What if you are reborn as a demon after a funeral?.

Before he could finish speaking, Philon, who was holding Frilian in her arms, sat directly on his lap and adjusted Frilian in her arms so that she could sit on his lap as well.

The soft weight of Philon pressed down on his legs, and he was holding a drunken Frilian in his arms. This slightly strange scene left him speechless.

"What's wrong, Lord Ash?"

"...Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Because you told Miyu-sama that she's cute, right?"

"That's...indeed!"

"So, am I not cute?" Philon tilted her head up slightly, moonlight streaming through the window and casting dappled light into her purple eyes.

Her voice was soft, but it had a hint of coquettishness and sulking, instantly narrowing his options down to just one.

"Of course she's cute." He gently pinched Philon's cheek, as tenderly as if handling fragile glass: "How could my Philon not be cute?"

"...You always avoid me?"

"That's a different matter." Ash turned his face away stiffly.

"Lord Ash!" Philon immediately puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction, as if he had been fooled, and raised his voice in a huff.

This made him feel extremely wronged: "This isn't my fault, is it? Because you keep saying that I... I can't help it if I want to avoid it sometimes."

"Isn't it because Lord Ash always does strange things? If I don't say anything, it won't be good for your education, will it?"

"...Frilian is one thing, but why am I also someone who needs to be educated...?" Ash was genuinely dumbfounded by those words that didn't sound like a joke.

"Hmm? Don't you know that yourself?"

"I have absolutely no idea! Why is that?!"

"Need I say more?... You really have no self-awareness at all."

Philen snorted softly, reached out and poked Ash's forehead, her purple eyes filled with helplessness and reproach, but as she finished speaking, she stared at him blankly.

The night breeze rustled through the window, making the pages of the book rustle.

Ash was about to look away when Philon, sitting in his lap, suddenly took action before he could react, pressing her faintly fragrant lips against his.

The kiss was awkward yet resolute; he could even feel her slightly trembling eyelashes brushing against his cheek.

Frillie was casually placed to the side by Philon, and... just as he subconsciously tried to get up, the girl's knees were already pressed between his legs, trapping him in a small space like a predatory animal.

“Just a kiss.” The moment they parted, Philon used his usual excuse, his fingertips nervously gripping his collar: “Just like you usually do to Miyu-sama…”

Her voice grew softer and softer, and the tips of her ears turned almost transparently red.

The moonlight flowed through her hair, making her purple eyes shine even brighter. She was incredibly beautiful and mature, and her eyes were slightly moist. He couldn't help but kiss her instead.

Amidst the girl's gasp, he reached out his wicked hand towards the ripe, mouthwatering "fruit."

Philon, who had initially intended to teach his counterattack, ended up being countered by him once again... As for the drunken Frilian, she was unexpectedly drawn into the battlefield the moment she sobered up.

The two figures, one large and one small, overlapped under the moonlight.

..............................

..............................

The next day, Frillie woke up groggily, her memory of the previous night somewhat hazy due to the effects of alcohol.

When she opened her eyes, she saw only Ash being lectured by Philon, whose face was flushed red.

Philon, who always paid great attention to her appearance, had her hair still disheveled and a few strands of hair hanging around her mouth at midday, which was... very strange.

Just as Frillie noticed all this, Philonise seemed startled when their eyes met, and fled the scene as if escaping, leaving Frillie bewildered as she got out of bed, scratching her head in confusion and muttering to herself:

"...What exactly did you do?"

"There's nothing here... I should probably wash up too, you should get up and have breakfast soon."

Ash silently got up, intending to leave.

Just then, Frillie, who had just sat up from the ground in a daze, silently raised her hand and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

He glanced back helplessly: "What?"

"Help me comb my hair." Frillie raised her head and looked at him expressionlessly.

"...Isn't that Philon's job?"

"She just left... Anyway, it's definitely your fault, so stop nagging."

"...Why can you say such things so matter-of-factly?"

"Haven't I always been like this?"

"...You're such a useless person."

"Why are you asking when you already know the answer? Are you bullying me? Yesterday... right, yesterday it was like this, I couldn't even comb my hair? And you still keep bullying me?"

After gathering her thoughts, Frillie recalled what had happened the night before. Even though her cheeks flushed slightly, her words left Ash speechless.

Although he initially felt he should criticize her, he ultimately realized it was pointless, since... this girl was even more useless than him, and he could only silently shoulder Philon's responsibilities.

Just then, Abby, who was holding a teddy bear, peeked out from outside the door and witnessed Ash fixing Frillie's hair.

Her eyes darted around before she pulled her head back inside.

When she reappeared, Abby's once neat blonde hair was now disheveled. She pretended to notice it by accident and let out a small gasp:

"Mr. Ash, so this is the place? Good morning! I just woke up too!"

Ash, who had already spotted the little guy, was still holding a strand of Frillie's silver hair in his fingers. Hearing this, he turned his head and met Abby's surprised gaze.

Before he could say anything or expose Abby's lie, a series of light footsteps echoed down the corridor.

“Abby, why are you standing here instead of going in…” Ilya’s voice suddenly stopped.

Ilya poked her head out, glanced at the two people inside, then looked at Abby. Noticing Abby's disheveled hair, she immediately copied her, messing up her own hair as well. While Ash was still dumbfounded, she flashed an adorable grin:

"—Ash! You're combing your hair right now, and mine's all messed up, so comb mine too!"

"You..." Ash couldn't help but complain about Ilya's overly blatant act of messing up her hair and adding to her workload.

Before he could even compose himself to give his lecture, he noticed two more figures at the door.

Miyu stood there holding her books, her eyes slightly wide open; Meilushin also walked straight in, her long silver hair swaying gently with her movements, only to be quickly disheveled.

This scene made Ash realize that if he didn't comb all their hair today, things would never end.

So, in the time that followed, sunlight streamed in through the windows, making the girls' hair shimmer and sparkle, while Ash, amidst a bittersweet mix of pain and pleasure, was surrounded by the chattering girls and busily combing their hair.

Frilian had her eyes closed and seemed to be asleep again; Abby was playing obediently with her teddy bear; Ilya was shaking her head contentedly; Miyu sat with her cheeks slightly flushed, feeling Ash's fingers run through her long hair; and Melusin was still eagerly waiting for her turn.

The sunlight, the fragrance of the girls' hair, the soft sound of combs running through their hair—although Ash was still busy dealing with things, everything seemed so peaceful.

Immediately afterwards, Aura and Line also appeared.

The haughty Aura only gave her a disdainful look, while Lina sat in Ash's lap without caring at all, silently expressing her thoughts.

He was forced to work without pay all afternoon, and only when the last strand of hair was smoothed by Linne's expectant comb did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and pretend to be exhausted as he slumped into his chair... but unfortunately, he was then pulled into a discussion about where to visit tomorrow.

..............................

Over the next few days, we visited most of the tourist attractions across the mainland.

It's unclear who mentioned it, but the final destination was set as the Demon King's Castle.

Standing outside the Demon King's castle, gazing into the distance, this black castle, once feared throughout the entire continent, now possesses a touch of fairytale-like dreaminess under the morning sun, though...

"He really has the feel of a villain! Ash is so amazing!" Ilya said with a strange longing.

"Is this the legendary 'Gate of Eternal Night' mentioned in the storybooks?" Miyu stroked the dark door, looking at Ash with curiosity in her eyes. "What is this material...?"

“The cursed star iron,” Aura suddenly interjected, a sly glint in her purple eyes. “It takes the souls of three thousand humans to forge even a small piece, and this entire gate was forged using the talents of the entire nation.”

"Liar, liar?" The air suddenly froze, and Abby's teddy bear fell to the ground.

“…Aura, don’t lie to people.” Ash grabbed Aura’s horn and shook it, then stroked Abby’s hair, soothingly sighing, “It’s just ordinary metal that’s a bit harder.”

“Miss Aura...please don’t bully Abby.” Miyu glared at him, displeased.

Aura slapped Ash's hand away and curled her lip in disdain: "Hmph, if you can believe such a thing, then you must be the one who got fooled."

“Lord Ash…” Philon stared at Ash expressionlessly, causing him to scratch his cheek, a look of confusion on his face.

"...How strange. Is it just my imagination? Why does it feel like you're blaming me, not wanting me to educate Aura?"

"You're not mistaken, because don't you find Lord Aura's words somewhat familiar?"

"...Indeed, it's exactly Ash's line." Ilya covered her mouth in surprise.

Meiluxin shook her head repeatedly: "Is this a problem with education?"

"No! Aura is self-taught! I never taught her that kind of thing! I've always taught her propriety, morality, and a sense of shame! I've taught her to be filial to her elders... which means to be filial to me!" He looked indignant, as if he had suffered countless grievances, pointing at Aura's nose and accusing her:

"But she's never listened to me! How can you blame me? She didn't learn anything good, and she didn't even learn it very well! It's all because of Aura's personality problem! You should be talking to her on her behalf, right?"

"Stop rambling, what are you babbling about?" Aura impatiently slapped his hand away, crossed her arms, and gave him a cold look.

"What do you expect me to have that you don't even have yourself? There's a limit to wishful thinking, isn't there?"

"In fact, both Lord Ash and Lord Aura are incredibly troublesome and useless people," Lina said vaguely, biting into an apple.

Although it wasn't the first time Aura and Ash had heard it, their expressions were increasingly subtle.

Immediately afterwards...

"—It's all your fault! Linne has become like this." Just as the two were about to blame each other, Ash preemptively pinched Linne's cheek, pulling her elastic cheek high, and then pointed the finger at Aura.

"Huh? It's clearly your fault, isn't it? When you were with me before, it was... relatively better! It's all because you spoiled Linne too much!"

The situation wasn't much better, which made Aura raise his head high, but his words lacked confidence.

Lina didn't seem to care about their argument, but pouted and said pitifully, "Lord Ash, my face hurts a little... I'm already reflecting on my actions, could you please let me go?"

"...Remember, when you reflect on your actions, do it deeply."

The pink-haired loli's pitiful appearance made Ash let go of her hand, even though he knew it wouldn't hurt and she wouldn't change her ways. He even rubbed her hand for her.

In an instant, a barely perceptible, adorable smile appeared on Linne's pitiful little face: "Okay~ Since Lord Ash has said so, I will definitely reflect deeply on my actions."

“…I now understand why Master is not suited to taking care of children.” Even the relatively slow-witted Melusin shook her head repeatedly, denying his ability to take care of children, when she witnessed this scene of fatherly love and filial piety.

"It's different. If it's a real child, there definitely won't be any problems... that's for sure." Miyu tried her best to defend him, but in the end, she herself seemed to lack confidence.