The Demon King's Sweet Conquest (GL) - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Don’t Give it Away for Free

“I am willing to sign a contract with you. As long as you can help me—help me obtain the one and only love!” Christina gripped Floria’s wrist tightly, so agitated that she could only use brute force to suppress the trembling of her fingers.

“I don’t need beautiful dreams. I don’t care if I have no friends, no territory, or anything at all. As long as Viola can belong to me, anything will do! My soul, or anything else… I don’t need any of it!”

Is this girl a fool? Floria was filled with question marks.

How could someone rush out and scream, wanting to trade absolutely everything they have for the love of another person?

“Do you know what you are saying?” I must have broken into someone’s dream. Barbatos is being too unprofessional with this! If the girl in front of me is a demon, then the native demons of this world are finished.

“I know. I don’t care about anything else in this world; I only want Viola!” Christina, fearing that the legendary devils would twist her wish in various ways, immediately added, “There are many people named Viola, but the Viola I want is the one with half-dragon blood. Although she is royalty, her suffix and surname are in the Dragon language, which I cannot pronounce, and she is also the lord of the Ruby Islands…”

Floria used a hand gesture to stop the reporter-like broadcast.

“You don’t want love?” Are you treating me like an all-purpose wish-granting machine? No matter what, I have to correct this twisted thinking.

Christina nodded: “Yes, I want love. I want her love!”

“Transcending this world? Transcending your own life?”

“That’s right.”

“In that case, doesn’t the value of her love exceed everything else in the world, including everything you have?” Floria shook her head: “You cannot offer an equivalent exchange. Who would make a losing business deal?”

Christina opened her mouth. She knew the Demon King was using a fallacy—the value of things differs in different people’s hearts.

However, she had no way to refute it. Her whole heart was acknowledging the other party’s words. Even if it was sophistry, the value of Viola’s love exceeded everything she possessed.

With a snap of Floria’s fingers, a table and chairs appeared on the grass. An ivory-white table was covered with a beige tablecloth, accented by teacups filled with black tea.

Dreams are indeed convenient. Floria, who had just noticed that her thoughts could directly influence the dream, was very satisfied.

“Sit down first. The matter of the transaction is not urgent, especially since you don’t have equivalent collateral yet.”

After listening, Christina sat down obediently, placing her hands on her knees.

Floria did not touch the tea and asked directly: “In your opinion, what is love like?”

Christina felt a trace of gratitude: Since the Demon King is willing to let me explain in detail, does it mean… she won’t deceive me regarding this wish?

“Love is being able to be together forever, being each other’s most precious person, and having a deep, positive affection for one another,” Christina said after careful consideration, giving a relatively safe answer.

“Could you not achieve this with your own strength?” Floria had a slight impression of the keyword “half-dragon blood.” Could it be that she was the one who helped wipe out Sir Henry’s team? That would count as a benefactor then; saved me some grinding and trouble.

Christina sighed: “I have always pretended that I can do it.” She was very intelligent—or at least more intelligent than most of her peers. She went to the Ruby Islands following Francis’s instructions, partly to get closer to her only goal, and partly to reduce some risks.

Even in front of the Demon King, she did not want to expose herself completely.

“Tell me about your concerns, human.”

The word “human” made Christina feel relieved: She still hopes to retain her human identity. I have been worried that I really was of mixed demon blood. Since the Demon King calls me this, I should have nothing to worry about, right?

“Your Majesty, hybrids of dragons and humans have very short lifespans among dragon hybrids, yet they are still much longer than those of humans,” Christina said bitterly: “That is the first point. I am happy that I might die before Viola, but this lifespan gap might make her not consider me.”

“Lifespan? There are plenty of ways to solve that problem; this is not your excuse.” Floria’s words made her face flush.

“Apologies, Your Majesty, this is only the most trivial concern… The other issue is her relationship with Princess Joanna and Princess Cynthia.”

“???”

The confused Floria had a polygonal love-relationship diagram appear in her mind.

Fortunately, Christina used the fastest speed possible to spoil the entire palace reversal drama for Floria. In short: The twin Princesses A and B. The older sister was accused by the big villain Francis of being an illegitimate child, and he even produced a pile of evidence.

Then, Lady Viola slapped Francis in the face, took away the tarnished A, and wanted to give her a better childhood so she wouldn’t be corrupted by the nobles.

Christina had no screen time in this three-person movie, which is why she felt so bitter.

Her only self-introduction was: “Christina, personal maid to Princess Joanna.”

“Why are you worried about the things between them?” Floria could guess some of it, but how could she go along with it: “Not even mentioning the blood relationship, you understand, don’t you—Viola will absolutely not consider the two princesses from the perspective of a lover.”

Even from the story told through Christina’s 800+ filters, Floria could smell that Viola was definitely the assertive type; being “love-brained” was impossible.

“Please enlighten me!” Christina’s eyes were red, and she was about to kneel again.

She didn’t know that the Demon King in front of her was single since birth and that her romantic experience relied entirely on fictional characters.

Floria looked at the sky: “You already have the answer in your heart. Become the version of yourself she likes best, right?” A righteous person like Viola certainly wouldn’t like an evil girl. It would definitely be a good thing to let a girl who was about to go astray get back on the right path.

“Is it worth it?”

“It is worth it, it’s just… I’m afraid of making mistakes.” Christina shook her head gently: “I beg for your help because I know I don’t have the opportunity to make mistakes.”

She preemptively traded everything for a chance, not because she lacked confidence in her acting, but to hint to this Demon King who had connected to a familiar: I absolutely must not expose my identity; I do not want to become a real demon.

She could sacrifice everything for the demon side, on the condition that she wouldn’t expose herself and… would obtain Viola’s love.

“The most brilliant liar is one who can even deceive themselves,” Floria said, acting profound and dropping a famous quote, unexpectedly seeing a terrified expression on Viola’s face.

Why are you terrified?

In order not to frighten this unlucky girl, and sensing the space beginning to shatter, Floria guessed she would be able to return soon. After standing up, she added: “Go and pursue it. This small matter has nothing to do with my great cause.”

I hope you fall in love well and live well as a human.

The colorful flowers dissipated. Christina opened her eyes in bed, unable to forget that splendor. As she rolled out of bed and put on her shoes, her body felt light.

Did the Demon King bestow some kind of power upon me? She walked to the mirror and found a very small mole on her ear. Looking closely, it seemed to have edges, perhaps star-shaped.

Is this the sign of a contract with the Demon King, as the legends say? Fortunately, this position could be easily covered by larger earrings. Christina faced the mirror and smiled.

Floria, who had also opened her eyes, could not smile.

“Barbatos, explain?”

Her back was vibrating with the movement of the carriage. The wooden wheels had poor shock absorption, and only her head, leaning on Barbatos’s lap, was spared.

“Your Majesty, you are currently in a carriage.” Barbatos playfully brushed aside the stray hair on Floria’s face.

“So, how is that noble route going?”

Floria’s grimacing expression was clearly a warning: If you dare to say it’s ruined, you’re dead.

“Please rest assured, Heart-Love is handling the aftermath in your identity, and my fake identity is also in a dispatched state; nothing will be exposed.” Barbatos was also in a human form now. After a moment of thought, Floria understood they were on the way to the Free City.

That was an order she had given herself earlier.

“Barbatos, is the coachman trustworthy?” Floria sat up and rubbed her numb legs.

“He is trustworthy. He is under the influence of a command spell and will not reveal our identities or whereabouts.” Barbatos added with a smile: “After arriving at the Free City, you can directly sacrifice him to the system; no traces will be left.”

“That’s too petty, Barbatos.” Floria tilted her head back: “To save a little bit of resources, you are willing to risk having a commoner vanish, inviting investigators?”

“Yes, it was my negligence.”

“Don’t rush to transport the cargo over yet. We need to familiarize ourselves with the environment. Is the rented small courtyard settled?” Floria pulled back the curtain, already able to see the city walls not far away.

“Everything is no problem.” Barbatos’s left hand supported Floria’s waist: “Do you need me to support you?”

“No need. I am not a child; I don’t need to stick my head out to look at the scenery!” Floria recoiled sharply.

There were many carriages at the city gate, and they had to queue to enter. When it was their turn, Barbatos stepped off the carriage and handed a coin to the guard, and the carriage was allowed to pass naturally.

The inspection at the entrance of the Free City is really lax. Floria, sitting in the carriage, noticed this. As long as the curtains were open when the carriages passed, the guards were too lazy to check.

The carriage made a rattling sound on the road. Floria’s gaze was drawn to a building: it had a special sign depicting two clasped hands, with crossed swords and blades behind them.

The meaning of this sign—The Adventurers’ Guild?

“Barbatos—no, Tabatha, let’s go. Let the coachman take the carriage home.”

“Do you want to inspect this place? Very well.”

Instantly renamed to Tabatha, Barbatos raised his hand to help Floria off the carriage, while the coachman drove the carriage away.

Filled with the excitement of witnessing the Mercenary Guild, Floria pushed open the door of the building.

Then she froze in an atmosphere where she was “surrounded by men.”

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