Chapter 113
Chapter 113. Dim Passion
“Enma!? What are you doing here!?”
Weren’t you supposed to be at the front lines—!? I involuntarily jumped up.
It seems the Undead King, whom I thought was absent, suddenly appeared, and I was surprised, as Zilbagias.
Wow, of all moments, I got caught fooling around with Leila, completely relaxed and off guard.
This is pretty embarrassing.
“F… Hehe…”
Look, even Enma is suppressing a laugh. I was supposed to maintain a cool image as the Demon Lord’s Prince, but now it might be shattered…
“W-what’s coming over you…”
Antendeixis muttered, trembling for some reason. What’s wrong with him?
“N-no… it’s nothing… If you didn’t notice, then it’s fine, right…”
What is with that cryptic remark? Is that becoming a trend lately?
“I finished my work at the front lines early and came back, you know…?”
Enma said with stiff, creaking movements like a broken automaton, tilting her head cutely.
“Day after day… it’s just been cleaning up corpses… They don’t give us breaks, making us work like horses…”
With an exaggeratedly grin.
“But… I wrapped everything up and…! Came back as quickly as I could…!”
“Oh really? Was there something urgent?”
In response to my casual question, she froze completely.
With a loud sound, Enma’s fingers dug into the stone pillar. What a grip! But what purpose does showing me that serve…?
Could it be that her base performance has improved and she came to gloat? Maybe there’s groundbreaking news from the frontlines? I hope it’s nothing useless to know; that would be exhausting…
“Ku-wun…”
Liliana whined in a pitiful voice, trembling as she hid behind me and Leila, who for some reason looked pale.
“Hey, you both have met Enma before, right? No wait, Liliana, is this your first time?”
“I-I’m not, I-I mean…this isn’t my first time…”
Leila stammered while giving me a pleading look.
…Ah, I can see how one might be startled if the Undead King suddenly starts showing off her grip. Liliana seems to have crossed the line from startled to scared. To her, this must look like a nonsensical intimidation from a puppy.
“Liliana, you don’t have to be so scared. She’s Enma, the former human Undead King.”
I hugged Liliana closer to reassure her, gesturing toward Enma.
“She might be undead, but she’s incredibly intelligent, has a good sense of humor, and is a very stylish lady. Sometimes she does unexpected things like right now, but being with her means you’ll never be bored; she’s a wonderful person.”
I added a bit of flattery to ease Liliana’s nerves.
I was not lying. She truly is a captivating person, full of surprises.
“Ku-wun…”
Really? Liliana gazed at Enma with a worried expression, as if confirming.
Enma, for her part, looked equally confused with her mouth agape, donning a clueless expression.
“Hey Enma, our little puppy is frightened. Please save the grip contests for another time.”
“…Eh? Oh, oops!”
She finally seemed to notice the wrecked pillar and hurriedly let go of it. What a shameless one… I guess someone from the Korvto Tribe will have to repair that later.
“Ah, ahaha, just… umm, I got a bit flustered, haha…”
As she nervously grasped her hands together, Enma was switching expressions from panic, seriousness, smiling, to dismay at an alarming pace.
“Um… Zil-kun!”
“What is it?”
“Uh, is what you said earlier, really true?”
“What about earlier?”
“Y-you said… I was a wonderful person…”
She fidgeted with her fingers, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.
“Ah, of course it’s true.”
I replied with my best smile.
“For me—there’s no one in this world as wonderful as you.”
Except that you’re the most “captivating” person ever!!
“Zil-kun…!! H-haw…!”
She gasped, pressing her chest with a strange voice.
“Hah…! I thought my heart was going to stop…!”
“Well, technically you’re already undead.”
“No? This body keeps moving. Of course, what flows isn’t blood, though.”
Oh. Is that how it works…
Wait. To almost die just from being called wonderful, how low must your self-esteem be…
“I wanted to meet you…!!”
In the dim corridor, Enma clutched herself like a stage actor, exclaiming.
“So… like the wind, I came back! Just to see you!”
“Is that so?”
She seems to have plenty of fellow undead or subordinates – like Claire, yet her friends seem to be few.
Maybe because she got close to me in the necromancy lectures recently (at least from her perspective), she feels unsatisfied with just her subordinates.
“Zil-kun…!”
With eyes resembling glass beads, she looked as if she were expecting something. Fine, I’ll indulge her expectations…
“I, too… felt that my days lacked meaning without you. Welcome back.”
I showcased a melancholic smile that I had sometimes practiced in front of the bathroom mirror. It’s frustrating to admit, but I look incredibly handsome right now; that kind of expression suits me…
“J-Jil-kun…!!”
In response to my three-minute theatrics, Enma was almost moved to tears—
“Ahh— I missed you sooooo muuuuuch—!!”
She suddenly charged towards me.
Toward me.
Forgetting even to put on her hood, she dashed into the sunlit courtyard—!
“Ah, wait a sec!!”
I reacted, trying to push Enma back, but her movement was unexpectedly fast, and due to her strength, it ended up in a hugging position.
“Ahhhhh, Zil-kun!!”
The embrace felt much softer than any corpse would, yet her touch was cold.
She wouldn’t let go! And what’s with that perfume—?!
And of course, as anticipated, there was a whoosh, and she started to smoke, setting off a blaze in the sunlight.
“Aaaahhhh!!”
Enma was engulfed in flames as she clung to me, instinctively letting out a whiny scream. Hot, hot—oh wait, I’m totally fine with this fire…
“Aahhh… I always feel so calm with you, Zil-kun…”
As I stared blankly, Enma sported a blissful smile—
And then simply crumbled to ashes.
“Uh…”
“Uh…”
“Huh—”
“Ku-wun…”
Me, Antendeixis, Leila, and Liliana left dumbfounded.
“…Excuse me! That person just… turned to ash…!”
Leila pointed at the pile of ashes on the grass, flustered.
“…Don’t mind it. That’s just how she is. Her main body is elsewhere, so she can quickly switch to another one and revive.”
“Uh…”
Leila was left speechless at the Undead King’s biology.
Liliana, cautiously approaching the ash, attempted to sniff it and ended up sneezing loudly. Enma’s remains were swirling all around—stop it! That’s unhealthy!! She might be fine since she’s a High Elf, but still! It’s not ethical!
…What should I do about this? Although I said that, Enma might have really had something to say to me. Should I wait for her to come back here? Or should I just head back to my room…?
Enma’s speed was three times faster than I’d imagined. Even with my guard down, she came at me directly. If this were on a battlefield, I could have ended up undead like her…
“You… it seems your thoughts regarding her are truly dangerous…”
? What else should I possibly think?
“…You.”
Suddenly, Leila addressed me with a serious tone.
“Hmm?”
“About what you told her earlier—the point about being wonderful.”
She pouted her lips cutely.
“…Is it true that there’s no one on this earth as wonderful as her for you? …Is that really so?”
With her slightly dramatic question, I could only smile wryly.
“Yes. That’s my genuine sentiment.”
As I stated casually, Leila looked down with a sad expression.
“…On this earth, huh?”
However, her surprise upon hearing my following sentence made her blink in confusion.
“You can fly, right?”
I crouched down, smiling at Leila.
“In this sky, you are the most wonderful of all.”
That is truly my unfiltered feeling.
“…Oh, you…”
Despite starting this little charade herself, Leila’s cheeks turned red as she poked my chest playfully. Haha, she’s really cute.
Then, we just gazed at each other without doing anything—holding hands, intertwining fingers—
“Ah—! They’re flirting—!!”
But again, a familiar voice echoed through the courtyard.
Turning around, in the shadow of the corridor, a girl cloaked deep in her hood squealed, covering her face with both hands, peeking through her fingers at us.
“This time it’s Claire…”
“What do you mean by ‘this time’!? What does that even mean?!”
Claire, who was puffing in exasperation at my words, suddenly quieted and looked around cautiously. Unlike the Marquess Enma, she couldn’t be as carefree due to her status.
“Ahem. My Lord, a message from Count Enma… She said, ‘I got a bit flustered earlier; I’m sorry. How about a necromancy lecture tomorrow?’”
“Oh… it’s no problem. I mean, regarding both of those…”
Another necromancy session… The forbidden topics just keep piling up… and now we’ve got a lot of corpses coming back from the front lines.
I’m starting to feel down about it.
“I understand… Wow, it seems the old master had a tough time being used and frustrated at the front lines…”
Claire chuckled awkwardly, perhaps stressed from being treated poorly by the other demons after so long.
If this keeps up, I hope they’ll cut ties with me and start a rebellion against everyone else…
“That’s tough…”
However, I showed some sympathy regarding it. For Claire, being dead and then resurrected as an undead, only to be used by the demons… must be truly miserable for her.
“Well, well. At least you made it back safely! Tomorrow’s lecture will be incredible, Prince!”
Claire beamed, flashing an innocent smile.
“We got a lot of corpses from the Sword Saints and Fist Saints! Let’s play with them!”
