Demon King – Chapter 297 – Feelings To Be Cultivated

“Eiru, I like you…” Yuki’s small but firm voice echoed across the rooftop of the boys’ dorm.

“You, you, you, you… what are you even saying?!” This unexpected declaration scared the girl out of her wits, and she began to doubt whether her ears had malfunctioned or she had misheard.

“I! Like! You! Can you go out with me? Will you be my girlfriend?” Yuki looked at her seriously, without any trace of a joke in his eyes.

“You, you, you? You like me?!! Are you alright? I’m your brother! How could you have that kind of thought about me!” The Demon Lord panicked as her tail flailed wildly behind her, perfectly showing her nervous and uneasy state.

“I get it! You must be rehearsing with me… you just want to practice confessing so you won’t be nervous when the time comes, right?!”

Hearing the strange remark, Yuki sighed as he held his forehead with one hand. Seeing his reaction, Eiru thought she had guessed right…

But before she could let out a sigh of relief, Yuki once again placed his hand on her shoulder, regaining his serious expression.

“I like you, Eiru… the romantic kind, the kind where I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So can you go out with me and be my girlfriend?”

Since you don’t believe me, I’ll just say it again. No matter how many times it takes, I’ll say it until you believe me—if you just give up here, why try at all?

“You… mean it?” No matter how she tried to avoid it, Eiru could no longer escape the reality before her—her best brother, her best friend, had confessed his love to her under the moonlight.

“I mean it. It’s always been you, it’s only ever been you…” Yuki wanted so badly to pull her into his arms, but it wasn’t the time yet. Whether acceptance or rejection, he at least had to hear her answer first…

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“So… the girl you kept mentioning, the one you liked… it’s always been me?” Eiru felt unreal. Her best friend had loved her all along? That was too melodramatic!

“Yes.”

“But… I, I used to be a boy, right? ¹ That’s even better! :chiiunderstand: How could you have those kinds of feelings for a boy?” This was one of the things Eiru couldn’t accept the most. Did her best friend have his eye on her even before her loli transformation?

Thinking of that, Her Majesty the Demon Lord felt a chill and shivered involuntarily.

“When I fell for you, I didn’t actually know you were Lu Brat… so don’t overthink weird things.” Seeing her reaction, Yuki guessed what kind of nonsense she was imagining, and could only smile awkwardly to explain.

“But the fact that I used to be a boy doesn’t change.” Eiru still found it hard to believe. “Not to mention I can even change back! You really don’t have any hang-ups about that?”

“If you had told me the truth at the very beginning, maybe I would’ve had some… but you’ve been with me looking like this for two or three years already, so I can completely accept it.”

“No matter if you used to be male or female, right now you’re a girl. Maybe you think you’re rough and nothing like a girl, but I think you’re the cutest girl in the world…”

“You might have leftover boyish thoughts and habits as you act carefree every day, you might have a rather straight-laced outlook… but in my eyes, those are exactly what makes you so uniquely cute, and it’s that contrast that’s incredibly endearing…” Yuki gently brushed aside a strand of silver hair from her cheek with his eyes full of affection and admiration.

“Then when… did you start liking me?” Eiru’s body trembled, even now she still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

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“From the first time I saw you, I was drawn to you. Then as we spent time together, I realized I liked you… and when I learned you were Lu Brat, I was so happy I almost went crazy.” Yuki couldn’t hold back anymore, he grabbed her and lifted her into a princess carry.

“Hey, you’re acting weird… why were you even happier after finding out? Normally if you found out the person you like used to be a boy…” Even as she said this, Her Majesty didn’t show any signs of rejecting him.

“Wait a second, you don’t mean…?” The little Demon Lord’s face changed, realizing a very wrong possibility.

“Don’t imagine nonsense. You don’t know how important you are to me… whether as Lu Brat or Little Lu. And honestly, a big part of why I fell for you was because you felt so much like Lu Brat back then…” Yuki could see exactly what she was imagining and gave her waist a playful squeeze, explaining.

“If not for you back then, I might not even be here anymore… to me, you’re the most important person in my heart.”

“And when I learned you were both the same person, I was happy because it meant I had a chance to develop our relationship further… a chance for us to be together forever.” Holding the small body in his arms, Yuki spoke from the heart the words he had hidden for years.

“So… will you go out with me and be my girlfriend? Lu Brat…” The boy looked at the girl in his arms with deep sincerity, the silver of her hair glistening under the moonlight and stars, making the scene look like a beautiful painting.

“Stupid Yuki… I’m sorry, but honestly I don’t have romantic feelings for you.” The little Demon Lord patted his hand, signaling him to put her down before floating back into the air. ² Welp, there’s that. Ship’s over. RIP the novel. Show’s over. Ciao.

“I told you before what I think about romance. If I rashly agreed just like that, it would be irresponsible to both of us… after all, we might not even be able to walk to the end together.” The usually mischievous girl gazed at the night sky as she spoke in an uncharacteristically calm manner.

“So…” Eiru lowered her head, looking like she wanted to say more.

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“I understand.” Her meaning couldn’t be clearer, and Yuki wasn’t surprised. He had already prepared himself for rejection… or rather, he hadn’t expected her to agree so easily in the first place.

After pouring out his heart, he felt unexpectedly calm inside. He wasn’t at all weighed down as he imagined. Which made sense… he had said what he needed to and left no regrets, so there was nothing to linger about.

“Alright, let’s head back… thanks for listening to me.” Yuki returned to his usual self, patting his dazed best friend before stepping towards the stairwell.

Translator Note

Welp, I guess that’s that. I wonder who the real male lead of this novel is? Maybe it was meant to be Jiaqi from the beginning, or maybe this novel actually needs a Yuri tag? Or maybe it was actually one of the roommates all along. Hmmmmmm… Or maybe we have to resolve Eiya’s issues, as well as Eiru’s lifespan issues before their relationship can actually proceed.

“But…” Just a few steps later, Yuki felt his hand being grabbed. As he turned back, he saw a girl’s face twisted with indecision.

“Not everyone is lucky enough to have someone they like reciprocate their feellings… Even if I don’t feel the same way yet, I can’t just deny you a chance, can I?”

“And at least unlike Yueyue, you can accept the fact that I used to be a boy… Since you like me, I have to respond to your feelings somehow.”

“You mean…” Like a spark in darkness, after hearing her words, Yuki felt a surge of hope.

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“Just chasing after what you like while ignoring those who like you will surely lead to regrets and potentially even the loss of true love, right?”

“Many couples didn’t start out liking each other either. Giving someone else a chance is also giving yourself one…” Taking a deep breath, Eiru blushed, as if making a huge decision. Under Yuki’s hopeful gaze, she spoke…

“Feelings can be slowly cultivated too… we can try dating first, but whether I’ll end up liking you, that depends on your own effort.”

“So… I’m saying yes.” Tilting her cute little head with her face flushed under the moonlight, the little Demon Lord showed Yuki a gentle smile.

“I will! I definitely will! I love you! Lu Brat!” Overjoyed, Yuki hugged the shy silver-haired girl tightly… he was so excited he was on the verge of tears.

“Hey! Don’t just suddenly hug me like that! You idiot!”

Under the night sky’s witness, a strange yet oddly fitting new couple was born…

Translator Note

Did any of you panic from my fakeout? Hehe…