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!?~

The Strategist (Provisional)’s Art of Mastering Stomachs

“Yukina, good morning! It looks like we can have a good training session today too!”

“Yukina, did you sleep well last night? If you like, I can help you get a peaceful night’s rest. ♡”

“Yukina… Last night, I took a small sample of your night sweats. If I analyze it, I might uncover a hint of the secret that let you outwit the Saintess… Heh heh heh.”

From the very next morning, the three executives clung to me.

Borgannon the brute-force Minotaur approached me refreshingly, Lilith the seductive succubus did so alluringly, and Necros the creepy lich remained as eerie as ever; each showed excessive interest in me in their own way.

I knew the cause. It was Demon King Lucilphia’s grand misunderstanding presentation.

Now, in this castle, I had become “the mysterious strategist of unfathomable cunning who even shook off the Saintess’s pursuit.” It was an outrageous overestimation.

As a result, no matter what I did, it got interpreted as “he must have some deep plan behind this,” which made things extremely stifling.

(I’m just a villager—how many times do I have to say it…?)

No matter how many times I retorted in my mind, the situation showed no sign of improving.

While I grappled with that worry, I faced a new problem.

It was—meals.

The food served in the Demon King’s castle was basically grotesque dishes made with high-end demon realm ingredients, like that “Crawling Chaos Eyeball Soup.”

The executives devoured them with relish, but for a former villager like me, it was too much. Lucilphia ate with an expressionless face, probably for the sake of the Demon King’s dignity, but I occasionally saw her chopstick-like utensil pause, so she was likely forcing it down.

I wondered if everyone did not want to eat something more ordinary and delicious.

There was also the backlash from desperately fleeing the Saintess without access to proper meals.

I wanted to eat something warm and tasty. And I wanted to see that pure-hearted Demon King’s genuine smile.

“…All right.”

I steeled my resolve. Since they thought I was a strategist, I would turn that bluff against them.

I declared it to the executives in the dining hall and to Lucilphia, with a full-on bluffing smile.

“Everyone, are you interested in the ‘art of mastering hearts through food culture’ passed down in my homeland?”

“What!?”

Three voices of surprise rose in unison.

Good—they bit. Only Lucilphia tilted her head cutely, murmuring, “Art of mastering hearts…?”

I headed straight to the kitchen and bowed to the orc head chef.

“Could I borrow the kitchen for a bit? I want to show the Demon King and everyone a new world of flavors.”

“Hmph, the strategist is going to cook? Fine, let’s see what you’ve got.”

With permission from the head chef, who crossed his burly arms, I surveyed the kitchen.

The ingredients included some grotesque ones, but if I looked, I found familiar things like vegetables, eggs, and flour. This would work.

First, I heated oil in a frying pan and stir-fried chopped vegetables and something like bird meat. Then I added cooked rice and seasoned it with a red sauce. It was chicken rice.

In another frying pan, I thinly cooked beaten eggs, and when they were half-done, I draped them over the chicken rice. For the finishing touch, I drew a cute portrait of the Demon King with more sauce….

“There, ‘omurice’ is complete.”

By then, all the monster kitchen staff had gathered, staring fixedly at my hands. The savory aroma teased their noses.

I carried the finished omurice and the pancakes I made for dessert back to Lucilphia and the executives.

“Here you go. This is the first step in my strategy.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of the vibrant yellow dish on the table.

“Th-This… What vivid colors. Is there some magical trick to it?”

Necros looked utterly intrigued.

“No, it’s just an egg dish.”

Borgannon hesitantly brought a spoonful to his mouth.

In that instant, his large eyes bulged wide.

“U-Whoa! What is this layered flavor assault! From within the soft wrapping, a mighty rice legion ravages the taste buds! Vitality surges through my whole body!”

…No, it’s just plain omurice.

Lilith took a graceful bite as well.

“Oh…! So fluffy, with a meltingly sweet texture… It’s like a first kiss, melting the heart… ♡”

…That’s the dessert pancakes you’re eating. Her comments are always so erotic.

And then, the star of the show, Lucilphia.

She blushed at the portrait drawn on her omurice.

She took a small bite with her tiny mouth.

Then, her crimson eyes sparkled like twinkling stars.

“Wh-What…! What is this…! It’s delicious…! Something so gentle, so warm, so tasty—I’ve never eaten anything like it…!”

Her earlier Demon King dignity vanished as she dove in eagerly, stuffing her cheeks with omurice. Sauce dotted the corner of her mouth while a full-faced smile bloomed.

The moment I saw that innocent smile, my heart filled with warmth.

(Ah, that’s right. This is the smile I wanted to see.)

In the days cowering from the Saintess’s twisted obsession, I had forgotten the joy of someone truly delighting in something. This pure-hearted Demon King reminded me of it.

My cooking quickly became the talk of the Demon King’s castle. And the evaluation of me veered off into even more absurd directions.

“Yukina plans to conquer our hearts from the inside out, not with force but with the culture of ‘food’! What a terrifying strategist!”

No, no, Borgannon—that is not it at all.

I just wanted everyone to eat delicious meals….

Once she had finished eating and contentedly rubbed her belly, Lucilphia rushed over to me with sparkling eyes.

“Yukina! What will you make tomorrow!? That sweet ‘pancake’ thing—can I have it again!?”

In the face of her expectant gaze, I could only manage a wry smile.

The misunderstanding kept accelerating endlessly, but if it meant seeing this cute Demon King’s smile, then perhaps playing the “strategist (provisional)” for a while longer would not be so bad.