The Princess of Frost and Her New Obsession
The Princess of Frost, Crosell.
The silver-haired demon with her petite frame gazed into the Community Board connected to the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge, her expression bright with delight.
She found this constellation called the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge utterly fascinating.
At first, she had been slightly displeased.
Because of the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge's actions, her own constellation group, the 72 Demons, had been dragged into an unnecessary conflict.
But in the end, what had been the result?
The Underworld, their rival constellation group, had taken a serious hit.
Several S-rank adventurers and high-ranking mages who had been caught in the middle of their recruitment war had become incarnations of the 72 Demons.
They had even managed to scout a few mid-tier incarnations away from the Underworld.
While the 72 Demons reaped all the benefits, the Underworld had completely lost face. That was the most important part.
And above all else, they had successfully recruited a new top-tier constellation who had caught her personal interest.
There wasn't a single part of this outcome she didn't like.
She had even planned to help the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge since he had brought so much profit to the 72 Demons and had become one of them.
Yet here he was, effortlessly deflecting every attack aimed his way.
“Hehe… How amusing. Truly amusing.”
Last night, the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge had asked her for a healing potion.
Not just any potion, but a high-grade one capable of restoring physical defects.
Crosell had found it a little strange.
While it was certainly a premium item, it was something even a top-tier constellation could easily obtain.
Of course, for ordinary humans it would be an impossible price even if they worked their entire lives, but her mansion had plenty of them lying around.
Especially considering that the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge was a top-tier constellation and given everything he had shown so far.
It had never crossed her mind that he might be so broke he had to ask her for one.
Anyway, since he had proven himself capable before, she assumed he had his reasons and sent it over.
That same night, deep in the darkness.
Aisha, the first incarnation of the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge, received the highest-grade potion from her constellation.
Following his instructions to avoid detection by other constellations, she hid under her blanket and drank it.
“Constellation! To bestow such grace upon someone like me who has yet to accomplish anything… This Aisha swears she will definitely show you something worthy of—”
The Seeker of Supreme Knowledge says to be quiet so other constellations don't notice.
“Understood!”
And the next day.
The moment Crosell opened her eyes and accessed the constellation communication channel, the top recommended post on the list caught her attention.
Meanwhile, on the surface.
Aisha lifted her eyepatch as if checking something per her constellation’s message, then lowered it again.
It was a very deliberate action meant to naturally reveal her perfectly healthy eye.
“Um, Miss Aisha…?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“It doesn’t look like your eye is injured at all. Why do you wear that eyepatch?”
At the question, Aisha’s face flushed bright red.
But she did her best to act casual and recited the exact line her constellation had given her.
“Ahem. That is because a Black Flame Dragon dwells within my left eye.”
“A… Black Flame Dragon?”
“Indeed. That is why I usually wear it like this. If I am not careful… the beast will go on a rampage.”
“Ah, I see.”
A short while later, on the Community Board.
“Ughhh…”
Anyway, Aisha’s dignity had taken quite a beating.
But the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge had anticipated that the Underworld would attack him over Aisha’s eye and had healed it in advance.
As a result, every time the Underworld tried to target the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge, they failed.
In the end, no matter what the Underworld said, the other constellations stopped listening.
Crosell muttered to herself.
“As expected… he really is fascinating.”
While she was thinking that, a notification popped up saying a message had arrived.
“Oh right. The Seeker did say he would send something in return for the potion.”
The day the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge—that is, Lee Do-hyun—had joined the 72 Demons.
She and the Seeker had talked for several hours.
Although that had caused Lee Do-hyun to temporarily forget about Aisha, it had been resolved nicely so they could move on.
The world Crosell lived in, the Demon Realm, was an incredibly barren land.
Of course, as the 49th ranked Demon Duke, Crosell herself never lacked for food.
But every living thing in the Demon Realm was infused with demonic energy, so the taste was inevitably horrific.
That was one thing even her power couldn’t change. It was why food was one of the most common tributes received by the constellations of the 72 Demons.
When the Seeker heard that story, he had offered to let her taste the food from his own world.
Crosell had casually mentioned that constellations could send items to each other through the message box function.
She had said it like it was nothing, but Lee Do-hyun had seen right through her intentions.
“Oh! I see!”
While checking her message box, Crosell suddenly let out a gasp of realization.
“So he asked me for a potion as an excuse to send me delicious food as thanks!”
She still hadn’t realized that the Seeker of Supreme Knowledge was completely broke and didn’t even have the credits to buy a potion.
Instead, she mistakenly believed he was too shy to send her food directly, so he had gone through the troublesome method of receiving a potion first and then giving food in return.
“Hehe, how cute… To make this lady feel such emotions. Not bad at all, Seeker.”
Crosell opened the message box and examined the sent food.
The item inside a transparent container of an unfamiliar material was pitch black in a rather ominous way.
“Oho… The color alone pleases me. To enjoy such food on a regular basis, the Seeker truly must be a demon at heart?”
She picked it up with her hand, enjoying the soft, squishy texture, then carefully took a bite.
In truth, the reason Lee Do-hyun had sent it was simple.
The Princess of Frost looked like a girl, and a dessert that girls had recently gone crazy for had come out, so he figured he’d give it a try.
After all, he didn’t have anything that could match the value of a highest-grade potion.
Since he was the only constellation from Earth, he thought he could make up for it with Earth food that no one in that world would have ever tasted.
What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was this:
Crosell, whose palate had grown accustomed to the horrifically bitter crops of the Demon Realm, and who only occasionally ate medieval-level “delicious” tributes, found this modern dessert—designed to directly stimulate the brain’s reward circuits—far too shocking.
“This… this flavor… what is this taste…!”
The dessert vanished in the blink of an eye.
Staring blankly at the cocoa powder left on her empty hand, Crosell murmured.
“Seeker… Now that you have shown this lady such a world… I shall never let you escape from my grasp…”
*****
“Ugh, what is this?”
I did my best to ignore the message box that looked like it was about to explode with messages from the Princess of Frost.
It had been a while since I last checked my phone.
The situation in that other world had mostly wrapped up for now.
After both attempts to attack me had failed miserably, the Underworld was currently too busy dealing with the backlash to worry about me.
It meant I wouldn’t have to pay as much attention to them for a while.
While I had been focused entirely on that other world these past few days, a major change had also occurred on Earth.
I checked the messages that had come in.
Senior!
I awakened this time!
There's going to be a drinking party tomorrow with all the awakeners from our school
Senior, are you coming? You haven't been coming to class much lately...
While I had been preoccupied with the other world.
Earth had experienced its second mass awakening event, following the first one two years ago.
An even greater number of new awakeners had been born this time, and among those already awakened, some had undergone their second awakening.
And among those lucky ones who achieved a second awakening, I was included as well.
1. Constellation Status (EX)
2. Incarnation Summon (EX)
3. Empty