The Incubus Archduke Dreams of a Pet Human - Chapter 41

“What have you been doing all this time to only come in now.”

Asmod asked in a low voice, his face cold and pale. The anger seeping through his voice brought to mind the furious scolding of her stepmother that would surge down whenever she came home late at night after playing in the forest.

Asmod strode over and snatched Theticia’s bag, searching for the source of the unpleasant smell.

“Lord Asmod?!”

From the bag that burst open, the plant samples she had received from Levia poured out in a rush. Asmod frowned at the familiar mana. When he snapped his fingers without hesitation, purple flames rose from the items scattered across the floor.

“Ah, no!”

Theticia dropped down and tried to put out the fire clinging to the samples, but the small hemp pouch burned away in an instant.

“Ah. The samples are all…….”

Because she threw herself over them, she managed to save the monster compendium with only light scorching. A cold rebuke came down on Theticia as she sat collapsed in despair.

“What kind of flattery did you use for Levia to give you something like this? That fellow is not one to share anything.”

Though he had not said who, Asmod pressed her as if he already knew Theticia’s movements. Startled, Theticia shook her head.

“We only talked a little about monsters. It was not that I went to meet him, and it just so happened that our interests matched. We talked about this and that and lost track of time…….”

As Asmod’s expression grew increasingly grim, Theticia pressed her lips together. She had never been good with words even when she lived on the surface, and there was no reason she would suddenly gain that ability after coming to the Demon Realm. On top of that, being reproached without even knowing the reason naturally brought her stepmother, Farsha, to mind.

The air in the ballroom grew three or four times heavier than usual.

“Go on. Keep talking. I clearly told you to go look at the flowers. I never gave you permission to stop by anywhere else. Why did you go to the shop, and in what way did your interests matched? Tell me in detail.”

“Well…….”

“Do you not even remember nearly dying after following Cellis? If you are going to behave this carelessly, it would be better to send you back to the surface.”

“I, I am sorry. You said he was your close friend, Lord Asmod……! I will be careful!”

To be told to go and enjoy herself and then come back after chatting with another demon. There was a limit even to foolishness and dullness. His insides, already bubbling, began to boil over as if firewood had been thrown on.

“Now that you have seen his face, have you grown that bold? You did not touch Levia’s face as well, did you?”

“N, no! I did not touch it!”

Theticia hurriedly shook her head.

“If you had done that to another demon, you would be dust by now. Because it was me. I left you as you were.”

At Asmod’s sharp rebuke, putting force into the word me, Theticia curled her body up like a pill bug.

“I am sorry…….”

Seeing Theticia so thoroughly cowed, Glacia, who had only been watching the mood, cautiously cut in.

“Archdukie Leviaa. He was trying to apologize for scaring Theticiaa.”

Jess, who had been watching for an opening, quickly added.

“Lady Theticia said she was buying a handkerchief to give as a gift to Your Excellency the Archduke, so we stopped by a fabric shop. The two of them spoke of nothing but monsters.”

“……A gift?”

What was this now? The tightly strung nerve endings that had bristled at the scent of Levia were cleanly severed.

Theticia, all shrunken, cautiously cast her gaze toward the pile of ashes.

“I was going to embroider a handkerchief and give it to you. It all burned up.”

Within less than a spoonful of ash, only a few threads remained, the remnants of the handkerchief fluttering in the heat.

“…….”

Asmod clenched his teeth.

An indescribable emotion turned Asmod’s chest, which had been stretched taut with fury, into a deflated air pouch. Could this, too, be called humiliation? It was not a matter tangled with honor or dignity, yet his insides tightened painfully.

“I am truly sorry, Lord Asmod. I will not wander around without permission anymore.”

At the sight of Theticia, dejected and fumbling over her words, that deflated air pouch from before rattled noisily inside his chest.

“……Enough.”

Asmod sharply turned his body away to hide his face.

Was there ever such humiliation? To genuinely lose his temper over such a foolish, insignificant human. The scolding had already happened and could not be undone, but if he were to grow angrier here, there would be no dignity left to preserve.

Clicking his tongue shortly, Asmod left the ballroom without sparing Theticia a glance. When the heavy door closed, only Theticia, Glacia, and Jess remained in the vast ballroom.

“……This is bad. He must be really angry.”

Theticia pressed down her sinking heart hard with the Bestiary.

“It will be okay.”

Glacia, who had approached her, rubbed her damp nose against Theticia to comfort her. But Theticia’s mind was filled with Asmod’s words about sending her back to the Human Realm.