## Chapter 131 – Aser . District 7 (4)
Having finished his conversation with Charlotte, Aser left his office and headed downstairs, muttering to himself as if lost in thought.
“I said it, but what am I supposed to do exactly…”
Should he just bluntly ask Low how to govern a district? He couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of reaction Low would have. She had a relatively easygoing personality, so she might tell him, but considering their subtle rivalry over No. 25, there was no guarantee she would willingly share her knowledge with him, who was essentially her competitor.
But what else could he do? Aser, who had only recently ascended to the position of Demon King, and Low, who had maintained her position as Demon King for the longest time in the Demon World, had a difference in experience that could not be ignored.
After leaving his office, Aser wandered around the vast castle on foot, searching for Low, who wasn’t even in the drawing room.
Low was nowhere to be seen. With a sense of bewilderment, Aser headed to the last place he could think of: No. 25’s room.
It was a long shot, but he couldn’t shake the image of Low taking No. 25 with her.
As he reached for the doorknob of No. 25’s room, which he would normally have opened without hesitation, he felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
A familiar sound tickled his ears. Before opening the door, Aser cautiously pressed his ear against it.
He faintly heard No. 25’s moans.
In a fleeting moment, Aser wondered. Could Charlotte, who had just parted ways with him, have snuck into No. 25’s room? But that didn’t make sense. Charlotte had been with him until just before he left his office. Considering that, it was unlikely that it was Charlotte getting intimate with No. 25 right now.
If that was the case, there was only one person left.
Aser violently pushed the door open, almost breaking it down.
The scene that greeted Aser as he opened No. 25’s door was Low, half-undressed and completely exposing her chest, on top of No. 25, their mouths locked together.
The two were so engrossed in their kiss that they didn’t even notice Aser entering. No. 25, pinned beneath Low, didn’t even think of resisting, obediently accepting her tongue.
No, not only that, but her hands were freely grabbing Low’s chest, stroking her hips and waist.
He couldn’t tolerate her showing such a loose expression to another woman.
Barely regaining his composure, Aser immediately moved to the side of the bed and raised his voice.
“W-Wait a minute! What are you two doing?”
His first words trembled pathetically, as he was so flustered. Aser glared at them, his eyes wide with shock, barely managing not to bite his tongue.
Even in the face of Aser’s explosive anger, Low nonchalantly caressed No. 25’s parted lips and opened her mouth.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Low tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand Aser’s anger, and continued to speak.
“It’s perfectly natural to be intimate with someone you like… Why are you so angry?”
Low’s languid tone, as if making Aser look like a fool for being angry, made Aser’s blood boil. She pounded her chest with her hand, expressing her frustration, and raised her voice again.
“That’s not the point. This is my castle, and No. 25 is my person. This isn’t an area where you can just barge in and act like an animal!”
Aser spat out the words in a rush and began to catch his breath.
Low stared intently into Aser’s eyes, then slightly raised the corner of her mouth and smiled.
“Really? But Ryu doesn’t seem to think so?”
“Ugh…!”
He couldn’t argue.
No. 25’s lips, pinned beneath Low, were glistening with Low’s saliva, and her awkwardly outstretched hands were still grasping Low’s chest. Although she was too flustered to let go, No. 25’s fingers were subtly moving on their own.
Only after making eye contact with Aser did No. 25 avert her gaze, finally removing her hands from Low’s body and cautiously looking around.
He didn’t blame No. 25.
Aser tried to convince himself that Low had forced herself on No. 25 and regained his composure.
Low, who had already sat on the bed and straightened her clothes, looked at Aser and opened her mouth.
“Okay, I understand that you don’t like this child being with other women. But aren’t you enjoying yourself with Charlotte too? It’s a little unfair to be so strict with me, don’t you think?”
Aser’s shoulders twitched.
It was a completely unexpected remark.
“T-That’s… Charlotte is special to me… I don’t want to lose her over a pointless argument.”
“Don’t you think that’s too much? I understand not wanting to give her to anyone else. But to allow some and not others… Don’t you think that’s inconsistent?”
As the two continued their increasingly heated conversation, No. 25’s expression gradually turned to fear.
It was only natural. Learned fear lingered in the memory longer than one might expect.
The events of two years ago, when Low had done those things to Aser and Charlotte, resurfaced, and her fear-stricken body trembled uncontrollably.
Moreover, having witnessed Low’s strength up close for the past two years, No. 25 anxiously alternated her gaze between the two, worried that Aser might be harmed.
After a moment of silence, Low read the fear on No. 25’s face, quickly softened her expression, and embraced No. 25.
“Don’t worry, we’re not fighting.”
No. 25 nodded her trembling head and calmed herself, taking a deep breath.
Aser, judging that it wasn’t good for No. 25 to be in this space, spoke to No. 25 in a firm voice.
“No. 25, please leave for a moment.”
“…Yes.”
As soon as Aser finished speaking, No. 25 hurriedly gathered her clothes and rushed out of the room, like a mistress caught cheating in the middle of the night.
Low gazed wistfully at the empty room where No. 25 had disappeared, then turned her gaze to Aser with a coldness that belied the affectionate expression she had just shown No. 25.
“I told you I was here to rest, is this how you treat your guests?”
Was it because her pleasant time had been interrupted? The usual warmth was nowhere to be found in Low’s voice.
Even though he was inferior in strength to Low, Aser, who held the position of Demon King, the apex of a district, had no intention of backing down.
“Well, if you’re a guest, you should behave like one. I never gave you permission to have a relationship with my man, did I?”
“I don’t need your permission for Ryu and me to share our love. I think I know his body better than you do anyway?”
Without realizing it, his fists clenched. If he could, he wanted to slap that mocking face.
But he couldn’t.
He couldn’t let himself be swayed by a momentary emotion and forget his original purpose.
Aser barely calmed himself and took a deep breath.
Having regained some reason, Aser opened his mouth in a trembling voice.
“No, no… Let’s talk about No. 25 later. There’s something I want to ask you.”
Low narrowed her eyes and asked.
“Ask me?”
“First, sit down.”
Aser ordered the maid to prepare some refreshments, and after quenching his thirst with the coffee she brought, he cautiously revealed the worries he had been harboring.
Low, who had listened to Aser’s long story with a serious expression, crossed her legs, propped her chin on her hand, and asked.
“So… why are you telling me all this?”
“Don’t you understand even after hearing this story? I’m curious about how you managed your district.”
Low tilted her head as if she intended to frustrate Aser.
“How I managed my district? Hmm… I wonder?”
Aser felt like he was about to explode, but he maintained his business smile as much as possible and asked again.
“Why, there must be various methods, right? How do you manage the residents, how do you accommodate their complaints… Huh? You don’t have any of that?”
“Well… even if you say that, I don’t know. I don’t really care about my district.”
To say that she didn’t care about her district sounded irresponsible, but Low didn’t take on District 2 because she wanted to in the first place. It was simply the most dangerous district, the district with the most monsters, the district most prone to rifts, so other people kept putting it off, and Low naturally ended up in that position.
However, it wasn’t as if Low had no citizens who followed her. Low herself wasn’t aware of it, but while she was focusing all her attention on researching and dealing with monsters, there were several people who handled the trivial matters under her. In other words, Low herself had done nothing to manage the district on her own.
But that, too, could be seen as a qualification of a king. Even though she didn’t do anything herself, her subordinates took care of everything, a king whom people wanted to serve.
That was Low’s position, so she wasn’t in a position to give Aser advice.
After hearing all that, Low offered Aser another solution, who was in despair.
“It’s not like there’s no other way.”
“There’s another way?”
“Don’t you know? There’s only one king who’s better than anyone else at managing districts…”
At those words, Aser suddenly recalled the existence of one person and the district she governed.
The sanctuary for all wounded artists, District 3.
