Chapter 34
Chapter 34
The man’s gaze as he slowly approached me was chilling. I felt as though I were being stripped bare, from head to toe. It was like being a helpless herbivore cornered by a savage predator. Each step he took forward made me instinctively retreat backward.
Then, he suddenly stopped and smirked.
He placed one hand over the right side of his chest and bowed deeply, sending one leg behind him in a gesture that looked very much like an invitation to dance at a ball.
“My apologies for the late greeting! My name is Lukevart Pollux; hailed as a prodigy of the Demon Realm!”
A prodigy? So, a man of talent, then…?
It was a name I’d never heard before. Of all the names Regnator had drilled into me as basic demon world knowledge, ‘Lukevart’ was not one of them.
‘Then that means he’s not among the ranked demons.’
To be unranked meant he hadn’t participated in the Blood War. And those who didn’t enter the Blood War usually fell into one of two categories: Cowards who avoided battle for fear of death… or beings so powerful that they had nothing to prove.
Recalling the reaction of the demons at the banquet, and the unusual behavior of both Lucifer and Regnator…
Even I, not exactly the brightest star in the sky, could tell at a glance. Lukevart was the latter.
“Curious, are you? About who I really am?”
Lukevart, clearly reading my expression, waved his hand dramatically through the air.
“I’m just a nobody. A demon who once served the former Demon King up close. Even if you’re curious, there’s nothing to find.”
What a joke. The kind of joke that would come pouring out if you actually shook him down. My heart was pounding. He smiled and spoke with warmth, but every instinct I had screamed: Stay away from this man.
But my body was stiff, refusing to obey.
“Grrrr…”
Derion’s growl grew sharper, more protective. But Lukevart merely gave him a fleeting glance, like someone brushing off a barking mutt. His smile, colder than Regnator’s practiced grins, sent a chill through me. If Regnator smiled because he genuinely thought he was being friendly, then Lukevart’s smile was crafted and calculated.
A shiver raced down my spine.
“The Demon King who did nothing for thousands of years suddenly went to the human realm without warning, spent three years there, and then came back.”
“…”
“And not alone, no less! With a daughter, of all things, a daughter with human blood. A Demon King with human lineage? Unthinkable!”
His gestures were flamboyant, his voice melodic, almost hypnotic. Lukevart truly was a born performer. His flowing crimson hair, with his demon-red eyes. The way his limbs moved when he talked was like watching a perfectly made marionette.
I was in real trouble.
‘This guy… is not going to let me return to the Demon Castle.’
I could feel it in my bones. He didn’t just despise humans, he also clearly didn’t fear Lucifer, despite Lucifer being the current Demon King. When a Demon King rises, those who served the former usually step down. No new Demon King rehires the former’s aides.
Sometimes, the new ruler even kills all of them, just to be safe. Demon aides were powerful, after all. No king wanted a dagger poised at their back.
Demons, by nature, were a greedy and cunning race.
‘Yet somehow, he’s still alive.’
Whether Lucifer didn’t kill him or couldn’t, I didn’t know. But judging by their behavior at the banquet, it was likely the latter. Lukevart, who had been speaking non-stop, suddenly stopped and tilted his head.
“The Demon King must be flawless.”
“Hiccup.”
A sharp pressure tightened around me, so intense that I hiccuped without meaning to. Can a person’s expression change so drastically in an instant?
Ah, wait… he’s not a person.
“As someone who served the former Demon King… what do you think happens when a flaw appears in that perfection?”
My skin tingled. The invisible force pressing in on me was unmistakably aimed to harm. Derion’s legs trembled, but he still stood between me and Lukevart with his teeth bared.
‘I have to run.’
Lukevart hadn’t asked a question so much as made a statement. Just like when he first introduced himself, he was holding a one-sided conversation. I had no obligation to stay and listen.
“Flaws must be eliminated. It’s the duty of a subordinate to ensure the Demon King’s path remains unobstructed. Unlike that lowly Regnator, who wouldn’t dare.”
He had just called the second strongest demon in the realm ‘lowly.’ That alone meant Lukevart was stronger than Regnator.
‘Then he’s… the top-ranked demon?’
No. Regnator had once listed the top ten demons who survived the Blood War. He’d even forced me to memorize their names for a week. There was only one demon ranked above him.
I remembered that, despite Regnator grumbling bitterly.
[‘As much as I hate to admit it… there is one… just one demon slightly, just slightly, stronger than me. If you ever meet him, consider it bad luck. He spends 70% of his life sleeping, so chances are slim.’]
[‘Uwaa?’]
[‘His name… is Betelgeuse Kursa. The only dragonkin in the Demon Realm. Supposedly existed since the creation of the realm. He’s insane. Never engage him.’]
Narrowing my brows, I struggled to remember. Regnator used honorifics, though he also called him an old geezer with a bad attitude. Despite the annoyance, there was no hatred in his tone. If anything, they shared a sort of mutual respect.
Lukevart, on the other hand, was pure contempt.
That alone made it clear, Lukevart was not someone to trust. And with that clarity, my body finally started to respond. Though the oppressive energy still weighed on me, I was no longer paralyzed.
“Grr, sniff.”
As I racked my brain, wondering how I could possibly escape him, Derion suddenly lifted a paw and rubbed his snout, whining softly.
“Pup!”
In my panic, I called him what I always had, forgetting that I’d given him a name. Derion whined again and collapsed to the ground. That’s when I noticed the fog that had crept in. The air had grown damp, and there was a bitter tang in the wind.
Even Derion had realized too late, how could I have known?
I quickly clamped my hands over my nose and mouth.
“A fool who can’t even recognize a simple trick.”
He shook his head in mock pity, his sigh laced with disdain for humanity.
‘Poison…?’
Derion’s trembling worsened, a sign that this was a bad poison. And the moment I recognized it, my vision swam. My stomach lurched, and the world rippled around me.
Mustering what strength I had, I cradled Derion’s limp form and backed away.
‘Gotta counter the poison somehow…’
My mind was going hazy. I ignored Derion’s struggling. I had to avoid Lukevart. His image loomed larger and larger through my blurring vision. If he caught me, it was over, I’d never see Lucifer again. I couldn’t let my new life end after barely a year.
“If the Demon King needs a daughter, there are far more qualified options. A lowly human like you doesn’t deserve that seat.”
“Hnnngh…!”
I held my breath, again and again, but this child’s body couldn’t take it. Even through the haze, Lukevart’s voice echoed in my skull.
“A chance meeting… perhaps fate itself.”
My heel caught on a stone behind me and my body tilted backward.
“Splash!”
“If you survive and return… well, then perhaps I’ll acknowledge you.”
The last thing I saw was Lukevart’s icy smile.
* * *
They say drowned bodies are horrific. What would Lucifer’s face look like if he saw mine like that?
‘No…!’
Now I knew that if I died, Lucifer would grieve. I couldn’t die, I wouldn’t. Just imagining his rare, lonely expression was unbearable and him grieving would be worse. Even if I wouldn’t see it after death, I never wanted that image in my mind.
I had to live. And for a long, long time! Despite my fears, I didn’t die. I almost came to a terribly close to a short, tragic ending.
SPLASH!
“Cough! Cough!”
Pain exploded in my chest as I gasped and vomited the water out. It poured from my mouth and nose, tears involuntarily joining the flood. I’d fallen into the one thing Derion had tried so hard to keep me away from.
And now I’d drunk so much of it my belly felt swollen.
“Haah… haah…”
Only after wiping my chin with the back of my hand did my thoughts begin to return clearly again.
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TN: I wonder what Lukevart did to our pretty little thing Bella. I wanna go in the book and give him a solid punch.
