#1202 The Demon Prince and the Mermaid King 

My name is Demon Prince Goetia. 

Someday, I’ll succeed Father and wear the mantle of Demon King. 
To live up to that title, seven-year-old me is busy studying. 

But lately… I’ve got one huge worry. 
I’m scared that I might not be Demon King material after all. 

Yes, I’m the firstborn son of the current Demon King Zedan. 
By rights, the throne should come to me. 

But I refuse to rely on bloodline and birth order alone. 

Just like Father—whom I respect more than anyone—I need the strength and wisdom worthy of that crown. 

That’s why I commute every day to the farm run by Father’s old friend, the Saint, and cram my head full of lessons. 
There’s just too much to learn in this blessed domain. 

I can feel myself leveling up, no doubt. 
I know way more than I did before I started here, and I’m pretty sure I’ve even gotten taller. 
If I’d stayed cooped up in the Demon Castle, I never would’ve grown this fast. 

The problem is… 
There’s someone shooting past me at warp speed. 

My half-sister, Princess Marine. 
She’s only a year younger, but she’s barreling toward me with insane momentum. 

…Sorry, that was a lie. I’m lying to save face. 
She already blew past me ages ago and is now disappearing over the horizon. 

Just the other day, she punched a cloud clean in half. 
There’s no way I could ever pull that off. 
When I asked Sensei how she did it… 

—“Keep working hard. One day, you’ll manage it too.” 

“One day” isn’t good enough! 

By the time I can split clouds, Marine will be splitting planets! 

Traditionally, the Demon King’s title passes to a male heir. 
The Demon Princes have always inherited the throne. 

Does the fact that Marine’s a girl work in my favor? 

Then again, she’s so mind-blowingly awesome that the first ever Demon Queen might pop up in our history books! 

“‘Demon Queen’ sounds like ‘queen of the demons’ or ‘king of witches.’ Kinda confusing, huh?” 
“Yeah, I can see that.” 

If that happens, my paved-in-path to the throne is toast! 

No matter how hard I train, if Marine racks up impossible feats, Father might pick her instead. 

Father won the crown on merit alone and ended the Human-Demon War by his own strength. 
For all I know, he doesn’t care about gender or birth order when naming a successor. 

He could very well choose Marine simply because she’s stronger! 

“He looks like he’s in a bind, but… what do you think?” 
“The Demon King values strength, yes, but he respects tradition, too. A ruler guiding a nation through reform needs both iron and silk.” 

…Huh? 
Who keeps chiming in on my monologue? 

L-Let’s see… 
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! 

Mermaid King Arowana?! 
And the Saint’s wife?! 

“It’s Platy. Honestly, do youngsters nowadays bother to learn anyone’s name?” 
“Kids this age only remember what interests them. As I recall, you were the same, sister.” 
“Ungh!” 

What’s up with these two?  
So chummy… could they be having an affair?! 

“That’s an awfully rude guess you just broadcast. Precocious brat...” 
“Calm down. Platy is my sister. In other words, the former merprincess.” 

Merprincess?! 
That’s the Saint’s wife?! 
That means the Mermaid Kingdom and the Saint are connected by marriage...A power alliance! 

“You should’ve known that. A ruler who walks into negotiations ignorant of family ties is doomed. Royal lineages are day-one homework.” 

G-G-Gahhh...! 
King Arowana’s right! Blowing a hole that big in front of foreign leaders would be catastrophic…! 
The gap between Marine and me just got even wider…! 

“I drop by for the first time in ages and wander into such an amusing scene: a future monarch wracked with doubt. Classic, yet always fresh.” 
“So is it ‘classic’ or ‘fresh’? Pick one.” 

King Arowana eyes me like he’s toying with a hatchling. 

I’ve studied him in castle lessons. 
He took the throne young; he’s a genius of both pen and sword. 
Despite being merfolk, he once roamed the land on warrior pilgrimage, the first ever of his kind.  
In other words, a trailblazer. 
He and Father are as close as blood brothers, making diplomacy between our nations rock-solid. 

A flawless ruler with no glaring weaknesses… 
And I’m facing him in person...?! 

“So, young prince, you’re terrified you won’t inherit the crown after all, what with that unparalleled little sister of yours?” 
“I know the type; small-minded rulers who fear rebellion from subordinates, lash out, stir resentment, then spiral into self-destruction.” 

Wh-What?! 
Please don’t lump me in with that crowd, illustrious merprincess-slash-Saint’s ma'am! 
I refuse to use dirty tricks or shortcuts to steal the title. That’d make the crown meaningless! 
I’m just… honestly scared of my little sister!!! 

“That’s not exactly something to brag about. And did you just sneak in a ‘ma’am’? Hmm?” 
“Easy, sister. To a kid, any friend of his mother counts as a ma’am.” 

King Arowana pacifies his sibling. 

“…I get your worries, I really do. Back in the day, I felt the same dread staring at my ridiculously gifted little sister.” 
“Oh? What gifted sister?” 
“You.” 

He drifts into nostalgia. 

“Platy right here was forever causing a stir. Blessed with freakish talent for potion-making, she invented concoctions the world had never seen, revolution after revolution. Everyone hailed her a prodigy.” 

Oh, wow. 
This totally ordinary-looking lady is a mind-blowing genius?! 

“Brat!” 
“Calm down! Calm down! You’re a mother of three now, remember?!” 

The ma’am flares up again. 

“‘Hailed’ is exaggerating, Arowana. At most, I got called a ‘witch’ and sneered at…” 
“True, the ratio was maybe sixty percent criticism, forty percent praise. But even bad press is press. While your name echoed through the Mermaid Kingdom, I, the boring elder brother, felt like a dud.” 

That’s…  
Exactly how I feel now… 

“You churned out dazzling new potions while my only asset was being dutiful. I wondered if I should abdicate and let you rule instead.” 
“Spare me that headache! I would’ve flat-out refused!” 
“I figured as much and never said it aloud. Then you ran away from home, met Lord Saint and the Demon King, and above all found Puffer, which set your path. You solved my crisis for me.” 
“See? You’re a great brother, solving your own problems so they don’t land on me!” 
“I still can’t tell if that’s praise or shade…” 

The current Mermaid King is hailed far and wide as a truly great ruler. 

But even someone like that had worries and inner struggles before becoming king? 
And those worries… they’re exactly the same as mine right now…! 

“Prince, the idea that someone stronger should rule stems from genuine concern for your people.” 
“Yes, sir…” 
“But never forget: you are the one in line. Like it or not, our duty is to claw forward and fulfill the role we were born to. No matter how hard it gets.” 

…King Arowana is right. 
I’ve been a whiny baby. 

I’m Goetia, First Demon Prince. 
No matter what anyone says, the next Demon King is me. 

That means I have to forge myself until I can shoulder that weight. 
Marine and everyone else are irrelevant. 

I just have to keep being me, only better! 

“Good. You’re wearing a proper warrior’s face now. Perfect timing. I, Arowana, will personally train you.” 
“King Arowana! Thank you!” 
“First exercise: stay underwater for a hundred hours using only gill breathing. It’s the very first drill for every merman warrior...!” 

Awesome! So this is merfolk training! I’m learning so much! 

Watching from the sidelines, the ma—uh, Mrs. Platy—murmurs... 

“I’m pretty sure demonfolk don’t need merfolk training, you know.”