“Welcome, Princess Ariel.”

Ludvian, tall with a pleasing physique, sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. His long red hair and red eyes, contrasting with his pale skin, were fascinatingly beautiful. His relaxed face looked almost languid.

How hellish a life she had lived, enchanted by that appearance. Even now, maids were crowding outside the door to see Ludvian. Ariel spoke to the maid who brought in the tea.

“Wait outside for a moment.”

The conversation they were about to have would be unusual, so everyone had to be sent out. Soon, only the two of them remained in the reception room.

She had been thinking the whole way here. If she had to grow the netherworld flower as he said, there was something to gain from him. For that, she had instructed Anna to make preparations before entering.

“Have you thought about it in the meantime?”

Ludvian asked with a smile.

“Do you find human lives amusing?”

He received Ariel’s fierce glare with a grin, but inwardly he was quite surprised. He didn’t expect her to instantly perceive that he was the one who had cast the curse.

“What do you mean?”

“……”

A self-deprecating laugh escaped Ariel’s lips as she stared at him intently. It was an unnecessary sacrifice caused by her. She hated him for not hesitating to use any means to achieve his goals. As Ariel silently glared at him coldly, Ludvian wiped the smile off his face.

“It would have been better if you had listened to me from the start.”

He finally revealed his true intentions.

“I suppose your talk of the continent’s safety and such was a lie? Someone who treats human lives so lightly couldn’t possibly have such noble intentions.”

“It’s just sacrifice for the greater cause. If we can save all humans, a few lives are nothing.”

A derisive laugh escaped at his abominable lie. It was all just to become the Demon King and rule over humans. Well, that’s just like you. She had already made up her mind before coming in. So she just needed to pretend to go along with him and move according to her plan.

“I’ll grow the flower. However, shouldn’t I get something in return? For this deal to proceed smoothly.”

Ludvian smirked at Ariel’s bold attitude in proposing a deal.

“Tell me what you want.”

As Ariel pretended to ponder while looking at him, Anna, who had been listening outside, hurriedly entered and moved her lips while glancing at Ludvian.

“Anna, I’m in a conversation with a guest right now, so later.”

“But… it’s the news that Ariel has been anxiously waiting for all this time.”

From now on, she had to do very well. Ariel slowly raised her head to look at Anna.

“What news?”

Anna glanced at Ludvian once more, and Ariel spoke.

“It’s alright. Go ahead and speak.”

“There’s a rumor that dragon scales will be put up for auction.”

What Ariel was trying to obtain from Ludvian now was a dragon’s egg. Ludvian had no idea that it would hatch. After all, it only hatched in her previous life after Ariel had poured her healing power into it for a long time.

The dragon’s egg was part of a bigger plan to fend off the demon race. That’s why she had instructed Anna to release the dragon scales owned by the kingdom to the auction house and mention it. It was to let Ludvian know that she had a great interest in dragons.

“Really? Find out more details.”

After Anna answered and left, Ludvian quietly opened his mouth.

“Are you interested in dragons?”

He asked while stroking his chin with his long fingers.

“Yes. So what can you offer me?”

She turned the question back to him after he had asked her to state what she wanted.

“Perhaps you’re also interested in dragon eggs?”

He took the bait.

“Dragon eggs? There’s no way such things still exist. It’s been a thousand years since dragons disappeared.”

Ariel bit the soft flesh inside her mouth to suppress the rising corners of her lips. Only then could she casually throw a question at him.

“I have a petrified dragon egg that’s just taking up space uselessly.”

“Ah. How interesting. I’m surprised such a thing still remains…”

Ariel trailed off, took a sip of tea, then met his red eyes. His mouth started speaking again.

“At first, I thought it might hatch, so I kept it, but there was no change at all. If you’re interested, I could give it to you as part of the deal.”

Ariel, who had started slowly drinking her tea again, remained silent until the cup was empty, then let out a shallow sigh and spoke with difficulty.

“Then I’ll grow one of the seeds you mentioned before.”

“One?”

Ariel slightly raised the corner of her mouth at his incredulous voice. But her eyes remained cold as she faced him.

“One egg for one seed. That’s fair, isn’t it? The egg is just a decoration, but I have to grow that plant for the time you mentioned. Thinking about it again, this deal seems disadvantageous to me.”

Ludvian raised his eyebrows at Ariel’s words. After staring at her silently for a while, he chuckled.

“I have two eggs. I’ll give you both.”

“Alright. And please promise not to harm human lives recklessly from now on.”

Ariel’s golden eyes stared directly at him as she readily agreed. It also meant that she wouldn’t stand by if he harmed people again.

“As long as the princess keeps her promise to me well.”

Ariel nodded briefly and then stood up.

“I understand. Then goodbye.”

She tried to turn around and leave first, not wanting to face him any longer.

“Wait.”

Ludvian, who had risen from his seat, came up close behind Ariel. At that movement, her body trembled involuntarily and she swallowed dry saliva. She barely managed to calm her quickening breath while clenching her fists tightly.

“I’ll come back tomorrow. Though I don’t think you would, if the princess breaks the deal, an even greater curse might fall then. So please make sure to keep your promise.”

Ludvian bent down and spoke these ominous words in a gentle voice near her ear. Goosebumps rose on the back of her neck and her hair stood on end. She held her breath and waited for him to leave, but he didn’t move.

Ludvian looked down at the princess who spoke without backing down in front of him, despite being clearly frightened. For a mere human woman to even obtain dragon eggs from him. Although he was displeased by the feeling of being manipulated by this woman, it was also somewhat interesting for a while.

She was a novel toy given to his boring and tedious daily life.

He wrapped Ariel’s silver hair around his hand. Ariel flinched and tried to avoid his gesture, but couldn’t escape due to her hair being caught.

“What are you doing? Let go.”

Ludvian had changed somehow. In her previous life, he wasn’t like this from the beginning. Well, she should have foreseen that everything could change from the moment she refused to grow the flower. The sound of chuckling came from behind her again, and the pulled hair was released.

“See you tomorrow, Ariel.”

As he left the reception room, Ariel’s legs gave out and she collapsed on the spot. She needed to get to Kaius’s side as soon as possible. Kaius von Elbartan, the only one Ludvian was wary of.

To his side.

As Ludvian had said, he brought the dragon eggs and seed pouch the very next day, and a month had passed since then. During that time, he came once a week to check if the flowers had bloomed.

Although she had to grow the flowers as in her past life, one thing was different.

Ariel knew the characteristics of the two flowers very well from her past experience. Lilas was a small flowering shrub, while Japaros was a thick tree too large for her to wrap her arms around. She was able to deceive Ludvian for a while using this information.

To avoid suspicion, she made Lilas bloom in a week. It was fine since nothing could be done with just one flower anyway. When he visited for the first time after handing over the seeds, he was very pleased to see the flower and left. But when Japaros didn’t bloom even after one week, then another, he quietly spoke again.

That if things continued like this, it wouldn’t be strange at all if another curse fell on the palace.

But Ariel was able to persuade him.

Upon hearing this fact, Ludvian left quietly, albeit displeased, and there had been no curse so far. In fact, the consumed life force could be replenished immediately with water, but Ludvian didn’t need to know such details.

She couldn’t delay indefinitely as it would arouse more suspicion, so she finally made Japaros bloom. It was over a month later than in the past. Even this much would delay Kaius’s addiction period and consequently delay the monster attacks.

As Ariel, who had just replenished her life force in the greenhouse’s pool, was about to leave, Anna’s voice was heard.

“I will report to Ariel. Please wait.”

The greenhouse was off-limits to anyone but Ariel since she was growing the netherworld flowers.

Ludvian had come. Usually, he would wait in the reception room, but this time he came directly to the greenhouse. It meant he had become that urgent.

The test for him to become the Demon King, that is, the test to kill Kaius, had a two-year limit. She knew this from overhearing conversations between him and his subordinates when he became the Demon King in the past when the human world was dominated by demons. Already more than a month had passed, so he must be getting impatient. Ariel let out a sneer and opened her mouth.

“Anna, let him in.”

As soon as he entered the greenhouse, he went straight to where Japaros was. After circling around Japaros once, confirming the white flowers, he started giggling. Ariel glared at him coldly, but when he turned around, she barely managed to put on a sociable smile.

“Ariel, well done.”

“I just did what I had to do.”

As Ludvian approached, Ariel faced him with her head held high.

“But it seems your hair color has changed a bit. Come to think of it, your eye color too.”

Ariel had been wearing an artifact that gradually changed her hair and eye color in preparation for meeting Kaius from this point on. It was to gain Kaius’s favor.

“Is that important? You’ve confirmed the flower, so please leave now.”

Once she started extracting Japaros oil, she planned to put it in his tea whenever he visited. Then, although not as much as Kaius, he would also be attacked by monsters on the days he drank the tea. He might find it strange, but he wouldn’t be able to question it. After all, he himself had said that the flower was only dangerous to demons.