Chapter 44
Chapter 44
And on top of that, Derion was smaller and weaker than ordinary magical beasts. Hirpus might have been a powerful beast, but Derion was still just a pup. He had even developed a fever of unknown cause. If he’d been thrown into a pack of beasts, just as Lombard claimed, he would’ve been torn apart.
“No!”
As the vivid image crossed my mind, I shook my head violently and screamed.
“He would’ve died in agony anyway. That fever wasn’t ordinary.”
“No! No!”
Like a broken record, I shouted ‘no’ over and over again, like a panicked parrot. Tears sprang from tear ducts I thought had long since dried up. A deep crack split across the solid stone wall.
It was at that exact moment that Lombard’s expression twisted in alarm.
“Hey, kid… just what are you…?”
“Waaaah!”
The sorrow I had tried so hard to suppress suddenly burst forth in loud, aching sobs. The air twisted, and black mist began to spill from the distorted space around me.
“Master!”
“Lombard! I’ve got a really bad feeling… maybe we should deal with the kid too…”
Lombard’s men burst in from outside, along with Lawrence, the very man who had so coldly left me behind earlier. They all froze in place as they saw me wailing and the thick black mist slithering out of the warped air. Even Lombard staggered back.
“No… no way… that thing again…?”
Lawrence bit out a curse and instinctively reached for the hilt of his sword. The black mist slowly began to form a shape, one I knew far too well. It was the one I had longed for ever since I fell into the human world.
“Why are you crying?”
Lucifer didn’t ask why I was in such a place. He didn’t question it. He simply saw me sobbing, wailing like a child, and wrapped me gently in his arms.
“Who… who made you cry?”
His voice was cold enough to freeze the already damp air into frost, like a sudden chill after a night rain.
“Apua… Huuuuh…”
As I sank into his warm embrace, my tears poured out all the more. Even my nose ran uncontrollably. I hiccupped and wept as if the sorrow might tear me apart.
I didn’t want to believe Lombard’s words, but deep down, I couldn’t imagine finding Derion alive. It truly felt like he was gone. Since waking up in the cabin, my heightened senses had been going haywire, and I couldn’t control my emotions at all.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears, and the moment Lucifer appeared, the entire atmosphere seemed to tremble. I could even smell the foul musk of a beast’s den from somewhere nearby.
Beyond my tear-blurred vision, I saw strange things I’d never noticed before. There were blue, red, and black slithering auras wrapping around the others in the room. Held in the depths of Lucifer’s pitch-black energy, I kept crying, even as those eerie images flooded my mind.
“Bella? Bella?”
Lucifer’s voice called to me, muffled and distant, as he checked my forehead but I couldn’t respond.
[“We’re friends, remember? So don’t worry.”]
It was the promise I’d made while hugging Derion close once before. He was my friend, my very first friend. When I remembered how he’d wag his tail whenever I patted his head and how his red eyes would look up at me so lovingly, it felt like my skull would burst.
Then, clang, my wildly beating heart came to a sudden stop.
Whether it was my heartbeat or someone else’s, I had no idea.
“Ah…!”
A surge of indescribable pain exploded from my chest, stealing my breath away.
“Bella!”
Lucifer’s face, drained of color as he watched me pass out with my eyes rolled back, was the last thing I saw.
***
Lucifer gently adjusted his hold on the unconscious Bellatrix. Her limp weight felt nothing like when she had first been born. Though she was heavier now, to Lucifer she still felt lighter than a stone rolling across the Demon Realm.
That’s how small and fragile she was. She was so delicate that even he hesitated to handle her too roughly. And yet she had sobbed like her soul was being torn apart.
Bellatrix, who never cried except when she was hungry, had sobbed until she couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were flushed, tears flowing endlessly despite his gentle touch trying to wipe them away.
Lucifer’s mood had only worsened since finding her.
He had hoped she was safe.
“Tch. You sure took your time.”
Regnator finally appeared, grumbling. Lucifer had told him to stay behind and clean up, but clearly, he’d followed shortly after.
“The matter’s been dealt with.”
Under Lucifer’s icy gaze, Regnator shrugged casually. He was annoyingly competent. Regnator immediately noticed that Lucifer’s mood had darkened even further than before they’d found Bellatrix.
“Is she hurt?!”
“No.”
“But… those are tear stains! Don’t tell me… did she cry?!”
He hadn’t cried, but that didn’t mean the sight of tears on her face was welcome. Regnator, too, knew Bellatrix rarely ever shed tears.
“She never cries unless she’s hungry! What could’ve happened…?”
Wearing a solemn expression, Regnator looked down at the unconscious Bellatrix. The two demons focused solely on her, paying no mind to the stunned and speechless humans nearby. Lucifer carefully wiped away the tears streaking Bellatrix’s cheeks.
Her skin was feverishly warm to the touch. It reminded him of a near-fatal flu humans called a ‘cold.’
Humans, with their fragile bodies, could fall ill and even die if left alone for just a moment. Frowning, Lucifer pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to lower her temperature with his cool touch.
She’d fainted before, but never like this, with her eyes rolled back.
“She’s in terrible shape.”
“Her aura’s unstable too. Is it because we’re in the human realm?”
“…”
He didn’t respond, but they both knew that wasn’t the cause. Bellatrix was human. If anything, the human world should’ve been better for her than the Demon Realm.
‘Is it because of my presence…? Is she unable to adjust to the human world because of me?’
She had been born in the human realm but bathed in the Demon King’s energy from the moment she arrived. This had never happened in the history of the world, and so they had no reference for what was causing these symptoms.
“She’s been in the human realm for over two days now. And by the looks of it, she hasn’t had proper food either. We must return to the castle immediately.”
Lucifer gently examined her cracked lips and damp eyelashes. She wasn’t visibly injured, but her body showed clear signs of strain.
She was wearing the dress from the banquet, a stark contrast to the disheveled figure she was now.
Lucifer had no words for the sight. He was shaken. He had feared losing her before but now, the thought that something had hurt her deeply weighed even heavier.
Crack.
Worry followed fear.
Lucifer clenched his fist unconsciously. Even in the human world, his demonic energy surged.
“Lord Lucifer.”
“…”
“I’ll take her.”
Though reluctant, he had no choice but to entrust her to Regnator. He was too angry. Keeping Bellatrix near him in this state might not be safe. He closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them and passed Bellatrix into Regnator’s arms.
“I’ll return first.”
As they had arrived, Bellatrix and Regnator faded into mist and vanished. Tiny and frail Bellatrix. This insignificant little girl was becoming more precious with each passing day.
***
[“The Hero died before you. So why do you still long for him?”]
[“Because I loved him. Arthur was a gentle man. And because of that gentleness, he cherished me more than anyone. We grew up together. We vowed to always stay together.”]
[“…But the Hero didn’t keep that promise. If he truly cherished you, he should’ve silenced the slanderers and cut down the ones who mocked you.”]
[“Would you kill everyone who opposes you, Lord Lucifer?”]
[“No one dares oppose me. And if they did, it would mean they were challenging me. I merely accept their challenge.”]
[“If you kill every obstacle in your path… who will be left at the end of that road?”]
[“I will.”]
[“Arthur upheld his beliefs. By choosing not to run away with me, he protected me from the Temple.”]
[“I can’t understand that. You were angry once, too.”]
[“Yes, I was. But… I still had a child to raise. Arthur died true to his convictions. And in the end, he wasn’t alone, there were many who stayed by his side.”]
[“…”]
[“When your path ends, Lord Lucifer, do you think anyone will be there with you?”]
[“…”]
[“If you’re standing alone… wouldn’t that be unbearably lonely?”]
***
That was the moment the Demon King awakened the one emotion he should never have known. Lucifer had no choice but to admit it. This small child, this Bellatrix, had become a treasure to him, irreplaceable by anything else.
Barely a year old, To an immortal Demon King, that span of time was less than the blink of an eye.
And yet, it had happened. Time didn’t matter.
‘So… did you ever expect this, Bellatrix?’
Lucifer now knew what loneliness was. The fear of loss. Every emotion a demon was never meant to have, he had come to know them all through her.
(TN: Awww, Dad Lucifer is sooo, sooo sweet yet pitiful in the previous chapters. How could they hurt our precious Bella? Dad Lucifer is so sweet yet scaryy. How about you guys, how do you feel about this chapter?)
