One hundred years, and then another hundred.
Now the era had reached the point where only a hundred years remained until that slime would appear.
At first, I had grumbled that the wait was far too long, but before I knew it, two hundred years had already passed.
Even for a long-lived race, that was never a short span of time, so all kinds of twists and turns had come and gone. Still, the strength and experience I had built up over those years were honest things.
Of course, there were still ancient powerhouses like [Jonne], [Viole], [Noir], and Velgrynd, beings who had lived since the age of creation, and there were also people like Luminous and Sylvia, who still outclassed me by several steps when it came to sheer experience.
But looked at another way, that also meant that unless someone had reached the absolute summit in their own field, fighting me head-on was impossible.
That was why I had believed this matter, too, would somehow work out in the end, even if there were a few complications along the way.
...Right up until Ermesia openly asked for an engagement in front of Sylvia.
**
".........Ermesia. What... exactly did you just say...?"
I was so flustered that I forgot our agreement that, unless we were alone, I was supposed to address her as "Your Majesty the [Heavenly Emperor]." In front of Sylvia, I called her Ermesia by name.
Thankfully, Sylvia was not the kind of stiff, old-fashioned person who would make an issue out of forms of address, so that probably did not matter much... no, that was not the important part right now.
"Hehe. I said, wouldn't you like to get engaged?"
An engagement.
An engagement to the emperor who ruled the Sorcerous Dynasty Sarion and all thirteen royal houses of the elves, one of the great pillars of magic, and who styled herself the divine descendant known as the [Heavenly Emperor].
This was the engagement of someone at the very peak of power, something an ordinary person could never dare speak of, and never should.
"...Wouldn't it be better to stop joking there? Me, engaged to Your Majesty the [Heavenly Emperor]... setting status aside, I already have someone I love."
If Ermesia so much as hinted at engagement, the thirteen royal houses would be thrown into an uproar. How was I supposed to take this seriously when she was saying it to me with her own mother sitting right there?
If it were the eccentric [Noir], maybe. But I was not that insane a demon.
To begin with, the gap in status was obvious, and I already had a lover.
But Ermesia began her rebuttal with a calm, "That's fine."
"Do you really think the difference in status between you and me is that great?"
"......"
"You know it yourself, don't you? Just how valuable your status has become in the West."
The [Hero] whose very first great deed had been the monumental feat of defeating a demonic [Demon Lord].
The guardian of the West, humanity's greatest military force, standing shoulder to shoulder with the strongest [Hero].
The master of the legendary hero and adventurer known as the Ruler of Blazing Flames.
"For these past two hundred years, your name has never stopped echoing across the land. It's become famous enough that even the thirteen royal houses of Sarion all know it. Some of them even proposed sending [Magius] to recruit you to our side. They said they'd even be willing to have you engaged to royalty."
There was only one reason Sarion had never actually carried out such a proposal.
The name value of "[Hero] Adelio" had risen even faster than Sylvia had expected when she first made him the guardian of the West.
After all, someone who could defeat a [Demon Lord] alone and fight on equal footing with a [True Dragon] was more than worthy of being revered on the same level as the great powers of the West.
"That's what you are now—a [Hero] worth as much as an entire great nation. And you honestly think you're not a suitable match for me?"
Meeting Ermesia's gaze, which was almost more interrogation than question, I slowly nodded.
"...Certainly... with my current standing, maybe there isn't much of a gap... but I have—"
"—A lover, right?"
Ermesia had already anticipated what I was about to say.
Then she rose from her seat and let out a light breath. With a faint smile, she admitted that even she found Blanc's anger frightening.
"Don't worry. This engagement would only be a 'formal' one. At least for now."
"......"
A cold breeze blew through, and her silver hair tinged with blue-green fluttered across her face. She brushed it back with one hand, and by then the smile had vanished, leaving only a bitter expression behind.
"...Lately, the elders have been nagging me nonstop. They keep saying, 'Shouldn't you hurry and find a husband and give birth to the next [Heavenly Emperor]?'"
The first emperor of Sarion, her father, the [Hero] Salion Grimwald.
Long ago, he had died young because of the sudden appearance of the [Scorch Dragon], and the only legitimate heir he left behind was Ermesia, who had still been in Sylvia's womb at the time.
"...With only one direct heir, I suppose the elders have grown desperate."
When I voiced my guess as to why the elders were pressing Ermesia so hard, Sylvia finally spoke.
"That's right. And it's already been thousands of years since the elders of our house raised Ermesia up as the [Heavenly Emperor]. But she doesn't even have a fiancé, let alone a man she sees. Of course they've become impatient."
Sylvia added that, because the elders of their house considered legitimacy such an important issue, it was difficult for her to ease that burden even if she wanted to.
Since they were family, she could not simply use force either...
"Haah... and that's not all. For the past few months, Grandmother has been insisting that Mother remarry too."
The mother of the [Hero] Salion Grimwald, and the true power behind the current House Grimwald, Eris Grimwald.
Sylvia, like Luminous, was a [High Elf] created by the divine progenitor, so the grandmother Ermesia referred to could only be her.
"...Remarry... You mean Lady Sylvia...?"
My voice trembled so awkwardly that even I could hear it.
I had known only that Eris Grimwald held power as the third most influential figure after Sylvia and Ermesia. I had never imagined the two of them were actually being pressured into engagement and remarriage.
I knew there were pains that came with being a ruler, but I had never expected Ermesia and Sylvia of all people to be wearing such bitter expressions over something like this.
"Now you understand, don't you? Just how troublesome a situation I... no, we are caught in."
Sylvia and Ermesia looked at me with the same face and the same expression as they asked for my help.
"On a personal level... Ermesia likes you, and so do I. You're the only man around us, and over these past two hundred years... we've come to think of you, this demon, as a dear friend."
As I said before, two hundred years was a long time even for a long-lived race.
Not just for me, a demon, but for them as [High Elf]s as well... no, for them, who always had to return to the prison called the [World Tree]... it must have felt even longer than it did for me.
And in that long stretch of time, I had intruded into their lives and become their friend.
"Please. If you can accept it... help Mother too. If your lover means you can't do it for real, then just pretending is enough. I want you to act as though you're engaged to us."
...No matter how I thought about it, there seemed to be no way to refuse Ermesia and Sylvia's request.
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