A Softening Heart
Yuria screamed as she bolted upright. Her entire body was drenched in cold sweat. She frantically scanned her surroundings and realized she was in her own room inside Tyrat’s citadel.
“Haah… haah…!”
Breathing hard, she examined herself. Not a single thread covered her bare skin. Just to be sure, she tugged at her hair and saw the familiar light green. Her transformation hadn’t been released. That, at least, was a relief.
“Ugh…!”
Her head throbbed as though it would split open. The aftertaste of a nightmare clung to her. Wrapping the thin blanket around herself like a makeshift robe, she slid out of bed. She looked for her suit, but it was nowhere to be found. Someone must have taken it.
Yuria let out a long, shaky sigh and noticed a black dress hanging on the wooden stand beside the door. The design was unmistakably provocative. It was the same dress her mother had once worn.
The instant Margaret crossed her mind, lightning cracked through Yuria’s skull.
“Ugh… aaaaaaagh!!”
Agony tore through her. She crumpled to the floor, clutching her head. Tyrat’s member that looked exactly like Jihyeok’s, her once-gentle mother’s monstrous transformation, the moment of conception, and Jihyeok appearing before her eyes—the memories she had desperately shoved away flooded back, bringing unbearable pain.
Her whole body burned as if set aflame. She wanted to scream for help, but her voice refused to obey. Curled on the floor like a shrimp, moaning in torment, Yuria saw the door burst open. Small footsteps came racing toward her.
“Yuria!”
The owner of those feet was Meryl. The little fox-girl ran straight to her, shouting.
“Yuria! Are you okay? Yuria! Why you crying! Don’t cryyyy!”
Even as she told Yuria not to cry, Meryl burst into loud sobs herself. The pure sincerity of the tiny monster washed over her, and Yuria’s pain slowly began to ebb.
Once the agony had dulled enough to endure, Yuria lifted her head with effort.
“Meryl…”
“Huuuuhng! Don’t hurt!”
Meryl was so busy wailing that she couldn’t even hear Yuria’s voice. Watching her, Yuria managed a faint smile despite the pain. She was endlessly grateful to the child for piecing her shattered mind back together.
With trembling hands, Yuria reached out and clasped Meryl’s tiny fingers. The great wail cut off at once.
“Hueeng…?”
Meryl blinked her large tangerine eyes. A droplet of snot hung from her small nose, looking oddly adorable. By now mostly recovered, Yuria spoke softly.
“Meryl… thank you… I’m okay now because of you.”
“Kung!”
Meryl, still sniffling, tilted her head in confusion. Yuria picked up the fallen blanket, wrapped it around herself once more, and sat on the edge of the bed. Meryl sprang up, leaping nearly to the ceiling before landing beside her with a soft thump. The jumping power was hard to believe from a seven-year-old. Her ears, the fox-whisker markings on her cheeks, that terrifying athleticism—every time Yuria noticed them, she thought the same thing: a monster truly is a monster.
Yet she felt no wariness toward Meryl. The lovable child had become someone Yuria would not trade for anything in the world. They had known each other only a short time, yet these feelings had taken root. It seemed she really had begun to adapt to monster society.
“Yuria. Did it hurt? A lot?”
Meryl stared up with innocent, unclouded eyes. Yuria gently wiped the corners of those eyes and smiled weakly.
“A little… it hurt.”
“Why?”
“I had a nightmare… No, I faced a reality that was a little hard to accept.”
“Uung? Too hard… Say it easy, please.”
“You don’t have to worry about it.”
“But why were you naked?”
“I… don’t know either… What time is it now?”
Meryl opened the window, peered at the moon’s position, and answered.
“It morning.”
It was still the endless polar night she couldn’t quite adjust to. Still, it no longer felt as repulsive as before. Yuria nodded.
“So I didn’t sleep long…”
“Huh? Yuria slept two whole days though?”
“What…?”
Two days. So after losing consciousness that time, she truly hadn’t woken even once? The shock had been so severe it made sense. What felt strange was how calm she remained. Perhaps because Meryl had helped her see monsters in a new light, her mind hadn’t collapsed even after witnessing her mother’s subordination.
Why did the Earth proverb—that humans are creatures of adaptation—suddenly come to mind?
“I see…”
“You hungry, right? Want fruit?”
Indeed, after two days without food, her stomach was painfully empty. Her throat was parched as well.
“Could you? And water too, please.”
“Okay!”
Meryl hopped down from the bed and started out, then paused.
“Ah, Yuria!”
“Yes?”
“Demon King was worried. He said come right away when you wake up…”
“…..”
Tyrat… She had reached the point where she could no longer tell whether he was the Demon King or Jihyeok. As Yuria sat with a grave expression, lost in thought, Meryl came closer again.
“What do? Keep secret?”
She was even willing to disobey the Demon King’s lofty command for Yuria’s sake. How adorable. Yuria stroked Meryl’s head and shook hers.
“I’ll eat breakfast first and then go. I have something I want to ask him anyway.”
“Got it.”
After Meryl left, Yuria sat staring blankly at the door, then looked at the dress. Leaving it here was clearly an order to wear it…
“Haa…”
With a long sigh, she stood up.
In the end, Yuria put on the dress. She could hardly appear before the Demon King wrapped in nothing but a blanket. The design was identical to her mother’s, so every curve of her body was clearly visible. Embarrassed for no good reason, Yuria ate the fruit while grimacing at Meryl’s enthusiastic praise.
Afterward she stepped into the corridor and descended to the first floor. The monster servants bowed to her with polite respect—the same behavior they had shown when she played tag with Meryl. Back then it had felt unpleasant. Now it felt… strange. A peculiar feeling she couldn’t quite name.
Get a grip… please…
Shaking her head, Yuria did her best to ignore the servants’ greetings and stopped before the audience chamber. The door she had shattered was fully repaired. She pressed her ear against it just in case, but everything inside was quiet. Letting out a breath of relief, she raised her hand to knock—then stopped.
She would simply enter.
Yuria opened the door. The audience chamber was not as dark as usual. A huge fireplace at the far end crackled warmly, its soft orange glow illuminating the throne. Yuria swallowed hard and studied Tyrat’s face as he sat reading a book.
It feels like… not Mr. Jihyeok… but also like it is him…
Her thoughts grew tangled; her chest felt tight. While she stood there fidgeting, Tyrat closed the book and spoke.
“Do not stare so fixedly.”
Yuria’s shoulders flinched. In a tense voice she asked, “Who… are you?”
“Sit.”
With a casual wave of his hand, an ornate chair floated up from the corner of the chamber and settled beside the throne.
“Is that… magic…?”
“To be precise, it is psychokinesis using magi. I said sit.”
“…..”
Instinct told her to obey. Yuria took a cautious step forward. Crossing the soft carpet, she approached the throne, glanced at Tyrat, then climbed the steps and sat in the chair. The plush cushion felt almost like sitting on a bed. While she curiously examined it from every angle, Tyrat offered a compliment.
“The dress suits you beautifully.”
“Thank… I mean, that…”
She still couldn’t find her balance. Tyrat gave a small chuckle.
“What are you curious about?”
Yuria drew in a sharp breath and gathered her courage.
“I just asked. Who are you?”
“I am Tyrat. Supreme ruler of the Magic Realm and the Demon King.”
“…. That’s not what I’m asking.”
“Then what is it?”
Tyrat gazed at her with a mischievous smile. Biting her lower lip, Yuria finally said, “You… resemble someone I know.”
“I see.”
“This isn’t something you can just brush aside. I want a proper answer.”
“You will come to know it naturally.”
Yuria suspected he was trying to ease her into the truth gradually. She had already formed a hypothesis: that Jihyeok and Tyrat were the same person. At the same time, she guessed that just as she seemed to have returned to the past, he had done the same.
A hypothesis and the truth carried very different weights. If this were real, no matter how much she had anticipated it, the shock would be devastating—far worse than when her mother had become a monster. She would likely faint again, and Tyrat, not wanting that, was speaking gently to give her time.
What am I supposed to do…?
She wanted to hear the truth, yet lacked the courage. Should she wait, as he said, to realize it naturally?
After turning the matter over in her mind, she decided to change the subject.
“Where… is Mother right now?”
“She is in the underground prison. Though now that she carries your sibling, perhaps a prison is too harsh?”
Yuria shot to her feet. Seeing her furious expression, one corner of Tyrat’s mouth lifted.
“It seems sorrowful. That your mother has become like this.”
“Shut your mouth…!”
“Fortunately, an opportunity still remains. A chance to turn your mother back into a human.”
Yuria’s eyes widened. “How…?”
“If I retrieve the factor I planted inside Margaret, she will return to human form.”
“Right now—!”
Yuria nearly demanded he restore her mother immediately, but she closed her mouth. She could not defeat Tyrat. She was no match for him at all. That fact was painfully obvious. Trying to solve this with force would achieve nothing. Perhaps flattery and pleading would be wiser.
As Yuria stood there trembling, Tyrat sneered.
“You learn your place quickly this time. Should I praise you for not charging in…?”
“You—!”
“Let us make a wager.”
“A wager…?”
“Persuade Margaret. If you can make her say with her own mouth that she wishes to return to me, I will retrieve the magi without any conditions.”
“You mean it…?”
“Of course. However… do you truly believe Margaret will want to become human again? She learned to hate her own kind while still human. Deep distrust is engraved in her mind. Moreover, she now carries my child.”
Yuria ground her teeth. As disgusting as it was, his words were true. She didn’t know how he had changed her mother’s heart, but… Margaret had chosen to become a monster. And from what she had said afterward, she genuinely seemed to understand her new position—her place among the monsters.
“Besides, you now believe monsters are superior to humans. Can someone who thinks that way truly persuade her?”
“Don’t talk as if you know me!”
Yuria’s shout echoed. Tyrat gave a light shrug.
“I will grant you two days. During that time you may freely enter and leave both the prison and the castle.”
“I’m going to Mother right now… Make sure no monsters block my way.”
“It has already been arranged.”
Tyrat wore a relaxed smile. Yuria swore to herself that she would persuade her mother so thoroughly it would flatten the bastard’s arrogant nose.