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Episode 10:
I Am Four Years Old Now… And Then…
CURIOSITY GOT THE BETTER OF ME, SO I snacked on him. Feeling wasted, as if I had indulged in cheap sake, I tottered back and forth as I searched for Lady Elea by her scent. Finally, we were reunited.
“Yul?! Why are you here?! Is everything all right?!”
“Um… There were some really scary guys, and…” I sobbed like the toddler I was as I clung to Lady Elea. She was more focused on comforting a scared child than questioning how I had managed to open the door or why I was there by myself.
She sat me on her lap and told me the loveliest thing: “There’s no need to be scared. Everything will be okay, Yul. As it so happens, I used a special magic item to leave a trail to where they brought us. My husband and Lord Forte should be here very soon, so let’s wait for them together.”
“Father!” It was easy to play dumb as a three-year-old. But this wasn’t merely an act, okay? I never thought that I’d get that drunkenly sick from that guy’s soul.
Ё n̄ ů m̌ a
It wasn’t even half a day before Father came, leading hundreds of knights to rescue me.
Ahhh, Father was just the coolest! Lady Elea’s husband? Sorry, but I only had eyes for Father.
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Was my father a soldier? Or a knight? I had all kinds of questions, including about that pretty lady, but Father swooped right in to make sure I was safe and hugged me sooooooooo tightly that I completely forgot to ask about anything at all.
Father scolded me for exhausting myself like I had. Once everything had settled down, I would have to apologize to Mother and everyone else for worrying them too.
But after my scolding, I passed out. Father said my body had received a great shock because of everything that had happened, but I was pretty sure that I was just hungover.
I swore I was never gonna scavenge for food from such weird places ever again.
Е nu̇.m̀а̂ . і̄ d̂
***
In Versenia, the capital city of the Holy Kingdom of Talitelud, investigations determined that nobles had not only been the ones behind all of the previous child abductions, but had also been scheming to overthrow the government. This case was brought to a close once it was discovered that all the suspects involved had been murdered by the demons they had summoned in the second demon-summoning incident.
Despite their long captivity, the abducted children were sound of both mind and body. The majority of them were either children of refugees or travelers or from the slums, so while it took time to find their homes, the majority of them were returned to their parents. Those with no relatives were taken under the protection of the territory’s lord and given new lives.
Marquess Bruno, who was believed to be the key culprit behind the incident, was discovered as a shriveled-up corpse. The crime of attempting to launch a rebellion against the nation—despite Bruno himself being an authority of the government—would not be treated lightly. However, because the marquess’s family’s influence as a member of the upper echelons reached far and wide, his family managed to avoid their nobility being revoked. Nevertheless, every single immediate member of his household was apprehended. Behind closed doors, a distant branch family swore allegiance to the royal family and its head was named the new Marquess Bruno.
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The other person believed to be a key culprit, Albertine, the wife of Duke Cowell, had also been determined dead at the scene of the crime based on the results of the investigation. Although this was her crime and had nothing to do with her lord husband, it was a great sin for a member of one of the Five Grand Duchies—charged with protecting the royal family—to have committed. With the other dukes as witnesses, Duke Cowell’s house was stripped of its title with only their name left to them; the main members of the house and its organization were now under the royal family’s supervision.
“Forte, I know what happened, but you do bear some responsibility for not being able to control your wife. You know that, yes?”
Е̌n ŭm̀ а̀ . і̆.d̄
“Yes, Father,” Forte replied quietly to the aging man sitting at the head of the table in the spacious council room.
“Based on the testimonies from Eleanor and the abducted children, I have judged this to be a crime committed out of Albertine’s own personal grudge and nothing to do with House Cowell. As you married into the family and took their name, you have managed to avoid being charged with this crime. However, her two daughters—who are also her only blood relatives—have lost their right to succeed the house’s name, though they still bear the name of Cowell. They will be under surveillance at your estate in the royal capital in order to maintain the status quo.”
“Thank you for your generous judgment in this matter.” Although his daughters didn’t love him, Forte was still their father and did love them. Considering everything the two of them and his wife had done up until now, they had gotten off very leniently, to which Forte gave a mental sigh of relief.
The lineage of Duke Cowell had been effectively stripped of its status, but Forte had originally married into this family in order to avoid a battle of succession with his older brother. He realized that it would be difficult to continue devoting himself to helping his father and brother from now on. Now that House Cowell had been placed under the royal family’s supervision, though, how was their territory going to be managed henceforth? Forte’s expression darkened as he thought of their subjects, which made the older man cast him a meaningful grin.
“Which brings me to my next point, Forte. I have heard an interesting tale from the pontiff of the Church of Kostor of late. If a Saint has been discovered, she will require a guardian of appropriate status. Don’t you agree?”
A few days later, an official proclamation from the royal family was given to all of the noble houses and the subjects of the kingdom: The second prince, who had married out of the royal family, had once again rejoined the line of succession. However, he had relinquished his place as second in line for the throne to the crown prince’s son, naming himself fourth in line instead. From now on, instead of being Duke Cowell, he would instead take the name of Versenia, just as the royal family did, and be the first grand duke of his name.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Along with his new wife and their young princess.
***
Two months after the incident, I finally turned four years old.
After we got home to our manor, my worried mother seized me at once and wouldn’t let me out of her sight, day or night, for an entire week.
Yeah, of course she would do that.
To think that I had been living in this body for four years now. Whether that was a long time or a short one, I didn’t find anything particularly displeasing about my current lifestyle and I was quite content. I had some of my powers as a demon back now, but being surrounded by Mother and Vio and the others all the time made me feel more like a human than a demon. It was quite strange.
Еṅūṁа̂
Oh, and I got a mountain of gifts from everyone on my birthday. We didn’t have a big fancy party like Rick; it was more of a family-only kind of affair, but I liked it better that way. My friends Shelly and Betty even came all the way from the capital to join us.
Shelly gave me an herb-growing kit just like the one she had. Betty, for some reason, decided to give me an abstract portrait of myself she’d drawn in crayon. I appreciated her thoughtfulness. I was very happy.
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I even saw a bit of Rick.
Rick came all the way from the capital to push something into my hands and then leave. I wondered why Rick reminded me of the Dark Beast so much in that moment.
The box contained a pretty expensive-looking necklace. This wasn’t the sort of thing you’d give a four-year-old, was it? Was this his way of apologizing to me or something?
And from Father, a wagon full of brilliant white flowers arrived along with a cute tea set.
Е ǹ_um а
You heard me right—it had all been delivered.
Father didn’t come to see me…
By the time spring came six months later, Father still hadn’t come to see me again.
I exchanged lots of letters with Shelly and Betty, and for some reason, Rick showed up to deliver a bouquet to me before leaving, but no Father.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Was he busy with work or something? I hated how clingy I had become. Because of that, I spent the time being overly clingy with Mother.
At last, we finally got a letter from Father. He invited us both to go to the royal capital! Yaaay!
Ѐ nú m̆_a .і̀d
“Wha?”
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and I now found myself standing in front of a castle.
Huh? We were here to see Father, right? Wasn’t this the castle where the king lived? Okay, well…I had kinda thought that things were a little weird, you know?
I had heard that Father said he’d come to meet us in his letter, but it wasn’t Father who came to get us. Instead, there was this huge coach the size of a small house pulled by eight horses, and we had an escort of ten pretty dashing female knights atop their steeds.
The one who came to take us there was that elderly butler, the one who happily called me “Your Ladyship” for some reason. When I asked what his name was, he asked me to just call him “Butler.”
The lady knights all seemed really nervous and kept their posture rigid as Mother and I got into the coach. They must have been scared because I didn’t look like a toddler should at all.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I’m not scary, okay? I promise I won’t eat you or anything.
Oh yeah, that reminds me, something similar happened back in the Demon Realm. I wonder how those kiddies are doing.
And then! At long last! I finally got to see Father again!
“Lia! Yulucia!”
“Father!”
Father came out of the castle to meet us. I rushed over to him on my own two feet and he scooped me right up into his arms and then went to go hug Mother in a passionate embrace despite all of the people around.
Ѐň ŭ m̈ а
I’m sorry, but you’re crushing me.
It seemed that Father had missed us just as badly as we’d missed him.
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“Could the two of you come with me this way?” Father led us inside the castle with the lady knights following after us, looking like they belonged to an all-female performance troupe.
We passed through the front doors and stepped into a spacious room with the kind of stained-glass windows you’d see in a cathedral. They said this was just a hallway, but I couldn’t stop gaping as I stupidly wondered how they kept the ceiling, which was high enough for a coach to pass through cleanly. Father kept on walking, though, carrying me in his arms.
“These glass windows on the right illustrate The Tale of the Holy Kingdom’s Founding, while the glass windows on the left tell The Tale of the Glory of the Royal Family.”
“Whoooa.”
Е̂ n̂ ũ m а̇ . іd̄
So Father told me, but I must apologize—I wasn’t listening at all.
“How about you both get changed in here for starters?”
Mother and I went into the first room we reached, where there were dozens of dresses made to our sizes. A dozen or so maids and seamstresses helped me to change clothes while telling me to pick out whatever I wanted to wear.
I couldn’t believe they were so casually giving me such expensive things again.
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“You’re so pretty, Mother.”
“Hee hee. And you look like a fairy princess, Yul.”
Е̃n̆ũ m а.і̄d
Mother looked so very pretty in her new clothes. However, she was dressed a bit differently from me.
While her gown was very beautiful, it looked more like a neat and clean kind of dress that one would casually wear, not the kind of thing you’d wear to an evening party. But my dress was even fancier than the ones I had worn for the tea party and Rick’s birthday party—like the kind you’d wear when you made your grand debut into society.
Where exactly were we going now, all dressed up like this?
“You both look lovely. We should get going.”
Father looked even cooler in his new clothes as he picked me up and carried me down the hallway. My heart was pounding the whole way.
Along the way, Father asked me if there was anywhere that I would like to see in the castle, but I was so nervous about what was about to happen that the only thing I could think of was the place where people got executed.
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“Hm?”
“Ah, have you realized it now, Yulucia?”
We passed through a gate with large walls and on the other side was a garden that seemed familiar… Yeah, I sure figured it out. This was the same big garden where the tea party had been.
So wait, this isn’t just a garden with a view of the castle, but actually part of the castle? No wonder all of the kids were nobles.
Which means that maybe…
“Oh.”
Е̊num̌а̇.і́d
The first person I noticed was Lady Elea, with her eye-catching vermilion hair. Next to her was Rick and an older boy who looked exactly like Lady Elea.
There were also a few people who looked somewhat familiar in the gazebo where all the parents had been hanging out during the tea party.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Wait, that was the couple who had been watching us all excitedly during the tea party!
Lady Elea waved at us. Everyone else noticed and first looked at Father, then Mother, and finally focused their attention on me.
Father put me down in front of the oldest guy, who looked quite burly, and the pretty lady, which took me by surprise. It was rare for Father to actually put me on the ground.
“Father, I have brought Liasteia and Yulucia with me this day,” my father said as he and Mother both knelt before the man.
E ṅû m̈_а́
Hmm? “Father”? If this was Father’s father, then did that make him my grandfather? “Gran’paddah?” I said without even realizing it.
My supposed grandfather’s eyes opened wide. “Oooooh! Yes, that’s right! I’m your ‘grandpa,’ Yulucia! Hah hah hah hah!” Grandfather said as he suddenly grasped both of my arms and lifted me up.
He was indeed my grandfather. However, because of my bad pronunciation, it seemed I could just call him “Grandpa”!
“Dear, it’s not fair of you to hog her all for yourself!” the pretty lady next to him scolded, then turned to me. “I’m your grandma, you know,” she said as she pulled me out of Grandfather’s arms to hold me for herself.
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She’s my grandmother?
“I-it is fair! I’m allowed to hold my granddaughter!”
Ėnu m а̂ .i d̀
“You’re such a brute that I’m afraid you’ll break her.”
“I would never!”
Another burly man who looked like Grandfather patted Father on the shoulder as he stood frozen in place, hand stretched out toward me. Then, with a tired look on his face, the burly man said, “Father, Mother, please, calm down.”
Was this my uncle, then? Oh, goodie. Father definitely took more after Grandmother.
I was really impressed that none of them were scared of me, though.
“R-right. Anyway, now that we’re all here, we should get going!” Grandfather said as if trying to divert everyone’s attention.
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Grandmother chuckled dryly as she passed me back to Grandfather, who then started walking while carrying me in his arms.
So that was how it was. I supposed he was going to be the new person in charge of carrying me around.
Sooo? Where were we going?
As Grandfather set out, Uncle sighed and Father stood back up. Lady Elea and Grandmother were both smiling as they started walking with Mother, Rick, and the other boy taking up the rear.
Wait, they weren’t going to introduce everyone else?!
Mother was talking to Grandmother like normal, as if she was used to how Grandfather behaved. The other boy was smiling while he gave instructions to our knightly escort—something I assumed an adult should have been doing.
Е̄ n ů m̄а̊
Grandfather led the way, carrying me in his arms with Father and everybody else—the knights, butlers, and maids—all following along in succession as we made our way down another impressive hallway. We walked all the way to the big door at the end.
When the butlers waiting there opened this really fancy door…
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“Wha?!”
We stepped out onto a terrace overlooking the crazily enormous courtyard of the castle. There were thousands of nobles, knights, maids, and all kinds of people crowded around to receive us.
Wasn’t this, like, everybody who must have worked here in this castle? And all of their eyes were focused not on Grandfather—but me.
What was going on?
Wе̂ b n̄ о̀ v̊ e l̈ Еn̄ umа
“Sorry to have kept you all waiting! My son Forte has returned to the royal family as the first new grand duke to be named in hundreds of years! And I introduce to you now Forte’s daughter—my granddaughter! Her name is—”
Yulucia von Versenia.
I finally knew my full name after all this time!
Today was just full of surprises, leaving me dumbfounded as Grandfather raised me high into the air. The way everyone looked at me gradually started to change.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Meaning that this little girl is your—and the whole of the Holy Kingdom’s—princess!”
Wha…?
Е́ n̊ùmа̃. і̄d́
There was a moment of silence followed by a rousing commotion as everyone in the courtyard began simultaneously cheering with joy, an earth-shaking vibration in their voices.
“Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
“Long live His Majesty the King! Long may the Holy Kingdom reign!”
“Long live Princess Yuluciiiiiiiiaaaaaa!”
“Glory to the princess!”
“Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
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What was going on?! Wha?!
I’m so confuuuuuuuuuuuuused!
***
And so, I was now Yulucia von Versenia, the granddaughter of the king of the Holy Kingdom of Talitelud, daughter of the grand duke of the same royal family name.
It seemed like the whole thing was really complicated, so they didn’t bother explaining any of this to a child like me.
As for my social position in life, uh—I was the daughter of the duke’s second wife? And the third daughter of the duke’s family, but his first wife died or something? So now Father wasn’t a duke anymore but a grand duke? And Mother was now the grand duke’s first wife? Which now made me first princess of the grand duke or something like that?
Е̄nu m̈ а̊ . і d̊
I had no idea why or how any of this had come to be.
I’d always felt that Mother was in a strange position, since hardly anyone knew I existed, but now everything was okay because some stuff had happened?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
And as for Grandfather calling me “the Holy Kingdom’s princess,” the Grand Duke of Versenia hadn’t existed for hundreds of years. And while the title was formally below the royal family, it was now regarded on the same level as the royal family, which made me—who was a princess—part of the royal family and thus part of the line of succession… Was this all for realsies?
This world just made up whatever rules it wanted, huh? Were they sure about this? Even though I’d gotten a tiny bit of my demon powers back, I couldn’t afford to be careless now. I needed to live a quiet life.
Based on their erratic wild enthusiasm, it seemed that all the knights and maids had been longing for a princess. Until now, the royal family had only had boys like Rick. It was like out of a story.
Father had been the second prince, and so even while he’d been a duke, he had been second in line for the throne until Uncle’s son grew up. Since he was named the grand duke, he gave up his right as second in line to the oldest son of the crown prince, my uncle, whose younger son Rick was now third in line. This was all so confusing.
Ĕň ūm а́. і̆ d
And so Father was now fourth in line for the throne, and I was sixth in line.
Huh…?
Who was fifth in line, then? The fact that I was the third daughter of a duke meant that I had two older sisters, right? They weren’t princesses? Why was one person missing from the line of succession? Why was I the “first princess?”
It just did not compute.
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“Well, whatever.” I gave up trying to ponder this and got out of bed to look down on the city night.
Since I’d become a princess, we had left the manor that I had spent the last four years in. Mother, everyone from the manor, and I all moved into the main residence of the former duke in Toure.
Е̃ n̊ǔm̄а
This manor was tens of times bigger than our old one and my room was several times bigger. I sank into thought as I gazed down at the twinkling lights of the city.
I was a demon. If anyone found out what I really was, I would become an evil beast that would eat them all. Nevertheless, my human hearthad grown and was causing ripples through me.
One day, I might wind up causing a lot of trouble for my beloved parents. Nobody else mattered to me. Everyone but Father, who had thought up my name, and Mother, who had given me my name, could die for all I cared.
Yet, despite thinking that way, there were more people I cared about now in my human heart.
And so…
I decided that I would keep on living as a human.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
So that I could love everyone I cared about as a human.
And I would keep on living as a demon.
I would love and cherish humans for the way they struggled to keep on living despite their foolishness, sadness, and hardships.
My demon self was starved for love.
I loved humans. As both a human and a demon that devoured souls.
Ahhh, I could hear them now.
Е̌n ù m̊ а̇ . і́ d
The heartbeats and breaths of all the humans living in the city I could see from my window…
And the darling screams of the humans who were afraid of the dark.
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Don’t worry, my adorable little lambs. I won’t let anyone else have you. Offer your love to none but me…and in exchange, I will make you mine.
You will belong to me—the devil who is the princess of the Holy Kingdom.
“And the devil princess shall love you all the way down to your souls for all eternity… Hee hee… Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
In the northern mountains, the southern seas, and all across the continent, animals began to howl all at once, birds flew off in fear, and those who lived in the darkness looked up to the heavens.
Еň u̇ m а
No one understood what it meant at the time.
In the Holy Kingdom, the seat of the gods, a devil gave out an evil cry as a blessing to humans.
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