Chapter Twelve
“The Demon Lord is looking for us? She can’t still be angry, can she?”
Hearing Angelina’s words, Lisbeth and Staros instinctively recoiled a step. They looked as if they were ready to flee at any moment.
Observing their reaction, Angelina merely shook her head. “I wouldn’t know about that. The Demon Lord simply instructed me to find you. But don’t be so afraid; her mood doesn’t seem all that bad.”
“No, no, no! The Demon Lord always wears such a stern expression. How could you possibly tell if she’s angry or not? Or… or are you just a trap she sent to catch us?”
It seemed Lisbeth and Staros had been thoroughly terrified today. Not a single word Angelina uttered was believed by them.
With a helpless sigh, Angelina spoke softly. “Well, I’ve delivered the message. Whether you go or not is up to the two of you.
But I imagine you both understand that if you run away today, in a few days you might truly… well…”
A soft gasp escaped them.
Though Angelina left her sentence unfinished, her meaning was clearly conveyed to Lisbeth and Staros.
After all, Angelina was right. Even if they somehow escaped today, they might not live to see another sunrise.
At this grim thought, Lisbeth and Staros each let out a sigh. “Alright, we understand,” they said slowly. “We’ll go now…”
“Good, that’s settled then. The Demon Lord is in her office right now, so if you’re free, you should go over. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving.”
“Ah! Angelina, wait!”
Just as Angelina was about to depart, Lisbeth and Staros each latched onto one of her legs. “Angelina, we’re so scared!”
“Can you come with us? If the Demon Lord gets angry, you could help us!”
“Hey, hey, hey!? What are you doing? Get up, quickly!”
“No, promise us first!”
Staring at the two figures clinging to her legs and sniffling, Angelina helplessly covered her face. In that moment, she felt a dawning understanding of Hilda’s usual frustrations.
Still, she couldn’t entirely fault Lisbeth and Staros for their fear. With a soft nod, she conceded, “Alright, alright, I’ll go with you.
But let me be clear: even I can’t restrain the Demon Lord when she’s in a furious rage. So if anything truly goes wrong, you’ll have to fend for yourselves.”
“Wait, wait!? So she *does* intend to get rid of us after all!”
“Exactly! We should have at least eaten our last supper first!”
Seeing genuine despair bloom in their eyes, Angelina took a deep breath. With a forceful tug, she pulled the two clinging figures to their feet.
“Oh, I told you nothing bad will happen,” she insisted. “Just come with me first, and we’ll see.”
“How could this be…”
Though they still seemed to have more to say, given the situation, Lisbeth and Staros could only nod and rise from the floor. Each still held one of Angelina’s hands.
“Th-then, let’s go…”
“Honestly, it’s hard to believe you two were once men…”
Thus, after a brief but strenuous persuasion, Lisbeth and Staros, looking utterly pale, walked together towards Christy’s office.
****
“Knock, knock.”
“Demon Lord, I’ve brought them.”
“Come in.”
With Christy’s permission, Angelina opened the door and led the trembling Lisbeth and Staros into the office.
Upon seeing their terrified expressions, Christy tilted her head in confusion. She turned to Angelina. “Hmm? Angelina, what’s wrong with them? Have they done something again?”
“Ah, no, they’re simply afraid you’ll punish them again.”
“Is that so…”
After hearing Angelina’s explanation, Christy, surprisingly, did not get angry. Instead, she rose from her chair and approached Lisbeth and Staros.
“You don’t need to be so scared,” she said. “I didn’t call you here to cause trouble, so you can relax for now.”
“R-really? You’re not trying to make me drop my guard so you can grope my chest again, are you?”
“I already told you, who would be interested in your useless fat!”
A gasp of fright escaped her.
Seeing Christy on the verge of another outburst, Lisbeth instantly darted behind Angelina. Her fluffy fox tail twitched anxiously, swaying back and forth, a clear sign of her genuine fear.
Witnessing this, Christy let out a helpless sigh. “Alright, alright, don’t be so scared. In any case, let’s get to the point. I called you here for three reasons.”
“Firstly, you haven’t yet tried on your maid uniforms for the celebratory banquet. I specifically called you here so you could try them on.”
“Huh? It’s just trying on clothes, right? Why call us over specifically for that? Is our uniform some kind of bizarre outfit again!?”
“Of course not! Angelina, go get their uniforms for me.”
“Yes, Demon Lord.”
As Christy finished speaking, Angelina promptly retrieved two brand-new maid uniforms from a cabinet behind the office. Their style was identical to those Hilda and the others wore today.
At this sight, Lisbeth and Staros immediately breathed a sigh of relief before taking the clothes from Angelina.
“So, do we try them on here? To be honest, I’m a little shy about changing clothes in front of others.”
“Mm, me too.”
While the unremarkable uniforms relieved Lisbeth and Staros, the thought of undressing in front of others still made them feel a degree of awkwardness.
Seeing their hesitation, Christy merely shook her head. “You don’t need to try them on now. Just take them back and check the size. Now, I’ll move on to the second matter.”
As Christy spoke, she held up two fingers. “Airenst mentioned she’d be entrusting the magic training schedule to you in a few days. I merely wanted to gauge your thoughts on this.
While I will show restraint, it’s not impossible for me to accidentally injure you. So, since Airenst is confident enough to send you, I want to confirm if you yourselves are confident in your ability to protect yourselves under my tutelage?”
“W-well about that…”
Christy’s question momentarily stunned both Lisbeth and Staros. Although they desperately wanted to shake their heads, the thought of the precious potion potentially slipping away prevented them.
So, with no other choice, Lisbeth and Staros nodded. “Yes, we are confident. Airenst said she would ensure our safety measures are in place. So, I think it should be fine.”
“Is that so? That’s good then. I look forward to the day we begin our magic training together.”
“Ah… ahaha…”
‘But we’re not looking forward to it at all…’
While Lisbeth yearned to voice her true feelings, even with a hundred times her courage, she knew she never could.
After the second matter was concluded, Lisbeth and Staros quietly waited for Christy to reveal the third.
“A-and then… then there’s the third matter…”
However, after a few seconds, Christy still hadn’t continued. Instead, she kept taking deep breaths, appearing hesitant and faltering.
Seeing this, Lisbeth and Staros immediately grew tense again. Instinctively, each of them grabbed one of Angelina’s hands.
After all, if something made even Christy hesitate to speak, it had to be truly dreadful. Lisbeth and Staros were already contemplating whether it would be better to simply flee.
“The third matter… the third matter is… it’s that…”
“What is it?”
“It’s… I’m sorry…”
“Huh?”
For a fleeting moment, Lisbeth and Staros wondered if their ears were deceiving them. Before they could even confirm, Christy began to speak again, her voice full of discomfort.
“B-because, you see… even though it was to let off steam today, making my subordinates lose face in front of others for an entire afternoon… now that I think about it, it really wasn’t right.
So… so I just wanted to apologize for going too far…”
“So… can you forgive me?”
‘Hawa-wa-wa!! So cute!!! Absolutely adorable!!!’
The moment Christy’s words faded, Lisbeth felt her heart nearly stop. The next second, an overwhelming urge to tightly embrace Christy almost made her lose all sense of reason.
Yet, she couldn’t be blamed. When an adorable ten-year-old girl, with innocent eyes and a shy expression, apologized to her, Lisbeth found it impossible to resist.
Driven by an inexplicable impulse, Lisbeth finally gave in. With a sudden lunge, she wrapped Christy in a tight embrace.
“W-wait, what are you doing!!”
“Demon Lord is so cute! So, so adorable!!”
In that moment, Lisbeth rubbed her face against Christy’s soft cheek, continuing, “I forgive you! Whatever happened before, I forgive you! So cute! You’re just too cute!!”
“Hmph… Y-you, let go quickly!! It’s embarrassing!!”