The Demon Lord's Second Marriage Chapter 6

I may be overstepping a bit, but I deliberately changed Galtau's speech pattern when he's talking to Laetia vs. Angelica. I feeeel like he talks a lot more normally to Laetia, but maybe I'm just projecting, heh.

That night, I slept in the guest room in Laetia's house. No, isn't it weird to keep calling it "Laetia's house"? Since we were family now, wouldn't it be fine to call it "my house"? But wait, it didn't really feel like "my house" at all…

That said, calling it "the hero's house" also felt wrong. Since she's my step-daughter now. For example, if her father were a priest, you wouldn't call the house "the priest's house," would you? It just sounds so impersonal.

Well, I'll think about this issue later. By the way, Laetia said me this before I went to bed.
"Galtau, it's fine to use my bedroom, you know?"
I just about had a heart attack.

There wouldn't be anything weird about it. We were married, after all. There were no issues with a married couple sleeping in the same room. Or rather, sleeping in separate rooms gave off the sense that there were issues with the marriage, which could be pretty bad.

However, I was still weirdly conscious of her, and I didn't want to give the hero Angelica any more baseless reasons to hate me, so I ended up turning her down.

It was like that one thing. You know, raising a cat, that kind of thing. If you were too aggressive, the cat might think you're annoying and end up avoiding you. However, if you left it alone and waited for it to come to you while just living alongside it, eventually the cat would warm up to you, like "play with me!" or "I want more food!"

It was the same idea. Apply too much pressure, and the chance of aggravating the problem increased. You need to proceed slowly, carefully.

By the way, the guest bed was… too short, so my feet stuck out.

"I'm the demon lord, right? I'm a pretty important person…"

As I considered bringing the bed from the demon lord's castle here, I drifted off to sleep and the day finally ended.

The next day, I woke up fairly early. Why? To make breakfast. Of course, I wanted to make it for Laetia, but the primary target was my "daughter," Angelica.

There was a common saying, "win over the heart through the stomach." In other words, someone who makes good food will be loved by the people.

Obviously, food is indispensable for living beings. Those who control it are naturally the recipients of great affection, so isn't it normal for those with obstinate hearts to soften before these controllers?

Therefore, if I cook delicious food for Angelica, the distance between us will shorten sooner or later! Furthermore, breakfast has overwhelmingly more simple dishes than dinner does. But wait, depending on the country and the culture, some places only had two meals a day, with one meal just before noon, although I think most human countries eat three meals a day.

That's why I'll start by playing the part of the breakfast-cooking father. That way, Angelica's impression of me will go up!

However, when I went into the kitchen, Laetia was already there making preparations. She had already taken out some eggs; she was probably going to make ham and eggs.

"My goodness, good morning, Galtau~♪"

"G-Good morning! I can't believe you're already up at this hour…"

"Oh, you see, it's because Angelica is an adventurer. Adventurers tend to leave early in morning, you know. I hear demons are very active at night, so it's dangerous to travel then."

"Aah… that's just superst.i.tion, you know…"

Leaving aside ones that were nocturnal, demons had the same daily lifestyle as humans. Exposure to the sun was good for their bodies. I heard that sunlight has some kind of nutritional effect, too.

"However, humans can't see in the dark, so I believe fighting at night is disadvantageous. Therefore, it makes sense to only travel while the sun is up."

"Oh, you're right. You're so knowledgeable as the demon lord, Galtau!"

Getting this compliment from her made me a little happy. It was a completely different feeling from when my subordinates raved with "As expected of the demon lord!"

No, wait, rather than that, my breakfast plan was now foiled.

"Um, Laetia, would you mind if I cooked breakfast?"

"Hm? Oh no, I can't let you do that."

I should just be honest and tell her the reason.

"Angelica still won't accept me. I think it's only natural to feel that way. Therefore, I wanted to start trying to get closer to her by cooking for her."

"Oh my! That's a wonderful idea! In that case, I think I'll leave Angelica's portion up to you."

Laetia gave me a few pats as she endorsed my idea. I couldn't help fixing my posture when I was praised like this. I need to implement positive reforms like this at the demon lord's castle.

I made a simple platter of ham and eggs. For the seasoning… she probably exercises a lot, and she's still young so she probably likes the taste of junk food. It should be fine if the flavor is somewhat rich. Then, I'll toast the bread a bit with my flame. Well, if I toast it now, it might get hard by the time she wakes up. I'll just toast it when she eats.

As I thought that, the door creaked open.

"Fuuaaah… g'morning Mama———and the demon lord is here too!"

The pajamclad hero Angelica took a step back. There was still a lot of distance between us… both physically and interpersonally…

"Good morning, Angelica♪ Did you sleep well?"

"So you're awake, Angelica. Breakfast is the foundation of a healthy life. Be sure to eat well."

"Why is the demon lord telling me to watch my health like it's obvious! Considering who you are, isn't that weird?!"

I could understand Angelica's feelings, but if I didn't try to get closer to her, things would just stagnate.

"It may be in name only, but I have become your father. In which case, it's only natural for a father to worry about his daughter's health."

"You know, as a demon lord, aren't you supposed be more majestic? Is this really all right?"

"The ham and eggs may be a bit light. If they are too bland for you, you may add ketchup."

"Oh, come on…" Angelica groaned, clapping a hand to her forehead.

"It seems you have yet to fully recover. Do not push yourself."

"That's not it! I just can't process the fact that the demon lord is in my house making breakfast!"

I guess we both still feel that wall between us. But if I run away now, nothing will ever change. I myself need to change.

"You will soon grow accustomed to it. Angelica, I will use my flames to toast your bread."

"Don't call me Angelica. And stop acting like you're my dad."

So that's what's getting under her skin. It wasn't outside my expectations, but it was still strangely hurtful. However, I will not run! A demon lord who runs away doesn't deserve to be called a demon lord! And so, the hero will never see me as a cowardly demon lord!

"Then let me ask you: How would you like to be called?"

I set the plate with the ham and eggs on the table.

"Ugh… just, call me 'hero,' or something……"

"Listen here, do you really want your parent to call you by the name of your profession? Like 'doctor, how is the food?' or 'do you have an early morning tomorrow, weapons shopkeeper?', no parent would ever say that. That's what I mean."

"That's why I'm saying, the demon lord becoming my step-father is even more weird!"

Guuh! She had a point!

Unfortunately, if I were to call her 'hero' all the time, it would be hard to call this place home. More importantly, it would become a big point of sadness for Laetia, for her husband and her daughter to not get along.

"Hmph! If you will not heed my words, then I shall not heed yours! Therefore, I shall continue to call you 'Angelica'!"

"F-Fine, do whatever you want… I can't stop you, after all…"

Angelica turned away with a bitter look on her face. Interesting, so it looks like she's willing to compromise just a little bit.

"Indeed, I shall do as I wish. So then, how much should I toast your bread?"

"Just enough so that it barely changes color……"

"As you wish, Angelica."

"Don't just say my name when you don't need to!"

Even still, Angelica ate the food I made without a fuss.

"Wow~ Angelica, it looked like you really enjoyed the food that Galtau made! You two are already getting along!"

"Mama, stop saying weird things…"

Laetia was happy, so I felt like I made some progress today.

Author's note: The start of some new developments, but because the arc t.i.tle will away spoilers, I'll update it later.

TL note: As per the author's note, I won't add the arc t.i.tle to the series page until it's revealed in a chapter I release~

 —  — Chapter 7