Chapter 21

My Weak Point Was Exposed When I arrived at work, Vania was looking at something with great joy. It was a large book. I knew Fatla was a reader, but I rarely ever saw Vania very interested in them. At the moment, though, Fatla was staring lovingly at her little moss garden. That was unusual enough already, but there was no need for me to disparage others’ hobbies. Was Vania studying? Oh, it did not seem to be a very serious book. She was smiling too much for it to be serious. “What in the world are you reading, Vania? —No, I suppose you are simply looking at something, hmm?” I peeked at it from the side to see the pages filled with pictures. It appeared to be some sort of art collection. “This is so fascinating! I suppose everyone has a history, don’t they~?” “What is it, then? Show me.” But Vania slammed the book shut. “Uh, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to look, boss…” “You worry too much! And after that reaction, I could hardly pretend I never saw it!” “No, no, this is for your own sake! I might lie sometimes, but I’m being serious right now!” Vania insisted as she pressed the book against her chest. She would refuse to show me, no matter what. “I see, I see, so this is for my sake, hmm? I am happy to hear that.” “I’m really glad you understa—” I snatched the book from her. “Hey! You tricked me!” “You just said that you lie, even when you are telling the truth! I can no longer trust you! I will be checking for myself!” I doubted it would be all that horrible. Not even Vania would open a book of such serious content in this room, nor would she look at it with such glee. I opened it, and— —there was a portrait of me when I was a bottom-tier bureaucrat. My expression was so pathetic. I seemed bored, perhaps because of how little pressure there was in my position. And then there were those glasses I wore back then. The image screamed low-level civil servant. “Rrrgh…” “O-ohhh… Boss is so shocked and angry that she doesn’t know how to react!” Indeed—I had no idea how to respond to this. “What an idiot you are, Vania. Did I not tell you to make sure that stayed hidden? I am keeping out of this.” Fatla’s tone suggested this was all on Vania, but what she said told me that she most certainly knew something. I flipped to another page and found several lackluster portraits of me from when I lived in the countryside. Why was this book full to bursting with my disgrace?! I immediately put the screws on Vania. “Tell me where you got this. Tell me now, and I’ll go easy on you.” “You’re scaring me, boss, you’re scaring me…!” There was no question that this book was appalling, but it was still strange that Vania had something like this. My answer then came from Fatla behind me. “The original came from your parents.” “Aha! Of course, it had to be them! I cannot believe them!” My parents had paid an artist for all these commemorative portraits. The further I went back, the older the portraits got, and some had notes written by them like First Day of School. However, I looked bored in every image… Did my past self truly live in ennui for such a long time…? “I see the gist of it. My parents made copies of all my past portraits, put them into a book, and sent them here… The nerve!” They must have hoped to give their daughter a nice little surprise, but I wished they could see things from my perspective. But there was something else that angered me on a different level. “This should have been addressed to me. You may be my secretaries, but it is not something for you to open and look at first.” Mail addressed to the minister of agriculture directly could be a petition or a threatening letter, but there was a specific person within the ministry who was responsible for checking for that. Of course, that job fell within their normal scope of duty. However, things addressed to me were still for me to open and read first if they did indeed make it all the way to our office. The secretaries should not read them first—this was not a question of hierarchical relationships within the workplace. It was a moral question of opening someone else’s mail without their permission. “This is an obvious thing, Vania—can you not even do that? I am disappointed, to be honest. This will affect your assessments.” “Wait, please! Please don’t tell me you’re disappointed without hearing what happened first! We would never look at any mail addressed to you without permission!” So she was going to make excuses, was she? She had better give a good reason. “Oh? So then why were you looking at these horrid records?” My parents had sent letters to the ministry before, so that was the only connection I could make. But then the door clicked open. “Greetings, everyone. ” The demon king walked in without knocking. Argh! It was the one person I did not want to see right now. She would most certainly laugh at me if she saw such a dangerous item from the past! Actually—if all she did was laugh, I should count myself lucky. She would use this against me! I immediately threw the portrait collection of my dark past into a drawer. “Your Majesty, why have you come all the way to our ministry yourself…?” I had to make sure she never found out, no matter what. “Hmm~ I think it’s best if you don’t hear this, Miss Beelzebub~” she said with an innocent smile (and clearly malevolent intentions). “I have no choice but to listen if you put it like that!” “But it’s about your old portraits.” “You already knew?!” Of course she would… Someone of my caliber could not keep something like that hidden from her… “I don’t just know; I was the one who requested a copy of your portraits from your parents in the first place~ ” The demon king beamed. And that was when all the mystery was dispelled. Vania was not lying. Meaning Her Majesty had negotiated with my parents to obtain the book in the first place… “You parents so kindly and willingly agreed~ ” I stood frozen in place, not sure how to let off my anger… I would have destroyed them if they were not my parents… What have they done?! My quick temper would only harm me, however. Right now, I had to remedy this situation. If I did not quickly throw the portrait book in a fire, the demon king would use it for even further evil. If she showed it to Azusa and the others at the house in the highlands, I would never recover. The image I had so carefully cultivated would crumble! I could never let that happen! “Uh, um~ Your Majesty, it has been quite a long time since I got to indulge in my memories, so would you mind if I borrowed it for a little longer…? I’d love to reminisce next to a warm fire.” “Of course~ Indulge away! ” Yes, here was my chance. She may be the demon king, but they were still pictures of me. I doubt she could ask for them back right away. “Oh, I requested ten books, since I was having them made anyway. I’m happy to give you one.” She was one step ahead! Things were looking bad for me, so once I was done with work that day, I went to visit the demon king. I knew what I was going to ask. As soon as I was admitted, I flung myself to the ground. “Please burn all the books!” “Aww, but I was thinking about taking them to the highlands and looking at the pictures with Elder Sister Azusa and the others~” Her Majesty, sitting on one of her guest couches, was really hamming this up. That was exactly what I was afraid of! “No, please, anything but that… They know not how I was in the past…” “It just means you’ve grown since your promotion. Wonderful, isn’t it? I want them to see how far you’ve come~” “I know you are spinning it in a positive light, but what you are trying to do is expose my dark past!” Think, Beelzebub, think! Pleading wholeheartedly would do nothing. I had to convince her that my past didn’t matter. “See, Your Majesty—is Azusa, the Witch of the Highlands, not your current candidate for older sister?” Her Majesty tapped her finger on her lips, thinking for a moment before responding, “Yes, that would make her Elder Sister Azusa.” “Then that means I have graduated from being your elder sister! You no longer need ways to toy with me anymore!” Indeed, I no longer had to play big sister to the demon king anymore. That was now Azusa’s job. She had taken on the very sisterly role of defeating the demon king when they fought, and she even scolded her when it was necessary. But then an impish smile crossed Her Majesty’s face, she shot up from her chair… …and placed one hand on my shoulder. “Elder Sister.” “No, I am no longer your—” “One can have multiple elder sisters.” So that was her angle! “I hope you keep up your good work as my second sister, Miss Beelzebub. ” I nodded weakly. “A-all right…” I was doomed to remain in the demon king’s evil clutches in the end… “Well, since you won’t be able to quit your role as my sister, I suppose I won’t take this book to the house in the highlands.” My despair turned to joy. “R-really?!” “Yes. I would rather not betray my elder sister too much.” That meant she would only betray me sometimes, but I would trust that everything would work out for the best. After having tea in Her Majesty’s room, I excused myself, relieved that she would not spread word of my embarrassing past around. She was truly a kind person deep down. …… ……… I stopped in my tracks. “Wait… This means she will always have a card to threaten me with…” Now that I thought more about it, I had solved nothing!