"I heard," Ashavar said, his voice dripping with amusement, "you want to marry my daughter?"
Tsk.
Of course he had to show up.
Honestly, Ashavar never got involved in his children's personal lives.
Everything about them including politics, upbringing and responsibilities was handled by their maternal families.
So I absolutely did not expect him to appear here… just to check on his emotionally unavailable murder-daughter.
And judging from how stiff Morvana looked, she definitely hadn't told him about our little talk about the future.
Which meant I still had plausible deniability.
Worst-case scenario, I could just bullshit my way through it later and blame the Trickster, blame cosmic interference, blame bad soup, whatever worked.
But not now.
Right now, I have to stay in character because Morvana was there.
After all, I was sure Demon King wouldn't kill me due to Trickster's promise and I could deal with whatever he had to say afterwards but Morvana was a trouble I couldn't afford to play with.
"Yes, Master."
I straightened my posture and replied with the sincerity of a devoted disciple who absolutely did not just propose to his master's daughter without thinking.
I honestly thought he would play along.
I mean, it's Ashavar. The guy barely cares what his children do. So he had absolutely no reason to reject.
"I can't allow that," he said suddenly, expression turning deadly serious.
Even Morvana blinked in shock.
Meanwhile Arza… was just sitting there like a decorative statue, completely unfazed as if the entire conversation about her engagement wasn't even in the same dimension as her.
"Why?" I asked immediately without any hesitation which made even Morvana flinch but I didn't care.
Ashavar's eyes softened as if he were reciting the most sacred law of the universe.
"I cannot allow an engagement without the consent of my daughter. You must convince her first… and then I will consider it."
…Excuse me?
So suddenly he is a responsible father?
Either that… or he just wanted to make my life even more miserable by stripping away the one support I earned after scamming Morvana with award-worthy acting.
"I understand," I nodded seriously, swallowing my irritation and turned toward Arza.
The woman I now had to convince.
Most men had to persuade their girlfriend's parents to approve the marriage.
Me? I had to persuade the girlfriend in front of her father, who happened to be the Demon King.
Absolutely fantastic.
But thankfully… Arza was Arza.
Emotionless, logical and beautifully easy to deal with.
"I would like to speak with you in private," I said, facing her directly.
"Why?" she asked, voice perfectly flat, perfectly neutral.
"It's about the deal we made yesterday," I replied calmly.
I didn't mention the details, of course.
Those were supposed to stay strictly between the two of us and absolutely not something I wanted to say out loud with the Demon King and Morvana standing there.
Especially since I didn't want them to know how their ever-stoic daughter had ended up agreeing to be my bodyguard…
…for mere chocolates.
The moment I mentioned a "deal,"
Ashavar's smile widened in pure amusement.
Even Morvana's ears twitched which, for her level of self-control, was basically the equivalent of someone screaming in shock.
Arza looked at me for a moment and then nodded.
"Okay."
I turned back toward the Demon King.
"Will you please?"
He understood instantly.
A small domain appeared around Arza and me, soundproof, sightproof and perfectly private.
Honestly, I wasn't about to drag her somewhere or ask those two cosmic monsters to leave the room.
This was the easiest, safest option.
And I was sure the Demon King wouldn't eavesdrop.
…Probably.
And even if he did, well, it wasn't like I had anything world-ending to hide.
I took a breath.
Time to commit.
"Why don't you become my fiancée?"
I asked without a shred of hesitation.
Arza stared at me for a good few seconds without any expression.
"No." Her tone was cold.
Normally, I would never propose to anyone.
Women proposed to me, that's how this was supposed to work. That's how the balance of the universe stayed intact.
Yet here I was, doing the proposing and instead of being happy, grateful, honored or even politely confused… She rejected me just like that.
The world is truly doomed, I guess.
"What if I give you twice the amount of what we agreed on earlier?"
I moved to plan B which I was sure would work.
But even that didn't work. "No."
Huh?
Arza rejecting chocolates? How is that possible?
I stared at her for a moment, genuinely stunned.
"Then what do you want?"
She was silent for a moment.
"Three times the amount and…" she began, tone as neutral as always but there was something new.
A hint of hesitation.
"And?" I pressed.
She looked straight at me.
"Teach me about emotions." Her voice was flat but her words were… heavy and unexpectedly human or demon in this case.
It was as if she truly, genuinely wanted to understand something she didn't and that confused me more than anything.
Emotions are a weakness, they drag you down, make you act irrationally and turn you into an idiot.
I knew that better than anyone.
In my previous life, I felt things too deeply, cared too much and broke too easily.
There were days I wished I just… didn't.
Days when I wanted to shut everything off and be empty.
So I couldn't understand.
Why would she, someone powerful, stable and untouched by chaos, want to learn the one thing that causes the most suffering?
Why would she choose… feelings?
But well… if she wanted to suffer, sure.
Who was I to deny her misery?
"Although I don't understand them enough myself," I said honestly, "I'll try my best to help you understand them."
Arza nodded once mechanically as if she was accepting a mission.
"What about the chocolates?" she added.
"Yes, I accept that too." I smiled lightly. "And I promise the engagement will be purely political. I won't touch you or try to force anything ever."
I expected her to nod immediately.
Maybe say her usual emotionless "I accept."
But instead, she frowned or… at least I think she did because her face moved maybe a millimeter.
Then she opened her mouth…
…and said the most random and the most unexpected thing she could have possibly said.
"Am I not beautiful enough?"