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It\'s been over a year since I first met Roswyn.

"Of course it\'s me! Codename Mademoiselle!"

"Here we go again."

"As the informant and hidden hero of the great Hero Frey, and Ms. Ruby\'s strongest confidant..."

"Please, drop that childish pose. And while you\'re at it, stop using the cringy codename too."

"B-but... it\'s cool!"

"Sigh."

Once again, she was up to her usual nonsense. Ever since the day we met, she has been following me around. After enrolling in the academy, she even appointed herself as my assistant.

Of course, since she was \'self-appointed,\' she was not very skilled.

Even her supposed specialty, gathering information, seemed to be secretly aided by Frey.

But if she liked it, what could I do? I had no choice but to let her do as she pleased.

"How about you choose a codename too, Ms. Ruby? Every hero should have one, you know."

Today, she was really pushing her luck.

Was she asking to get hit?

"Drop it. Spare me the embarrassment. Besides, I\'m not a hero."

"What?"

As I cringed at her naming sense, Roswyn looked at me in disbelief.

"If Ms. Ruby isn\'t a hero, then who is?"

"...?"

"Don\'t play dumb! Just think about all the incidents you\'ve solved with Lord Frey over the past year."

Roswyn began flipping through a notebook she pulled from her pocket.

"Let\'s see... Before I enrolled, you stopped the freshman welcome party and canceled the horrible tradition, resolved the commoner dormitory raid, dealt with the Holy Undead incident, and even liberated the slave market. There\'s no place you haven\'t intervened."

"..."

"And you even rescued that fox beastman with Frey, and raised her at the academy."

"No, it\'s not raising..."

"And just before Frey became student council president, you led the freshmen to safety during the Erosion Incident. And then..."

"...Enough."

Hearing it all laid out like that, I did sound like a hero.

But I\'m not a hero—I\'m the Demon King.

Could it be that others see me as a hero too? That would be troublesome...

"Hmm... Are you going for the \'lonely hero who believes they are evil\' concept? That\'s cool too!"

"Just be quiet."

"Mmph! Mmmbph!"

As I held my throbbing head and thought about it, I clamped my hand over Roswyn\'s mouth and squinted at her.

"Frey! Something seems different about you lately!"

"You look even cooler."

"Right, right!"

Frey, looking somewhat tired, was surrounded by female students as he headed somewhere.

"It\'s those guys again."

Upon closer inspection, they were the fan club led by the girls he recently saved: Aishi and Alice.

"...Haha, it\'s nothing."

To me, they seemed like a bunch of troublemakers. Despite looking exhausted, Frey still answered them dutifully.

"Just had to change my perspective."

"...Hmm."

"I\'m almost done changing it."

\'Changing perspective,\' again with that line.

He\'s been saying that every day for the past year. No matter how much I asked, he never explained what he meant.

It really started to get on my nerves.

"Um… Ms. Ruby. May I offer some advice?"

As I stared at him with a slightly bitter expression, Roswyn whispered in a low voice.

What is it now?

"No."

"There\'s no point in regretting it after it\'s too late."

Shaking my head at her, Roswyn, for some reason, continued with a serious expression.

"So, before it\'s too late, why don\'t you just admit your feelings?"

"..."

"And then confess! Eek!"

Blushing, Roswyn said that and then, snapping back to reality, pulled out a silver flower from her pocket.

"Right, I haven\'t confessed yet today."

"…You\'ll just fail spectacularly again today, won\'t you?"

"Isn\'t it better to try and fail than not to try at all, like you, Ms. Ruby?"

Roswyn answered my blunt remark and started waving the flower as she ran towards Frey.

"Then, I\'ll be taking Lord Frey~"

"..."

"Lord Frey~ Here’s a may lily...!"

"A confession, huh..."

Watching her cheerfully hand the flower to Frey, who accepted it with a bright smile, I mumbled to myself before shaking my head.

"What am I thinking?"

It was time to let the kitten go.

Though Lulu has long since recovered, the awakening of my Demon King traits continued to haunt me, and the discontent among the Demon King\'s Army has become impossible to ignore.

So, it would be best for an unwanted guest like me to step aside.

Yes, it had to be done.

That was what I should do…

But...

"..."

Should I try just once, for fun?

"...Damn it."

With that thought, I began writing a confession letter as a joke. However, when I came to my senses, I found myself sitting at my dormitory desk, having stayed up all night.

I\'ll be your precious gem, Frey.

"I\'ve already planned the gift, but this is the only sentence that matches..."

Due to my lack of creativity, a single sentence was all I could come up with for the letter. Even for me, this was pathetic.

"What an annoying brat..."

For some reason, I felt a surge of anger.

While I was here doing this foolishness, he was probably out there laughing with the girls. Maybe he even did something more.

"...Sigh."

Letting out a deep sigh, I slumped over my desk, feeling the fatigue wash over me.

It was a holiday, so I guess I could take a nap.

Maybe I could close my eyes for just a moment.

I\'m supposed to have lunch with Frey today, after all.

Just for a little while…

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"Finally, we meet, Ruby."

"...?"

When I opened my eyes, a sinister-looking woman stood before me.

Who was this? This felt too real to be a dream.

"Do you really not know who I am?"

"I\'ve never seen you before, so how could I..."

I trailed off, my expression hardening as I looked at her smug face.

The voice was the same.

Since the moment I awakened my powers as the Demon King years ago, this voice has constantly urged me toward corruption.

The owner of that voice now stood before me.

"The Demon God...?"

"See? You know who I am."

I learned from my father about the Demon King\'s duties. When the time comes, the entity known as the \'Demon God\' would appear before the Demon King.

"Why are you here?"

"Why else? You haven\'t been fulfilling your duties as the Demon King, so here I am."

I frowned slightly as I asked, and the Demon God whispered coldly.

"My patience has its limits, you know?"

"And what if I refuse my duties?"

"Hah, you say the most outrageous things."

I responded with an equally cold expression, but her reply was a voice laced with mockery.

"You are free to refuse your duties. But your Hero boyfriend won\'t refuse his."

"What are you talking about..."

"If you don\'t fulfill your duties as the Demon King, starting today, Frey will begin to suffer horribly."

"...!"

I tried to hide my emotions, but my eyes betrayed me when she mentioned his name.

"You know well that the Demon King and the Hero are bound by fate. Simply running away won\'t solve anything."

"..."

"In the end, one of you must die, and that’s your destiny."

The Demon God covered her mouth with her hand and laughed quietly.

"Since that\'s the case, wouldn\'t it be better for you to end it cleanly? If you hate it so much, you could sacrifice yourself."

That eye seems to be the source of her power...

The black eye drawn on her hand caught my attention. If I could just attack it, I might win...

"Where do you think you\'re going?"

"Ugh."

Thinking that, I tried to move, but with a single gesture from the Demon God, I was forced to my knees on the ground.

...She\'s strong.

Her own strength didn\'t seem all that impressive. But the power emanating from that eye was overwhelming.

"Are you watching, O Great One...?"

"Ugh..."

"I don\'t know exactly what you are, but I promise to show you even more delightful scenes. So, grant me even more power..."

"...What do I have to do?"

The Demon God, who had been murmuring to herself while stroking her hand, finally looked at me.

"I\'ve told you many times, fulfill your duties as the Demon King."

"..."

"It\'s not difficult, is it? Just close your eyes and do it. Well then, goodbye."

With those words, she disappeared before my eyes in an instant.

"Huff, huff..."

When I came to my senses, I was back at my dormitory desk.

"..."

My whole body was drenched in cold sweat. I wanted to dismiss it as just a bad dream, but the wound on my knee said otherwise.

"Damn it."

Lunchtime, when I had promised to meet Frey after a long time, had already passed.

"Damn it all..."

I clenched my lips tightly and tried to stand up, but as I looked at the letter on the desk, I closed my eyes tightly.

- Drip...

Tears flowed from my eyes.

It was too late.

Far too late.

Too late to speak my true feelings, to confess, to spend time together as real lovers.

"Ugh, uh..."

I finally realized my feelings.

No, actually, I realized them a long time ago. I just hadn\'t acknowledged them until now.

Why did I do that? Now that everything was too late, I am filled with nothing but regret.

I\'ll be your precious gem, Frey.

I love you.

I added the words I should have said long ago beneath the sentence I had agonized over all night.

"This isn\'t enough..."

I mustered a little more courage.

- Thump...!

It was so easy.

- Thump, thump...

Why couldn\'t I do this until now?

Is there still time?

The thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Before graduating from the academy. Just until then, couldn’t we spend that time as lovers?

If we could do that, I could face my end without any regrets.

"Lord Demon King, there\'s a big problem!!!"

"Speaking in human language... What\'s gotten into you, speaking like that?"

While I was lost in these thoughts, my familiar, a crow, flew in and raised its voice.

What could it be? I never saw it so agitated...

"A rebellion!"

"What?"

"Some extremists, led by Dmir Khan and Lemerno, have defied your orders and launched an attack on the academy!"

"...!"

Hearing those words, I hurriedly pulled back the curtain, and the sight before me was horrifying.

- Crackle...!

"As expected of the Hero... He\'s quite something."

Frey, covered in blood and gravely wounded, was locked in a deadly struggle with Dmir Khan.

- Rumble, rumble...

The academy\'s sports field was burning horribly in the background.

"Damn it."

Without a moment to think, I opened the window and jumped out.

"...Hmm."

The academy students were safe, at least for now.

All the academy students were trembling in fear, using Frey, who was barely holding on, as the last line of defense.

"Frey!! We\'ll help..."

"No!!!"

Serena and a few other students tried to join the fight, but Frey screamed at them to stay back.

He must know the difference in power between them and Dmir Khan.

"..."

Anyway, the time has come.

The time for farewell.

I wanted to play a love game with him, even just a little.

What a shame.

"Ruby, Ruby is here! Finally, Ruby has arrived!"

"Alright! Now we have a chance!"

"Long live Ruby!!"

Sorry, Frey.

Even though I had to fall into darkness and corruption without conveying the words I wanted to say.

But I wouldn’t forget my feelings for you.

- Swooshhh...

"...Ruby?"

"Huh, wha...?"

"The Demon... King?"

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- Swoooshh...

A few hours later.

"Cough, cough..."

"The fun with you guys ends here. As of today, I officially declare that the Demon King has descended upon the Empire and this world."

Ruby, shedding her clone form and appearing in her mature, true body, exuded a terrifying killing intent as she made the declaration.

"Woaaaah!!"

"The Demon King has finally awakened!!"

"Long live Ruby!!"

The Demon King\'s Army began to cheer.

"This can\'t be happening..."

"Ruby... the Demon King? Why...?"

"This can\'t be real... it\'s a trap by the enemies."

The students lay on the ground helpless, their expressions painted with utter despair.

"Ruby..."

"How does it feel to have been played by me all this time?"

Accepting her fate as the Demon King, Ruby stepped on Frey, who was lying in front of her.

"You were used by me all this time. Foolish brat."

"..."

"Your lack of reaction is boring. Let\'s end this now."

Hearing those words, Frey slowly turned his head to the side and closed his eyes.

"..."

A heavy silence descended on the battlefield.

"...H-Hmm."

Even after quite a while had passed, Frey\'s head did not get crushed.

"Ruby?"

Frey, who was quietly resting his cheek against her foot, cautiously asked her a question.

"Could it be, your consciousness–?"

"Retreat."

Looking down at him quietly, Ruby cut him off before suddenly turning around and making an explosive announcement.

"Demon King! You can\'t! That guy is the Hero...!"

"You must end his life here. So..."

"Wouldn\'t that be boring?"

"..."

Dmir Khan and Lemerno, who had been panicking at her words, were left speechless by what she said next.

"I hate boredom. I want excitement. I want to see the Hero struggle endlessly in that futile hope."

"But..."

"Retreat!! The Demon King\'s Army is to follow my command!!"

Before anyone could argue, Ruby\'s authoritative command was issued to the entire Demon King\'s Army.

"...Understood."

No one dared to defy Ruby\'s command, who had truly become the Demon King.

A few minutes later, the Demon King\'s army, which had left the academy in a half-destroyed state, had completely vanished.

It was a somewhat anticlimactic end to what was called the \'Siege of the Academy’.

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- Step, step...

Now with a completely broken expression, his tears long dried up, the real Frey quietly walked forward.

- Swoosh...

His transparent form led him to the very room where Ruby had been just moments before.

"As I thought."

There were the memories of himself, the heroines, and everyone Ruby had ever helped.

"Ruby..."

"She..."

What they were looking at was a letter stained with tear marks, filled with numerous writing and erasing marks.

"Ruby hasn\'t completely fallen."

Memory Frey, gently stroking the letter, looked around and spoke.

"Just as I resist my fate with my mind control, she is resisting her fate in her own way."

"Then..."

"It means there\'s still hope."

Saying that, memory Frey stepped out of the room.

"I need to recruit a Hero Party from today."

"A Hero Party?"

"Are you planning to fight Ruby?"

He stopped walking and smiled softly.

"No, not to fight, but to reach her."

"To reach her, and then what?"

Crying over Ruby\'s fall, Roswyn urgently asked, and Frey gently patted her as he whispered.

"Don\'t worry, I\'ll figure it out."

"That\'s not the issue...!!"

"... You just need to change your perspective."

As soon as he said that, the world flipped.

"..."

Then suddenly, the real Frey, still with a soulless and empty expression, saw the Demon King\'s Castle appear before him.

"Arghhhhhh!!"

- Crash, crackle...!

- Rumble, rumble...!!

The Hero Party and the Demon King\'s Army clashed fiercely.

It seemed that the moment of the \'final battle\' had begun.

- Sizzle, sizzle...

"...?"

Despite his vacant stare, Frey felt a presence next to him and turned his head.

"Oh."

After a long silence, Frey finally spoke.

"...Ruby?"

"Hmph."

Through the crack that appeared before him, Ruby walked towards him.

"I thought you were having too hard of a time... so I came to watch with you."

She looked as if her soul might extinguish at any moment.

"Why do you look so downcast?"

"Ruby..."

"Don\'t be a wuss."

The soft gaze of the girl started to fill the hollow eyes of the boy.