Chapter 162

"Hero, do you still have time to cook and eat dinner tonight?"

"Hm? Why wouldn’t we?"

"Didn’t you say this morning... that tonight you had an invitation from King Aurus? Something about a ceremony?"

"Oh, oh, the conferment ceremony. That’s not urgent, we’ll eat our fill first—it won’t delay us."

"Good...! Ahem, no, I mean, if it won’t delay things, then that’s fine."

Damn it... Timani almost jumped on the spot out of joy just because dinner could go on as usual.

Xiarette sighed softly, showing a helpless smile as she watched Sheffy happily picking up a big fish.

No one knew if tonight’s conferment ceremony would proceed smoothly.

The civil unrest in the kingdom had just settled, and the king wanted to reward those who had rendered merit during the rebellion.

And Sheffy, as the Demon Clan Princess, had saved the Aurus royal family in the arena.

That meant the Demon Royal Family—would, for the first time in history, receive public thanks from the royal family of the kingdom.

Perhaps... this was Sheffy’s first step forward as a peace envoy, toward peace itself...

Woo, woo... Nothing else mattered.

She only prayed that tonight Sheffy would speak less, and not stir up any more trouble!

---

71. What would be given?

Dresses, gowns, silks, and satins—these luxurious words and fabrics truly clashed with Sheffy by nature.

Sure enough, when Xiarette and Belith worked together to tighten the corset and fix the blue dress onto that troublesome Sheffy, she let out a cry like a cat being squeezed!

"Uwooh...! It’s strangling me, strangling me...! Gently! Do you have to let a corset kill me?!"

"Ah, but Royal Sister, the dress comes with the corset... I didn’t even use much force... It must be that Hero trying to harm you!"

"Huh?!"

Xiarette became alert. She clearly hadn’t used any strength. It was only that Sheffy’s waist was too slender, too sensitive, and she hated dresses. Yet now it felt like Belith was slandering her?!

Well, Sheffy did have some self-awareness.

She brushed her silver hair behind her back, adjusted the tightness of the corset, and spun around in place.

When she turned back, she met Belith’s starry-eyed gaze of admiration.

"Beautiful...! Royal Sister, you look so beautiful! Uuu... I always said these clothes would definitely suit you, but you never wore them before... I could only imagine what you’d look like in a gown... Now that I’ve seen it, thank you for this blessing!"

"Hey... If you wanted to see what I look like in a gown, why don’t you just put one on and look in the mirror yourself? Anyway, you look almost the same as me."

"That’s not the same! I’m not as cute or as short as Royal Sister!"

"Are you complimenting me or insulting me?!"

Well... everyone had their own opinions.

Belith always said she herself was cute, the cutest in the world. But Sheffy felt that being more mature and composed was truly more beautiful.

So in that sense, little loli Sheffy sometimes really envied half-grown loli Belith!

Of course.

The ultimate form of maturity and composure—that had to be Xiarette.

Her gaze passed over the potted plant lit by the Light Magic Crystal and landed on the girl standing before the dining table with her back to the light, adjusting her collar and the flowers at her waist.

Silky golden hair cascaded down her shoulders. The modest red gown could not conceal Xiarette’s innate aura, and the Holy Sword at her waist perfectly blended charm with valiant spirit.

When she skillfully twisted her golden hair into a bun and lowered the collar to cover her fair neck, Sheffy’s gaze finally drew to a close.

Hehe, no worries~ After all, she had already looked plenty carefully last night—missing out a little today wasn’t really a loss!

Only Sheffy and Xiarette had changed into dresses, while Belith and Timani stayed in their nightclothes, waiting here.

Because tonight’s banquet only invited the two of them.

Oh, wait, no—it had also invited Shaya.

Miss Shaya would appear when the time came. During the arena defense battle, she had also contributed quite a bit!

And what kind of contribution was that?

Why, cheering of course. Miss Shaya, sitting by the side while eating, eating, and eating again, had the unmatched power of bringing strength to everyone with food.

Before leaving, Sheffy walked to the dining table, looked at Timani who was still burying her head in her meal, and gave her head a pat.

It sounded hollow, and also loud.

"Ah?" Timani froze, putting down the fish head in her hand. "Wha... what is it? Not allowed to eat anymore?"

"No, I mean you and Belith should watch the house properly later. If someone sneaks a fish out of the lake, I’ll hold you responsible."

"Then why don’t you blame your sister?"

"Nonsense, don’t you know what it means to protect your own? If something happens, of course I’ll blame you first—you’re not my sister."

"!"

The words were so simple and merciless, yet so clear and easy to understand!

Timani had thought her own way of speaking was already direct enough, but she hadn’t expected there to be another genius of blunt words here.

Still, Timani knew that since she lived here, she had to show some commitment.

So, with firm confidence, she slapped her own exaggerated chest.

This time, it wasn’t hollow—but it was still loud, and it even jiggled.

"Don’t worry. Our Fire Dragon Clan is skilled at guarding treasure. With me here, no one will break into this residence—absolutely not."

"So... the rumors about the Dragon Clan being misers in legends are actually true...?"

"Do you always have no manners when you talk?!"

Well, her relatives back in the Demon King’s Castle all said she was a good kid, just... one with a bad mouth.

After finishing her instructions, things were more or less settled.

Together with Xiarette, she walked to the door. When it opened, a cool breeze rushed in, as though it carried the starlight of the night inside with it.

At times like this, those inside only needed to say one simple thing—safe journey.

But when one had worries on their mind, those words didn’t come so easily.

"Royal Sister...! Wait!"

"Hm? Did I forget something?"

"No... it’s just... Royal Sister won’t go back on your word, right? About what we agreed on this afternoon..."

Sheffy turned her head, seeing Belith—rarely—intertwining her fingers nervously, hesitant and uneasy, just like a little hamster trembling without any sense of security.

What they had agreed on that afternoon...

Yes, of course Sheffy remembered. She had promised Belith that before heading to the Fire Dragon Clan’s Flaming Lands, tomorrow she would return to the Demon King’s Castle with her first.

It wasn’t anything special—just that after drifting outside for so long, she wanted to go home for a look.

It was precisely because of this promise that Belith had decided to stay tonight in the Hero’s house she so disliked. That way, tomorrow morning she could call out to her Royal Sister first thing and go home together.

For Sheffy, it might not have carried much particular meaning.

But for Belith... just how much did it mean?

Perhaps the answer showed itself in her nervous and uneasy state at this very moment.

There was no need to be afraid.

Just as butterflies never wasted the rain and dew, and the sky never abandoned a solitary bird.

Sheffy looked back with a faint, subtle smile.

Her arm waved casually as though it was nothing, but every word she spoke was crystal clear.

"Tomorrow morning we’ll go home. You should sleep early tonight. If you oversleep tomorrow and I leave before you see me, don’t go complaining, alright?"

"...!"

A warm current immediately poured into Belith’s heart. But before she could even say "Okay," Sheffy had already leapt onto the carriage. The sturdy horses broke into a gallop, carrying her away along the lakeside under the moonlight toward the distance.

Sometimes, not waiting for her response wasn’t because she didn’t care.

It was because family shared a tacit understanding, knowing each other’s hearts.

So—there was no need to say it.

...................................

Night was still young. The carriage sped along the shortcut through the towns toward Cormier Castle, the road smooth and unhindered.

The reason it was so clear was that the night markets on the streets had not yet reopened, and a curfew was still in effect.

"Stability" was in itself a fragile thing, and economic prosperity was the most fragile of all.

Due to the coup at the arena a few days prior, many nobles who had supported the Second Prince and colluded with the Holy Theocracy of Coreia were exposed and investigated. Among them were no shortage of powerful nobles permanently based in the Royal Capital.

The coup had struck at the very foundation of the kingdom’s rule, and the king had resolved to completely root out these treacherous opportunists who betrayed their homeland from within. But... cleansing the environment inevitably came with growing pains.

Those nobles had all controlled vast amounts of commercial resources. With their downfall, the economic order of the Royal Capital now needed time to be rebuilt, leaving the current situation somewhat bleak.

Sheffy lowered the curtain that allowed them to view outside the carriage.

She exhaled softly, seeming to relax a little.

Xiarette knew exactly what she was thinking~

On the way here, Sheffy had been muttering non-stop about how she feared her efforts would be thankless—that even after helping the royal family, she would still be scolded by the common folk.

"Now you can rest assured, right? The kingdom simply has no energy left to launch verbal attacks at the ‘Demon Clan Princess.’ What the people want most is peace and stability. I’m certain... Sheffy’s proposal is founded on peace, so in the end it will surely be accepted by everyone."

"Mhm, the most important thing is that the donut stand has to return as soon as possible! That’s a huge matter!"

"Yes, yes, in fact I secretly told the Kingdom’s Knight Order about it~ When they reorganize the Royal Capital’s commercial district, they must assign a proper stall spot to the donut vendor."

"Well done, Xiarette! Wait... they didn’t ask why?"

"Of course they did."

"So what did you say?"

"I just said, because Shaya loves eating them~"

"How could that excuse possibly work?!"

Xiarette only smiled without answering.

Because in fact—that excuse worked very well.

Within the Kingdom’s Knight Order, Shaya was like a mascot. Everyone knew she loved donuts.

Humans all had private feelings. Shaya had brought much laughter to everyone in the Knight Order, so naturally, within the limits of their authority, they would lean toward helping Shaya in small ways. This was only human nature.

It was also worth mentioning that Sheffy and Xiarette were not sitting face-to-face.

Sheffy was sitting on Xiarette’s lap.

This way, when she leaned back, she had something soft like a pillow supporting her head. How delightful.

At this moment, Sylatrella stayed silent. She knew she couldn’t give Lady Sheffy the same comfort in this regard, so she tried her best not to bring it up, lest she humiliate herself.

Sheffy stretched her legs comfortably, resting her head at the most pleasant angle, and muttered softly.

"What do you think that old king will give as a reward this time...? We saved their royal family, after all. That achievement is far too great."

---

72. Passage Allowed! (4K)

Aurus Royal Castle, before the palace gates.

Luxurious carriages formed a long dragon-like line, packed closely together, all waiting to enter the castle for the conferment banquet. No one knew what had happened at the front, but the line moved forward very slowly—practically only once every half a minute did a carriage advance.

If Sheffy used the words from her past life, this situation would probably be called a "traffic jam," right?

There were many complaints, but no one dared to raise their voice too much.

After all, just ahead was where the king resided. No one could say for sure whether there were spies outside, and one careless remark might bring disaster.

In the past, there hadn’t been such worries, but who told the royal family to have just suffered a rebellion a few days ago?