Kainster's Monologue

“Knock, knock.”

Zona gently knocked on Kainster's door.

“Come in.”

The moment Zona pushed the door open, a suffocating sense of despair washed over her.

The window in the room was halfway open. A chilly, rain-laden wind blew inside continuously, rustling the papers on the desk.

Rainwater slowly dripped down the windowsill, leaving a small, wet puddle on the floor.

“Your High—ness!”

Seeing Kainster standing by the window, holding a potted flower out into the rain, Zona lunged forward and dragged him back into the room.

“Eh, eh? Wait, wait, Zona!”

But as Zona stared at the damp patches on the prince's forearms, which were completely soaked by the rain, she felt as though all her years of proper upbringing and etiquette lessons had collapsed in an instant.

What followed was Zona's relentless lecturing.

“When on earth are you going to change your habits? What if you catch a cold!”

“You could have easily used a magic tool to collect the rainwater.”

“Yes, yes! I'll definitely be careful next time.”

Kainster shrank back, placing his hands obediently on his knees.

With his head lowered and nodding repeatedly, he didn't look like a prince at all. Instead, he resembled a child who had just been caught red-handed causing trouble by an elder.

Seeing how quickly Kainster admitted his mistake, Zona found it hard to continue lecturing the prince.

“Sigh... As long as you understand. You must take care of your health.”

Looking at the bits of mud still clinging to the prince's cuffs, Zona could only sigh.

“Honestly, you've been running out to the fields every day with the Saintess of the Holy See lately. Look how much mud you've gotten on your clothes.”

With that, Zona held out her hand to Kainster, gesturing for him to hand over his outer coat.

“Then I'll trouble you with it, Zona.”

Kainster didn't bother standing on ceremony with his aide, taking off his outer coat and handing it over.

Staring at the mud-stained coat in her hands, Zona began to channel a cleaning spell.

However, her constitution was far inferior to that of the demons who lived in this high-concentration magic environment, and the spell in her hands was heavily suppressed by the Holy Light Stasis.

A cleaning spell that should have finished in an instant now dragged along sluggishly, as if mired in a deep swamp.

The pale green magic circle flickered erratically. Every pulse felt like a desperate struggle against the dense Holy Light Stasis surrounding them.

“Your Highness, next time, you should probably leave your clothes to the demon maids to clean.”

Zona's hand even began to tremble as she maintained the cleaning spell.

She truly had no idea how Miss Saintess managed to cast such massive spells under this kind of suppression.

“Achoo!”

“Is someone talking about Miss Saintess?”

Up on the clock tower, Miss Saintess, who was currently enjoying some freshly delivered sweet treats with the Demon King, rubbed her nose.

“Wait! My Lady Demon King, that was just an accidental sneeze! Really!”

Seeing the Demon King steadily drawing closer, Lin Ling hastily swallowed the food in her mouth and rushed to explain.

“As the Demon King, I have the right to ignore a Saintess's explanation.”

“You can't do that, that's cheating!”

Miss Saintess's protests were entirely in vain.

Ivelia scooped Lin Ling up anyway, placing her directly onto her lap.

“It is highly important to provide a warm environment for Miss Saintess.”

Their bodies pressed close together. Sitting on her lap, Lin Ling opened her mouth to say something more.

But in the next second, a fragrant cookie was pressed directly against her lips.

“I'll eat~”

The words Lin Ling wanted to say were instantly swallowed down along with the food.

【Well, My Lady Demon King's warm embrace is actually quite nice~】

Miss Saintess gave the Demon King's embrace a highly favorable rating!

Meanwhile, back in the room, silence fell once more.

Only the sound of rain outside continuously pattered against the windowpane.

“So, Your Highness, do you plan on staying here long-term?”

Zona handed the coat back to him, her expression turning exceptionally grave as she looked at Kainster.

“Zona, you know how I feel about the throne...”

Seeing that Zona was still hoping he would pursue that unreachable goal, Kainster shook his head.

“But don't you care about the commoners at the bottom? Your brother and those nobles treat them like trash.”

At the mention of this, Kainster clenched his fists tightly. But in the end, like a deflated balloon, he slowly released them.

“That's why I wanted to ask you... didn't we agree on this?”

“Bishop Karl will use the money to help them.”

Yet even as Kainster said this, there was a distinct note of uncertainty in his voice.

Could that bishop really resist the temptation to pocket such a massive sum of money?

“Heh, you probably don't know yet, but that bishop can barely protect himself now.”

Zona suddenly dropped a massive bombshell.

“That bishop offended the First Prince some time ago. To curry favor with the prince, those nobles have likely singled Karl out to make an example of him.”

“He can't even save his own skin right now. How would he have the time to help those commoners?”

Hearing this, Kainster's pupils shrank. He had already been cowardly enough to run away.

And yet, misfortune continued to hound him relentlessly.

“Then... in that case, Zona...”

“I refuse.”

“If you're going to ask me to carry this out in your stead, I refuse.”

“Whether you choose to stay with the demons or hide in another country, my only duty is to look after you.”

Staring at Kainster's still-lowered head, Zona felt an inexplicable surge of anger rise in her chest.

She took a deep breath.

Her grip on the coat tightened slightly.

She seemed to be trying her best to suppress her swelling emotions.

“Kainster! I will refuse this request, and don't even think about begging anyone else from the demon race. I will contact Phelan, and they won't accept your request either.”

With that, Zona stood up and walked out of the room.

The door shut with a heavy slam, venting the frustration of the one who closed it.

“...”

Rain pattered against the window.

The room was so quiet that only the sound of his own breathing could be heard.

Kainster fell silent, eventually squeezing out a smile that looked more painful than crying.

“I can't do it... I can't do it...”

How could he possibly go against his eldest brother, who was backed by all those nobles? He couldn't. There was absolutely no way.

He had already lost his mother. He didn't want to lose anyone else.

If he fought for the throne, people would die. Someone would definitely die.

“I can die, but everyone else can't... they absolutely must not...”

Clinging to his newly cleaned white coat, Kainster slowly curled his body up as these thoughts swirled in his mind. In his exhaustion, he gently closed his eyes.