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After Asta was done embarrassing himself, Sekke patted the runt's back to soothe the embarrassed swordsman.
"All that training for nothing..." muttered Asta.
"My dream of defeating Lucifero..." muttered Liebe.
"Sorry for that. I saw the opening to the Underworld and went in to deal with the devils. They all came at me at once, making me deal with them quickly," said Sekke.
"...You went to the Underworld and defeated all the devils on your own?" asked Liebe.
"Yup. Though there is Adramelech who surrendered," replied Sekke and pointed towards the devil who was looking around with a bored look on his face, though internally he was trying to understand what Sekke meant by that there were other strong people amongst the humans as well.
"...He is a highest-class devil as well. Is he not dangerous?" asked Liebe.
"He is fine. Even Asta can tell that. Read his ki," replied Sekke.
"Yeah. He feels like a devil, but the ki from him is not evil," answered Asta.
"...So what do we do now?" asked Liebe.
"...Let's help around. We came here to help anyway. Helping doesn't just mean fighting afterall," replied Asta with a bright smile.
"True. Also, don't feel bad about being late. You two worked hard to master a new power that you were not familiar with, and even mastered it correctly. Also, if the two of you were here early, then the Clover Kingdom might have suffered from the giant devil that attacked it right."
"Hm? No, no, no. Wizard King and the others would have been able to save the kingdom as well. Still, I guess being there was great as well. You were here afterall, that's why I was able to focus on learning Devil Union without worrying about everyone too much," replied Asta with a smile.
"Got your back, buddy. Don't worry about that. Also, if you want to test your power against Lucifero or the other devil,s don't worry about that. I can help with that. I have their shadows now," said Sekke.
"What shadows?" asked Asta and Liebe in confusion.
"Ah, you didn't see that spell right. Well, don't worry about that for now. Go and help around. Also, you can also introduce yourself to Yuno's mom there. Tell her about Yuno's embarrassing past. She might like that," said Sekke and pointed towards Yuno and his mother.
"OH!!! I will make sure to tell her about all of Yuno's embarrassing past events!!!" said Asta in determination, chuckling at the thought of seeing Yuno embarrassed in front of his mother and rushed off towards Yuno.
Sekke smiled, seeing Asta back in his spirits and looked towards the setting sun.
"...Maybe I should go back home today..." muttered Sekke, feeling a bit sentimental seeing all the Spade Kingdom families cheering and celebrating their happiness and freedom.
Secre approached Sekke, seeing that Sekke was standing alone.
As she came closer to Sekke, the Dark lord enveloped her in a hug, taking Secre by surprise.
"I am sorry," said Sekke in a soft tone.
Secre peeked up with a confused expression.
"What are you apologising for?" asked Secre.
"For worrying you and everyone else by jumping into the Underworld without any warning. I later realised that you might have been worried by that," answered Sekke.
"I will obviously worry about you if you do such dangerous stunts. Would you not?" asked Secre.
"I obviously will. The moment I sense that you are in danger, I will jump in to save you. I am not strong just for show, you know," replied Sekke.
"So overprotective," replied Secre with a smile.
"You have no idea about how overprotective I can get."
"I want to see."
"Really? You won't get to complain later, you know?"
"Hmm....I am kinda hesitating now. Did I get involved with a bad man?"
"Bad? Me? I am so offended by that. I might need some compensation for that rude comment."
Secre chuckled seeing Sekke act like that and gave a peck on his cheek.
"Will this suffice?"
"Hm? That's it? No way that's enough."
"...Definitely a bad man....I will do more once we are alone."
The two of them were fooling around for a bit, ignoring the gazes of the onlookers who were eyeing the couple.
"While we are on the topic of apology....I guess I should apologize aas well..." said Secre.
"Why are you apologising for?" asked Sekke, trying to remember if Secre did something bad.
"...Lolopechka will tell you about it later..."
"...You didn't..." asked Sekke, already somewhat guessing what the birdy was talking about.
"...It somehow got to that point.... In my defence, I was the last one on board. The others agreed first..." replied Secre, making the Dark Lord widen his eyes in shock.
Sekke eyed Secre for a while before his gaze landed on Anna and Mimosa, who were standing with Lolopechka.
The two girls gave an awkward laugh and then looked away, not able to handle the uneasiness.
Lolopechka was already a blushing mess, not knowing what to do. In the heat of the moment, she made a daring request to Secre and the others, but now she was wondering if she was an idiot or had hit her head when she was little.
Sekke looked at the trio for a while before focusing back on Secre.
"You were acting as the messenger?" asked Sekke.
Secre didn't say anything and gave a helpless smile.
"...And here I thought you were worried about me and wanted to act lovey dovey with me....you were out there selling your fiancée's body without his consent. Honestly, it is I who should wonder if I got entangled with bad women," said Sekke.
"..."
Secre looked at the shameless man and wanted to pull his ear, but she also knew that she, too, was somewhat at fault here.
By his reaction, Sekke was clearly aware of Lolopechka's feelings, but never tried make moves on her. It was she and the others who gave in to Lolopechka's plea.
"...I should have asked you first..." said Secre with a sad tone.
Sekke looked at the girl who was clearly disheartened and sighed. He didn't know what was going on with their minds. He didn't want to be the voice of reason here, but the situation that they were in was frankly not normal, yet everything was proceeding in a weirdly smooth way as if someone was writing some kind of harem plot for a story.
"It's alright. I am not mad. Don't look sad and make me feel guilty," said Sekke and pulled Secre's cheeks to make her snap out of her sadness.
"Next time, please don't jump the gun on your own. Or better yet, don't do it at all. I am not out here to become the man with the most wives," said Sekke.
"...Understood....Getting lectured over this by the one with multiple wives feels strangely wrong."
"If you feel that when you are in the wrong, then think about how I am feeling."
The two stared at each other for a while before sighing and letting go of each other.
The two knew that the situation was already out of hand and couldn't be reeled in. The only thing that they could do now was try to mitigate it as much as they could.
Secre turned towards the other girls, who were now joined by Mereoleona and Undine as well and gave a small nod.
Understanding that Secre had conveyed the message, the group of girls looked towards Lolopechka, who was stiff as a statue from the pressure that she was feeling.
"Go, Lolopechka-chan! The stage is set for you!" cheered Undine.
"...I am feeling sick. Maybe we can come back to this at some other time," said Lolopechka and tried to walk away; however, a watery fist grabbed her head and held her in place.
"We have Mimosa here. She can heal you," said Undine with a 'smile'.
"Ugh! Undine, you bully!!!!" complained Lolopechka.
"Coward," said Mereoleona with a snort.
An intangible arrow pierced Lolopechka.
"It's now or never, Lolopechka-san! Since our mission against the devils is over, you will get even fewer opportunities to meet with Sekke-san!" said Mimosa.
"I won't mind if you want to back out, but you were the one who asked us if it would be all right for you to join us," said Anna.
"Being that weak-willed doesn't suit a royal. If you are that indecisive, then better stay away from Sekke. He tends to get entangled with pretty bizarre and dangerous stuff," added Mereoleona.
Lolopechka was unsure what to do. On one had she was feeling scared of getting rejected. On the other hand, she didn't want to be just pushed aside just like that. It was true that she would see Sekke even less, considering that he had no reason to come to the Heart Kingdom regularly.
'Get a grip, Lolopechka! Be bold and say it out loud!' mentally hyped Lolopechka.
"Secre told me you wanted to say something to me."
Lolopechka snapped out of her thoughts and saw Sekke standing right in front of her.
Her resolve crumbled, and her brain short-circuited.
Her face went red with a poof, and in panic, she stepped back....only to trip on her dress.
She braced herself for the impact, but a familiar feeling surrounded her, making her sigh in relief.
She looked at Sekke, who used his magic to stop her from falling and realised that she was expecting him to save her.
'...If he never comes to the Heart Kingdom after this...' thought Lolopechka, and a gloomy feeling clouded her thoughts, thinking about that.
She gulped and resolved herself once again.
She stabilised herself, took a step forward and grabbed Sekke's hand.
"L-Lord S-S-Sekke!!!!"
"Yes," replied Sekke calmly, not wanting to make the girl more uneasy.
"U-Um. Y-Y-You know. T-Thank you for saving me just now. No! Thank you for everything upto this point. Saving me from falling on multiple occasions. Curing my curse and saving my life. Protecting the Heart Kingdom. Giving me hope about my magic. Protecting me from being taken away by the Dark Triad. Helping me learn new spells. Everything!!!!"
Sekke was surprised to see the girl thank him, but still he nodded and accepted her gratitude.
"I-I-I know that it might seem wrong to ask you this b-but please let me make a selfish request to you!!! I am not asking this of you as the Queen of the Heart Kingdom. I am asking this as Lolopechka, who appreciates you for all you have done for me."
Sekke didn't say anything, just gestured for her to go on.
Lolopechka nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves
"W-W-W-Would you allow me to be with you as well. I promise that I will do my best to make you happy! I know it is selfish of me to ask you this when you already have four fiancees but please!!!" asked Lolopechka with a bright blush on her face.
She looked at Sekke with an expectant gaze while her heart pounded like crazy. Her hand which were holding Sekke's, were trembling.
"Lolopechka," called Sekke softly.
"Y-Yes!" replied the queen in panic.
"...Are you sure you want to go through with this? The things that you are suggesting might be a temporary infatuation. We have not known each other for long, so taking such a huge decision might be wrong," said Sekke.
At each word, Lolopechka's heart sank. She knew that there might be the possibility of him turning her down, but knowing that it was actually happening made her heart feel too much pain.
"....so how about we start on a dating basis first. We can decide how things proceed from there. Secre told me that you asked the oth-"
Before Sekke could finish, the Heart Queen had already embraced the Dark Lord tightly, making sure that Sekke could not escape.
"I accept!!!! NO GOING BACK!!!!! PLEASE DATE ME WITH THE INTENTION OF MARRIAGE!!!!"
Sekke blinked in shock, seeing the queen clinging to him desperately.
He looked at the other girls, wanting to know what to do in this situation.
However, the girls were eyeing the two of them in amusement and decided to let the Dark Lord deal with the situation on his own.
Not far from the Fana was eyeing the group with a 'smile' on her face.
Rhya and Vetto, who were standing near her, slowly stepped away from her, silently offering a prayer to Sekke