Yusuke

“Thank you for allowing me to take a bath. I feel great and warm now,” I said while stepping into Fukuyama-san’s bedroom, my eyes widening at the sight of the beautiful angel wearing a white hooded sweater, light pink sweatshorts, and white socks. She seemed comfortable and distracted, lying on her belly, all sprawled out on the bed. She was reading a magazine and humming a song I didn’t recognize.

“Meow.” The cat rubbed its body against my leg, catching my attention.

“Huh? What is it… Yuki? Is that your name?” I placed my hands under his front legs and scooped it up in my arms, amused that it wasn’t hissing or casting a water spell on me. 

“You are not sneezing anymore,” observed Fukuyama-san, lifting her head and looking at me, smiling softly. “Yuki really did something for your allergy.” 

“I thought the water ball was just a form of bullying,” I smirked, relieved that I wasn’t sneezing anymore. “Thank you for lending me your brother’s clothes, by the way. As you presumed, they fit me like a glove.” 

The cat meowed in my arms and opened its mouth.

“Oh, no. Are you going to cast a water spell on me again? Please, don’t,” I begged, panicking. However, much to my surprise, a strong gust of warm wind came out of its mouth, drying my damp hair in a matter of seconds. 

I blinked several times, stunned. Meanwhile, Fukuyama-san jumped out of bed and approached us, her expression mirroring mine as she gasped, “Yuki, you can use wind magic? How is that possible?”

“I might be wrong, but I feel immense power coursing through Yuki’s body, which means it can use all types of magic,” I commented, furrowing my brows. “After all, it’s a guardian.”

“Do you mean Yuki-kun can cast light, dark, water, fire, earth, and wind magic? Is he really that powerful? How come you can feel his power and I cannot?” The angel grilled me with questions, her eagerness to hear my responses making me proud of myself for being able to give them.

“You are the third princess, right? Typically, only the first prince or princess can sense the magic power and mana around them. This implies that your brother, the king, must possess the same abilities I do. He likely sensed Yuki’s immense power in the Kingdom of Angels, which is why he instructed you to bring it to Tokyo. Regarding the types of magic, as you know, all demons can use dark and fire magic, while all angels can wield light and water magic. However, only members of the Demon and Angel Royal Families can harness the power of wind and earth magic.”

Fukuyama-san looked at the palm of her right hand. “So, it means I can cast wind and earth spells,” she murmured, stunned. 

Even though she had told me that she grew up sheltered from the world, practically confined within the castle’s walls, I was flabbergasted by how little knowledge she had about everything. I couldn’t help but wonder if her teachers actually taught her anything useful or if they just filled her head with stupid ideas to keep her under her parents’ absolute control. 

“Princess Nami, have you ever practiced magic? Did one of the Court Mages teach you about magic and mana?” I asked, determined to understand why the previous king and queen raised their daughter to be oblivious and dependent. 

She stared at me as though I were speaking gibberish. “Court Mages? What are those? I know that the kingdom has a Knightly Order and Royal Guards, but I have never heard about Court Mages.”

I sighed, trying not to tell myself that she was a lost cause and that I should just drop the subject and discuss something less infuriating. If she kept giving me reasons to believe she meant nothing to the previous king and queen, I might just force my way into the angel realm to confront them about being terrible parents. 

Fukuyama-san flinched. “Why do you look so mad?”

I inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm down. “I’m not mad.”

Unexpectedly, she poked me on the cheek with her index finger, smiling. “Yes, you are. Your ears are red, and I can see the fire burning in your eyes, you know.”

My lips curled into a mischievous smile as I suggested, “Maybe you should put out my fire with your water magic.” The words were supposed to come out in a suggestive tone, but judging by the angel’s confusion, I could conclude that I had massively failed my mission to flirt with her.

“But I cannot use magic in the human realm,” she said, confirming that she hadn’t, in fact, caught my attempt to flirt. “Can you use your magic here? I thought only Yuki could do it.”

I shook my head to get my thoughts straight and go back to the main matter at hand. “Anyway, Court Mages are powerful mages who serve the castle, and they usually fight as support members to the knights.”

The angel tied her beautiful hair into a high ponytail while mumbling to herself, “Why did my teachers fail to teach me about magic? What else have I not learned that I should have? Why did Father and Mother neglect my education so badly to the point that I now feel like the most ignorant being in the human realm?”

“Are the lessons at school too difficult for you? Are you having a hard time studying? How are you doing on your midterm exams?” I placed the cat on the carpet because it was surprisingly heavy. I thought its round shape was a consequence of its fluffy fur, but I guess it was just chonky. 

“I find the lessons easy, to be honest. The only subject I have problems with is—”

“Geography,” I guessed, laughing. “That I can tell.” 

She rolled her eyes and headed to the kitchen, prompting me to follow her. “I am making us dinner,” she announced once standing in front of the stove. 

“What can I do to help you?” I offered, excited and expectant to taste the angel’s food. 

“You can fill the small pot with water and put it on the stove while I take the packages of ramen,” she replied, pointing at the small pot on the dish rack. 

I ran a nervous hand through my hair, forcing a smile. “I don’t know how to turn on the stove.” 

Fukuyama-san frowned. “Is this your first time in a kitchen?”

“Yes,” I admitted, wanting to die from embarrassment, expecting her to burst into laughter and start to mock me. 

She shrugged and smiled. “There is always a first time for everything, even when you are the Demon Crown Prince who has servants for everything. Come one; I will teach you how to turn on the stove.” 

The angel explained what she was doing as she placed the pot with water from the tap onto the stove and turned it on, which turned out to be extremely easy to do. Next, she opened the cabinet under the sink and took out two packages of instant miso ramen, grinning from ear to ear as she waved them in the air.

“I have never tried those before,” I commented, curious to find out what instant ramen tasted like. 

“I have been eating these for dinner every night since I moved here,” she commented, opening the packages and putting them on the counter. “They are easy to prepare and taste super good.”

I gaped at her in horror. “You’ve been eating those every single night?”

“Yes, I have. Why? What is wrong with that?” She narrowed her eyes defensively. 

I took a step back and shook my head. “I’m just taken aback, that’s all.” 

Silence filled the air as we both stood beside each other in the tight space, our shoulders touching whenever one of us moved, sending electric tingles down my spine. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Fukuyama-san was the first one to speak, her eyes focused on the water starting to boil.

“Of course.” I handed her one of the packages after removing the pack of miso powder. 

“Thank you.” She threw the noodles into the boiling water. “How did you know that those men who attacked me earlier today were hybrids? As a demon, could you see their demon forms?” 

“No, I couldn’t. However, as I mentioned before, I have particular abilities because I am the first prince. One of those abilities allows me to identify hybrids, whether in the human or demon realm. On top of that, I can feel their mana and power even when they are in their human forms,” I clarified, happy once again to be able to help her understand things better.

She shifted on her feet and hesitated, “Do you think they are related to the attacks in the Kingdom of Angels?” 

I pondered how to respond, as I wanted to give her neither a positive nor a false answer due to the matter being so delicate and complex. Personally, I did believe that it was somehow connected to the attacks in her kingdom, but I didn’t necessarily think she was being targeted solely because she was the Angel Princess. A nagging feeling inside of me told me that I was the reason why people wanted to harm her—and by her, I mean Fukuyama Nami. Despite that, I chose not to say anything without being one hundred percent certain.

“Hasegawa-san?” the angel called out to me. “You do not need to answer me if you do not wish to.” She pointed to the small fridge. “Can you get me a container of boiled eggs from the refrigerator, please?” 

I crouched and did what I was told while finally replying, “Look, I have my suspicions regarding today’s attack, but I don’t want to draw conclusions without proof to avoid causing you unnecessary concerns.” I rose to my feet with the container of boiled eggs in one hand. “What if I ask my dad and my mom about it? Maybe they know something we don’t.”

After mixing the boiled noodles with the miso powder, she carefully poured them into a ceramic bowl and dropped two boiled eggs into them. “This one is yours. Feel free to eat them now before they go cold.” 

The food didn’t look good, but I was going to eat it regardless because the angel herself had prepared it for me. I didn’t care what it tasted like, and I didn’t mind if it gave me a stomachache or diarrhea, as long as I got to see her smile and be pleased that I was fed. 

“Thank you very much.” I rewarded her with one of my signature smiles—the one that left most people dazed and with their knees trembling. 

She blushed and averted her eyes from me, letting me know that I had accomplished my goal. She then filled the pot with water and placed it on the stove again, repeating the same steps from when she prepared my instant noodles. 

“My brother Sora told me that all the angels who have fallen during the attacks had their mana drained and their lives taken by drowning, which is why everyone knows that both demons and angels are involved in them,” she stated out of the blue, her expression serious and her voice low and grave. “He believes that dark magic is being used to drain the angels’ mana, incapacitating them from using their magic to defend themselves. When they are too weak or unconscious, they drown after an angel casts a water spell on them.”

“I agree with your brother.” I placed a hand on the angel’s shoulder and squeezed it softly, reassuring her, “I will talk to my mom and dad as soon as possible to inquire about the attack on you as well as what we can do to help solve the ones in your kingdom. The situation is getting out of hand, and if it continues this way, all the angels will end up falling before we can do anything to prevent their descent.”

Fukuyama-san sniffed, her eyes welling up with tears as she whispered, “Why do you care if the angels fall?”

I cupped her face in my hands and leaned in, whispering in her ear, “I care because you are an angel.” With my thumb, I wiped away the tears that began to stream down her cheeks, hating to see her hurting this much. “Besides, I am the Demon Crown Prince, and as such, it’s my responsibility to do my best to assist the Kingdom of Angels. That’s what the Peace Pact was formed and signed for, right?” I winked, smiling. 

She giggled, the contagious sound soothing my heart. “You are different from what I initially expected.” 

I tilted my head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“I thought you were an arrogant student who believed he had the world at his feet because of his money, good looks, and popularity. It turns out you are just a demon living his best life in the human realm, and I do not blame you for that.” She poured her noodles into a second ceramic bowl after finishing preparing it. She also dropped two boiled eggs into it, just like she did with mine. “Let’s eat our dinner, shall we?” She motioned for me to follow her to her bedroom, a command that I obeyed happily.

* * *

It was almost eleven p.m. by the time I was sitting in my car while my servant Fukuo drove me to the mansion. As I leaned against the seat and stared out the window, I couldn’t help but smile whenever I recalled the delightful moments I had with the angel. After eating dinner, we had chocolate ice cream—although I hated desserts, it was amazing how everything tasted good when in her company—and chatted more about the attacks in the Kingdom of Angels. We also played with the chonk cat—I mean, the fluffy guardian—and had lots of fun just hanging out. 

As I was lost in my thoughts, my smartphone vibrated, announcing the arrival of a new text message, which I opened. The message read, “Why did you have to ruin my plans? You’ve just made things worse,” and I read it out loud, scowling as fury blinded me. Immediately, I called its sender, fuming.

“My, oh my, Yuu-kun. Why are you calling me so late at night?” The female voice on the other end of the line made me see red. 

“Stay away from Nami. I’m warning you for the last time,” I hissed, my voice cold and calculated. After ending the call abruptly, I glared at my phone’s screen, where the name Ishii Emica was blinking. I decided to visit the palace the next day after school to talk to Dad and Mom and come up with a plan to save the angels. 

* * *