Chapter 7

"Are you going to talk or keep pacing around my room?" Keira complained, watching Shun as he mumbled to himself. "Because if it's not actually urgent, I'd prefer to sleep right now."

"No, it is, I assure you," he said as he kept pacing and running his hand through his hair.

"This better not be more of you trying to marry me off, because that is definitely not urgent."

"No, no, it's not about that, though I do see it as important, too."

"Maybe you shouldn't complain when you yourself haven't found a spouse?"

"At least I have prospects, and other people pushing me to choose..."

Geez, is he only bothering me because people are bugging him about it? "So, why are you here?"

"I..." He stopped and turned to her. "I received word from our neighbouring kingdom that three days ago, they had a seal break, and it looked like someone had attacked it."

Her eyes widened. I wonder if it was the same person, or maybe they were working with someone else. It's too close in time to be a coincidence. "Did they say there were large gashes out of it? From either a demon or a long sword, I suspect."

Shun nodded. "I've already assigned guards to our seals, but I'm worried it won't be enough." He stopped in his tracks and turned to her. "Why would someone do this?"

"Hard to say. It could be anything. Revenge, manipulation, they're just crazy and want the world to burn. Until we find them, there's no way for us to know."

"Why aren't you freaking out more? I'm freaking out!" He paced again. "We have to do something... more."

"I agree, but whatever it is won't be done tonight. I think it'd be best if you got some rest—"

"You think I can rest with this looming over our heads? Out of everything you've fought, there has been nothing like what's sealed on the other side."

Her eyebrow quirked up. "You know specifically what demons are on the other side?"

"Well..." He leaned on the wall and sighed. "There are royal tomes that speak of hordes of demons alongside their masters, the archdemons."

Archdemons? That doesn't sound good. "How much worse are they supposedly than what I've fought?"

"They'd eat what you fight for breakfast. The way the tomes explain them, they are unimaginably powerful and evil. If the heroes hundreds of years ago hadn't sealed them away, we'd likely all be either dead, never born, or their slaves."

"Makes me wonder how our heroes were able to seal them away if the archdemons are so powerful." Keira stroked her chin. If I knew how they built it all in the first place, maybe I'd be able to add more seals to strengthen it, or strengthen the ones already there.

"They don't go into detail, but they had powerful heroes proficient in different magic. I read they had to work together to create the seals for the archdemons, since they couldn't defeat them... and it came at a price."

Do I want to know? She took a deep breath.

"One of the heroes sacrificed themselves while the others gave up their magic forever. Truly horrible, if you ask me. Their souls and magic to seal archdemons." He shook his head. "When I first learned about it, I thought they were fairy tales... but when the seals started to crack, and some smaller demons made it out into the kingdom, I knew it was real."

"Is there a specific ritual listed? Maybe I can fix it all before things get worse. Maybe even make the seals strong enough that humans can't damage them."

His eyes widened. "What? I just told you they sacrificed themselves, and you want to follow in their footsteps? No! You are our treasure, our protector; I won't have you giving yourself up for the seals."

"What if it's the only way?"

"I'm sure someone else with magical powers will work. Besides, magic type might matter, and yours is needed on the seals in our kingdom." He crossed his arms, frowning at her.

"Might matter, as in you don't know. And why would I force someone else to sacrifice themselves?"

"That... Arg! You're insufferable sometimes. I wish you knew how much you're really worth."

"Oh, right, the support payments you get from donators—"

"That's not what I'm talking about!" He stomped his foot. "You are our hero. Our inspiration. The one who has saved the kingdom with your extraordinary powers time and again. You've already sacrificed enough for us without giving your life, don't you think?"

"But if I can keep the seals safe, and thus the kingdom safe, then wouldn't it be worth it?"

"Safe for how long? You know there are other demons out there. Sure, they're not the banished archdemons, but we still need you."

Keira steeled her gaze. "I will do what's needed to be done in the moment." It's what Wakaru would've done.

"Even if I give you a direct, royal order?"

"Of course."

"Right to my face..." He sighed. "You have no fear, Keira, our Ice Queen."

That's not true. "I suppose that's why you all gave me that nickname." Her eyes glowed for a split second, her magic circulating. "Though I am most definitely not a queen."

"Ah, they don't mean it literally like that."

"I know."

"I mean, we could probably find you a king husband, but I'd rather you not have to leave the kingdom."

Keira cleared her throat. "Are you trying to suggest that I—"

"No." He held his hand up, stopping her. "I know I haven't found my queen, and that you're both gorgeous and revered, but you're terrifying at the same time." He held onto the lapels of his robe. "And I'm sorry, but I'd rather not marry someone that could overpower me in every sense of the word. People would lose faith in me as a king, and I'd be nothing but a figurehead. Outside of pitying me, they'd probably turn to you for everything." He sighed, combing his fingers through his long hair over his shoulder.

Good to know what he thinks of me, I guess. "That's fine. I have no interest in ruling. Nor do I have an interest in getting married right now." Who would want to deal with the constant worrying as I battled demons?

Shun nodded. "I see, but what if they helped lighten your burden a bit? You have the weight of the world on your shoulders; it'd be nice to share it with someone."

"I think that's about you, not me. Now, if you don't mind." She swayed her hand toward her door. "You've told me what I need to know, and we're not making a plan tonight, so please go back to bed. I want to sleep."

"Yes, yes." Shun scurried over to the door and stopped, glancing back at her. "Do you think it'll really come down to heroes recreating the seal? We don't even know how they did it, or if it would work twice. Maybe there's more to the tale. And who knows how much damage might happen before we can fix things?"

"We have no way to know. If we can stop the person trying to break the seals, then we won't need more sacrifices."

He nodded and left, the door clicking shut behind him.

Keira sighed and lay back on her bed.

Just what I needed: stronger demons trying to invade. As if the ones causing problems nearby aren't bad enough.