THE DEMON DUKE’S DISTRESS
“Brother. Who is that woman?”
Those are the first words out of my younger brother’s mouth when I see him again.
“Hello, Blow. No greeting for your older brother?”
At that, he grumbles a quick “I’m home,” so I respond with a “welcome back.”
Blow has been stationed up north for some time now, so it’s been a long time since we last met in person. We’ve exchanged letters and such, but even that has fallen off in recent times, since Blow was traveling back home.
And yet, this is how he greets me.
“Now, who do you mean by that woman, exactly?”
Close though we may be, even I don’t understand who he’s referring to without context in this case.
Blow rarely brings up the subject of women, so the only possibilities who come to mind are our comrade Sanatoria or perhaps the Demon Lord…but Blow knows both their faces, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to ask who they are.
A woman I know and Blow doesn’t?
Then, at last, one person comes to mind.
“Blow, don’t tell me you went to the mansion before coming here?”
“Yeah. I’m talking about the woman staying there.”
I resist the urge to bring my palm to my face. “Why in the world didn’t you come straight here?”
“Hunh? Can’t a guy stop by his own damn house first?”
I suppose he’s right. And yet, his timing couldn’t be worse!
Now that the Demon Lord has returned, the situation has changed in all manner of ways.
Blow’s timing is so poor that one might suspect divine intervention.
When the Demon Lord returned, he happened to be traveling, making him out of contact.
Since her return was so sudden, I’ve been rushing around at my wits’ end dealing with it, so I wasn’t able to send out an emergency messenger.
Thus, Blow does not know that the Demon Lord has returned.
Normally, it would be no issue for him to stop off at our home before coming to meet with me, but in this case, since I needed to tell him of the Demon Lord’s return as soon as possible, I wish he had come straight here instead.
Especially because, on top of all that, there are several of the Demon Lord’s travel companions staying in our mansion right now. If he ran into them by chance without knowing who they are, it could easily cause unnecessary trouble.
And judging by his current line of questioning, it seems things have played out exactly as I feared.
“But you always come here first, don’t you?”
“Yeah, well, I just felt like doing things differently today.”
His unrepentant tone is starting to give me a headache.
Blow always comes here to the Demon Lord’s castle to give his report as soon as he returns, then goes to our mansion after that.
So I suppose I let my guard down. But why would he choose this of all times to go there first?
His timing is truly unbelievable.
“Fine, then. What’s done is done. So are you referring to the woman with the white hair?”
Most of the companions the Demon Lord brought are female, but there’s only one who Blow would be likely to describe as a “woman.”
“Yeah, her! Who is she?”
Blow leans forward intently.
This is unusual.
When has he ever taken such interest in any woman, except perhaps the Demon Lord? And of course, his interest in the Demon Lord is of a decidedly negative kind.
But judging by his expression, that isn’t the case this time.
Though I must say, I don’t have a very good feeling about this, either…
“Why are you so interested, exactly?”
“I-I’m not interested! It’s just, y’know, if some chick starts living in our house all of a sudden while I’m away, it’s totally normal to be curious. Right?”
His voice sped up a bit.
Very suspicious.
All the more so because of the faint redness in his cheeks.
“Have you fallen for her or something?”
“Y-y-y-y-yeah right! Don’t say such weird things, dammit!”
Now his face is entirely bright red.
This is not good.
Why would this happen, of all things?
This time, I really do bring my palm to my face and sigh deeply.
Blow has fallen in love with a woman.
Perhaps I should be happy about that in itself.
He has never before shown interest in romance, always declaring that he wouldn’t get involved with anyone until I got married. He never fraternized with women at all, even in passing.
Blow is actually quite diligent, even if his ordinary behavior makes people think otherwise.
Both in his professional duties and personal life, he’s so upright and honest that it’s almost old-fashioned.
But now a woman has caught his eye for the first time.
Yes, that would certainly be reason to celebrate…were it not a companion of the Demon Lord.
“Listen to me, Blow. She is connected to the Demon Lord.”
Just like that, Blow stops blushing and freezes in place.
“The Demon Lord? That damn witch is back?”
Tension rises in his body, as if the last few moments of eagerness never happened.
I cannot help but sigh again.
Clearly, his hostility toward the Demon Lord has not faded in the slightest.
“That’s right. You probably don’t know this, since you were traveling, but the great Demon Lord has returned.”
At that, Blow clicks his tongue in vexation, looking at me in anticipation of the rest.
“Now that she is back, the authority to make all final decisions regarding demonkind has of course returned to her, as I was only serving in her stead.”
For some time now, I have been working here in the Demon Lord’s castle to govern all demons myself. But in the end, that was only a stopgap until the real Demon Lord returned.
Now that she is back, she will naturally take over all decision-making.
Though of course, I cannot simply dump all of it on her at once.
There is much work to be done in the process of handing over control.
“And you’re okay with that, brother?” Blow looks dissatisfied.
“That is irrelevant. This is the Demon Lord’s decision, and I simply abide by her wishes.”
All demons must obey the demon lord.
That has always been the nature of our relationship.
But with this particular Demon Lord, that isn’t the only reason I obey.
“No matter how unreasonable her demands, I cannot defy the Demon Lord. She is simply on a different plane of power.”
That is all there is to it.
Unreasonable as she might be, defying her would promise a terrible fate.
“Yeah, but still! Us demons don’t have the resources to start a war right now!”
“And yet, we must. If that is what she commands, then we must abide by her ruling.”
One of the Demon Lord’s policies involves a massive war against the humans.
In fact, that is essentially her only policy.
And it is also the reason why so many demons cannot accept her.
The demon race is currently suffering great poverty and strife due to the harmful aftereffects of a lengthy war with the humans.
Blow’s statement that we lack the resources to start another war is entirely correct.
That the Demon Lord is disregarding this and trying to force a war anyway will inevitably cause many to resent her.
But we must obey her nonetheless, because the Demon Lord’s power is absolute.
“Blow. Even if all demonkind was to band together and revolt against the Demon Lord, all that would await is certain destruction. With the Demon Lord’s power, she could single-handedly destroy our entire race with ease. But that is not so with war against the humans. We will undoubtedly incur great losses, but there is still a chance for survival. Either we rebel against the Demon Lord and face certain doom or fight against the humans and thus hang on to hope. I have chosen the only path that leaves some hope, nothing more or less. I will not ask you to accept it, but I at least want you to understand.”
In the face of my earnest plea, Blow snorts and turns the other way with a scowl.
He does understand, I am sure.
But his emotions cannot be swayed by logic.
I must admit that my own emotions are not entirely content, either.
I sigh and mutter half to myself. “Still, to think that you would fall in love with a woman who is connected to the Demon Lord, of all people…”
“Huh?! L-love?! That ain’t it, dammit!”
With that, the heavy mood of our conversation disperses all at once.
Blow’s flustered response is easy to read. Does he really think he’s fooling me with that attitude?
But the person he’s fallen for is quite dangerous even in her own right.
“Just to warn you, I believe it would be best if you gave up on her, you know.”
“I dunno what the hell you’re talking about!”
My brother’s loud response makes me only more concerned for his future.
Lady White, the woman who has caught Blow’s eye, is a friend of the Demon Lord’s.
That in itself is enough to make my head ache, but she herself is still a mystery to me in many ways, so I cannot say she is the ideal romantic prospect for my brother.
All the companions the Demon Lord brought with her are outside the realm of normal comprehension.
And among them, Lady White is by far the most enigmatic.
Though the others may be beyond normal comprehension, they are not beyond all understanding.
But Lady White alone is one I cannot understand.
At a glance, she looks like an ordinary human.
Although I suppose her looks are extraordinary enough that I can understand why Blow might fall in love with her at first sight.
But the old-timer has told me that from what he’s seen of her day-to-day conduct, she does not seem like she would be especially powerful.
I met her in person only once, on the day of their arrival.
She was the only member of the Demon Lord’s traveling party who didn’t give off a powerful aura of strength.
I meet all kinds of people due to my position, so I can generally sense these things without using Appraisal.
In that respect, Lady White seemed no different from a normal human.
But my other senses told me otherwise.
That it is strange that she wouldn’t be powerful.
My instincts judge that she is not, yet they also tell me that something about this conclusion is horribly wrong.
I have never experienced this before, which was enough to make me conclude that Lady White is the most unusual of all of them.
Perhaps even more so than the Demon Lord herself…
“Well, I did try to warn you. If you insist on pursuing her anyway, that is your decision.”
“I’m telling ya, you got it all wrong!”
Blow’s blusteringly obvious response elicits another long sigh from me.
I felt I should warn him, but it would be strange as his older brother to press the subject of his first love any further.
Besides, there is still the question of whether he’ll be able to catch Lady White’s eye at all.
There would be no point in trying to dissuade him further at this stage.
“Well, for now, just try not to do anything to make her hate you.”
“R-right.”
For some reason, my half-hearted advice makes Blow’s eyes turn shifty.
Later on, I learned that my brother’s first love was likely doomed when the old-timer told me what had happened at the mansion.
They say first impressions are everything, and I cannot imagine that anyone would think highly of a man who set fire to their room.
Why would he do such a thing?!
Sigh.
I am busy enough dealing with the Demon Lord’s endless demands.
My younger brother’s foolish first love will have to wait.
head over ears in love