Chapter 11: Even if it means death, it would be worth it.

In the arena, the silver-haired little loli spread her arms wide, proudly tilting her neck like a swan. She provocatively raised an eyebrow at her mother, who had silently watched the entire trial from the spectator stands.

“So? My dear mother, esteemed Demon King, has your daughter passed the trial?”

No one paid attention to Rita, who had run out crying. The princess standing in the center of the arena had undoubtedly completed the challenge prepared for her by the Demon King.

Yet no one cheered for her, because Yalith’s expression was extremely calm—bordering on cold indifference.

Unsure of the Demon King’s thoughts, and with the Flame Demon Great Lord having chased after her own daughter, no one took the lead. All eyes in the arena suddenly focused on Chloe.

Caught off guard by the sudden shift in atmosphere, Chloe endured the pressure of those gazes and tried hard not to twitch the corners of her mouth.

Although the way she had achieved victory wasn’t exactly honorable, she was confident that her little tricks had gone completely unnoticed—except perhaps by Elda, the maid closest to her.

Chloe instantly felt a pang of regret. She should have pretended to be exhausted and collapsed the moment Rita fled the arena. Then Elda could have stepped in to carry her away, and everything would have been perfectly resolved.

Why did her damn vanity have to act up!

Filled with regret, Chloe waited for Yalith’s final judgment. Her intuition, however, was very bad.

There was no disappointment or contempt on her mother’s face, but there was a faint trace of regret. Was she disappointed that Chloe had shown none of the bearing expected of a Demon King successor, or dissatisfied that she hadn’t displayed the power of the Demon King’s bloodline?

Before Yalith spoke, Chloe could only force herself to appear composed.

But she had not misread the direction.

Yalith was indeed feeling regret toward her bloodline.

【My blood is still too powerful.】

The person the Demon King was paying attention to at this moment was not Chloe, but the succubus great lord Rhinea, who was yawning beside her—the one with the same silver long hair as Chloe.

As the Demon King and a blood demon, the tributes from the various races inevitably included blood—human, dragon, elf, and all kinds of demonic beasts. The blood of powerful individuals within the demon race was naturally included as well.

Back when she had made Chloe her first embrace, out of anticipation she had used those bloods. The one used in the second-highest quantity after her own was Rhinea’s.

It wasn’t because Rhinea was particularly strong, but because Yalith thought the heart-shaped tail on that idiot succubus looked very cute.

She had wanted to attach one to Chloe out of a doll-customizing mindset.

Yet over these years, instead of becoming a demon princess who “combined the strengths of many,” Chloe had become a “demon pill who combined the weaknesses of many.” This left her quite depressed.

The only praiseworthy things were that adorable face and her inherently dark nature.

If only Chloe could now put her hands on her hips, sway a heart-shaped tail, and claim credit from her, Yalith really wouldn’t mind playing the role of a proper mother.

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty?”

Only after being called twice did Yalith realize she had spaced out.

It was Rhinea.

Before she could ask, the succubus great lord—who had grown quite uneasy under her gaze—whispered:

“Is there any order? If the trial is over, may I leave? I have a grand party tonight…”

This fellow had been sleeping even before the match started and had just woken up, looking adorably dazed.

“Tch…”

Yalith waved her hand in irritation. Seeing Rhinea flap her wings and fly off with a silly smile, she lost all interest in overthinking things.

It was all her own fault. Back then, wanting Chloe to be a cute little girl for fun, she had used too much of that idiot succubus’s blood. Now there was nowhere to regret it.

Regret turned into resentment. Resentment twisted into warped motherly love. Yalith decided to put pressure on the unworthy someone.

“Taking shortcuts.”

She coldly delivered the final verdict to the little girl waiting for evaluation, then swept her gaze across the other demons in the stands.

“Everyone, did you enjoy the show? It seems Chloe still hasn’t had enough.”

“Ah, Elda, I… I’m so tired.”

The previously arrogant Chloe instantly turned deathly pale. She clutched her forehead with one hand and leaned backward, but she simply fell straight onto the ground with no one to catch her.

She looked in disbelief toward where Elda had been standing earlier, only to find that her head maid was nowhere in sight.

Just as she grew puzzled, she spotted Elda standing at the entrance opposite her—the opponent’s entryway—seemingly waiting for a single command from her Demon King mother to step onto the stage. Chloe’s expression changed drastically.

What did this mean? Had her maid finished warming up and was now ready to fight her to determine who was the real master?

This wasn’t right!

……

Having observed Chloe and Rita’s confrontation up close, Elda knew exactly how much strength her princess possessed. From the very first exchange, she had realized something was seriously wrong.

Her Highness clearly had no intention of actually fighting the Flame Demon princess!

But what could she, as a maid, do?

Elda had been extremely worried about Chloe’s safety at first. Yet as she watched, once she realized what despicable methods Chloe had used to force a draw with Rita, her worry vanished instantly.

Damn it, she wanted to be kissed too!

Her Highness wanted to pretend to faint and get through the trial?

That wouldn’t do. Princess Chloe, your next opponent is me!

Elda was confident she was much better at throwing matches than that dumb redhead.

If Rita couldn’t lose to Her Highness due to pride, she had no such qualms.

If she lost, she was already Her Highness’s maid anyway—others would just think it was a performance. But if she won…

Hehe, then Her Highness would no longer be Her Highness, but her cute little servant.

At the very least, even if she couldn’t become the maid, just getting one proactive kiss from Chloe would make her life worthwhile.

She had always been the easily satisfied type.

So, Demon King, please make your decision quickly. She was just waiting to volunteer.

The spectators, who didn’t understand what monkey show these master and servant were putting on, looked left and right before finally turning their eyes to Yalith—who clearly knew her daughter and her head maid’s true natures and had already begun massaging her forehead.

“Forget it.”

Seeing that the situation had deviated far from what she had expected, Yalith muttered helplessly.

She glanced at the great lords beside her. They all understood her meaning and knew the trial was ending.

The perceptive great lords immediately took the lead.

Thus, under the bewildered gazes of the demons, these most powerful existences of each clan flashed away and left the arena first.

Someone quietly said, “There are Heroes and idle humans coming to provoke again.”

Yalith snapped her fingers. She appeared in the center of the arena, and Chloe was already held in her arms.

“Since Chloe has no intention of continuing the trial, and human heroes have come to challenge us, the trial ends here. Everyone, the royal court will prepare a banquet tonight. Do not be absent.”

Having missed the one-on-one blood-soaked battles they had hoped for, the spectators who were somewhat dissatisfied with the trial’s abrupt end immediately regained interest upon hearing that Heroes had arrived. As soon as the Demon King spoke, this bloodthirsty bunch eager for more violent fights quickly disappeared.

With the arena rapidly growing quiet, a flattering smile spread across Chloe’s face. She spoke in a coquettish, spoiled voice to the mother holding her:

“Um, Mommy, my good Mommy, since the trial is over, can you put me down now~”