The morning breeze of Gloom Castle blew across the flagstones of the courtyard, carrying the scent of dew and damp earth.
In the Demon Court Head's office, Louis rested his arms on the window frame, took a deep breath, and let it out.
“...So tired.”
Before his muttered words could fully fade, the door behind him opened.
The footsteps were light, nearly silent.
“Tia, stop sneaking around. I know it's you.”
“Aww, you're no fun.”
Long, misty-gray hair peeked out from behind the doorframe, followed by a face wearing a lazy smile, a long, slender pipe clamped between her teeth.
It was still unlit.
She leaned against the doorframe, her seductive eyes half-closed, scanning Louis from head to toe as if sizing up an exhibit.
“Little brother Louis, are you unhappy?”
“Don't call me your brother. We aren't related by blood, and you've never taken care of me. It's sickening.”
“You're welcome. So, are you unhappy?”
“I'm dealing with matters regarding the Flame Demon Court. A few Flame Demon nobles caused trouble in the Demon district a couple of days ago, so I locked them up.”
“Oh? Then is our Acting Court Head, Lady Fema, going to come find trouble with you?”
“She already did, just now. She scolded me for arresting members of her royal court. I told her they were harassing civilians, which completely shut her up. She stammered that they should at least be handed over to her to handle, and then she left with a flushed face.”
Tia took the pipe out of her mouth and spun it around her fingertips, the smile on her face deepening.
“What a pity. I can't believe I missed such a fun scene. But Louis, why don't you just dump all of this onto your clerks?”
“Tch. The people in the Demon Court are nothing but a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing bums.”
“Hey, hey, hey. You shouldn't say things like that in front of me. If I tell them, your position as Court Head might become a bit unstable.”
“If they have the ability, let them replace me. I'd love to see what kind of 'good work' those scumbags could pull off.”
“Well, so you're doing it all yourself? You'd rather work overtime until you look like a gray mouse that got caught in a door?”
Louis was silent for a moment, then turned his gaze back out the window.
“...I have to do something.”
Tia sat down on a chair by the window and crossed her legs.
“Louis.”
“What?”
“You've been avoiding Rafina lately.”
Louis's fingers paused on the window frame.
“I'm not avoiding her.”
“Do you even believe that yourself?”
Louis didn't say anything.
Tia looked at his back. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke in a softer tone than before.
“What are you thinking about?”
“...I don't know.”
Louis's voice was flat.
“At first, I thought her inheriting the throne of the Demon King would be a challenge to the dignity of the demon race. After all, she's a half-breed.”
“In our generation, you're the only one who still cares about that.”
“...”
He rested his forehead against the window frame.
“I've never liked her, and I didn't like Gloom for choosing her. But then I saw her documents, the way she handles political affairs, how she communicates with the Court Heads, and the way she adjusts those old accounts and treaties...”
Louis sighed.
“She's doing a much better job than I imagined.”
“And then?”
“And then, I just didn't know how to act around her anymore.”
He turned around, leaning against the windowsill, his deep purple eyes staring at Tia.
“I feel like I should have hated her. She stole my position—which was originally the Royal Court's... my wish.
“But I can't hate her. Because she really is doing better than I could. And she treats everyone equally well.”
Tia didn't say anything. She simply walked over to stand in front of him.
She was half a head shorter than Louis, so she tilted her face up, looking straight at him with her violet eyes.
“A guy like you is such a pain.”
“Well, my deepest apologies.”
“I was praising you.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.”
“......”
Tia shrugged and turned to leave. But she paused at the doorway and glanced back over her shoulder.
“Oh, by the way. I just ran into Rafina in the hallway. She said she wanted to talk to you.”
Louis's expression froze.
Tia laughed.
“Off you go, little brother.”
...
In the reception room at the end of the hallway, Rafina sat on a low sofa by the window.
Her crimson eyes were cast down, focused intently on the documents spread across her lap.
Louis stood at the doorway for a moment until she looked up and noticed him.
“Ah, Louis. You're here. Please, have a seat.”
Louis sat on the sofa opposite her.
Rafina turned a page of the documents on her lap, her fingertip slowly tracing down the lines of text.
“Regarding the members of the Flame Demon Royal Court.”
“Yes.”
“You did well.”
“I think so too.”
Rafina smiled slightly.
“Did you look for me just to say something like that?”
“Yes. You always look so gloomy, so I thought you might need some encouragement and recognition.”
Silence hung in the reception room for a brief moment.
“...Rafina.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you always try to make other people happy?”
“Hmm? I've never really thought about it...”
Rafina's fingers paused on the document, her eyelashes casting soft shadows as she looked down.
“...Maybe because I don't want people to hate me.”
“That way of thinking is wrong.”
“Is that so... then what do you think I should do?”
Louis rubbed his forehead.
“...No... I don't know. I just think you don't need to do that. You're already doing well enough.”
His tone was somewhat stiff when he said this. Although he usually spoke in a blunt manner, he sounded exceptionally robotic while delivering these words.
“...Thank you,” Rafina said softly.
Louis didn't reply.
When he returned to his room that evening, Louis found a letter on his desk.
There was no signature, but the envelope had “To our second favorite overtime-working Demon Court Head~” written on it in cursive script.
He recognized the handwriting at a glance.
Inside was a drawing.
The drawing depicted a small gray demon carrying a stack of documents taller than itself, walking toward its office with dark circles under its eyes.
In the corner of the drawing, written in tiny letters, was: “In case you didn't know, only the writing on the envelope was written by Ellie. The drawing inside was made by Sera because Ellie begged her to do it—penned on behalf of them by Tia.”
Louis stared at the drawing for a long time.
Finally, he folded it in half, flattened it out, and tucked it under his desk mat, keeping it together with other important things that were inconvenient for others to see.
Outside the window, the phosphorus fires of Gloom Castle had been adjusted to their nightly blue-violet hue.
Louis lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.
“Life is tolerable enough, I suppose...”
He quickly fell asleep.
(End of Volume 3: Chronicles of Strange Human Behavior)
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