Love at First Sight; Izayoi's Devotion

Suiko looked at Izayoi, a flicker of complicated emotion passing through her clear eyes.

"Why do you ask, Your Highness?"

Izayoi did not answer immediately.

She merely gazed at the black-robed figure in the distance, her eyes holding a trace of daze and reminiscence.

"A few years ago, when the Western Country signed the Alliance Treaty with the neighboring human kingdoms, I accompanied my father there once."

Her voice was soft, as though she were speaking to herself.

"That day, countless powerful figures had gathered. There were Great Demons, human experts, and leaders of every faction."

"But none of them drew as much attention as that man."

She paused, her gaze growing gentler.

"He sat in a corner, barely speaking or drinking, simply watching quietly.

Yet the eyes of everyone in the banquet hall would unconsciously drift toward him."

"Those demon women, every one of their eyes lit up.

The bolder ones went up to speak with him directly; the more reserved ones watched from afar and whispered among themselves."

"At the time, I wondered who he was. Why did he matter so much to so many people?"

Suiko listened.

She pressed her lips together but said nothing.

Izayoi turned to look at her, a touch of earnestness in her eyes.

"Only later did I learn that his name was Chiyo. He was the Great Demon of the Western Country, unfathomably powerful. He had also quelled the demon clan's internal strife and promoted peace and stability between humans and demons."

"I thought that for the rest of my life, I would only ever be able to glimpse someone like him from afar."

Her voice trembled slightly.

"But I never expected that today, he would actually appear here. Right before me."

Suiko finally spoke.

Her voice was calm, but there was