I Just Wanted A Soft Life, Not A Demon Husband

Chapter 39: What Work? I Am Engaged to the Demon King, I Couldn’t Possibly Be Working

Dinner thankfully went peaceful and without worries after that. I ate to my heart’s content and when I was done, I left, had a quick bath, and collapsed on this bed I was sure was the representation of clouds.

All thoughts about Zorathys killing me evaporated out of my head. It was like I never even had the thought at all. I tell you, I’m a brave woman after all. Even though I was scared of him killing me, I still defended three demons, heh, I’ve almost gotten this thing down perfectly.

Immediately my head touched the pillow, I conked out. And I’m sure if this world was ending, I wouldn’t even be aware because of how deep and peaceful I slept. There’s just something about the right bed that can make all your worries disappear. I even wondered if this bed had a hidden massaging function because my muscles all felt relaxed.

This is the life I want. This is the life I was bound to live, and I didn’t even need to pursue it, it found me all on its own. I attract good fortune after all.

I mean, apart from the fact that things are always different with me and that I disgraced myself numerous times in college—one where I was literally just walking and all of a sudden I fell and everyone saw my undies, or when my crush rejected me in front of half the class when we were in high school, or that I had a boss in my past life who almost killed me, a father in this life who would rather I go to the demon realm than just pay his fucking debts... okay, now that I’m saying this out loud, I have rotten luck. And now I’m wondering if good fortune has really found me or if this is all going to evaporate the same way my worry with Zorathys evaporated.

...

...

...

Who even cares? That’s a worry for another day or year.

I curled around my pillow like a lazy cat as I sighed deeply. This wasn’t Aelthryn, no one was going to wake me to dress up just because my father made it a rule that no person in the royal family should be asleep at the crack of dawn. This was the demon realm, and I could sleep as long as I—

Someone knocked at the door.

I paused, my eyes still closed as I wondered if maybe I had heard that wrongly, because there was no way someone was knocking at my door, right? It wasn’t possible, so I ignored it. But the knock sounded again, louder this time, and I ignored it because absolutely no one was going to disrupt my sleep, especially when it wasn’t even time to wake up.

"Your Highness," Vaelory’s voice floated through the door, painfully bright for someone who probably hadn’t even yawned yet this morning. "I need to start getting you dressed. I was briefed yesterday that you would start working together."

Briefed how? From what I was told, she had collapsed numerous times when she saw Rin and Versha.

I groaned into my pillow like a dying creature.

"Go awaaay," I said out loud, muffled by fabric.

I rolled over and buried my face deeper. If I ignored her hard enough, perhaps she would simply dissolve.

"But I cannot do that, Your Highness. We cannot have you slacking around and being labeled as a lazy person in this realm. You must get up," she told me.

"There’s no way I could possibly be working. I’m engaged to the Demon King, remember? What work could I possibly be doing that would require you to wake me up by this..." I cracked my eyes open and was met with darkness.

Wait a damn minute—was it still nighttime? Was Vaelory waking me up at nighttime?

As I pondered on that, I watched as a black raven perched on the windowsill. The raven looked familiar, and so I wasn’t even shocked when it transformed into Rin.

"Oh, you are awake, my lady," she said with a smile on her pale face. "I was already coming up with ways on how I was going to wake you up, and I concluded that I’d threaten you with eating your hair because it’s shiny... do you think that maybe you can give me one strand so I can add it to my collection?" she asked me.

I gave her a dumb look. There was no thank you for yesterday when I had faced Zorathys because of her, Marrok, and Versha. It was like what happened yesterday didn’t even exist at all, like she had forgotten all about it entirely and had decided to move on.

"Rin, I’m not giving you my hair," I told her.

She frowned. "But why? I was told if I asked calmly like this that you would likely give it to me."

I frowned. "And who told you that? Marrok and Versha?"

"No, my siblings."

Oh, she has siblings. She has siblings? I turned to her sharply.

"You have siblings?!"

"Of course I do. I also have cousins and uncles and aunts. I’m just one of the numerous raven demons in the realm," she told me.

I shook my head in disbelief. I could only imagine how difficult it would be to be in the midst of all the other demons from her family.

"Rin?" I called out.

"Yes, do I get to have your—"

"No." I shut that down before she could even finish the sentence, and she pouted, but it looked more like she was planning to kill me... at least if I didn’t look closely, I wouldn’t know that she was pouting and not plotting my murder.

"It’s still dark outside," I told her. "Why am I being woken up at this time?"

"Oh, it’s dark because it’s still the early hours of the morning. It’s just around five."

Five a.m.

Five in the morning.

Five fucking a.m.

"If it’s still five, then why did you wake me?" I asked her.

"Because we need to get you dressed. Your work starts today, and the earlier the better," she told me.

"What work?" I asked her.

"Work that every partner of the Demon King does in the castle," she replied.

Just then, Vaelory spoke up again. "Your Highness, are you awake? Can I come in now? We need to get you dressed. I know you like sleeping in but—"

I had no idea what she even said; I just told Rin to open the door and let her in.

Rin opened the door and I paused, because there was no way what I was seeing was real, right? It couldn’t be. I had no idea if I should laugh or... laugh.

Vaelory gave Rin a weary look as she tiptoed into the room. She looked like she was ready for war which, I kid you not, from what I saw, she’d likely be the first to die.

Her hair was in her normal tight bun. She wore her normal maid uniform—the one she brought with her from Aelthryn—but that’s where the normalcy ended.

Across her chest, she had strapped a piece of gleaming metal armor—thin but undeniably sturdy. It hugged her uniform like a ceremonial breastplate.

On her arms were little metal guards, polished to a shine.

In her hands, she clutched a stick, absolutely held in a way that suggested she planned to smack someone with it if they startled her.

And on her face—

Oh gods.

On her face was a mask.

A shiny, silver, full-eye metal visor that covered her eyes like she was about to walk onto a battlefield—or a masquerade ball designed by someone who failed to understand subtlety.

My jaw dropped.

Rin tilted her head with mild interest, the same way she looked at anything shiny or edible.

I stared.

Vaelory stared back, perfectly serious, perfectly prepared, like she was waiting for my approval.

Finally, I found my voice.

"What," I asked slowly, "are you doing?"