It was the middle of the night.
That day, I had received one bad report after another. The Saito of Mino were said to be watching us. In the house, too, there were said to be men suspected of switching sides.
Every time I heard reports like that, my chest tightened. When, and by whose hand, would I be murdered in my sleep? At night, that fear grew thicker still.
Alone in my bedchamber, I sat hugging my knees, trembling. There wasn't a shred of the Demon King's dignity there. Just a lone coward, scared of the dark, scared of every sound, scared of tomorrow, curled up small like a child.
Kicho was in the inner quarters that night, not by my side. Alone, I clenched my teeth.
—And then.
The sliding door slid quietly open.
I thought my heart would stop.
An assassin?
I spun around thinking it—and there was that monkey. With a bowl of herbal remedy on a tray, Tokichiro stood there.
Damn, I thought.
He'd seen me. The pathetic sight of me hugging my knees and trembling. The true nature of a man who was no Demon King or anything else, just frightened.
It's over, I thought. He'll spread this around. That the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven is a coward who trembles alone at night. Then I'm finished. It was precisely because I was feared that no one laid a hand on me. Once that fear wore off, blades would come reaching in from every side.
I stared at Tokichiro, pale. I couldn't even make a sound.
But Tokichiro—
smiled.
With a big, friendly smile, Tokichiro knelt where he stood.
"Such noble resolve, my lord."
And then he said:
"This Tokichiro has witnessed it, and well."
I caught my breath.
What—was he saying? He must have seen me trembling. He must have known I was afraid. And yet, deliberately, he was playing along, as if at the side of a Demon King.
"A lord who bears the realm's hardships all upon his own shoulders can have no rest for his heart, even at night. And still you endure it alone."
Tokichiro gently set the bowl of herbal remedy before me.
"Your stomach must be aching, my lord. Please, take this."
I stared at the remedy. It was the one for the stomach. Even that I got stomachaches when I was nervous—he knew that, too.
That was when it dawned on me.
This monkey knew everything. That I was no Demon King. That I was just a scaredy-cat, a coward who was only kind. That I was just bluffing, desperately playing a monster. He had seen through it all, root and all.
And on top of that. He didn't sneer. He didn't spread it around. He just quietly offered me a remedy and stayed by my side.
I wrapped both hands around the warm bowl.
For the first time, besides Kicho, someone had appeared. Someone on my side.