She Pretended to Obey—While Planning the Demon King’s Death

Moreover, the contract signed between the Hero and the Demon King was a binding one. Even if Furenna were to fall into depravity, it wouldn’t change. Iris could not dissolve the contract, nor could she exploit Furenna.

If Furenna truly betrayed humanity, the Goddess herself would descend to slay the fallen Hero. Therefore, Iris’s plan would absolutely never succeed.

Iris claimed she still had official duties to attend to. Leaving Furenna alone in the room to sulk, she simply walked away.

“Calm down, Furenna.”

Alone in the room, Furenna gradually steadied her turbulent emotions. She tossed thoughts like “bridal training” and other such garbage out of her mind and began reassessing the probability of her own plan’s success.

How could Furenna, the Hero who ended a war and killed the previous Demon King in a single month, possibly be content with being captured by the demons so simply?

Furenna hadn’t anticipated Tymo being taken hostage to threaten her. But since they had used a scheme to “imprison” her, the Hero, then the Demon King shouldn’t think she could get away unscathed.

If they wanted to imprison her, to scheme against her, then Furenna would make Iris pay with her life, and even inflict severe damage on the demon race.

Demon King Iris was still naive, truly believing a soul contract could completely bind her, making her afraid to use force against the demons again?

Demon King Iris couldn’t possibly know that the true power bestowed upon Furenna by the Goddess was not the elemental grand magic channeled through the Holy Sword.

Furenna’s true ability could be summarized as: “The firmer the will, the greater the power.”

No flashy abilities, only the most brute force accumulation, creating what might be the strongest Hero in history.

This ability was practically tailor-made for a Hero, as they were inherently endowed by the Creator Goddess with a strong sense of mission and justice, maintaining absolute resolve to “defeat the demons and kill the Demon King.”

It was an even more perfect fit for Furenna. Her attitude towards humanity had been distorted to an almost completely compromising state.

Any human mistake, any unreasonableness, could be forgiven, including the persecution against Furenna herself.

This twisted principle made Furenna’s will even more unshakable, which was why she could display such formidable strength in battle.

The contract’s penalty was domination at the soul level—the violator completely controlled by the other party. That’s why Iris believed Furenna would never dare to violate it.

But Iris overlooked, or perhaps underestimated, Furenna’s ability. As long as her will was sufficiently firm, Furenna could even use her power while resisting the contract’s erosion.

Although limited to about three minutes, under the premise of a surprise attack, Furenna could absolutely kill Demon King Iris, create a mushroom cloud in the heart of demon territory, and then commit suicide.

Furenna had been prepared to act ever since entering the demon territories. But she suddenly realized the three-minute plan was no longer viable.

The plan was predicated on neither side being able to use magic, fighting with physical prowess and raw magic power. Under those conditions, Furenna had absolute confidence in achieving a swift victory.

But in the wasteland, the God-forsaken land where magic should be impossible to use freely, Iris had effortlessly wielded magic, completely defying Furenna’s expectations.

Facing a demon who could use magic, Furenna, unable to cast spells herself, no matter how strong, couldn’t achieve victory within three minutes.

This forced Furenna to lie low for now, feigning obedience, searching for an opportunity to figure out how to use magic before making her move.

“So… I really have to go to that bridal training tomorrow…”

Furenna sighed, feeling as if her life had grown dim. As the Goddess’s Hero, forced under the Demon King’s tyranny to obediently learn how to please her, Furenna wished she could atone with her death right now.

Recalling everything that had happened today and the attitudes of the demon race’s new Four Heavenly Kings, Furenna couldn’t help but frown.

Of course, this wasn’t due to Lalaneya’s harassment, but rather…

“There’s one more thing that’s hard to ignore.”

“That Puppeteer Heavenly King called Lilie… she feels very… unusual.”

She hadn’t spoken proactively at all, only acting upon Iris’s command.

“Members of the Puppeteer clan have always been extremely rare. Their magic is bizarre but difficult to be effective in direct combat,” Furenna recalled the information recorded about the Puppeteer clan in human archives. “So even though they are quite dangerous, they are insignificant among high-tier combatants.”

“What could Demon King Iris’s purpose be in valuing such an existence enough to make her one of the new Four Heavenly Kings…”

Furenna was still lost in deep thought. Meanwhile, Iris, who claimed to have official duties, had arrived at a detached palace.

Compared to other structures in the Demon King’s Castle, the atmosphere of this detached palace seemed very desolate. Not a single maid was in sight, and its location was extremely remote, situated at the farthest bottom right corner of the castle.

An uninformed person might think this was some disused palace or a storage place for miscellaneous items. But in reality, this was the residence of the Puppeteer Heavenly King, Lilie.

As a new Heavenly King personally promoted by Iris, Lilie was unlike Hastur, whose mother was an old Heavenly King, or Lalaneya and Aviya, who were themselves previous-generation Heavenly Kings. Coupled with the peculiarities of her race, she carried an air of mystery and had faced considerable criticism.

Even her fellow Heavenly Kings didn’t understand Lilie. Within the entire demon race, only Demon King Iris was close to her.

“Your Majesty the Demon King, you have arrived.”

As Iris reached the palace entrance, the tightly shut doors opened automatically. The person opening them wore a maid’s uniform.

“Hm. Dole, is Lilie here?”
“Of course. Master has been awaiting your arrival.”

The person addressed as Dole by Iris placed both hands over her abdomen, performing a respectful bow. With her other set of hands, she offered a fruit platter and a tray of snacks, then gestured down the hall with an expansive wave of her arms.

“Did Lilie give you two new arms?”

Iris walked alongside Dole, examining the newly added pair of arms. This Dole was not a living person but a puppet crafted by Lilie.

As a Puppeteer, Lilie was wholly devoted to her puppets, showing no interest in any living person. Even towards Iris, who had personally promoted her, she was only slightly more affectionate.

When Iris proposed assigning her a dedicated team of maids, Lilie refused and presented Dole, this “all-purpose maid” puppet, to handle her daily life. It functioned just like a real living being, making one marvel at the skill of a Puppeteer who could imbue life into gear mechanisms created through alchemy.

“We have arrived, Your Majesty.”

After turning down two corridors, a lounge came into view. The expressionless Puppeteer wearing a beret sat upright on a sofa. The tea and pastries on the table still steamed.

“I shall go prepare some fruit for the two of you.”

Dole excused herself and gently closed the lounge door. As an all-purpose maid, she naturally understood the following conversation was not for her ears.

“Still so cold, Lilie?”

The Demon King had no intention of sitting opposite Lilie. Instead, she pulled the icy Puppeteer Heavenly King into her embrace, removed her beret, causing the bright grey hair to cascade down like the finest quality silk.