he have been able to righteously break into the demon king’s castle and shout his name in front of all those demons, while bravely yelling he had come to save him.

As a fellow man, to Clarice, the hero Park Minwoo was his respected idol.

“Hm… yearn, you say. How much?”

“How much?”

“Yes. For example…”

The king asked as if he was being flippant.

“Would you want to marry the hero if you were a woman?”

“Ehhhh?!!”

Clarice jumped with his face blushing bright red. It was a reaction where you couldn’t really tell if he liked that idea or not. The king led him on and threw out some more bait.

“Noooo~ the hero is a brilliant man even to your old man, well then why not. If you were a woman, that is.”

“That…”

“Do you dislike the idea?”

“Nooo… It’s not that I dislike the idea. No, that doesn’t mean I like it either…”

Clarice wavered with his face flushed like it would burst at any moment. His head was spinning with surprise and embarrassment. Why is Father asking me this all of sudden?

“Pick one or the other. Clarice.”

“Uhh. Father, do I have to answer?”

“Mm.”

The king nodded with a stern face. It would be nice if he looked after national affairs with that enthusiasm.

As if to swallow his shame, he clenched his eyes tightly shut before quietly mumbling.

“……yes.”

“Hm? You want to marry him?”

“M, marriage… Th, the hero is…. an, amazing person.”

He was so embarrassed he was about to die. But as the king smiled sagely and answered in turn, Clarice froze up immediately.

“Then do it.”

???????

Clarice raised a bunch of question marks.

“Eh?”

“Then get engaged to the hero. This father will back you.”

??????

Clarice raised a bunch of question marks.

“Eh?”

“I know you heard me. Don’t pretend that you haven’t.”

That wasn’t the problem.

“I heard you, but I don’t understand…. Please scold your dim-witted son.”

And so the king explained slowly and clearly so that even a dim-witted son could understand.

“I will contact a sage to create a sex change potion, then you will drink it, become a woman and get engaged to the hero. This father will help you.”

As if he had understood, Clarice nodded his head and asked.

“Father. May this shameless son have permission to ask you a question.”

“Hoho. There are a lot of people asking for shameless requests today.”

The king’s eyebrows twitched as if to urge him on.

“Father.”

“Mm.”

Looking like he was really worried, Clarice asked.

“Have you gone mad?”

Author’s Notes:

I think he really has gone mad!

(1) …I’m not exactly sure, but in context with some of the next chapters, I think this is implying the demon king was a fujoshi and did very fujoshi things.