A commotion erupted throughout the castle with a thunderous noise not long after.

“Lady Rael! Ou-outside right now…”

Esh, startled by the black swarm surrounding the castle, peered anxiously out the window while worrying about Rael. Rael also glanced outside. Just as she had heard in the letter, monsters were invading the area around the castle.

“I’ll go check what’s happening and come right back. You absolutely must not come outside. It’s dangerous.”

Esh warned Rael firmly. Knowing Rael’s strong curiosity, Esh worried she might venture out to see the monsters despite the danger.

“I understand.”

Seeing Rael’s docile response, Esh pressed a hand against her pounding heart and hurried outside.

Once Esh left the room, Rael slowly approached the window. According to Sezl’s letter, the number was supposed to be small, but there appeared to be easily over a hundred creatures circling the castle.

Rael began carefully observing the monsters she had glimpsed earlier. Among them, the flying monsters looked strangely familiar.

“…I’ve seen them somewhere before.”

Their appearance was both familiar yet unfamiliar, which bothered her. Where had she seen them?

However, Rael’s thoughts were repeatedly interrupted by the loud, monstrous cries. As an enormous number of monsters—far more than she had imagined—began their attack, Rael was overcome with tension.

She hadn’t expected Sezl to cause such a commotion. She wondered how he planned to deal with the aftermath of this chaos, though she found it ridiculous that she was worrying about him in this situation.

She could see Esh who had gone beyond the castle gate. Yuswen was already attacking monsters that had entered the castle’s territory, and Joseph had transformed into the huge beast form she had seen before.

As the situation outside intensified, Rael approached the door, disregarding her promise to stay in the room.

Thinking Sezl should have contacted her by now, she peered into the hallway. Sure enough, there was a shattering sound of breaking glass followed by flying fragments.

“Ugh!”

Startled, Rael covered her head with her arm, and then a familiar voice called to her.

“Hey, perfect weather for an escape, isn’t it?”

The cheerful voice that didn’t match the situation belonged to Sezl.

“…That’s quite a dramatic entrance.”

“I tried to open it quietly, but I couldn’t control my strength, so this happened.”

Sezl jumped from the back of a large bird through the window. Then he approached Rael.

“Don’t tell me we’re riding that bird?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Sezl was wearing a black robe and holding another identical one. He draped the robe over Rael.

“It would be easy to leave using magic, but this is Rubellan’s territory, so all my magic would be detected. He’d quickly notice if I smuggled you out. For now, we need to travel without using magic while in Rubellan’s domain.”

At those words, Rael looked again at the black bird outside the window. It was enormously large, almost unbelievably so. It was big enough to comfortably carry two adults on its back with room to spare.

“…Wouldn’t this be more conspicuous?”

“You don’t know what’s happening outside? It won’t attract any attention at all.”

Just as she said, the outside was in such chaos that nobody would pay attention to a single black bird. Sezl headed toward the window with a relaxed smile.

“Come here.”

Rael followed her while tying the robe’s strings.

“Exciting, isn’t it?”

When Sezl extended her hand, Rael took it and climbed up onto the windowsill. Though she had assumed they couldn’t leave through the front gate during an escape, she hadn’t expected to sneak out through a window. Looking at the bird’s broad back, she feared falling.

“Hurry.”

At the urging, Rael lightly jumped onto the bird’s back. Sezl skillfully whistled to control the bird, which began flapping its wings and taking flight. The flight was more stable than Rael had expected, easing her tension somewhat.

“By the way, how did you gather so many monsters?”

While flying, Rael asked as she looked down at the ground.

“Huh? This wasn’t my doing. Those are Juletan’s minions.”

“What?”

Rael opened her eyes wide in surprise at the familiar name. Simultaneously, an uncomfortable feeling rose within her.

“Why would he help me?”

“He’s not helping you. He’s just causing trouble, and we’re taking advantage of it. He has no idea I’m taking you away. If the blame for your disappearance falls on Juletan, that would be perfect.”

Sezl had no intention of recklessly making an enemy of Rubellan. So when she learned that Juletan was planning to send monsters to Rubellan as an experiment, she cleverly used the situation to extract Rael.

“Is that okay?”

At Rael’s question, Sezl laughed loudly. Her shoulders shook with laughter until she nearly doubled over holding her stomach.

“Haha, I’m about to cry from laughing. Of course Juletan would flip if he knew. So let’s keep this a secret between you and me.”

Good heavens.

Rael held her head at this cunning demon’s clever scheme. She even feared that if Juletan was misunderstood and fought more seriously with Rubellan, the anger might eventually be directed at her.

“What can we do? The dates just happened to coincide.”

This definitely wasn’t a coincidence…

Rael felt anxious at Sezl’s shameless attitude.

“You’re going to cut ties with this place anyway, right? Why worry about their affairs?”

Her words were right. Why was she concerned about relationships that would be severed anyway?

“So, where are we going now?”

“Please take me to Raisen Village next to the desert.”

“Hmm?”

Sezl tilted her head at Rael’s answer.

“Isn’t that quite close to here if it’s right next to the desert?”

Expecting Rael to flee somewhere far away, Sezl was puzzled by the unexpected destination.

“I won’t stay there long.”

“You don’t trust me. Well, that’s fine. Being cautious never hurts.”

Sezl considered it natural that Rael would hide her whereabouts. If she were in Rael’s position, she wouldn’t readily reveal where she planned to stay either.

“As long as you keep your promise, I don’t mind.”

That promise was to show Rubellan’s child to Sezl. Rael carefully nodded. She didn’t want to break her promise to Sezl who had helped her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise.”

Sezl didn’t trust human words, but she just smiled and nodded. Even if Rael disappeared without a word, Sezl was confident she could find her.

“I hope you don’t get caught by Rubellan. If he’s sitting peacefully in his castle, my life loses its joy.”

“Why not find joy elsewhere instead of keeping such a hobby?”

Though Rael knew she wasn’t in a position to pity others, she felt sorry that Sezl found happiness in her brothers’ conflicts.

“Demons aren’t humans. The happiness you speak of and the pleasure we seek are fundamentally different. With no warmth in our hearts, how could we be satisfied with warm happiness?”

“…Are all demons like that?”

Sezl’s words reminded Rael of Rubellan. The happy future he envisioned clearly contained warmth.

“I told you not to trust him.”

Sezl looked sympathetically at the confused Rael.

“Never forget your initial resolve. No matter what sweet talk Rubellan gave you, don’t expect anything. A demon who keeps promises? I haven’t seen one in hundreds of years.”

“You’re right.”

Rael felt fortunate to have Sezl’s grounding presence at times like this.

During the flight, Rael anxiously looked back several times, worried someone might be pursuing her.

Contrary to her concerns, the sky remained quiet. It was clear, just like the day she first set foot in the Demon King’s Castle.

‘…Rubellan.’

How would he feel when he discovered she was gone? Especially since she had disappeared while carrying his child.

He would probably be furious. His hatred might grow until he couldn’t stand the sight of her, or perhaps his anger would make his eyes burn red as he searched for her.

Now that she had left the castle, many stray thoughts entered her mind, unlike when she was focused on a single goal. She also worried whether Joseph, Esh, Chapir, and Yuswen would face trouble because of her.

But selfish or not, protecting herself and her child came first. This resolution wouldn’t change even if she returned.

“Feeling complicated inside?”

Noticing Rael’s mood, Sezl smiled gently and asked.

“I just hope everyone has good fortune.”

“Humans worry about such strange things. You should worry about your own future.”

“You’re right.”

Thanks to Sezl, Rael could at least manage a small smile.

* * *

They arrived at the foot of a mountain not far from the village beyond the desert. After letting Rael down, Sezl also dismounted from the bird.

“I don’t think you’re going to the Magic Tower, but do you have somewhere to go?”

“I already have a place in mind.”

Sezl couldn’t understand why she felt something like concern for this small human as she was sending her off. Could she have grown attached after just a few conversations?

“Here.”

Sezl took out a rolled piece of paper from her chest.

“What is it?”

“Burn it when you want to call me. I can find you wherever you are.”

Rael hesitated to accept it, worried her location might be exposed.

“There’s no strange tracking device or anything. Think of it as a simplified summoning scroll. Until you burn it to activate it, even I won’t know where it is.”

“You’re planning to use it to visit the child, right?”

“That’s right. Just once. Once is enough.”

She was merely curious whether a being born between Rubellan and a human would be a demon or human, nothing more. Well, if she was lucky, perhaps the child would entertain her.

“You can also call me if you’re in trouble.”

There was no need to add this, but something about Rael’s dejected, pitiful appearance made the words slip out.

“Thank you.”

“No need for thanks. I’m doing this for my own amusement. If you happen to get caught by Rubellan, please don’t mention that I helped you.”

Sezl rubbed her forearm and shuddered. She might not die, but imagining how much he would torment her if he knew the truth gave even the great demon Sezl goosebumps.

“Take care. Have a safe delivery.”

Sezl waved, and Rael put the paper in her pocket, bowed slightly, and turned away.

The light footsteps faded into the distance.

“…What a strangely concerning human.”

Sezl stared at the spot where Rael had disappeared for a long time.

For some reason, she had a feeling they would meet again, even without the child being involved.