Feelings for Athena
The restaurant buzzed with lively energy.
The aroma of delicious food mingled with laughter rising from every direction, weaving together into a warm, vibrant atmosphere.
This was one of the most beloved restaurants in Karman.
Athena and I were having dinner here together.
The dishes weren't as dazzling as the ones served back at the mansion, but everything on the table looked unmistakably appetizing. Meat brimming with juices, potatoes still steaming hot, and a fragrant soup that filled the air with its savory scent.
They might not have been the healthiest choices, but every last one of them was the kind of food that stirred a person's happiness.
"Hera, eat slowly. You'll choke."
Athena held out a napkin as she spoke.
"Mm… thanks."
I took it from her and wiped around my mouth.
Maybe it was because we were eating somewhere new, but everything felt refreshingly different. Unlike the stifling mansion, this place seemed to offer me a sense of freedom.
"Tomorrow we'll head somewhere deeper. There were definitely traces of demonkin, so we should find them soon enough."
Athena laid out tomorrow's schedule between bites.
"Yeah… but you've seemed down all day. Is something wrong?"
She had been in a foul mood since morning. Thanks to that, even I had started to feel gloomy.
At my words, Athena looked at me with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
"Hera, has anyone ever told you that you have no sense of tact?"
"Huh?"
The sudden question made me pause and think.
Tact… tact, huh.
Well… I didn't think of myself as particularly dense. If anything, with all the social experience I'd racked up in various places before transmigrating, I considered myself pretty sharp when it came to reading a room.
"No? I'm actually pretty good at picking up on things."
"…"
Athena's face said she found that answer utterly absurd.
Come to think of it, Lily had once told me the same thing.
"Unnie! I like that you have no sense of tact."
"Uh… huh? Why…?"
"Because no matter what I do, you never no—ah, never mind, hehe."
It had been a rather bland conversation, but aside from Lily, I couldn't recall anyone else ever calling me dense.
…I wonder how Lily and Unnie are doing.
Sitting here eating amid all this lively noise, my thoughts drifted naturally to them. Those mealtime gatherings filled with laughter—back then, I had truly been happy.
By now, the two of them were probably living far more comfortably in the Empire. The Empire's facilities were incomparably better than anything in Drax.
And Lily and Dania got along so well with each other that they might have already forgotten someone like me. Or maybe they had made plenty of new friends in the Empire and filled the empty space I left behind.
…Still, I hope they remember me.
If they forgot me, then I would be the only one left treasuring those warm memories we shared. The thought of that left a bitter ache in my chest.
Truthfully, at some point, the desire to go find them had simply vanished.
I didn't want them to see me like this. This broken version of myself—useless, unable to do anything on my own.
I wanted Dania to remember me forever as a reliable little sister, and Lily to remember me as a dependable older sister she could lean on.
What would happen if they saw me reduced to this pathetic state? Kind-hearted as they were, they wouldn't say anything out loud—but sooner or later it would show. The careful consideration in their manner, the pity in their eyes. Bit by bit, everything would change. That was how it had gone with everyone else.
If that happened, I truly wouldn't be able to bear it.
Them… at least with them…
At least with Lily and Dania, I wanted to remain someone who was useful.
Their absence left me with a loneliness so vast it was almost crushing. But they say time heals all wounds. Little by little, as the days passed, I seemed to be getting better.
I lifted my head and looked at the woman sitting across from me.
Eyes that shone like gold. Radiant platinum-blonde hair. An air of proud elegance surrounding her.
"?"
She raised one eyebrow, apparently puzzled by my stare.
This woman who endlessly cherished and loved even this wretched version of me. Who stayed by my side so I would never feel alone. She poured so much devotion into me that I sometimes wondered whether I even deserved such one-sided kindness.
…I don't hate her anymore.
The resentment I once held for what she had done to me in the past—somewhere along the way, it had simply disappeared. The decisive moment, I think, was the day she ate my cooking with such genuine delight.
I had been so happy, so grateful to her, that the affection I felt for her had grown far larger than any dislike.
……Family.
She, too, had become someone as precious to me as Lily and Dania. My family.
I watched her eat. Seeing her neatly slice even the restaurant's meat into tidy pieces made me smile.
"…What?"
She looked at me as if I were some strange creature.
I wanted to tell her. How I felt. What she meant to me. That I cherished her as family, just as much as I did Lily and Dania.
So I gave her a soft, smiling look and spoke.
"Athena."
"Yeah."
.
.
.
"I love you."
"Pffft—!"
Athena sprayed the food she had been chewing straight out of her mouth. Bits of it scattered across the table.
It was a reaction utterly unimaginable from someone who always carried herself with such lofty grace. But she didn't seem to care about any of that in the slightest—she simply stared at me with a frantic expression.
"W-what… what did you just say?"
She looked thoroughly flustered, nothing like her usual self.
"I love you. I don't hate you anymore. As much as you cherish me, I treasure you too."
Athena's eyes wavered as she took hold of my hand.
"…Then… does that mean we are now…"
I had never heard her voice tremble this much. Had it moved her that deeply?
Her reaction filled me with a quiet warmth. The fact that she was this overwhelmed meant she truly held me dear.
"Yeah!"
I clasped her hand in return and beamed at her.
"Starting today, we're lover—"
"From now on, we're family."
"…"
"…"
A brief silence settled over the two of us.
Come to think of it, Athena had been saying something just now, but my words had drowned it out and I hadn't caught it properly.
"Athena, what did you just say?"
"……Family… you said?"
Her voice sounded drained of all strength.
"Yeah. Precious family."
"…"
Athena stared blankly at me for a long while, then let out a sigh and reached for her food again.
"…Fine. I'll settle for this much for now…"
She muttered under her breath, just quiet enough that I almost couldn't hear, and went back to eating.
Having finally conveyed my feelings left me with a strangely liberating sense of relief. Until now, the resentment I held toward Athena and the gratitude I felt for her had been locked in constant battle. At last, I could settle on a clear attitude toward her.
From here on, I would cherish Athena as family.
As for the whole slave thing… I'm still not sure…
With the deep-rooted history of Korea embedded in my mind, the word "slave" still felt deeply foreign. But the revulsion wasn't as strong as it had been at the beginning. Maybe someday I really would become her slave, heart and all.
Of course, that wasn't happening anytime soon.
I grinned to myself and popped a piece of meat into my mouth.
"…What on earth are those two talking about?!"
The woman watching them from across the restaurant was none other than Sepheer, Succubus Queen and one of the four great commanders of the Demon Legion.
Using one of the few talents she possessed—transformation magic—she had disguised herself as a human woman. Though, to be fair, her so-called transformation magic only went so far as hiding her horns, wings, tail, and the distinctive mana unique to demonkin. Her pink hair and pink eyes remained exactly as they were.
Still, it was the transformation magic of a legion commander. Even Athena shouldn't be able to see through it easily.
Sepheer was waiting for the two of them to separate. But far from drifting apart, whatever conversation they were having filled the looks they exchanged with thick, unmistakable emotion.
"…Are those two involved somehow?"
She had never heard any rumors about Athena indulging in women. But then again, so what if she did? What mattered was that Athena had developed a weakness—and that was a tremendous opportunity for the Demon King's army.
The hatchling had long since vanished from her mind. The only thing her eyes could see was the black-haired woman sitting across the way.
If I can just get even a brief moment alone with her… I could charm her!
But the opportunity refused to come. Athena never left the woman by herself, and the woman stuck to Athena just as tightly.
"…Come to think of it."
That girl really is beautiful.
Even from a considerable distance, her beauty came through with startling clarity. Jet-black hair like the night sky, set against porcelain-white skin. And between those locks, red eyes that faintly radiated a blood-tinged allure.
Had Athena fallen for her looks? An appearance so captivating it could enchant even someone who never gave her heart to anyone—Sepheer felt a faint twinge of jealousy.
Hmph… well. She's pretty, sure! But she can't compare to this body of mine.
She herself was beautiful enough to be called a demon of seductive beauty. If that woman stood beside her, her looks would lose all their luster.
Bolstering herself with that thought, Sepheer focused on the pair once more.
Athena raised a hand and called over a server. Was she settling the bill so they could leave?
But no—her manner suggested she was ordering more food, not paying.
The server took the order, disappeared into the kitchen, and returned carrying something for them.
"…Alcohol?"
Two large mugs of beer.