"...Lady Esther, here is your request." A maid bows to me as I take the clothes she brought — clothes I had ordered fetched from Evelyn’s room. I dismiss her with a wave, setting the garments on a small side table, and simply wait until Saluvia leaves the room.

"..." As soon as the door opens, I see her. She’s carrying that clipboard of hers, and she looks me up and down as she tucks it among the clothes.

"I believe I owe you some information, considering Evelyn is your wife, so let’s keep this brief." She gestures with her hand toward one of the rooms, and the two of us step inside; I close the door behind us.

"Make it brief. I want to see Evelyn," I say sharply. She shows a clear and total lack of interest in what I’m saying.

"I conducted a general evaluation. Evelyn is physically well, so for her body, only some rest and exercise are needed. As for the baby, the baby is doing wonderfully. Since it’s in the early stages of formation, there isn’t much to assess — at least two months are needed for a more precise evaluation."

"Good. That’s all I needed to know." If Evelyn is well and the baby is too, then I have no further need to waste time keeping her in the castle’s infirmary.

"I haven’t finished. Considering Evelyn’s health, I will be monitoring her closely over the coming months. After all, her health is important, as is how it will influence the baby."

"...You have nothing more to do with this, Saluvia. If Evelyn is well, you have no business meddling any further," I say coldly.

"Of course I have reason to. Evelyn is showing some degree of depression, which is not healthy for her or for the baby—"

"What she feels hardly matters. I don’t want you near her anymore if she’s well," I cut her off, paying no mind to the nonsense she’s spouting.

"I see. You’re the type who doesn’t care if her mind is sinking, so long as you can keep her with you — though I doubt you even know what my diagnosis actually means. I suppose we’re done here, but I won’t be keeping my distance from her."

"If you try to stay close to Evelyn, I will kill you." I pull a spear from my storage ring as I threaten her.

"You can try." I lunge at her just as she says "You can try," but suddenly a pale girl with jet-black hair materializes, catching my spear as if it were a toy and snapping it with a single squeeze. I leap backward, catching a strange scent.

"...?" I stare at the pale girl, realizing she’s dead. The sensation it gives off is deeply unsettling.

"This here is the Demon Queen from eight thousand years ago. A cute little thing, don’t you think? I know you’re strong, Esther — I can see that — but I am also strong. Far stronger than you could ever imagine."

"After all, I, too, am someone from the seventh layer, with the power to control corpses. And even though a body grows weaker once it loses the title of Demon King and Queen, each demon king still possesses considerable power of their own." I eye the corpse closely.

’Seriously?’ The corpse’s gaze is utterly lifeless. I hear no heartbeat, and there’s no movement of the chest — it’s truly a dead body, moving.

’She can—’ I swiftly dodge a shot that punches a small hole into the wall. It’s the size of a needle, but the force is so absurd I would have died had it struck me in the head, which it would have, had I not evaded it.

"Obviously, I can use the abilities of my corpses as well," she says, and I see the corpse’s finger pointed at me, a faint black smoke trailing from where the shot was fired.

"My priority is the health of those under my care. If you intend to be an obstacle, then perhaps I should rid myself of you. I don’t care if you’re Evelyn’s wife — if you try to stop me from healing her, then my contract demands that I eliminate you." She speaks with an absurd confidence.

"You think I’ll lose just because you have a handful of weakened corpses? They are no longer demon kings. It doesn’t matter how strong they are." What surprises me most is that she knows my blessing originates from the seventh layer.

’Another person with a seventh-layer blessing... how strange...’ I never expected to encounter such a thing. She stays so well-hidden and removed from everything that I didn’t even know this woman existed until I sought out whoever handled the medical affairs of the demon ruler.

"It’s true that a single corpse cannot defeat you, but you won’t be fighting one. You’ll be fighting dozens of generations of demon kings, each with their blessings still active. Even if none of them possess a seventh-layer blessing, they are still blessings you’ll have no way of overcoming." She doesn’t say this in a threatening tone.

Her tone remains neutral the entire time, which makes me click my tongue. I take a deep breath, accepting that right now, I lack the power to win — though in the future, I will have it.

"Haaa... What is depression? And why does Evelyn have it?" I decide to involve myself in this. If Evelyn has some kind of problem, it’s better to accept some help, even though I would have preferred to handle everything alone.

"..." She stares at me for a few seconds before the corpse retreats into the shadows, vanishing entirely. Even if I’m not doing anything right now, this woman truly does possess a dangerous blessing.

"...I understand that you don’t know. It’s not a documented illness, given how much medicine has stagnated because of magic... not to mention that demons don’t think much about mental health."

"Simply put, it’s an illness where the affected person... exhibits persistent apathy, a lack of emotional response, loss of interest... and a mild deterioration of the will to live." As she describes the symptoms, it reminds me of Evelyn.

"Right. And what’s the problem with that?" I didn’t quite grasp it.

"It’s difficult to explain to someone unfamiliar with this. Magic cures everything, after all, so the mind is largely ignored. Regardless, I can explain it to you patiently, if you give me some time."

"Why do you want to explain it to me?"

"Because you are the cause of Evelyn’s depression. The environment bears part of the blame, but you are the primary catalyst. So it’s easier to help Evelyn improve if you’re cooperative. After all, I can’t make Evelyn better if you ruin everything."

"Besides... you’re interesting. I’ve never seen anyone besides myself possess a seventh-layer blessing. As a scientist, your corpse piques my interest, so I’d like to propose—"

"I refuse. My body will not become your possession after I die. I would rather have Evelyn turn me into a marionette than hand my body over to someone else’s use."

"...Understood. Then something more lenient — how about this: in exchange for my support and training with your blessing, you allow me to observe it in action? As someone experienced, and the only person who can help you with your blessing, it seems like a fair deal, no?" She offers something more acceptable.

"Fine..." I end up agreeing to the deal.

"Good. I’ll start by explaining to you about Evelyn..."

...

...

...

I look at Esther, who wears a frustrated expression after a few hours of explanation. I’ve just explained Evelyn’s mental condition to her in a thoroughly detailed, clinical manner.

"Saluvia, is this really how it is?" She seems very worried — unexpectedly so. I had anticipated a colder reaction. Most demons have no concept of what mental or psychological illnesses are beyond, of course, [Trauma], which is simple and recurring.

As it happens, demons don’t treat depression as depression. They treat it as mere sadness caused by a situation, unaware that it’s far worse than it appears. So even though the words "depression" and "depressive" are common enough, they’re used very lightly, without any understanding of what it truly is.

"Yes, that’s more or less the core of the condition. Fortunately, Evelyn seems quite determined to live, so the issue is more about how much it saddens her..." Esther seemed genuinely desperate at the prospect of Evelyn dying.

’That reaction was... strange...’ For now, I ignore her odd reaction to what I said. I’m more interested in how her blessing works.

"How can we cure Evelyn? You should do it immediately, since it’s so serious." Now more engaged with Evelyn’s situation, Esther asks earnestly, albeit in a very demanding way. She seems to have understood and accepted this illness, which leads me to evaluate Esther as rationally excellent. Many demons don’t believe in illnesses of this kind.

"It’s not something you cure. It’s something that only improves, and only if the person in question tries to improve. The most you can do is make Evelyn’s life a little happier..." Esther, who seems to grasp the gravity of the problem, merely gives a dissatisfied nod.

"For a doctor, isn’t it quite incompetently unable to cure this?"

"...Magic is not omnipotent, and medicine has limits. You, who didn’t even know what the illness truly is, have no ground to judge me. But let’s set that aside."

"I’ve written down an exercise routine that Evelyn should follow—"

"Why do you keep mentioning exercise? It’s not as if Evelyn needs it — she won’t get stronger or healthier."

"Because it builds routine and purpose. That’s all. By having a routine, she’ll have less time to dwell on negative things. Besides, she seems to love you more than anything. As long as you accompany her through the routine and keep yourself in check, Evelyn will improve. And it’s good for the baby."

"Also, avoid trying to kill the baby. If that child dies, I fear Evelyn will break for good." When I say that, Esther clicks her tongue. I don’t doubt that, with her mentality, she might try to kill the child through some "convenient accident" that wouldn’t implicate her.

"I’m occupied for now, so I’ll be going. I ask that you be patient with Evelyn. Even if she’s your little plaything, if you break her too much, there will be nothing left to use."

"Evelyn is not a plaything... I love her as she is... even if she is broken to pieces, she is and always will be mine."

"Love, huh... you young people come up with the strangest things." I give a sarcastic smile, heading toward the door, though still thinking about what happened earlier.

’She actually dodged an attack from a former demon queen...’ That demon queen I used was quite powerful. She had never missed a shot before, but Esther dodged. What a terrifying woman.

’If Esther were to claim the title, she would likely be the Demon Queen who could rival the first Demon King in total power...’ The demons colonized this continent 19,256 years ago. At that time, I was around 200 years old — I was quite young — and I had the privilege of seeing the first Demon King in person. He was frighteningly strong.

’Who would have thought I’d find someone as frightening as you, old friend... your lineage has produced someone truly dreadful...’ I take a deep breath, steadying my mind, and leave.