Blankon Announcement

507 Grandmother, and Grandfather.

"Your Majesty from the future and Falne's daughter... my granddaughter, is it...?"

Fiana-san sat on the sofa in the room, looking dazed as Yoshino, her granddaughter, clung to her. I had asked everyone else to leave the room for now. It would just get too complicated otherwise. Only me, Sakura, Fiana-san, and Yoshino were in the room.

"It might be hard to believe, but..."

"No, no... given that time and space magic exists, it's theoretically possible. And coming from His Majesty, who defies common sense, it's not entirely unbelievable."

...Huh? Did I just get subtly insulted?

"So, what is it about Yoshino that you can't accept, Mom?"

"Oh, it's not about Yoshino-chan herself. It's just that I never expected to suddenly become a grandmother. I wasn't mentally prepared... It feels like I aged all at once."

Fiana-san responded to Sakura's questioning with a wry smile. Ah, so that's it. I can understand how she feels. When I heard that Tokie-obaachan's children were coming, I panicked too, not knowing what to do.

"The grandma over there is younger than the grandma here!"

"My, my. I wonder if I should be happy about that."

Fiana-san smiled awkwardly at Yoshino's innocent remark.

"Yoshino really loves her grandma, huh?"

"Yep! She always plays with me and teaches me lots of things. She even taught me magic!"

Magic too, huh? I remember Sakura's affinity is for water and dark magic, while Yoshino's is for fire and wind. It's hard to teach someone if their affinities don't match. Fiana-san, like Yoshino, has an affinity for fire and wind. Dual affinities are rare, but I guess that's to be expected from someone from the magic kingdom of Felzen.

"I never thought I'd see my grandchild's face so soon."

"Same here."

Life is full of surprises. Like getting struck by a god's lightning and ending up in another world.

"Um, what about the Demon King? Have you told him?"

"Ah... I'm not sure. If we tell Fiana-san but not the Demon King, that wouldn't be right, would it?"

I glanced to the side and saw Sakura sitting next to me, making a clearly displeased face and looking away. She really doesn't like the idea, huh?

"It's not that I don't want him to meet Yoshino. It's what comes after that I don't like. I can already see how he'll act. He'll go absolutely wild. It'll be annoying. He'll be insufferable."

Yeah, I can easily imagine that too. He'll definitely get super excited. Or maybe he'll cry? Like, full-on sobbing. Either way, it'll be annoying.

"Wasn't it crazy when Yoshino was born? Like, a huge celebration parade across Zenos or something..."

"I heard that when I was born, Uncle Faron and Grandpa got into a big fight."

Huh? Uncle Faron? As in, the prince of Zenos? The muscle-headed one? Why would they fight on such a happy day as their granddaughter's birth?

"Grandpa suddenly said he wanted to quit being the Demon King of Zenos and move to Brunhild. It was so sudden that they got into a huge fight at Brunhild's castle."

"Wow..."

Wait, they fought at our place? I can vividly picture that scene... No wonder Faron, my brother-in-law, got mad. Grandpa was ready to abandon his duties as the Demon King just because he wanted to dote on his granddaughter. That's way too irresponsible.

"He was scolded by Grandma and things calmed down for the moment. But even now, he's still trying to quit being the Demon King."

"He's trying hard in the wrong direction..."

It seems like that guy hasn't changed even in the future... Hmm, what should we do? Should we really tell him? It feels like it'll just cause unnecessary trouble...

"What do you think, Sakura?"

"Honestly, it's a hassle, and I don't want him to meet her. But if we don't, it'll be harder to let the other kids meet their grandparents."

Hmm... Well, Yumina and Sue's children haven't come yet, so it's just Freya and Asia's kids for now. But since they're both kings, they'll meet at world conferences and such. If the topic of grandchildren comes up then, it'll be obvious that the Demon King is being left out. Thinking about that gives me a headache already. Maybe it's better to let him meet Yoshino now. After all, Yoshino wants to meet him too.

"Then let's contact him and head to Zenos..."

"Um, can I come too?"

"Huh? Fiana-san too?"

"Well, if His Majesty goes out of control, I can stop him..."

Oh, right. If she's not there, we'll have to resort to force to stop him. And we can't exactly use force on a king of a nation. That would cause an international incident.

"Worst case, I'll stop him... It won't cause an international problem if I do it..."

Wait, are you sure about that!?

Sakura is my daughter, but she's also the Queen of Brunhild, so I think it would still be a problem!

With a slight sense of unease, we decided to head to Zenos.

◇ ◇ ◇

"And so, this is my daughter, Yoshino. For His Majesty the Demon King, she's his granddaughter... Um, are you listening?"

I called out to the Demon King, who was sitting deeply on the sofa, frozen with a serious expression.

In a room in the Demon King's castle, Pandemonium, in Zenos, we were explaining about Yoshino, whom we had brought along.

"........................"

"Hey, old man. What's wrong?"

"Father?"

The Demon King, who had turned to stone, slowly moved his head like a rusted machine and looked at Yoshino, who was sitting next to me.

"...Granddaughter?"

"Yes."

"Mine?"

"She's Sakura's daughter, so yes."

The Demon King stared intently at Yoshino. Yoshino, for her part, tilted her head slightly with a "?"

"She looks so much like Falne when she was little... But still..."

Ah, he still can't believe it, huh? Well, I can't blame him. Oh, right.

"Yoshino, can you show him your horns?"

"Sure!"

At my words, Yoshino's small silver horns sprouted from above her ears.

"Whoa!?"

Not only the Demon King but also the two princes exclaimed in surprise.

The Royal Horns. The mark of the Demon King's lineage. They had the same horns on their heads.

"She can already control her horns at that age..."

"Her mana control is perfect. Impressive, kid."

The two uncles muttered in admiration as they looked at Yoshino's horns. I glanced at Sakura beside me and saw her looking somewhat proud. Well, I feel the same way.

The Demon King stood up unsteadily and crouched down next to Yoshino to meet her at eye level.

"...Are you really my granddaughter?"

"Yep! Grandpa!"

Yoshino giggled, perhaps finding his serious face amusing. Yeah, my daughter is adorable.

"A granddaughter!"

"Yep!"

"My granddaughter!"

"Yep!"

The Demon King lifted Yoshino, who was laughing happily, into the air.

"Wait...!"

Sakura half-rose in alarm, but seeing Yoshino's joyful expression, she sat back down. Fiana-san, sitting next to her, smiled at Sakura's reaction.

"Yoshino! How old are you?"

"I'm nine!"

"Nine years old! You seem smart for your age!"

"Hehe, not really~"

Yoshino smiled shyly in the Demon King's arms. Seeing this, the Demon King trembled with emotion.

"Brunhild Duke! Grandchildren are wonderful!"

"Of course. She's my child."

Stating the obvious. There's no way my child wouldn't be wonderful. Anyone who says otherwise must be blind.

"Yoshino, do you have anything you like?"

"Sweets!"

"You like sweets, huh? Hey, Faron. Pour all the funding you can into our country's confectionery industry. Turn Zenos into a sweets paradise."

"Huh!?"

At the Demon King's cheerful declaration, Faron froze in shock. Zenos is a demon country. Demons are known for eating anything, with taste being a secondary concern. They do have some sweets, but they're not as refined as those in other countries, mostly simple baked goods or dried fruits.

While the idea of improving that isn't bad, it's way too sudden. No wonder Faron is shocked. He's already going off the rails.

"I'll fill your room with sweets later. Is there anything else you want to do?"

"Hmm, I'd like to take a photo with Grandpa and Grandma!"

"Ah! That's a great idea! Let's do it now, right now!"

The excited Demon King put Yoshino down and pulled out his mass-produced smartphone from his pocket, handing it to Fares. Fares took the phone with a "Huh, me?" expression.

"Hey, make sure you don't mess this up, okay? If there's any blurring, I won't forgive you..."

"Uh... okay..."

Fares, slightly intimidated by his father's threatening tone, held the smartphone and aimed it.

Yoshino sat in the middle, with Fiana-san and the Demon King on either side. Yoshino tightly held onto her grandparents' arms.

Both of them look young, so they look more like parents than grandparents... Huh, why do I feel a bit jealous? Yoshino is my child, after all.

"Okay, I'm taking the picture..."

Click The shutter sound echoed, and the photo was taken. It seemed to have turned out well, as Fares let out a sigh of relief.

"Falne, why don't you join us? Let's take a family photo!"

"No. Too much trouble."

"Mom, you should join us too!"

"Okay."

The Demon King tried to get Sakura to join, but she refused, only agreeing when Yoshino asked. What a flip-flop. Typical Sakura.

"Your Majesty should join too."

"Huh, me?"

"Of course. You're family."

Well, that's true. But I'm not good with these kinds of photos.

Still, I had no reason to refuse, so I let Sakura pull me to stand behind the three on the sofa.

"Okay, stay like that..."

Fares took a few more shots. These kinds of commemorative photos always make me nervous...

The Demon King quickly went over to Fares to check the images.

"Hmm! It turned out great! I'll set this as my wallpaper starting today!"

The excited Demon King showed me the photo as I peeked over.

Hmm. It really is a good photo. Most importantly, Yoshino in the middle is smiling brightly. Sakura looks a bit pouty, though. And I have a slightly stiff smile.

"Grandpa, send me that photo too!"

"Ah, sure! Let's exchange contact info!"

The Demon King, now completely smitten, started exchanging contact information with Yoshino. Faron and Fares, the two princes, watched this scene as if they were looking at a rare creature.

"I've never seen Dad like this... It's kinda creepy..."

"He's completely melted... Is this what they call 'grandchild spoiling'...?"

The Demon King, oblivious to their stares, was completely focused on Yoshino.

"That's right! Yoshino, let me show you around the castle. We just got a rare magical beast specimen yesterday..."

The Demon King took Yoshino's hand and was about to leave the room when Faron grabbed his shoulder in a panic.

"Hey, old man! You've got a meeting with the merchants' guild after this! Are you just going to skip it!? No matter how much you love your granddaughter, you've got to prioritize—"

"My granddaughter comes first!"

The Demon King roared back, leaving Faron speechless.

He's completely gone off the rails... This is bad, he's totally out of control.

"This is too much trouble. Fine, Faron. I'm passing the throne to you. From now on, you're the Demon King of Zenos. Handle everything."

"WHAT THE HELL!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME, YOU JERK!?"

Whoa, he just dropped a bombshell. Isn't this what happened in the future when Yoshino was born? Did we trigger it early?

"You're going to inherit it anyway, so what's the difference if it's sooner or later!"

"You said you wouldn't pass it on until I got married! Who the hell said that, you bastard!"

"After thinking about it, it'll be a hundred years before you get a wife! I can't wait that long!"

"You said it!"

Come to think of it, during the masquerade ball we held before, Fares got a few inquiries, but Faron got none. Ouch.

As Faron and the Demon King, having hit a sore spot, were about to start a brawl, I moved to stop them, but Yoshino stepped in front of them first.

"Both of you, stop fighting! Be nice!"

"...Yes."

At Yoshino's scolding, the two immediately separated.

Whoa, scary... She's small, but she's got a strong presence...

"Grandpa, you have to do your job properly! Being irresponsible causes trouble for everyone!"

"Ah, yes, my apologies..."

"Uncle too! Hitting people right away is no better than a monkey! Are you a monkey!?"

"No, I'm not... Yeah, I was wrong..."

Yoshino's scolding left the two completely deflated. These two are the most powerful people in the country, by the way.

We brought Fiana-san in case the Demon King went out of control, but it seems we didn't need her after all.

"Scolding the kids just like her mom. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Really? Do I really seem like that?"

Sakura looked impressed, while Fiana-san seemed puzzled. Now that I think about it, she does seem like that. Fiana-san scolding the troublemakers at school is just like that.

Being kind to children isn't the only part of education. You have to scold them when necessary and make them reflect.

Hmm, I wonder if I can scold my children properly... I'm a bit worried.

As I was pondering this while watching Yoshino lecture the two, there was a hesitant knock on the door. Entering was Sirius-san, the Dark Elf who serves as the Demon King's guard and the captain of Zenos' knight order.

"Pardon the interruption. Your Majesty, you have a schedule coming up, so it's about time..."

"No! I don't want to work! I want to play with Yoshino!"

"Grandpa?"

"...Well, I guess I'll do it later..."

The Demon King, who had initially refused, shrunk under Yoshino's glare. It's hard to tell who's the child here.

To comfort the dejected Demon King, I spoke up.

"Yoshino can use [Teleport], so you can see her anytime."

"Really? ...But Falne can use it too, and she hardly ever visits."

"...It's not good for a married queen to keep popping back to her parents' home. No offense intended."

Sakura answered nonchalantly as the Demon King glared at her. Is that really the case?

Come to think of it, when Sakura says "parents' home," she's probably referring to Sirius-san's Flennel family, not this castle...

"Well, it's hard to say goodbye, but I guess I have to... Yoshino, I'll call you later, okay?"

"You can call, but only once a day, and no long calls. I'll check the call logs. And no calls after 7 PM. That's family time. If it affects Yoshino negatively, I'll block your number immediately."

"So strict!?"

The Demon King couldn't help but shout at Sakura's overly detailed rules. Well, I think they're reasonable. Otherwise, he'd be calling all day, morning and night. That would be too much.

Also, just because [Teleport] exists, I don't plan to let Yoshino go to Zenos alone. She'll have to report beforehand, and we'll have someone like Kohaku escort her.

"Hey, old man, let's go! Fares, you handle the rest."

"Got it, bro."

"Ugh! Just a little longer! Can't we stretch it a bit more!?"

"Come on, let's go!"

Faron grabbed the Demon King's cloak and dragged him out of the room.

He's as noisy as ever. I feel so tired...

"Sorry about our noisy father..."

"No, it's fine. You have it tough..."

"Really, it's exhausting..."

Fares, perhaps sensing my feelings, bowed his head.

Although he was stripped of his right to the throne due to the incident with Sakura, as the second prince, he's still involved in Zenos' politics. When his older brother Faron ascends to the throne, he'll likely serve as his right-hand man.

Given that brainless prince, Fares is clearly going to have a hard time... He already looks worn out. I'd like to do something to cheer him up... Ah.

"Um, it's not the best timing, but would you like to visit our library now? It might help take your mind off things."

I remembered that Fares had shown interest in the rare books in Brunhild Castle's library during the matchmaking party.

"Eh...! Is that okay!? Wouldn't I be intruding?"

"Not at all. If you find anything you like, you can borrow it. Yoshino can show you around. Is that okay, Yoshino?"

"Sure! I'll show Uncle Fares around our place!"

"Haha, 'Uncle,' huh? I feel like I've aged so much."

Fares smiled wryly at Yoshino. I guess everyone feels that way.

Well, Yoshino's situation is settled for now. Next is Freya's grandfather in the Restia Knight Kingdom and Asia's side in the Regulus Empire. I don't think those two will cause as much trouble as this. We'll see.