The Crown Prince In Hiding

“…You guys…”

If Mr.Fury was going to appear at a meeting, of course the Four Royal Guards would have to be there as well.

The great royal guards Nora had once heard him talk about—every single one of them had been granted a human form by the Demon King himself.

All three bowed in their own distinct styles, each gesture reflecting their clearly different personalities.

Freya’s expression soured at the sight of her fellow guards in human form—she seemed to resent the fact that this once-exclusive privilege of hers no longer belonged to her alone.

“Nora… these are my guards.”

“These are the ones you told me about, right?”

“Yes… these are them.”

Dan pointed to each in turn.

“This is Roma, Army Division.”

Roma—

A young man with shoulder-length “Wolf cut” style hair, streaked dark gray. Around 175 cm tall, with smooth cream-colored skin like a Korean idol baby face type of guy. Giving him a perpetually lazy, sleepy look.

“It’s an honor to meet you… Your Highness.”

“Yes, Mr.Roma… huh?”

Sniff sniff

He leaned in so close his face was almost in Nora’s hair—and sniffed her. Like a dog.

Sniff sniff sniff

“Roma.”

He stopped and looked up at Dan.

“Humans don’t do that.”

Then he turned back.

“My apologies”

He seemed to snap back to himself and pulled away.

“I just caught the scent of a powerful beast…”

“Thanks for the notice,” Mr.Fury replied with a hint of sarcasm, because Nora was still frozen in shock.

And in that moment of bewilderment, her gaze caught on the tattoo of awolf inked onto his arm.

Next—

Valencia—

A pale-skinned woman whose original body was from Snowhaven. Her bright crimson ponytail contrasted with black eyeshadow. She looked like a Hungarian woman, but those red eyes… it seemed she didn’t quite know how to use them yet, because she kept glaring at Nora like she wanted to drink her blood.

“Nora. This is Valencia, Air Force Division.”

Valencia?

Nora recalled the time Mr.Fury had spoken to Freya about Isakryx, when Freya had asked if it was big, and he’d replied, “Smaller than Valencia.”

That made Nora’s mind wander…

Just what did their demon forms look like?

“First of all…”

The moment Valencia spoke, her voice was drawn-out and low, like a Nosferatu vampire. Just being stared at had already given Nora the creeps—once she heard her voice, the creep factor doubled.

And she seemed… slow.

“I… am Valencia… It is my honor… to greet you… Your Highness…”

She bowed—

Slowly.

“….”

“…..”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Tap tap

Valencia slowly raised her head again.

“Pale skin like you… Your original form’s from Snowhaven, is it?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Who picked that for you?”

“I… chose it myself… Your Majesty.”

She continued,

“I… like… Snowhaven people… Their veins… bulge… beneath the skin… winding… plump… I… cannot… look away…”

Yes.

Nora believed her—Valencia really couldn’t look away.

Because even while speaking to Mr.Fury, her eyes stayed locked on Nora’s neck without blinking.

Nora ducked behind Dan—though with their height difference, it was like hiding a mountain behind a bush.

“Humans don’t like that either.”

“My… apologies… Your Majesty…”

Nora: “It’s fine…”

“Then I… Valencia… humbly… apologize… to Your Highness… once more.”

She bowed again, slowly, all the way down—and froze.

“….”

“….”

“……”

“….”

Tap tap

Valencia slowly straightened, giving a small nod.

She was beautiful, but this creepy aura… no thanks.

And Nora noticed a bat tattoo inked on her shoulder.

“And this is Livramento, Underground Division.”

Livramento—

A dark-skinned man with short, tight black-brown curls. About 186 cm tall, with ordinary gray eyes, yet his presence carried more weight than anyone else’s.

He bowed.

“….”

“…..”

“…Mr.Livramento?”

A nod.

“?”

Nora’s eyes went wide like an owl’s—

And Livramento’s eyes went wide right back. He tilted his head, studying her curiously.

“Uh… nice to meet you.”

“…..”

A slight nod.

Why isn’t he answering me? Did I do something wrong?

“Your Majesty… if I may,” said Roma, the man with the grey hair.

“Livramento is still learning to speak. He can’t talk yet.”

“Ah… I see.” Dan nodded, stroking his chin.

“Must feel good to finally have vocal cords, huh?”

Livramento nodded.

“Mr.Fury… what do you mean?”

“His real body can’t speak.”

“Was he… disabled?”

It was strange for a Diablo to be disabled—given that they could regrow limbs, how could one be handicapped?

“No, not disabled. He was born unable to speak.”

Livramento nods

“Couldn’t speak because he never had the organs for it in the first place. Like how humans don’t have tails—they never had them to begin with, Nora.”

Casca returned, hauling the battered body of Prince Everton after an ASS WHOOPING had left him in pieces. She dumped him on the floor, then walked over to inspect each royal guard.

“Haven’t seen you all in a while. You monsters clean up nice in human form.”

She did the same thing she’d once done to Mr.Fury—grabbing each of their faces to inspect them up close. Each one frowned exactly like Dan had before being released.

Looks like Ms.Casca really was close with them.

And when Nora’s gaze drifted to the dark-skinned man, she noticed a scorpion tattoo on the back of his leg.

“Has life been going smoothly on the human side?”

“There were some small obstacles while running errands for Mr.Fury, but we managed. Thanks, Galatasaray.”

“Calling it ‘running errands’ for me? That’s a bit insulting, don’t you think, Casca?”

While the grown-ups chatted, Nora quickly took the opportunity to open her notebook and jot down—

Roma – Wolf

Valencia – Bat

Livramento – Scorpion

Galatasaray – Butterfly

“Heh~?”

Everton, who should’ve been lying in a pool of blood, was now right behind her—peering over her shoulder with his height advantage.

“!”

Nora snapped the notebook shut like lightning, feeling a jolt down her spine.

Snatch!

Everton swiped it from her, and Nora froze in place.

“Oh…”

He couldn’t read Snowhaven script, but he could see the sketches she’d drawn before—including ones of Mr.Fury and Freya.

“So you’re this close, huh?”

Everton gave her a sharp look, shaking the notebook in the air.

“How come I never knew about this? It’s not in the briefing. What is this? Secret notes?”

“It’s not secret…”

“Looks plenty secret to me, huh?”

“…”

“Looks like I’ll have to do something about this. Now—”

Grab!

The tall man was yanked backward by a much smaller boy who’d jumped up and pulled his hair, forcing his head back.

“Aaaghhh!!! Brother!!! My glorious hair!!!”

Dan snatched the notebook back and handed it to Nora.

“Can’t let your ass out of my sight for a second.”

She moved to stand beside him… Strangely enough, she would’ve thought her instincts would push her closer to Casca, but when it came down to it, she’d run to Mr.Fury without thinking.

“What do you mean by that?! She’s writing something about you, who knows what!”

“Oh?”

The other three guards’ eyes flared red, making Nora sweat and back away.

“She likes to draw. What’s the big deal?”

“She drew you, didn’t she? She’s studying you, can’t you see?”

“She’s never seen us before—why’s that strange?”

“Who knows what she’ll do with that info! She might be looking for your weaknesses!”

“Nora wouldn’t.”

Dan pulled her closer into his space.

“Nora’s my friend.”

“Mr.Fury…”

“And besides—she could solo every one of you in here. Me and Freya have both been on the receiving end. I know.”

“Mr.Fury—wait—”

“She got you too?” Roma whispered to Freya, who clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

“In human form…”

“…So she could knock all of us flat, huh?”

“And what are you gonna do—fight her in human form, you idiot?”

Back to the main pair—

Even with those words, Prince Everton still eyed Nora with distrust. Which, for a girl, was understandable—but as the first princess in line to the throne, it was a different matter entirely.

“Stop with all the questioning already, Everton. You’re making the kid tense,” Casca cut in, grabbing him by the back of the collar. He instantly realized just how much protection Nora had here—and if he didn’t want another ass-whooping from his sister-in-law, he’d better listen.

“Come on, Nora. I’ll take you somewhere better.”

“Yes, Mr.Fury.”

“Galatasaray, lead the way.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Nora hurried after Dan and Galatasaray—her movements tracked by every Diablo on the ship.

The most surprised of all was Everton. He turned to Casca, still caught by the collar.

“Did I miss something?”

“You missed that you should’ve sent Dominic, not a rotten mushroom.”

“I meant about the princess, sister-in-law…”

“Oh, you missed a lot.”

“Should I know?”

“You should.”