A demon lord's romance.

Back in my previous life, out of everything terrible that had happened in my life, there was always this one sense of relief I had. No matter how bad the days got, I would look out of my window and think that 'Huh, life's a real pile of ox dung, but at least I have the coolest castle to ever exist.'

Indeed, my statement held true- my castle was great. It was my pride. A thought that I considered would hold true even through millennia.

So you could only expect how disappointed I felt when I was introduced to a tiny castle right in the middle of a tiny country which was in turn in the middle of the sea. Indeed this castle was tiny. Nothing like my gargantuan black towering cathedral-like castle. This was just a humble white abode where the important bodies of this country resided in.

AKA, my parents (the military heads) and their friend (the rulers).

Even though this looked like a peaceful version of my favourite place in all of existence, I couldn't help but admire this rendition a bit. For some unforeseen reason.

It is truly vexing.

It was like owning a badass racehorse that you love to low hells. But then there was a smaller, ass (donkey) that somehow ran faster.

[Yuuno Yuuno.]

I transmit my thoughts to her as we walk through a corridor made of glass, that gave a panoramic view of the perfectly maintained garden. Damn, that looked good. Shit!

[What?] She was tired of transmitting thoughts after long expositions and world-building she did over the last couple of chap- days.

[You saw my castle, right? It was cooler, right? Right?]

[What are you on about?]

[I mean sure this one is easier on the eyes, easier to clean, consequently tidier, more efficient to work in, safer, and better-designed material wise. But my castle was dark and gloomy, and was sooo coool.]

[Are you a kid?] She looked at me and realized. [Ah, you are.]

[Quiet! You just don't understand anything. A good castle is a demon lord's romance! Imagine walking into my chamber those 3000 years ago and seeing a well-maintained chandelier equipped hall. It would take you right out of the experience. You'd feel like you were there to attend a ball not murdering an innocent man.

That's why I consciously made a filthy room with rat pets, and foul miasma in the air. My throne even had faux dust... so much went into the decor, you know. So you have to agree that mine was better! R-right?] By the end of my rant, I was breathing a little heavier.

[I have so many questions, but an innocent man? What the hell?]

[Oh come on, I only killed like a couple of towns' worth of soldiers.]

[You know what? I'll just ignore that. But from what I can tell, rather than being someone who excelled in decor, you feel more like an edgy castle otaku.]

[I don't even know what it is but I feel strangely offended for some reason.]

"We're here." The man holding us, Yuuno's father the ruler of the interracial alliance, and the designer of this castle, flung a door open, and there it was- A meticulously designed, brightly lit chamber.

I kept patting my heart telling myself that my room in my previous life was better. Because it was.

That was until the man laid me down on the bed. The soft foam-like feeling enveloped me as I drowned deeper and deeper into the mattress.

On another thought, this castle was better.

###

I've realized something… there's not a lot to do as a baby.

An entire week had passed by now, in an incredibly monotonous manner.

The mornings would be filled with a baby lotion massage. Then I would get wiped. Then suck on some udd- I mean breasts. Still a little embarrassing, but I'd gotten used to both the act of suckling on her milker- I mean breasts and her being there for me, in general.

'Having a mother sure is nice.' Is what I told myself every day.

I did have a caretaker my previous life, but at first, she was like a demonic strict tutor then she betrayed me so I banished her. I couldn't get myself to kill off the first being to ever talk to me since I awoke. But that's enough about that wench.

After breakfast my parents had me listen to some music, as it "boosted the mental prowess of a kid" apparently. Little did they know, I was already way smarter than they could ever hope to be. After all, I invented the act of reincarnation while these people couldn't even invent flying carriages, three thousand years into the future!

Not being useful to boost mental prowess aside, the music of this era was terrible. Well, every music without epic organs is terrible. But especially the terrible 'pop' crap they subjected me to. If anything, it felt like it was eating away at my brain every time I listened to it.

Anyways, by the time the music ended, my faeces reached my anus. I called for help and help arrived. It still sort of sucked that I was unable to take care of my defecation by myself, but my parents had gotten a lot better at handling my shit. Literally.

Then I was treated with more "lunch" and more music and more sleep. You can see how someone could get sick of this.

But I liked this. Compared to my first life, where I had to fend for myself starting day 1, here I got to lay back and enjoy. And the best thing about this is that people were taking care of me and showering me with love and warm- I mean breasts.

Love and warmth don't matter to a demon lord. Hmph. It's not like I felt something good from their concern or anything. Breasts are totally the only reason why I like this current life. Ignore all the embarrassing stuff I just mentioned.

Putting aside this whole monologue I just gave today was a bit different than usual.

[Yuu-chan, I think they're planning to raise us as childhood friends.] I said with a rattle in my hand and foot on Hero Wench's tummy as we laid in bed.

[First of all, it's Yuu-nee to you. And second of all, ya think? Of course, they'd want us to be childhood friends. We are close in age and our parents are friends!]

[But Yuu-chan, do you want to be childhood friends with me?]

[Tsk. Friends with you? The guy who drove his hand right through my chest in my previous life?]

[I don't want to be Yuu-chan's friend either. She murdered me in my previous life.]

[Stop talking to me as if I'm in third person. It's gross.]

[I thought so too.]

[[Haah.]] We both sigh together.

[But I won't mind getting along with you if it made those two happy.] I said.

[That's awfully honest of you!]

[It's just that I heard that those two had a... uhh... hard time conceiving me.]

She got up and patted my head a little.

[As long as you aren't a complete pain in the neck, I'll get along with you.]

.

.

.

[B-by the way, when do babies start to talk and move?] I asked to get rid of the sentimental mood. Ew.

[I-I learnt how to carry my weight by my fourth month, but I held off 'til the middle of my sixth to start moving on my own.]

[What about walking?]

[I can do it now. I tried in secret. But babies shouldn't be able to do that until they're 14 or so months old. The same goes for talking.]

No wonder they were surprised when I started talking minutes after birth. But gotta say, babies were either stupid or unbearably slow learners. Buncha losers if you asked me.

[Do you reckon you'd be able to fake not being able to talk? You were pretty stupid with bluffs in your previous life.] I asked her.

[I'll try… but if I fail, I'll just pretend to be a genius.]

[You're pretty chill about this, huh?]

[Of course, I am! Them figuring out about our reincarnation is impossible.]

[True that.] I use 'slang' that I picked up while listening to pop songs.

[Though over the last year I've felt been feeling indescribably guilty.]

[Hmm?]

[I don't really know how to explain this but it feels like I've been scamming them. They've only given me their best, and I've been lying to them ever since day one. It feels like I'm taking advantage of them. But more than anything it feels like I've taken the place that should have belonged to someone else.]

Hero wench was being awfully honest today too. But she must be on the brink as well. Keeping all this in for over a year must've been tough. If she felt guilty, I might start feeling so too. So let's cut that perception of her's off.

[You know… I'm the one who created the reincarnation magic. And I'm the one who sold it to the auction.] I did that specifically to make up for the cooling artefact that I messed the entire national budget up to buy.

Well, the spell itself was useless as long as you didn't have the power of time manipulation. But somehow the reincarnation spell landed in the hands of the one person who had time manipulation.

Considering this situation I'd still say that her getting the reincarnation spell wasn't all that bad of an outcome. She did provide me with some important information and has been keeping me company since day one.

[Yeah, I figured that part out… when you mentioned the time essence thing before getting beaten up.]

[Ah! So you did believe me.]

[That's not the point. You were trying to console me. So continue.]

[Oh yeah. So let me tell you a little bit about how the spell works.]

Mana transmission was a technique that was able to project thoughts into the receiver's mind. Thoughts didn't particularly have to be words, they could be images too. And if your control over your internal mana was good enough, it was possible to send images directly into the receiver's brain.

That's exactly what I planned to do.

After concentrating for a bit I lit up four little imaginary orbs into the room. Time to enchant this woman and show her how incredible I am.