The sky in the demon territory was never bright. For a long time, dark clouds gathered above, perhaps triggered by a magical aura that made nature reluctant to flourish. No one knew for sure if it was the effect of an ancient curse, or if that was just how the world worked in this demon continent region. The air felt heavy, carrying the faint scent of sulfur even within the magnificent palace corridors.
Before Elvar could begin his new activities, which were to start soon after the coronation, his stomach suddenly let out a rather loud growl, rumbling in the brief silence after the ritual. The sound was clearly audible to Valeria, who stood near him.
Valeria raised her slender eyebrows slightly, but her expression remained calm. The incident didn't change her initiative. "My Lord, before we begin the tour of the kingdom, let us fill our stomachs first. A meal has been prepared," she said politely, as if she hadn't heard Elvar's stomach just now.
The palace inhabited by high-level demons, including Elvar as the new Demon King, looked so magnificent and vast from the inside. Pillars of obsidian soared high, supporting dark, vaulted ceilings adorned with faintly visible reliefs of ancient battles. However, the thing that most distinguished it from the depictions of royal palaces in comics was its age. This building felt ancient, as if it had stood for hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years. Its black stone walls were coated in places with a thin layer of faintly glowing moss, adding to the ancient and mysterious impression.
Elvar passed through corridor after corridor, guided by Valeria. They passed several fully armored demon guards standing stiff as statues, their glowing eyes following the new King's steps. A few humanoid servants with more delicate demonic features bowed respectfully as they passed.
Upon arriving in a large dining hall, Elvar saw a long, black wooden table already neatly set. Several dishes were still covered by gleaming silver cloches. To his surprise, several of the Five Pillars, Grakthos, Terrax, and Carmilla, were already seated there, seemingly waiting for the King's arrival to dine together. Nyx and Valeria herself stood near the main chair.
Before being invited to sit in the seat of honor, which was clearly larger and more magnificent at the head of the table, Elvar realized. "How am I going to do this? If I eat, I'll have to at least lift my mask a little to get food into my mouth. If they ask why I'm not taking it off? What's the best, most suitable, and logical reason I can give to keep the mask on?" I thought.
I was really panicking at that moment. I didn't even have time to think about what food I was going to eat. This is a demon kingdom; am I going to be forced to eat raw monsters? Or worse? But that wasn't my main focus right now. What reason could I give for keeping my mask on while eating?
After I sat down, I looked at all the demons in the dining hall. They were all gazing at me with a mixture of respect and curiosity. "Please, enjoy the meal, Your Majesty," Grakthos said in his deep voice.
And at that exact moment, I got a brilliant idea. What if I make this a 'Tradition from My World'? You remember when I was first summoned to this world? That bull Pillar (Terrax) asked why I used this body shape, which implies they don't think this is my real body. So, I'll use that excuse if they ask why I don't take off my mask to eat.
Now that I had a solution, I didn't wait long. I immediately prepared to eat, picking up the silver spoon and fork that had been placed on my plate.One of the servants deftly opened the food cover nearest to me. "This is your appetizer, Your Majesty," the servant said, bowing his head.
Hot steam billowed for a moment from the wide plate in front of me before disappearing, clearly revealing the form of my appetizer.
"What is this? A cupcake?" I muttered, eyeing the dish suspiciously. It did look like a pale pink cupcake, but the aroma was strange, like raw meat or fat. There was also a small, dark red garnish on top. "Wait… this shape feels familiar in my mind…"
I tried to pierce the outer curve of the 'cupcake' with my fork. It felt strange. Not like piercing a dense cake, but more like piercing something chewy and soft. "What is this food, really?"
One of the servants standing near me saw my confusion and seemed to understand that I was wondering. "It is a delicacy that nobles usually eat at certain times, Lord," the servant said politely, gesturing toward the dish. "It is hard to obtain, hard to farm, and usually only acquired during wartime, or when we invade a village on the opposite continent."
"Heh? Hard to obtain? Hard to farm? What is it?" I muttered, growing more suspicious. "What is this food?" I asked in a firm but slightly soft tone, looking directly at the servant.
The servant trembled slightly before answering. "It is a part of a human body, Your Majesty. Specifically, from the chest area... of the female kind."
Huhhh? Breasts? These are breasts, right? WHAAAAT!!!
I inwardly panicked and exclaimed in my heart. I truly hadn't expected my appetizer to be human breasts.
Yes, honestly, deep down, I like women's breasts. I want to play with them, but NOT as food!!
I have to act. This can't be allowed. I can't let this become a habit, eating humans. At least not for me.
BRAKK!!
I slammed my hand on the table hard, then stood up suddenly, making my chair shove backward. I knocked the plate containing the breasts, and its contents spilled onto the cold stone floor.
All the demons in the room flinched in shock.
"How dare you serve me a dish like this?!" I shouted, my voice (thanks to the mask) booming with full-blown rage.
"Human body parts?! Why did you take the initiative to feed me human flesh?! Are you insulting me?!"
I saw Valeria stand up as well, her expression slightly surprised but still calm. I just hope she isn't angry about what I said and can get me food other than human.
"Is there something wrong with human flesh or bodies, Lord?" Valeria asked in the same polite tone. "I myself am fond of this food. Although it resembles my own body shape, it is the most delicious food for demonkind."
"Hmm, what's wrong? Why? Because I'm human!" I wanted to say, but that was impossible.
"In my home world," I said in a cold, firm tone, "feeding the King human flesh is an insult! Giving the King lowly food like human flesh is extremely disrespectful! In the future, do not serve this food to me again!"
Valeria looked slightly startled to hear my angry tone. Of course I was angry! I could be turned into a meal just like this if they found out I was a real human!
Not long after that, Valeria bowed her head deeply. She was followed by the other servants and the Pillars sitting at the table. "Forgive us if you felt insulted, Lord," Valeria said. "To avoid misunderstandings and prevent the same mistake from happening again, what food would you desire in the future?"
"Is there any animal meat with a soft texture that I can eat?" I asked, trying to sound like I was giving an option, even though I truly had no idea what was edible here. "And remember, I do not like to eat my own kind, the demon race, or any lowly monster races."
Pretty cool, right? I said that so they wouldn't feed me monster meat or demon meat. Seriously, that's terrifying.
"What about wild boar meat? Or giant eagle meat? Or perhaps shadow tigers, hell lions?" Valeria asked, offering several options.
"Just the wild boar meat," I answered quickly. "Boars, although lowly animals, are very popular in my world. In the future, perhaps I will hunt and prepare my own food." That's safer.
"Very well, please wait a moment. Coincidentally, wild boar is also a staple food for us here. We will prepare that," Valeria replied, then gestured to the servants to prepare a new meal.
Not long after that, a servant returned carrying a new plate filled with roasted boar meat, the aroma of which was far more familiar and appetizing. I thought this was much better. All the beings in the room only prepared to eat their own dishes after I began to lift the first piece of boar meat to my mouth (by slightly raising the bottom of my mask). No one dared to eat before me. They only began to eat their food after I did.
However, one of the 5 Pillars, Carmilla, gazed at me with a curious look before finally asking. "Excuse me, Lord. Why do you not remove your mask while eating?"
"Damn, I knew that question would come up," I muttered.
"Oh, this?" I said, casually pointing to my mask. "It's a habit of mine. Wearing a mask is a sacred tradition in my kingdom, in my previous world. The tradition of eating with a mask on is ingrained in my very soul. If I don't wear this, I cannot eat comfortably. Will this be a problem in this kingdom?" I explained calmly, then once again opened a small gap in my mask to put a piece of boar meat into my mouth.
Carmilla fell silent for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Very well, Lord, I understand completely. That is not a problem at all. Please, continue."
"Huh… Safe…" I muttered in relief.
I don't know why. Every action I planned in my head, when conveyed through my body wearing this mask, felt so genuine and logical to them. From the way my mouth spoke behind the mask, everything felt so easy and natural, without any hesitation at all.
Not long after the meal was finished, Valeria and I rose from our seats. We prepared to start the tour around the kingdom. We passed through corridor after corridor until we finally arrived at a massive and magnificent palace gate, made of black metal adorned with carvings of demon heads.
You know, after that gate door slowly creaked open with a heavy groan, what was the sight that appeared before me?
It was not the sight of a magnificent city surrounding the royal palace. It was not the neatly arranged houses of citizens adorning a capital city….