I’d Rather Be Healed by a Pure-Hearted, Beautiful Demon Lord Than by a Yandere Saintess! ~Even if I Run Away, the Yandere Saintess Keeps Coming After Me. If I Get Caught, It Seems Like I’ll Be Forced Into an Engagement!?~ - Chapter 1

The Case of the Demon King Being Too Cute After Fleeing from the Saintess

“Hah… hah…!”

My lungs screamed in protest, and my legs felt as heavy as lead.

How long had I been running nonstop? Three days, or perhaps a week. Day and night, I had fled relentlessly southward, ever southward.

From what, you ask? Obviously.

From the most beautiful, most merciful, and most—utterly insane, by reputation—Saintess on this continent.

I’m Yukina Arclight; I had been nothing more than an ordinary villager just a few months earlier. For some inexplicable reason, I had caught the eye of Saintess Erixia.

At first, it was the Cinderella story everyone envied. When the Saintess herself said, “I want you to serve me,” who wouldn’t be over the moon?

But it didn’t take long to uncover her true nature.

“Yukina, you’re wonderful today too. Let those eyes of yours reflect only me, all right? ♡”

“Yukina, weren’t you just talking to another woman? That’s no good. You mustn’t let yourself get distracted by other pests.”

“Yukina, watching you sleep made me feel so aroused… Huh? Of course I watched you the whole night until morning. ♡”

…This is terrifying.

She monitored me around the clock, demanded reports on every action, and if I so much as spoke to another woman, that woman would be “promoted” to the farthest reaches of the continent by the next day. That kind of life would suffocate me to death.

And the final straw was the document she presented with a beaming smile.

“Yukina, sign this for me. It’s our vow of eternal love… our engagement certificate. ♡”

I fled.

In that instant, I summoned every ounce of strength I had and escaped the royal capital. If they caught me, it would be over—I’d be physically shackled, mentally broken, and trapped in her birdcage forever.

That was more frightening than death.

And the destination I pinned my last hopes on was the forbidden land stretching south of human territory—the Demon King’s domain.

There was no other place beyond the Saintess’s reach. It came down to whether the Demon King would devour me first or the Saintess would capture me first—an ultimate choice between two evils—but the unknown death still seemed preferable.

“If I’ve made it this far, then…”

Before my eyes loomed a massive gate emanating an ominous miasma. It was the Demon King’s castle.

Goblins and orcs that looked like guards stared at me with wide, startled eyes. Well, a ragged human showing up alone like this would do that.

… Whatever happens, happens!

I steeled myself and shouted in a trembling voice.

“P-Please! Let me see the Demon King! I’m an enemy of the humans!”

Even I knew it was a ridiculous claim.

But those words must have worked, because the guards exchanged glances and, surprisingly, let me into the castle without resistance.

They led me to a vast throne room. The ceiling soared high, and the walls bore eerie patterns. On the throne surely sat a massive, three-eyed, eight-armed monstrosity of pure evil.

I swallowed hard.

At last, a single shadow emerged slowly from behind the throne. It was a petite shadow.

Huh? Smaller than I expected. Well, I shouldn’t judge by appearances.

It could be a condensed mass of evil.

And the moment that figure came clearly into view, my mind went blank.

“I am the Demon King Lucilphia. Human, what do you want?”

Standing there was no horrifying monster from my nightmares—instead, a delicate beauty with silver hair tied in twin tails and large crimson eyes.

She seemed about my age, or perhaps a little younger. She wore an opulent black dress adorned with frills, but it stirred protectiveness far more than intimidation. Or rather, she was ridiculously cute.

She perched daintily on the throne, desperately trying to maintain her dignity as she glared at me with a slight tremble.

“Y-You, the one who claims to be an enemy of the humans? What are you plotting…!”

Even her voice rang out as sweetly as tinkling bells.

The sheer gap between expectation and reality snapped the taut string of tension from my flight from the Saintess.

“Uh, um… I was being chased by the Saintess… and I’m just… exhausted…”

The moment I said that, my legs gave out, and I collapsed right there.

My vision blurred. Ah, so I’m dying here. Well, if I got to see such a cute girl at the end, then maybe that’s…

“M-Medics! Hurry and take this one to a guest room! Treat him with care! I mean it—absolutely!”

In my fading consciousness, I heard the desperate voice of the beautiful girl Demon King.

For some reason, it carried a pure, warm resonance utterly unlike the cloying affection from the Saintess.

—I’d rather be healed by an innocent beautiful girl Demon King than a yandere Saintess.

That heartfelt thought marked the beginning of my new life in the Demon King’s domain.