The NTR Hero Knelt Before the Demon King – Chapter 66

“Why is that, Hero?”

Looking at Esther… no, the Demon King, standing before me, I felt quite anxious, so I asked as casually as I could.

“I… I was just a little curious. How did you attain that appearance? I somewhat figured it out intuitively, but it seems that your current form differs quite a bit from Your Majesty’s original one.”

“Oh, is it this?”

With those words, the Demon King lightly stroked her blonde hair.

Although the question itself was improvised, I genuinely found myself questioning the Demon King’s appearance at this moment.

The Demon King, in the form of the female demon race, Estelle, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

It was not just a simple change of eye and hair color; the shape of her face and skin tone were also slightly different, not to mention her voice was noticeably different from the usual Demon King.

Honestly, while both were stunning beauties, they might as well be considered unrelated individuals at this level.

Upon hearing such a question, the Demon King smiled lightly and responded to me.

“It’s nothing extravagant. It’s merely a magical adjustment of my ability to alter my body; no matter what, I cannot change my basic skeleton…”

With that, she instantly transformed back to her original appearance and then back to Estelle; she reminded me of a chameleon changing its colors.

“Adjusting the form of my skin, the color of my hair and eyes, and the thickness of my muscles is a simple task for me. Of course, not every demon can do this—only those who have trained from a young age for emergencies can utilize such abilities.”

“I see…”

Listening to the Demon King’s story, I began to somewhat understand how she came to master this ‘transformation’ ability.

Surely, if a ruler possesses such an ability, it would make escaping from dangerous situations much easier.

Even now that the Demon Kingdom has somewhat escaped danger, it could have been quite a useful pawn if the situation had worsened due to the Racial Alliance Army.

As I nodded slowly in agreement with the current situation, the Demon King suddenly asked me.

“Um… Hero, what do you think?”

“Pardon?”

The Demon King threw a sudden question at me.

Blushing slightly out of embarrassment, she gently placed her hand on her chest and said, “What do you think of my appearance…? Is it a bit… strange?”

“Umm…”

The Demon King’s question held a hint of expectation along with her displayed embarrassment.

I immediately recognized that this question was reminiscent of how girls would dress up a little more carefully and ask, ‘How do I look?’

Such questions could easily fluctuate like and dislike with a single wrong word… Actually, it might even be a harder type than that…

I already understood that inquiries regarding appearances held more weight than one could imagine through past experiences and information.

Moreover, unlike a simple scenario of finding a wrong illustration, the fact that the Demon King was unmistakably presenting herself in a clearly different manner increased the difficulty level significantly.

To say it felt weird or awkward about a different appearance was like jumping onto the express train to oblivion.

However, if I said she looked prettier than usual, it could imply, ‘So then, does that mean I think my usual appearance is unattractive?’ which also carried significant risk in the response.

In the end, either way, it was almost as if both sides were stepping onto mines with latent dangers.

Related to this, I found myself racking my brain in a brief moment like the first time I knelt before the Demon King, trying desperately to come up with the best possible answer.

And as a result…

My answer came out, “It’s not strange at all. Although the overall atmosphere has changed, your beauty, Your Majesty, seems unshakeable.”

“Re-Really?… Well… that’s a relief…”

I managed to divert the subject towards a subject like ‘fundamental beauty’ while maintaining neutrality in my response.

Fortunately, the Demon King began to display a noticeably joyful expression, her face flushing further… and at the same time, I couldn’t help but internally let out a sigh of relief.

*

“Hmm…?”

Eliza, wearing a serious expression, was looking around in the center of the banquet hall.

At the same time, Rebecca, who stood next to her, expressed slight concern and spoke in a cautious voice.

“It’s strange; I feel like the Commander is nowhere to be seen.”

“You too? I can’t see him at all either.”

Eliza, due to her patrol duties as a member of the Elite Guard, had to make a round around the royal castle since the beginning of the banquet.

After completing that, she arrived here in her pre-prepared dress, yet she couldn’t spot the Hero no matter how thoroughly she looked.

And this was the same for Rebecca, who happened to wake up late and arrived late to the banquet, being forced to accompany Eliza.

‘The Commander couldn’t have overslept like I did… Where could he have gone?’

No matter how hard they looked around, the Hero was nowhere to be seen.

And shortly after, an automatic fact began to emerge in both of their minds related to this moment.

“…Um… Eliza? Could it be…?”

“You… you were thinking the same thing? What a coincidence… I was too…”

A man who disappeared without a trace in the extravagant and noisy banquet hall.

Not just for a casual trip to the restroom, but for more than 20 minutes without a sight, the only thought that could possibly arise was one.

“It must be a secret meeting…”

“It’s definitely a secret meeting… without a doubt…”

The Hero, likely bustling with the woman who had made that confession somewhere within this royal castle.

In relation to this, Eliza began to feel a surge of anger as if fire lit up in her eyes and spoke in a fierce tone.

“Let’s go find them. Rebecca. And Amelda.”

“Yes? Ah… yes, understood.”

“I shall obey. My Lord.”

While Rebecca appeared slightly flustered but complied, and Dark Elf Amelda replied with a voice full of loyalty.

Just as the three of them were about to leave the banquet hall…

“! Ah… Nyadan.”

“huh?”

Eliza’s gaze caught sight of someone as she was about to exit the banquet hall.

Unlike most people in dresses, she was wearing striking golden armor, complete with a helmet, and responded immediately to Eliza’s words.

“Eliza, what is it?”

“Didn’t the Hero come to the banquet today?”

“He did. I saw him talking with Belze earlier.”

“I… I see. Do you perhaps know where he might have gone now?”

“Not at all.”

“Hmm…”

Nyadan responded with a slightly dry voice to Eliza’s somewhat vague tone.

It would have been nice to at least know who the Hero went with and in which direction, but it seemed like Nyadan had no idea regarding this matter either.

As Eliza’s inner anxiety began to intensify at this moment…

“…By the way, Nyadan. Is it possible…?”

In the next moment, Eliza cautiously asked a name that suddenly popped into her mind…

The name of the person also not present at this event.

In response, Nyadan mechanically answered back to Eliza without much thought.

“Same here. That person was visible at first but is now nowhere to be found.”

“Ugh…”

Eliza grimaced slightly at Nyadan’s words.

However, right after, she wiped that expression off her face as quickly as possible and put on her usual mask of composure.

“Got it. Thank you, Nyadan. Keep up the guard duty.”

“Good work.”

After obtaining additional information through a ‘friend’, Eliza began to feel a deeper anxiety and immediately started to look around within the royal castle.

Meanwhile, following her lead, Rebecca had a complicated expression that was hard to describe.

“Um… excuse me, Eliza. Do you really think that person is the one who became the Commander’s lover?”

“…I can’t say for sure. But I see a considerable possibility.”

“B-but if that’s true, even for Eliza…”

“I don’t know, just find him for now. This is just a suspicion. I can’t be certain about anything yet.”

Suppressing her complicated feelings, Eliza spoke.

Seeing her, Rebecca could only shut her mouth, unable to say anything further.

At that moment…

“!”

“Ah…”

In the next moment, Eliza and Rebecca suddenly stopped in their tracks, along with Amelda.

Before them stood the exact person that Eliza had been looking for.

For some reason looking a bit disheveled, her face slightly flushed.

While it was unclear what had just occurred, the moment she saw Eliza, she spoke with a hint of embarrassment.

“Um… dear daughter, what are you doing here?”

“Mother…”