Being Loved for the First Time Chapter 18

“Eeeek! Why did you take so long to summon me?! Do you know how much Choco waited for you, Demon King?! You didn’t summon me at all last time, did you? Didn’t you miss Choco? I missed you so, sooo much!”

His name was Choco, a name I’d given him because his fur reminded me of a chocolate bar with its wrapper peeled open.

The moment my talkative dog appeared, he fluttered around in circles, making a tremendous racket beside my ears.

‘He’d get angry if I told him that’s why I didn’t summon him.’

My dog was easily offended.

“Didn’t you need Choco? I could feel you using your last strength, Demon King, but you still didn’t summon me, so Choco cried all alone! I wanted to stay by your side forever!”

Choco seemed determined to make up for the more than twenty years we hadn’t seen each other by talking all at once.

It wasn’t exactly that I’d deliberately avoided summoning him…

Or had it been deliberate?

In any case, during my ninety-ninth life, I’d simply found everything too troublesome and hadn’t wanted to do anything.

So I’d spent the entire time shut away in my room.

‘And that family seemed perfectly satisfied with it.’

Aside from the final moments, we had essentially ignored one another.

Still, they regularly brought me scraps of bread and soup with nothing in it so I wouldn’t starve to death.

And I’d simply waited listlessly for time to pass.

As a result, there had been no particular reason to gather information.

My life hadn’t been in danger, and I hadn’t felt any need to worry about the troubles of a family who had given me a cramped attic and told me simply to stay alive.

“Demon Kiiing!! Why aren’t you petting Choco? Choco’s so, so happy to see you after twenty years!”

Despite my circumstances, I realized that my talkative dog might have felt lonely.

When I raised my hand to pet him, Choco finally stopped fluttering around and sat obediently in front of me.

As I stroked his head with my tiny hand, he made a satisfied purring sound.

Well, he really was the only one.

The only being who could stay by my side and talk with me throughout this long existence of mine.

Just as I accumulated power every time I lived another life, I possessed another special ability.

I could summon one object I’d used from each of my previous lives.

Choco had been with me for a very long time.

He’d accompanied me throughout my thirteenth life, when I’d been born as the successor to the Demon King and eventually ended that life as the Demon King myself.

After petting Choco’s head until he was satisfied, I spoke to him—not with my mouth, but through telepathy.

—Choco.

“Yes, Demon King!”

—Someone invaded my dream.

“Whaaaat?! Your dream, Demon King?!”

Choco yelped in disbelief.

—That’s right.

“Was it a dream demon? Is there a demon realm here?! Demon King, you’ve only encountered demon realms twice in all your lives!”

—No, this is just an ordinary world.

“But someone dared to invade your dream?! How insolent! Even Choco behaved himself! I want to play with you in your dreams too, Demon King!”

Honestly, my dog was remarkably good at missing the point.

—So…

“You want Choco to find that wicked, insolent bastard, right?”

—Exactly.

I was extremely grateful that he’d said it for me.

Even using telepathy was a little exhausting when I’d already spent power summoning Choco.

—And gather information about this world too.

“…Why?”

At my additional request, Choco’s expression immediately soured.

“You said you were going to take things easy now, Demon King! You promised Choco you’d live comfortably! You promised Choco a hundred years ago that you wouldn’t suffer anymore!”

Choco rubbed his body against me.

Because I was still so small, his fur brushed against practically my entire stomach and chest.

“That’s why Choco endured not seeing you for twenty years! So why?! Demon King, you’re going to do it again, aren’t you?”

Choco whimpered.

“You always say you can’t just leave things alone! Choco knows! You’ve said that to me dozens of times already!”

—I’m telling you, I’m fine.

“But Choco hates it! Every time, every time, every time… You’re the only one who suffers, and you’re the one who has to save everyone… Choco, Choco hates it!”

I smiled faintly to myself at his words and gently scratched his back.

My dog had always been hurt on my behalf.

Even though I was genuinely fine.

People could betray me, and enduring a little hardship to protect my life was nothing.

But my family in this world had shown me more than a little kindness.

They’d shown me an enormous amount of affection.

If that was the case, I wanted to make an effort to live in my own way this time, until the day the world’s destruction arrived.

That included the small, ordinary moments I’d enjoyed over the past eleven months.

—This time, I’m doing it because I genuinely want to.

“You always say that… Whiiine…”

—You can watch and see for yourself. This time, I’m going to keep you by my side.

“Really, Demon King? Really? You won’t tell Choco to go back inside? You’ll keep Choco with you all the time?”

—Yes. That’s how much I want to do this, and why I’m asking you.

At those words, Choco’s ears drooped.

Then he rubbed his face against my stomach once more before fluttering into the air as though he’d accepted my decision.

“All right! Choco is the good Demon King’s subordinate, so I’ll listen! Choco will work hard! Yip!”

My sweet dog left a tremendous amount of noise ringing in my ears before departing to carry out my orders.

Following the traces left on me, Choco searched for the intruder who’d entered my dream while gradually reporting information about this world.

There was one empire, two kingdoms, a Holy Kingdom ruled by a pope, and various other countries both large and small.

‘There are no places that use internal energy, but there are people who use divine power and magical power.’

It was a familiar type of world.

Fortunately, the Kingdom of Farshan, to which my family—the Endevelan ducal family—belonged, maintained a neutral position.

It neither rejected mages nor disrespected the Holy Kingdom.

Perhaps because of that, a mage’s tower stood relatively close to the Endevelan Duchy.

‘But the empire is the one famous for magic.’

The empire, separated from the kingdom by a mountain range, apparently pressured various countries while constantly seeking an opportunity to gain supremacy over the continent.

Naturally, the Kingdom of Farshan was one of the countries standing in the empire’s way.

‘Something about this feels unsettling.’

Especially because Choco still hadn’t found the intruder despite gathering so much other information.

‘…There’s a possibility it’s in the empire.’

Choco had said he couldn’t locate the intruder within the range he was currently able to search.

And if he searched any farther, my body wouldn’t be able to withstand the strain.

“I’m sorry, Demon King. Choco wanted to do better.”

—It can’t be helped. Besides, you’re already doing enough.

I reassured Choco while accepting spoonfuls of baby food from a maid.

The intruder wasn’t attacking me right now, so simply having Choco investigate our surroundings was already helpful.

After all, my access to information had been so poor that I’d only learned the title of this family a few months earlier.

‘Let’s not rush. Mother said so too.’

Whenever I was awake, I always worked hard to develop my body as quickly as possible.

I practiced walking, climbed the sofa, and followed my own little routine to the accompaniment of applause from the maids and knights, which had practically become background music.

Naturally, I didn’t neglect practicing my pronunciation either.

“-Oppaaa.”

Though my progress was so slow that I sometimes wondered whether I was improving at all.

Most people simply saw my behavior as that of an energetic baby.

But Mother was different.

‘Why is our youngest in such a hurry? Mommy told you that all I want is for you to grow up healthy.’

‘Uuh?’

‘If you’re simply having fun playing, then Mommy wouldn’t be worried.’

Even when I pretended not to understand, Mother reacted perceptively.

Perhaps it was because Mikhail had told her several times that I often pretended not to understand things.

‘Mommy really doesn’t want anything more than for Anastasia to grow up healthy. And I’d like you to remain Mommy’s little baby for a long time.’

It felt as though she could see straight through my actions.

Perhaps that was why I didn’t grow particularly impatient even as the search for the dream intruder continued to drag on.

More than two months had passed without incident.

I even found myself thinking something I never would have considered in the past—that perhaps things would continue to be fine.

Choco seemed to sense my newfound calm as well.

Instead of remaining gloomy, he chose to be happy.

“As expected, Demon King, you’re the best! Choco loves you the most! Choco is the most useful one to you too, right?”

My dog wagged his tail gently as though asking to be praised.

When I smiled faintly at the sight, the maid feeding me let out an exclamation.

“Oh my! It seems the young lady really likes today’s baby food!”

Actually, it was because Choco was adorable.

But there was no need to correct that misunderstanding.

The maid would be happy, and so would the chef who had prepared my food.

Besides, the misunderstanding was possible because nobody except me could see Choco in his dog form.

Just to be certain, I’d deliberately told Choco to wander around in various places.

But apparently, nobody had recognized him.

‘Not even the mages.’

Then again, a Demon King was essentially the highest authority when it came to magic, so perhaps that was only natural.

As a result, I felt perfectly comfortable letting Choco play beside me.

No matter how much he chattered at my side, I would be the only one who had to endure his endless talking.

At least, that was how things were supposed to be.

“Baby, did you get a dog?”

Once again, Mikhail Leventis was the problem.

No, why are you always the one who sees and hears such strange things?!