The Seven Deadly Sins IF: The Sloth Fairy King and the Doll Princess Who Never Knew Love
A doll with a heart, awakened by accident. A fairy king with a heart, paralyzed by fear. When Gowther unearths a porcelain princess from the depths of the Fairy King's Forest, King feels an inexplicable ache—a pull toward the silent, beautiful doll that he cannot name. But as her glass eyes begin to flicker with something like life, and her tiny hands reach for a warmth she's never known, King must confront a question he's avoided for five hundred years: what does it truly mean to love, and be l
The Seven Deadly Sins IF: The Sloth Fairy King and the Doll Princess Who Never Knew Love - The Giantess of Jealousy and the Doll Princess ~King, Three Days Later, Breaking Out in Cold Sweats at the Scene of the Crime~
Morning light spilled through the windows of the traveling tavern, the Boar Hat. The squares of light cast on the wooden floor slowly shifted shape. On the counter, the tankards polished the night before glittered brightly.
King stood in the first-floor kitchen, a small pot on the fire. The way he stirred with the wooden spatula was somehow awkward. The little wings on his back stood stiffly upright, as if matching their master's serious expression.
"...Yeah, this should do it."
In the pot, a soup of vegetables and beans simmered, steam curling up thick and slow. The scent of herbs drifted softly through the air. King ladled the soup into a wooden bowl and gently blew on it to cool it.
He climbed the stairs to the second floor. In front of the farthest room, he took a small breath.
"Charlotte, are you awake? I brought breakfast."
From beyond the door came the faint rustle of fabric. Then small footsteps. Click, click—light, delicate sounds drawing nearer.
The door slowly opened from the inside.
Standing there was a tiny doll princess, barely sixteen inches tall. Skin white as porcelain. White-porcelain hair cut straight to her shoulders. Her large glass-bead eyes were pale sky blue, shining translucent in the morning light. Faint seams showed at her joints, yet her movements were astonishingly smooth.
"Good morning, King."
Charlotte looked up at the bowl of soup, then folded her small hands in front of her chest.
"Oh my... for me? I'm so happy."
"I-it's nothing special. Just leftovers, really..."
King scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. His black hair swayed softly against his shoulders. His amber eyes met Charlotte's sky-blue ones.
Inside the room, King seated Charlotte at a small table by the window. The spot, arranged for a doll, was laid with soft cloth. When King scooped up some soup with a spoon and held it out, Charlotte tilted her head.
"I don't need to eat, you know. I'm a doll."
"But you can taste things, right? Yesterday you said sweet things were delicious."
Charlotte hesitated for a moment, then opened her small mouth. King gently brought the spoon closer. Charlotte's lips touched the soup.
"...Oh my."
Her sky-blue eyes lit up.
"It's warm. And somehow, it's a flavor that warms me deep in my chest."
Charlotte happily opened her mouth for another bite. Her innocent manner made King's cheeks loosen into a smile.
That was when it happened.
"Oi oi oi, what're you doing first thing in the morning, huh?"
A silver-haired man stood in the doorway. His white shirt sleeves were rolled up, arms crossed. A teasing grin played at his lips. It was Ban—owner of the Boar Hat and a fellow member of the Seven Deadly Sins.
"B-Ban! Don't just walk in!"
"Says the guy feeding soup to a doll. Right, Hawk?"
From around Ban's feet, a small pig poked out his face. A round pink body. His beady eyes looked back and forth between King and Charlotte.
"King's finally gone for dolls, huh. As the official scrap-disposal officer, I can't let this slide."
"I-it's not like that! This is just caretaking! Charlotte's small, so I'm just helping her eat!"
King's face went bright red as he argued back. But the spoon in his hand trembled slightly.
"King is very kind. Since I don't understand anything, he teaches me all sorts of things."
When Charlotte said this with a serious face, Ban and Hawk exchanged glances.
"Well now, that makes it even more suspicious."
"No doubt about it. A fairy king totally smitten with a doll."
"I'm telling you, it's not like that!"
King's shout echoed through the tavern's morning.
—Three days had passed since Charlotte awoke. Every morning, King looked after her like this.
Truthfully, he'd meant to return her to the Fairy King's Forest that very night. But after that black shadow—the demon clan scout—appeared, King had grown afraid to send Charlotte back alone.
The Demon King. A being who watched over this continent through Hawk's eyes. That Demon King was trying to eliminate Charlotte's existence as a "disruption of order."
There was no way he could tell Diane any of that.
King stared out the window. The green of the distant forest shone in the morning light. The Fairy King's Forest—his homeland, the place he was sworn to protect as Fairy King.
The Fairy King's law decreed that one must not interfere in conflicts outside the forest. But now King wavered between that law and his desire to protect his comrades.
"King, is something the matter?"
Charlotte's voice brought him back to himself.
"A-ah... it's nothing. Come on, the soup will get cold."
King held out the spoon again. Charlotte happily opened her mouth. Ban and Hawk watched with smirks on their faces.
The tavern was quiet through the morning. Only a few regulars, and Ban hummed as he polished the counter. Hawk busily ate breadcrumbs off the floor.
King sat in a corner seat on the first floor, telling Charlotte about the continent of Britannia.
"This continent isn't just humans, you know. There are fairies, giants, and demon clan too."
"The demon clan... Is that black shadow from that night one of them?"
King faltered at Charlotte's question.
"...Yeah. The demon clan is a race that was sealed away in the Holy War about three thousand years ago. But the seal wasn't complete—some of the elite warriors called the Ten Commandments are still moving in the shadows."
"The Ten Commandments..."
Charlotte pressed a small hand to her chest. Her sky-blue eyes wavered uneasily.
"It's all right. I'll protect you."
King said this and gently stroked Charlotte's head. Her porcelain hair was cool, and yet somehow strangely warm.
Just then, the tavern door flew open.
"King! I'm here!"
A buoyant voice. He turned to see a girl with purplish-black hair tied in twin tails. Large amber eyes. A big ribbon in her hair. Diane—a giant girl bearing the Serpent's Sin of Envy among the Seven Deadly Sins.
Normally she had the massive body of a giant, but now she'd transformed to human size with magic. Her height—about five foot three—was just right beside the small-statured King.
"Diane!? W-why are you here?"
King scrambled to his feet. His heart pounded loudly in his chest.
"Why? Because I came to see you, obviously. You haven't shown your face at all lately."
Diane approached with a smile. But her feet came to an abrupt stop.
In her line of sight sat Charlotte, perched on the table.
"...Huh? What's with that doll?"
Diane's voice dropped just a little.
"A-ah, um... this is, well..."
King's words caught in his throat. Cold sweat ran down his back.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Charlotte. I am a doll whom King rescued."
Charlotte gave a polite bow. Diane stared at her intently.
"...I see. A doll King rescued, huh."
Diane's amber eyes turned to King.
"King, you're hiding something from me, aren't you."
At those words, King's shoulders jumped.
"I-I'm not hiding anything! It's just, well, one thing led to another..."
"One thing led to another, and you feed a doll soup? While I wasn't looking, you two got awfully close."
There was a clear thorn in Diane's voice. King tried to say something, opened his mouth, and closed it again.
He couldn't explain. That a heart had taken root in Charlotte. That the Demon King was after her. Either one could put Diane in danger.
"I was simply rescued by King. Nothing more, nothing less."
Charlotte said quietly.
"...Really?"
"Yes. King saved my life. So I only wish to thank him."
Diane gazed at Charlotte for a while. Then she let out a small breath.
"...King, you get strange when it comes to this doll. I've thought so for a while—you're hiding something, aren't you."
"Th-that's..."
"Never mind. I'm a giant anyway. There must be all sorts of things a fairy king can't tell me."
With that murmur, Diane spun around and turned her back.
"Diane, wait!"
King tried to chase after her. But his feet wouldn't move.
What could he say? If he told the truth, he'd put Diane in danger. But if he didn't, he'd hurt her.
King bit his lip at his own helplessness.
That night, behind the tavern, King stood alone gazing up at the sky.
The moon was hidden behind thin clouds. The wind blew in from the direction of the Fairy King's Forest. The scent of trees, the scent of damp earth. The scent of home.
"...What am I supposed to do?"
King's murmur was swallowed by the darkness of night.
Just then, he sensed a small presence behind him. He turned to see Charlotte standing in the back doorway. Her porcelain skin, lit by moonlight, glowed faintly.
"King, am I intruding?"
"Charlotte... what's wrong? Aren't you cold?"
"I'm fine. Dolls don't feel the cold."
Charlotte sat down primly beside King. Her small feet dangled slightly above the ground.
"Diane likes you, doesn't she, King."
The sudden words threw King into turmoil.
"W-what are you saying!? Diane and I are just friends..."
"But the way she looked at you was so warm. I don't understand human hearts well, but... that was a special look."
Charlotte gazed up at the moon with her sky-blue eyes.
"And you think of Diane as someone special too, don't you, King?"
King couldn't say anything.
Five hundred years. He'd been in love with Diane for five hundred years. He'd never been able to tell anyone, keeping it locked deep in his chest all this time.
"...When I watch you and Diane talking, I get this prickling deep in my chest. I don't know what it is. Is it a malfunction, I wonder..."
Charlotte pressed a small hand to her chest. The gesture was so painful to see that King's heart clenched.
"...It's not a malfunction. That's surely..."
King got that far, then swallowed his words.
Jealousy. He couldn't teach Charlotte that word.
Because it was an emotion King himself knew all too well.
That was when it happened.
The bushes rustled.
Not the wind. A distinct presence.
"...Charlotte, get back."
King instinctively hid Charlotte behind him. He reached for the Spirit Spear Chastiefol at his hip. The spear began to give off a pale green light, as if answering its master's will.
From deep in the bushes, something like black mist rose up. It slowly changed shape as it drifted around the tavern.
"Oi, King. We've got a visitor. And not a normal one."
Ban burst out from the back door. In his hand was his beloved sacred treasure.
"Yeah, I know."
The black mist kept its distance from the tavern, drifting slowly. As if probing for something.
Then, from within the mist, a low voice spoke.
"...A doll with a heart. It truly exists. Report to Lord Demon King."
The mist left those words behind and vanished into the darkness.
Silence returned.
"M-my eye glowed again... Did the Demon King find out?"
At some point Hawk had appeared in the back doorway. His small body trembled.
"Damn it... They found us already?"
King clenched his fist.
The Demon King now knew their location. Which meant the remnants of the Ten Commandments would soon make their real move.
Could he protect Charlotte to the end?
And then there was Diane—
"King... because of me, everyone's in danger..."
Charlotte's voice was trembling.
"That's not true. It's not your fault, Charlotte."
King gently lifted Charlotte in his arms. Her small body was astonishingly light.
"I will protect you, no matter what. So don't worry."
Charlotte nodded at King's words.
The next morning.
King faced Ban on the first floor of the tavern.
"I'm going to tell Diane everything."
"Oh, finally made up your mind, huh."
Ban leaned his elbow on the counter and looked at King.
"I'm done hiding things. I don't want to hurt Diane. But I finally realized that hiding things hurts her even more."
"You're late, idiot."
Ban laughed, but his eyes were kind.
"Still, you're being tossed around by two women, aren't you."
"T-two?"
"Don't play dumb. The doll princess and the giant girl. Don't run from either of them. If you run, you lose everything."
Ban's words pierced King deepl
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.