The Incubus Archduke Dreams of a Pet Human - Chapter 38

Purple eyes entered her faint vision. An enraged gaze, as though he would pry open even the unseen recesses of her mind.

“Haa……!”

Barely freed, Theticia drew in a shallow breath. She didn’t understand why he was so angry.

“Lord… Asmod? Did I do something wrong?”

“No. Not at all.”

A curt answer returned to her bewildered question. Then why was he tensing his jaw so hard that the tendons stood out. Asmod’s gaze slashed toward Theticia, whose clear eyes floated with nothing but question marks.

“Let us end the flower viewing here. Something I had forgotten came to mind.”

With that, Asmod swept his hand. A dimensional gate leading to the Archduke’s mansion opened in the middle of the flower field.

“Oh, already?”

“Why. Do you want to stay longer?”

“Ah…… I did want to look around a bit more.”

They had barely arrived at the flower field, and now they were already returning. Compared to the time she had spent confined in the mansion, it felt endlessly short. Theticia pursed her lips with regret.

“Then I shall call Jess and Glacia for you.”

Before Theticia could reply, Asmod snapped his fingers.

Clunk!

With the sound of a door opening, Asmod shot to his feet. Theticia, who had been leaning against him, lost her balance and fell forward with a wet thud.

“Ah, Asmod……”

“What’s going on, Archdukie?”

Without turning back, Asmod stepped through the dimensional gate just as Glacia sprang out of it. Jess’s bonnet, poking out beside her as if she too had been summoned just as suddenly, turned about in confusion.

From inside the gate, Asmod shot a sharp look at the fallen Theticia.

“……Enjoy yourself thoroughly before returning.”

At the voice brimming with anger, Theticia flinched. The words enjoy yourself did not seem to mean what they literally said. Before she could say anything, the dimensional gate slammed shut with a heavy thud, then unraveled like a spool of thread and vanished.

“Uh……. uh…….”

“Is Archdukie angry? Why’s he angry?”

Excited by the sudden outing, Glacia bounced happily around the flower field. Jess’s bonnet tilted as she cocked her head to the side.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that angry before. Did something happen?”

“Well. I don’t know either…….”

Did I do something wrong? Theticia scratched her cheek awkwardly. She couldn’t understand at all why he was so angry.

“Ah! Tishia! A horned rabbit!”

Glacia, who had been parting through the flower clusters, shot up and pointed at the rustling grass. Startled, Theticia jumped to her feet.

“What? Where!”

The confusing thoughts were immediately forgotten with the sudden appearance of the horned rabbit.

***

‘I was going to thank him for bringing me to the Demon Realm.’

Having spent her first outing in the Demon Realm without noticing the passage of time, Theticia only belatedly thought of Asmod. As she worried about how to express her gratitude to Asmod, who had suddenly disappeared saying something urgent had come up, a handkerchief came to mind.

“Do people in the Demon Realm also embroider names on handkerchiefs? As gifts?”
“Yes. In the Demon Realm as well, names are embroidered on items as an expression of affection.”

Embroidery was a basic accomplishment for a noble young lady, so Theticia, though hardly skilled, knew how to embroider.

That was how she had ended up following Jess to a shop, intending to buy a handkerchief.

But at the moment, Theticia was being threatened by a stranger.

“Y-you’re the h-human Asmod b-brought here, r-right?”

A lanky man in a deep green robe bent low at the waist and peered down at her. From between the folds of his robe spilled black hair, and the scent of mugwort and licorice filled the air. His shadowed face was pale as paper, and beneath his sunken brow bones, deep green eyes fixed on her with an unrelenting stare.

It was a face beautiful enough for a demon, but that beauty did nothing to conceal the ominous air he gave off.

“Y-yes, but w-what…… is this about?”

Matching the man’s stammer, Theticia found herself stammering as well.

“J-just like I h-heard, pr-pretty. Ah…… so th-this is Asmod’s t-taste.”

Greasy eyes swept over Theticia from head to toe. The gloomy voice crawled along her ear like a spider.

“I-I’m sorry, but I’m with a group……. W-would it be alright if I excused myself?”

Her mistake had been letting herself get distracted by the unfamiliar leather and fabric, losing sight of Jess and Glacia.

This demon’s eyes are terrifying. Even Cellis, who had approached her kindly, had driven her into danger. Letting this situation drag on did not seem like it would lead to anything good.

She quickly turned her body, trying to slip between the man and the display case.

“W-wait.”

A hand grabbed her wrist.