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 - A Love Triangle Out of Nowhere! ~Gowther's Explosive Remark and the Night of Flames~
Morning light spilled through the windows of the traveling tavern, the Boar Hat. The squares of sunlight 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 over the fire. The way he stirred it with a wooden spatula was somehow clumsy. 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, then gently blew on it to cool it.
He climbed the stairs to the second floor. In front of the room at the far end, he took a small breath.
"Charlotte, are you awake? I brought breakfast."
From beyond the door came a faint rustle of fabric. Then small footsteps. Click, click—light, delicate sounds drawing closer.
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 a pale sky blue, shining translucent in the morning light. Faint seams showed at her joints, but her movements were astonishingly smooth.
"Good morning, Lord King."
Charlotte looked up at the bowl of soup, then clasped 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.
Once 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'm fine without eating, you know. I am a doll, after all."
"But you can taste it, can't you? 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. At her innocent manner, King's cheeks loosened into a smile.
That was when it happened.
"Oi oi oi, what're you up to first thing in the morning?"
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!"
"That's rich, coming from the guy feeding soup to a doll. Right, Hawk?"
From beside Ban's feet, a small pig poked out its head. A round pink body. Its beady eyes looked back and forth between King and Charlotte.
"So King's finally gone for dolls, huh. As the leftover-disposal officer, I can't let this slide."
"I-it's not like that! This is just caretaking! Charlotte's body is small, so I'm only 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, this just gets more suspicious."
"No doubt about it. A fairy king gone all gooey over a doll."
"I'm telling you, it's not like that!"
King's shout echoed through the tavern's morning.
—Three days since Charlotte had awakened. And every morning, King fussed over her like this.
That afternoon.
King was at the first-floor counter, chatting idly with Ban, when the tavern's front door slowly opened.
The one who entered was a man with fluffy pink hair. Behind round glasses, gentle purple eyes quietly surveyed the interior. He carried a large book in his arms.
"Hello. I'll be staying here for a while."
With that, Gowther sat down at a corner seat of the counter as if he owned the place.
"Gowther? What are you doing here..."
King couldn't hide his bewilderment at the sudden visitor.
"I'm here to observe Charlotte. How her heart will grow. Isn't that fascinating?"
Gowther spoke in his usual flat tone, opening his book.
A thorn pricked at King's chest.
"...Merlin told me. You're the one who put a heart into Charlotte."
King's voice dropped a little.
"Yes, that's right. She is a doll I created, after all."
Gowther answered without lifting his eyes from the book.
"Why did you do something like that? Giving a doll a heart isn't normal."
King stared at Gowther across the counter.
Gowther finally closed his book and turned to face King.
"Emotions are troublesome things. I simply conducted an experiment because I wanted to understand them. There was no ill intent."
"An experiment...?"
King's fist tightened on the counter.
But Gowther was utterly unruffled.
"Her heart has grown beyond my expectations. In particular, her feelings toward you are very interesting."
"Wha—! F-feelings toward me..."
King's face went red in an instant.
Just then, faint footsteps came from upstairs.
Click, click.
From the top of the stairs, Charlotte slowly descended on her small legs.
"Oh my, do we have a guest?"
When Charlotte spotted Gowther, she tilted her head.
"Nice to meet you, Charlotte. I am Gowther. I'm the one who gave you your heart."
Gowther wore a gentle smile.
Charlotte's sky-blue eyes went wide.
"...You're the one who gave me my heart?"
Charlotte stared at Gowther. Her expression was complicated—happy or sad, King couldn't tell.
"Yes. But your heart is no longer in my hands. It belongs to you now."
At Gowther's words, Charlotte softly placed a hand over her chest.
"My own... heart..."
Charlotte murmured quietly.
King watched the exchange with complicated feelings.
Evening.
Diane came to the tavern.
Her purple-black twin-tails swaying, her large amber eyes scanned the interior.
"King! I came to play!"
Diane called out from the entrance in her usual cheerful voice.
Just then, her eyes caught sight of King at the corner of the counter, talking to Charlotte.
King was speaking to Charlotte with a serious face about the taste of today's soup.
Diane's feet stopped dead.
"...King, what exactly are you doing?"
Diane's voice dropped all at once.
"D-Diane?! S-since when were you there..."
King spun around in a panic.
"King, don't tell me you went and confessed to a doll!?"
Diane's twin-tails swaying, she marched right up to King.
"I-it's not like that! I never said a word about—!"
King denied it, face bright red.
Just then, Charlotte tugged at the hem of King's clothes with her small hand.
"Confessed...? Did King say he liked me?"
Charlotte looked up at King, her sky-blue eyes sparkling.
"I'm telling you, it's not like that! Nobody said anything about liking anyone!"
King couldn't help but shout.
"Pfft! This is priceless!"
Ban doubled over laughing.
"King's finally in a love triangle! Even as the leftover-disposal officer, I can't let this slide!"
Hawk bounced up and down, laughing too.
"Then why are you being so nice to her! Feeding her soup every morning, patting her head, holding her hand...!"
Tears welling in her eyes, Diane pressed King hard.
"H-how do you know all that!?"
"Because I was watching! The whole time—yesterday and the day before!"
At Diane's words, King was speechless.
—Diane had been watching him all along.
That fact squeezed tight around King's chest.
But now wasn't the time to be happy about that.
"Diane, I like King, you know?"
Charlotte said it quietly, but clearly.
In that instant, the tavern went dead silent.
"Wha—!?"
Diane was struck dumb.
"W-what am I supposed to do..."
King clutched his head and sank to the floor.
Ban and Hawk had forgotten even to laugh, watching the three of them with bated breath.
That night.
In his room on the second floor of the tavern, King lay on his bed staring at the ceiling.
Diane's face from the daytime wouldn't leave his mind.
—King, don't tell me you went and confessed to a doll!?
The look on Diane's face then—sad, and angry.
And Charlotte's straightforward words.
—I like King, you know?
"...What am I supposed to do..."
King murmured softly.
That was when it happened.
From the first floor came Hawk's scream.
"Uwaaaah! Again! My eyes are glowing on their own again! This ain't my fault!"
King leaped up and dashed down the stairs.
On the first floor, Hawk was rolling across the floor, his eyes glowing gold.
"Hawk! What's wrong!?"
As King rushed over, a heavy voice spilled from Hawk's mouth.
'The doll with a heart, Charlotte. Her location confirmed. Remnants of the Ten Commandments—eliminate her at once—'
That voice was not Hawk's.
It was the Demon King's voice.
"Oh, crap! The Demon King used my eyes to track this place down! It ain't my fault! My body just moved on its own...!"
Hawk made desperate excuses, his face pale.
"...So they're coming. The Ten Commandments' remnants."
King's expression tensed.
Just then, he sensed an ominous presence approaching from outside the tavern.
—Three of them.
King took up the Spirit Spear Chastiefol and quietly readied it.
"Ban! Take care of Charlotte!"
"Yeah, leave it to me."
Ban pulled his beloved greatsword from beneath the counter.
The next instant, the tavern's windows shattered to pieces.
—BOOOOM!!
With a blast, flames came crashing into the tavern.
"Here they come!"
King stood to shield Charlotte behind him.
From the flames, three shadows slowly emerged.
All wore human forms, but their eyes held an eerie red glow. Remnants of the demon clan, the Ten Commandments.
"The doll with a heart... found you."
"By the Demon King's command, we'll erase you."
The scouts leveled their black spears at King and the others in unison.
"You won't lay a single finger on Charlotte!"
King thrust the Spirit Spear Chastiefol forward.
A pale green light spilled from the spear's tip.
"Oi oi, fireworks this time too! Business is booming!"
Ban hoisted his greatsword onto his shoulder and grinned fearlessly.
The battle began.
Ban swung his greatsword, deflecting the scouts' attacks.
King manipulated the Spirit Spear, sealing off the scouts' movements.
But there were three enemies. And being demon clan elites, they weren't so easily handled.
"Lord King! Look out!"
Charlotte's scream rang across the battlefield.
King instinctively scooped up Charlotte and leaped aside.
—THUD!!
A black spear stabbed into the spot where King had stood a moment before.
"Damn... there's too many of them!"
King gritted his teeth.
Just then, Charlotte slipped out of King's arms.
"I've decided I'm going to protect King!"
Charlotte darted out in front of King with her tiny body.
"Charlotte! What are you—!"
At the same moment King shouted, a pale light overflowed from Charlotte's entire body.
It was the light of the magic power King had shared with her.
Charlotte tried to use that light like a shield to block the scouts' attacks.
"Futile. You're just a doll."
One of the scouts hurled his black spear straight at Charlotte.
—Whoosh.
The sound of air being torn.
The black spear pierced through Charlotte's light shield like paper.
"Huh...?"
Charlotte's sky-blue eyes went wide.
—Shhk.
The black spear ran through Charlotte's small chest.
"CHARLOOOOTTE!!"
King's scream echoed through the flame-wrapped tavern.
Charlotte's body slowly fell backward.
King caught the falling Charlotte in both arms.
From her chest, a glowing liquid spilled out without end.
—It was her heart.
"Charlotte! Charlotte! Stay with me!"
King shook her body, calling to her desperately.
But Charlotte no longer moved.
Her sky-blue eyes hung open, vacant, their light gone.
"You... you b
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