Demon King Twilight has been rescued, there’s a temporary resolution to the Agave situation (and I mean temporary), and Princess Syalis still is unchanged as usual. But while returning to the Demon Castle, something’s wrong. Everyone there has upped their evil, vicious aura to the tens. There’s even a “Dog Eat Dog” sign plastered for everyone to see! What exactly is going on here?
Well, let’s just say we find out that Hades running the Demon Castle has a different flair than Twilight. Why would you ever make him the substitute ruler, Twilight?
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle volume 16 kicks off with what happened to the castle once its main leaders were absent. It then proceeds to show us how we can turn a Teddy Demon into one bad looking evil demon back into the cute and cuddly version we’ve all come to love. Of course Syalis would never let this stand, so while Hades explains what’s been going on to Twilight and the crew that went with him, Syalis ends up reverting the demons and the castle back via normal means (reading Teddy Demon a picture book on flowers, destroying booby traps, and converting them into soft, fluffy beds for the demons to sleep…wait a minute…). Naturally the one to benefit from this is Syalis alone, but maybe Twilight prefers the castle to be in this state.
As usual we get a mix of different chapters, though as mentioned earlier, Agave still wants to see Twilight so she ends up infiltrating the castle. It’s just that she runs into Syalis, they hit it off again, and soon her mission to see Twilight only leads to her eventually getting her own room in the castle somehow — and so far Twilight knows nothing of this! Sand baths and Syalis using the opportunity to take advantage of a renovated room for Agave are very much a thing in this volume. We also get a chapter where I’m sure Kagiji Kumanomata played too much of the newest Animal Crossing, as Syalis finds herself playing the game Demon Crossing: Not Your Forest. When real life blends into fiction, this is a good example of it happening. Now please feel free to not steal stuff from other people’s in-game homes…
The bulk of the volume, however, involves some time travel — thanks to her grimoire feeling sick and after it sneezes, Syalis and Cursed Magician end up accidentally getting sent back in time. When they do return back (thanks to the grimoire sneezing again), they realize it’s not the present they know; it’s entirely different. What could’ve possibly changed everything to this degree? Would you believe that this is Syalis’ fault? Well no need to think about it because it is! Of course, stealing a supposedly legendary comforter that’s never been seen shouldn’t cause this many problems, but if it was Demon King Twilight’s comforter back in his youth, then this would be a good example of why messing with time can bring forth unexpected issues.
We do still get some crumbs regarding the relationship between demons and humans, but this series has always been here to give us more sleep tips and Syalis ruining — or improving — relationships on her path for a good night’s rest. So naturally, Sleepy Princess volume 16 continues to nail those parts. But now I’ll be wondering if Kagiji took time to play Fire Emblem: Three Houses at any point…