Her Majesty Stayed Over

The central demon conference was a meeting where the royal family, all the ministers, and other demons of great influence came together in the same hall.

This conference took place once every three years and, by some definitions, was the single most important event in demon politics.

It was here that the demons’ future and goals would be decided.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture had proposed a project that would transform a vast wasteland into arable land. As expensive as it was, it would need the permission of this conference in order to proceed.

As the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture, I watched the conference with enthusiasm.

This project was inevitable for the demons’ agricultural policy!

I would have it approved, no matter what!

In the end—

“In regard to the Ministry of Agriculture’s proposal, I think it’s fine. I doubt there are any objections, hmm~? ”

—with an easygoing tone, Her Majesty let it pass like a breeze.

Fatla leaned over and whispered to me, “Many people think of you as Her Majesty’s favorite, Lady Beelzebub. No one will go out of their way to say no.”

“I believe I am more of a favorite toy…”

Though I would still be grateful for the demon king lending me her power, even if indirectly.

The conference proceeded smoothly afterward. Eventually, it became time to talk about the events Her Majesty would be involved in. Whether it was in public or private, everything she did held great meaning.

“I would like to carry out a few royal visitations. It’s been ever so long, ” she said.

To put it simply, a royal visitation was when Her Majesty would come to the homes of important political figures and have them entertain her.

Though the hosts did need to spend money, a visitation had been considered a great honor throughout demon history.

And since only the most powerful nobles with money, land, and pedigree ever hosted, the visit would not create any economic burden.

Well, I was certain such an honor would never fall upon an upstart noble such as—

“This time, I would like to stay at Miss Beelzebub’s house~ ”

Everyone present at the meeting turned to look at me.

“Whaaaaat?!”

This felt…exactly the same as when I was made minister…

The powerful nobles started protesting immediately.

“Your Majesty, if I may, the houses that are generally made a part of the royal visitation have been established through a long tradition…”

“Oh, it’s all right~ Precedent is meant to be overturned~ ”

“No, I also think that this is impossible!”

I turned her down as well. I did not want to get swallowed up in another one of her schemes.

And my manor…was a mess.

It was not as though the rooms I typically used were full of garbage, no. I had grown a bit since I was at the bottom of the ladder.

But I did not even enter rooms that fell outside my living space, so they were all filled with dust…

What else should I have done? I did not have a single servant to my name, so I had no use for this mansion I had been given. If I were to use every space on my own, then I would end up cleaning all day, every day. So I decided to live within a limited number of rooms on the first floor.

Of course, I had done nothing to care for the massive garden, either. I could not even begin to name what sorts of plants and animals were living there now. From my window, all I could see was a dense forest.

A royal visitation was a proper event; it would not be over with a quick five-minute chat at the front door. Manners dictated that the host guide the demon king through the manor, prepare a meal, and even show her around the garden.

I could never do such a thing!

And so I would not let her settle on this.

“Your Majesty, my abode is an embarrassment compared with the noble houses of old. I appreciate the offer, but I must decline…”

“Hmm, I see. I suppose it’s your prerogative.”

Oh, that was easier than I thought.

“By the way, I’ve realized there might be a problem with the Ministry of Agriculture’s project after all, so I may have to reconsider it~”

She was taking the ministry project hostage!

Her Majesty was grinning.

Oh. Once she decided something was going to happen, she was going to make it happen at any cost. I knew my fate.

“Y-yes, Your Majesty…,” I said weakly.

Countless staff members of the Ministry of Agriculture had ceded so much of their time for this project. If I had to sacrifice myself to save it, then so be it!

Once the conference was over, Fatla tapped me on the shoulder to encourage me.

“Lady Beelzebub, you made a wise decision.”

“Decisions begin and end quickly. What happens next is the problem…”

Even when the date for the royal visitation was set, I felt no motivation to make any preparations. They meant nothing at this point.

The cleaning, I could manage. But the rest of the hosting duties required manpower, and that I did not have. I could not hire amateur extras, either. I needed a whole roster of people knowledgeable in etiquette; otherwise, they could not even participate.

But the people I was considering were all employed by the pedigreed nobles, and I would never be allowed to borrow them.

And so my only choice was to wait for Her Majesty, empty-handed…

It would be an embarrassment, but it was not a sin. I would accept the shame.

Almost three weeks until my moment of disgrace…

Fate, however, was on my side. About ten days before the visitation, something happened.

“Boss, boss! This is bad!”

Vania, who had gone to deliver some documents to other departments, came running back into the office.

“Must you make so much noise?”

“Her Majesty is sick with the stubborn demon cold!”

The stubborn demon cold was a mild but irritating illness whose symptoms lasted for a whole month.

“All the events on her calendar for the next month have been canceled!”

“Yesss!”

There was nothing more disrespectful than cheering for the demon king being sick, but that was how I honestly felt. Even the demon king could fall ill, and how grateful I was for that!

“Now the visitation will be called off!”

“But you know how Her Majesty is, Lady Beelzebub. She may come to visit once she’s better.”

Fatla reminded me the world was not as kind as I thought it was. I had already considered that, of course.

“She has already given us permission for our wasteland-to-farmland project! She may be a royal, but she cannot go back in time and retract her approval! We have no hostage to worry about anymore!”

It was as though a test one did not study for was suddenly canceled.

When Her Majesty was feeling better, I would accompany her shopping or something similar.

On the day the visit was originally scheduled for, I went to work as normal and returned home as normal.

I entered my room and splayed out over the bed, stretching my arms and legs.

“Ahhh, what a wonderful thing to keep all the work I am spearheading.”

Perhaps I would laze about for the rest of the day, take a bath, and go to sleep. It felt like receiving paid time off. If the visitation were to have happened today, I could have easily spent another twenty hours cleaning on top of my office work.

However, when I was in bed and reading a book—

Klang, klang.

—the bell rang to signify a guest had arrived, echoing especially loud in the night.

I glanced at the clock to see it was nine.

“Who could it be…? Solicitations at night are illegal.”

Dubiously, I went out to the gate, and—

“Why are you here, Your Majesty?!”

—the visitor was unmistakably the demon king, though she was hiding her identity with a hood.

“Cough, cough… Today is the day of the visita—I mean, of our sleepover, though…”

“Your cold has not gotten any better at all!”

Her Majesty tried to force herself to smile, but she was too unwell; the smile came out strained.

“Oh, I know I’m…cough…sick…”

In the end, I brought Her Majesty to my bedroom.

I had no other rooms with a bed. Strictly speaking, there were other rooms within the manor that did count as guest rooms, but there was enough dust in them to make a healthy person sick.

I laid her down in the bed. She was sweating, but I had a feeling that the best way to go about this was to warm her up and let her sweat it out. I pulled up the covers as well.

“I feel all dizzy just coming this way~”

“Of course you do. ’Tis what happens when you walk around outside while ill.”

I placed the wet towel I had prepared over her forehead.

“But I believe this could be an opportunity on its own…” Exhausted, the demon king smiled.

“For what? An opportunity to worsen your cold, perhaps.”

“My candidate for the role of my elder sister will be taking care of me, that’s what~ Eh-heh-heh…”

Then I realized why I had been chosen for the visitation.

“The little-sister figure sleeping over at the big-sister figure’s house—so that’s what you wanted to do.”

“Yes, yes. I see you know well~”

I was appalled. I cannot believe I was so anxious over something so insignificant.

“Allow me to confirm just one thing, Your Majesty, but do the people at the castle know about this? You have not simply left of your own accord, have you?”

“They do. I made an excuse that I had to run an errand~”

So her errand was coming here to rest, was it?

She was always so meticulous with her jokes.

“What you are doing is quite reckless, but I suppose I appreciate your enthusiasm.” I wiped away the sweat at the nape of Her Majesty’s neck. “Very well. I shall stay up to look after you, so get some rest.”

“Thank you very much, Elder Sister.” The demon king smiled in delight. “Despite all your complaints, you would do everything you could for your little sister~ You do have the makings of an elder sister.”

“Even if you were not my ‘little sister,’ any vassal would do the same if the demon king showed up sick at their doorstep.”

“So cruel, Elder Sister.”

“I am not your elder sister,” I shot back.

The towel quickly grew warm, so I swapped it out with a cold one.

“Ah, it’s so nice and cool.”

“You should keep your eyes closed. You’ll fall asleep soon enough if you do.”

“Aww, but this is our sleepover. I want to chat with you~ What a waste it would be if I slept all our time away~”

“Your cold will only get worse, so you must—”

No, this sort of conversation would go on forever. I might tell her to sleep, but of course, she would not listen. In fact, it might instead give her the energy to be even more stubborn.

It was quite embarrassing, but…I suppose it was time to try acting as an older sister. If I satisfied Her Majesty that way, she might fall asleep.

I leaned in close to her ear.

“Get some rest now, Pecora,” I said in my smoothest voice.

Her Majesty’s ears went bright-red, and her smile disappeared. It seems I gave her a shock.

And ’twas a good thing, too—if she’d had a comeback, I had no other tricks up my sleeve.

“A-all right… I shall do as you say, Elder Sister…”

“Yes, good girl. Don’t make me worry.”

Even saying it was rather embarrassing… But I would persevere.

Now, how about that?! That was my plan. Perhaps she would listen to orders if they were coming from her older sister…

Her Majesty closed her eyes and spoke no more. A little while later, I started to hear her soft snores.

Yes, my plan was perfect. I did not wish to do such a thing a second time…

I placed both my hands on the wall to support myself, panting.

“That was painful… What punishment is this…? I suppose it was exactly what she wanted to hear…”

All that was left was for me to watch over her the whole night. It was not going to be easy, but it was nothing compared with the line I had to deliver earlier.

I went to fetch water for the wet towels.

“Perhaps I should wash my own face, too…” It was burning up, after all.

Her Majesty awoke early the next morning. I suppose it was because she had fallen asleep so early the night before.

“Good morning, Miss Beelzebub—no, Elder Sister.”

She was in a good mood from the moment she opened her eyes.

“Good morning, Your Majesty.” I gave her the vassal’s bow beside the bed.

“What? Aren’t you going to call me Pecora?”

“I do not know of what you speak. You must have had some strange dreams due to your cold.”

I had decided to blatantly dodge the topic. There was no proof of what had happened anyway.

“What? What?! That is not true! You called me Pecora right before I went to sleep! You said, Good night, my dear Pecora!”

That was even worse than what I actually said!

“I said no such thing!”

I decided to dig in my heels and feign complete ignorance.

There would be a great deal of trouble if Her Majesty remained away from the castle, so I took her back. I carried her the whole way, too, so that she wouldn’t collapse on me.

“Oh, bridal style~”

“I would appreciate it if you would not use such phrases.”

“You did call me Pecora yesterday, didn’t you, Elder Sister?”

“I cannot recall doing such a thing, no. Your symptoms seem to be quite severe. Please take care of yourself.”

The castle guards seemed shocked when they saw Her Majesty and me, but—

“I just made sure to carry out the visitation as scheduled, ” Her Majesty said, and they appeared to accept that answer. They seemed accustomed to her unreasonable behavior.

One way or another, I managed to return her to her own room.

That was quite a long journey…

“Thank you so much for escorting me all the way back, Miss Beelzebub. ” Her Majesty offered her thanks just outside her room.

“Oh, think nothing of it. I am delighted to see that your cough is less noticeable than yesterday,” I responded with a smile. It was a relief knowing my job was done.

“Please feel free to call me Pecora again—”

“You are quite insistent about that, aren’t you? I haven’t the slightest clue what you are talking about.” I rebuffed her flatly, so she pouted like a child.

“You are so rigid!”

“You simply rely too much on shortcuts.”

It seemed that at this point, she understood she was not going to get her way. A firm attitude is crucial to dealing with these things.

“Well, I suppose that’s all right. It is like you to never do entirely what I want, after all.”

Rrrgh… She would always turn things to her favor, wouldn’t she…?

“Now then, I have work to attend to at the ministry, so I must be off.” I bowed, turned away, proceeded down the corridor—

—and suddenly started to cough.

“Cough, cough, cough, cough! Cough!”

Now that I thought about it, I felt rather hot. And my head was heavy. Was it the all-nighter…?

My face has been hot since yesterday…

I had just experienced a triple whammy—the possibility that I’d caught Her Majesty’s cold after being with her all night, the weakness of being awake for so long, and the immense relaxation once the burden of returning Her Majesty to the castle had been lifted from my shoulders…

That day, I went to the ministry, applied for paid time off due to how unwell I felt, and went home.