I Just Wanted A Soft Life, Not A Demon Husband

Chapter 222: Smoke, Brains, and Tiny Royal Arguments About Brains

Elyn’s POV

Velira folded her tiny hands across her chest, her purple wings twitching slightly as if they were twitching from irritation, or perhaps just from pure energy. Her eyes narrowed, and her little nose scrunched in disgust.

"I forgot you existed for a moment," she declared loudly, her voice the perfect combination of disdain and dramatic flair.

Azerion, standing rigid with his chest puffed out like he was the tiniest, most annoyed king in the world, glared at her. "Me too, but then I remembered that you shouldn’t even exist," he shot back, voice low and sharp.

I gasped in shock. "Azerion! You cannot speak like that!" I said sternly.

He turned his blue eyes on me, entirely unbothered, and shrugged. "She’s annoying," he said plainly.

I blinked. That was it. That was his entire defense? "Excuse me? You cannot just call a child annoying!" I said, voice rising. "Especially when she’s... well, being a child just like you are."

Velira, undeterred, wagged a finger at him and leaned slightly forward, her tiny horns glinting in the office light. "You’re the annoying one!" she hissed. "You’re just sniffing around the queen because you want her!"

Azerion’s chest swelled even further. He straightened to full height—or as much as a child demon can manage—and puffed like a tiny, feisty peacock. "I have marked the queen," he announced proudly, tilting his chin up as though he were presenting himself to a royal court. "She is mine already."

I doubted that, especially since there’s one other person who would argue otherwise.

Velira rolled her eyes in dramatic disgust. "Marked the queen or not," she said, voice heavy with exasperation, "it doesn’t mean you have to be around her all the time!"

Azerion’s eyes narrowed to a sharp blue sliver. "The same can be said for you," he countered, lips curling slightly. "I know exactly why you’re here. You’re just trying to seduce the queen for your mother."

Velira gasped, her hand flying to her chest like he had personally insulted her very soul. "What gave you that idea?! You’re a little boy, and you just come up with theories in your head! Do you even have a brain up there?"

I blinked, momentarily distracted.

He glared at her. "The same can be said for you. I’m sure if I looked inside your head, I’d find nothing but smoke."

Velira puffed up her chest, no longer hiding her indignation. "The smoke would be purple!" she shot back. "And if you looked further... you’d find my brain. It’s in there!"

Azerion rolled his eyes so hard I was half-convinced they were about to detach and roll across the floor. "I’m sure the brain would be tiny," he said, voice dripping with mock seriousness. "That’s why the smoke covers it. You need to work harder to improve it."

Velira stomped her tiny feet on the floor. "My brain is not tiny!" she yelled, her wings flaring for emphasis. "It’s your brain that’s tiny."

"Yours is tiny!" Azerion fired back instantly, as if he had been waiting for the perfect moment.

"No! Yours is tiny!" she countered.

"It’s yours!"

"It’s yours!"

"It’s yours!"

"It’s yours!"

The back-and-forth could have gone on for eternity, each declaration louder and more ridiculous than the last, wings flaring, feet stomping, faces scrunching. I watched, hands on my temples, feeling the first twinge of a headache creeping in.

I turned to Seraphielle, thinking she might intervene and restore some sanity. Except... she wasn’t there.

I blinked at the empty space where she had been standing. "Morthen," I said finally, voice dry, "where did Seraphielle go?"

Morthen adjusted his glasses and gave me an unhelpful shrug. "She left immediately after Sir Azerion arrived," he said.

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t surprised by that and was also thankful that she at last didn’t make an effort in seducing me today.

Rin, who had been watching the argument between the two demons, snorted. "Both of your brains are tiny," she said.

And quite loudly too.

Both Velira and Azerion turned sharply toward her, glaring like she had personally insulted their family trees. "That’s a lie!"

Velira shouted, "You’re a big meanie!"

Rin raised an eyebrow. "You were arguing with each other, and now you’re taking it out on me? Typical children with little brain behavior."

Velira huffed, clearly not impressed with Rin’s logic. Azerion puffed even more, clearly preparing to respond with some biting retort, but I could feel the tension building, and the chaos in the office had reached peak absurdity.

"Children’s behavior?" Azerion asked with a scoff. "It’s not like we are the ones who steal shiny jewels."

"You steal snacks," Rin said to the demon.

"And you steal jewelry."

"How many times do you want us to have this argument?" Rin asked Azerion. "I thought we both concluded that I only take jewelry I don’t steal?"

"Is the jewelry yours?" Velira asked Rin.

"Are all the people your parents seduce theirs?" Rin asked Velira.

The demon pouted then tilted her head to the side. "Well, I don’t know."

Azerion scoffed at that, and once more the argument between Azerion and Velira began—but this time it was because Velira did not know anything about her parents, which according to Azerion made her dumb.

But before the argument could escalate further, we heard the patter of light, quick footsteps approaching the office door.

"How many times have I told you to stop running?!" a voice called out sharply.

I knew that voice, but I couldn’t place it.

I wondered what was going to happen again. And I hoped deep down it wasn’t something that would bring me chaos or tire me out. I had only just recovered from my one-day break, after all. I needed to rest.

A child stopped at the entrance of the office, his face bright with a smile as he called Azerion in delight.

Azerion’s eyes lit up immediately. "You’re here," he said as he ran to the child.

Did I also mention there was another child with the one who just came in? No?