To the Place Where Stars Flow (1)
In the quiet, pitch-black heart of the castle, Bella stood alone with the Demon King after being released from Regina’s pressure-point lock.
Face to face with the lord she had once served.
“Please allow it.”
“Not yet.”
“Didn’t you order me to protect the young lady?”
“……”
The Demon King fell silent.
It was true. When Regina Diabolos had just been born, he had assigned Bella to her—the man’s own left arm, essentially, handed over to the daughter of a mere concubine.
At first Bella had questioned the command, but in time she came to understand.
Hope.
The Demon King had seen possibility in that daughter. That was why he had ordered her protection—so she could finish growing safely.
Looking at things now, even that precaution seemed unnecessary.
“The young lady attracts disasters like a magnet. In my current condition, do you really think I can stay by her side?”
“…Still, no. You already know why, don’t you, Bella?”
His dry, emotionless eyes quietly fixed on her.
“The moment your seal is broken, your existence will be exposed to them. They will move instantly to seize you.”
“That problem disappears once I regain my power.”
“But you’ll be dragged into a mountain of annoying complications. The way they obtain what they want has never been limited to simple brute force.”
In truth, they had used every filthy method imaginable to claim their desires. Always.
“I can handle it, can’t I?”
The Demon King chose not to remark on her outrageously arrogant tone.
Their relationship had always been like this. Perhaps it had been fated from the moment he kidnapped the newborn Bella and began raising her.
She really did feel like a daughter who had just hit puberty.
“…The time will come soon. A time when releasing your seal won’t cause any problems.”
“And when exactly is that?”
“……”
“There he goes, refusing to answer again.”
Their back-and-forth continued for quite a while.
“Early bird special—rise and shine!”
Lena sat bolt upright!
The moment I escaped the Dream World and threw myself up, an unfamiliar room unfolded before my eyes.
“Huh? Where am I?”
“Your father’s house, dear.”
I turned toward the familiar voice and saw Mom sitting in a chair beside the bed. She was safe!
Without a second thought I launched myself at her, burying myself in her arms. Mom’s embrace was always so soft, warm, and comforting.
“Mom!”
“It really is fascinating. Are you sure you’re the same succubus as me? That recovery speed is just…”
Mom didn’t push me away even though I’d clung to her out of nowhere; she simply held me with gentle affection. Sniff, sniff. She smelled wonderful.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Mm, Mom’s fine. But what about my daughter? Any pain anywhere?”
“I’m… completely fine!”
Hm…? Wait, really? Why am I fine? At the end I’d been a complete wreck and even passed out.
Most of the wounds I’d taken were already healed.
Though my whole body throbbed like one giant muscle cramp, so I’d probably need a little more rest.
Considering I used False Rebirth, I’m in far better shape than expected.
Namgung Sim really hadn’t been exaggerating with his warning. At this rate I could probably use False Rebirth a little more often…
“Thank goodness… When you suddenly collapsed I was so startled. The fever was so severe that if your father hadn’t stepped in, you might have…”
Yeah, I definitely shouldn’t use it recklessly. Gungsim was a loyal advisor after all. I just hadn’t been able to accept the advice he gave me for my own sake…!
“Still, when did our daughter become this strong? Your body suddenly stretched out and then shrank back—it was quite the sight.”
“Th-that’s…”
I genuinely had no idea. How on earth had it come to this? I was sure I’d been an ordinary baby succubus back when I was still a cute little kid.
Now I’d somehow turned into a cool, chic, martial-arts-genius succubus lady.
It was all thanks to the friends I’d summoned from the Dream World.
“I suppose I have good teachers to thank, Mother.”
“Teachers…? You haven’t even entered the academy yet, have you?”
“Not teachers from the real world. I mean my mental pillars, the masters of my soul, the friends of my heart.”
“Hmm… I don’t quite follow, but I can definitely tell you take after your father.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It’s an insult, dear.”
I couldn’t understand a single thing she was saying. Muttering to herself, Mom gently pried me out of her arms and stood up.
“Rest here a moment. I’ll go fetch Bella.”
“You don’t need to call that perverted maid.”
“Why not? Aren’t you two close?”
“I’m terrified of belly raspberries…”
“Huh?”
Mom tilted her head in confusion, then left the room.
“Hmm.”
Now I was alone in an unfamiliar man’s bedroom. Kyaa! What a weird feeling!
Of course, that unfamiliar man was my biological father.
So this is Dad’s house?
Which meant I was inside the Demon King’s castle.
It was an insanely luxurious place. Even the room I was lying in had nothing cheap about it—the bed, the furniture, the décor on the walls and ceiling all screamed expensive taste.
“I really need to become the Demon King someday.”
I want a house like this too!
I sat on the edge of the bed, looking around the room for a while before organizing the current situation in my head.
Everyone seems to be safe.
Dad and Mom were both fine. Bella, whom I’d left abandoned on the roadside after hitting her pressure point, was also unharmed.
Plus, recalling the conversation between the Thunder Emperor and the Mad Dragon, it looked like the Goddess’s Tear had been their target…
They said they couldn’t obtain it, right?
In the end, those two had boldly stormed in, failed to kill anyone, failed to secure their objective, and fled with their tails between their legs.
A complete victory. I had scored a total win against that vicious, utterly wicked Honcheon Noeje and Mad Dragon Seiar!
The only regrettable part was that the enemies who had witnessed my trump card—False Rebirth—had escaped alive.
Aah~ I really didn’t want to use it in a place like that.
I hope they burned the sight into their retinas but never speak of it to anyone…
If everyone found out I could use a technique like that, they’d all start telling me to become the Demon King.
Of course, if becoming the Demon King was something I could just do because I felt like it, I would have done it ages ago.
I sat quietly and looked down at my fingertips.
My small hands somehow looked a little whiter and more translucent than usual.
Pale Hand Demonic Art.
I’d received a practical compressed crash course right up until the moment I woke up and had successfully taken the first step. It was still only at the first level of mastery, though.
“Now that I think about it, this is basically a one-trick martial art for making your hands prettier.”
It did have the advantage of turning the hands and even the forearms into something impervious to blades…
But it also came with the downside of giving me permanently cold hands and feet.
The Pale Hand Demonic Art wasn’t exactly ice arts… it was closer to a technique that manipulated yin-cold energy.
What’s the difference?
Ice arts could generate actual ice or radiate cold strong enough to freeze the surroundings, like some kind of mage.
Yin-cold energy arts, on the other hand, stole body heat on contact or froze and shattered meridians.
Like when you come in from a freezing winter day with ice-cold hands and press them against a friend’s neck—“Eek, cold!” Yeah, exactly that.
Wait. I can do that whenever I want now…?
Isn’t that the best…?
It would probably be pretty useful in summer too. Stroking someone’s belly would feel so refreshing.
If I learn something like Thousand-Armed Guanyin on top of this, would it become Many Hands Demonic Art?
While I was lost in those silly thoughts, the door burst open and Bella walked in.
Her beautiful purple eyes stared straight at me.
I stared right back.
We stayed like that, silently gazing at each other for a long moment.
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s it?”
“I cannot even begin to imagine how you must have felt when I abandoned you. Please forgive this unworthy master of yours.”
Bella strode forward.
She grabbed both my wrists, flipped me onto the bed, climbed on top of me, and declared,
“I’ll give you one last chance to apologize properly.”
“Mi… mi…”
“Mi?”
“You crazy bitch, you were the one who messed up first! Why didn’t you just leave me alone instead of trying to make me run away?!”
“Young lady… It seems you still haven’t come to your senses.”
Bella roughly shoved my top upward. She lowered her face toward my now-exposed belly.
“Time for your punishment.”
“Kyaaaack…! Mercy!”
“It’ll be over once you finish counting the stains on the ceiling.”
I couldn’t resist—the muscle pain was too much!
And just as she was about to deliver the dreaded belly raspberry—!
“What are you two doing…?”
“Mom…?”
Beyond the still-open door, Mom was quietly watching us.
…With an expression that clearly said she had seen something she shouldn’t have.
“Mom, it’s a misunderstanding!”
“…I’m sorry, dear. It seems Mom interrupted.”
Mom hurriedly looked away and started to leave, then paused.
“…At least close the door, please.”
She came back, closed the door for us, and left.
It hurt. My heart ached so badly from Mom’s thoughtful consideration…!
Both Bella and I stayed frozen in that exact position, staring blankly at each other for a while.
“Bella.”
“…Ehehe.”
When I quietly called her name she gave an awkward little laugh.
Laugh? In this situation? I am never forgiving you.
Bella quietly slid off the bed, cleared her throat with a loud “Ahem,” and—clearly trying to change the subject—brought in the large object she had left by the door.
A dragon’s horn. And not just any dragon’s horn—the horn of that Mad Dragon Seiar.
“Young lady, a message from the Demon King. He knows a blacksmith with decent skill. He suggests you visit them and have a weapon forged from this horn.”
“Oh…”
I had completely forgotten about it even though I was the one who cut it off. She had brought it for me.
It was the perfect time too—I’d been feeling empty without my Blue Dragon Sword. The reason I’d been drawn to the Pale Hand Demonic Art was partly to strengthen myself for situations where I didn’t have a blade.
“Where is this blacksmith?”
“The place where stars flow, apparently.”
“And where is that, exactly?”
“I don’t know. Maybe somewhere stars are flowing?”
This wasn’t even wordplay; she was just being useless.
…I should be able to make the trip before enrolling at the academy, right?