Sister Elsa’s eyes instantly lost their focus.

Her whole body teetered unsteadily, as if she might collapse at any moment.

*Me first… It was me first…*

For the first time, she’d found someone she liked—and a beloved little sister.

Two joys overlapping should have granted her a dreamlike happiness.

But why…

Why did it turn out like this?

Suddenly, the door creaked open. A boy holding a wooden basin gasped in surprise.

“Sister Elsa? You’re back?”

Half shock, half delight colored his voice.

But… delight?

Why delight?

Her return at this moment should’ve ruined whatever intimacy Roy and Airi were sharing.

Elsa lifted her gaze, dazed, toward the youth.

He stood ready to leave, the basin half-filled with warm water in his hands.

His rolled-up sleeves revealed slender, pale wrists—yet they held the basin with steady, dependable strength.

Roy’s shirt, buttons, and trousers were all properly fastened.

The only flaw: his untied necktie, stripping him of gentle refinement but adding a touch of rugged charm.

Peeking past the gap between their heights, Elsa saw her sister Airi lying neatly on the bed.

Golden hair spilled across the pillow; the girl’s eyes held surprise laced with a hint of shyness.

Everything looked unchanged from when Elsa had left.

Airi noticed her sister too, whispering softly:

“…Sister.”

Unconsciously, she clutched the necktie Roy had left behind when he freed a hand.

As if even before her sister’s eyes…

she needed to preserve proof of this precious memory shared with Roy.

A quiet shift in her heart—

one Airi herself hadn’t yet noticed.

“…Roy. Airi.”

“What were you two… just doing?”

Rather than drown in self-pity, Elsa preferred direct questions.

Roy’s cheeks flushed as he replied:

“Sorry, Sister Elsa. I… laid hands on your sister’s body.”

Elsa: “…!?”

Airi: “…!!”

*Don’t phrase it so weirdly!*

The boy quickly realized his blunder, shaking his head with reddening ears.

“N-no! When bringing Airi breakfast, I noticed she was feverish and sweating.”

“At times like this, her body needs proper cleaning.”

“So I fetched water and wiped her down with a towel.”

“And Roy blindfolded himself with the tie… Sister!”

Airi added breathlessly, desperate to clear his name.

She couldn’t bear Roy being misunderstood—

especially because of her.

Guilt would crush her.

Roy had forgotten to mention the blindfold.

Was he simply too pure-hearted?

To him, shielding a maiden’s modesty was so natural, it needed no explanation.

At least, that’s how Elsa understood it.

The weight in the nun’s chest finally lifted.

Only now did she realize how deeply she cared for Roy…

Earlier, when she’d mistaken his actions for stolen intimacy with her sister,

her heart had nearly shattered.

*Why not with me…*

“What about the church, Sister Elsa?” Roy asked curiously. “Is everything settled?”

“Oh, yes. It’s fine now.”

As she nodded, the curves beneath her black-and-white nun’s habit swayed gently.

Roy averted his gaze, flustered.

“Someone was caught doing… improper things on our church roof. The city guard mistook them for one of our nuns.”

“What kind of ‘improper things’?”

“Well…” Elsa’s eyes flickered between Roy and Airi. “Last night, a young couple was caught sneaking up there… kissing.”

*Last night… on the church roof.*

Roy froze for a split second.

*That was me and Isabella!*

“The church strictly forbids romances between nuns and boys. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have summoned every sister for questioning.”

“Strictly forbidden?” Roy’s voice tightened with urgency.

Elsa’s face flushed crimson. Her eyes darted away.

“W-well… not necessarily.”

*The rules could bend… for Roy.*

“I see…” Roy exhaled, visibly relieved. “Then I’ll go change the water, Sister Elsa.”

“Go ahead.”

The boy brushed past her with the basin.

Elsa moved to Airi’s bedside, checking on her sister.

Airi’s cheeks were unusually flushed—

whether from fever, as Roy claimed…

or something else entirely.

“Airi, let me feed you breakfast.”

Gently, Elsa helped her sister sit up.

“Thank you, Sister…”

The sight of the two sisters leaning on each other struck Roy as he returned—a tender, beautiful moment.

*That’s why I must find that demon.*

*Before he takes this away from them.*

………………

At the same moment, within the Demon King’s Castle.

A silver-haired elven maid had been hunched over documents for over five hours.

Yet fatigue never touched her.

*After all, I’m serving my beloved master.*

Meanwhile, the little demon sword—having received orders from Demon King Roy—had abandoned paperwork entirely to “explore” the castle.

No one knew where it had wandered off to.

Isabella had already compiled every demon general stationed at the Seventh Demon Stronghold, “Radiant City.”

But none matched her master’s description.

Undeterred, she dug deeper—even reviewing thousand-soldier captains.

*A demon capable of commanding a thousand might rival human “Kingdom-class” adventurers,* she reasoned.

*Perhaps hidden among them were untapped talents, waiting for war to prove themselves.*

Disappointment followed.

Lower ranks—hundred-soldier captains and foot soldiers—weren’t even recorded.

And Isabella refused to pin hopes on them.

Frustration gnawed at the elven maid.

Then her pointed ears twitched.

An idea sparked.

She hurried back to the Demon King Palace archives.

This time, she searched records of exiled or missing demon generals.

Persistence paid off.

“Juno, Mid-Rank Demon General of Radiant City. Wolfkin beastman.”

“Fused his loyal war hawk through forbidden magic—sprouting wings on his back, eagle-like features on his shoulders.”

“Bloodthirsty. Cannibalistic. Notable in the Grey Kingdom Campaign. Current whereabouts: unknown.”