~CHAPTER 24~
“Right, hmm. Guess we’ll have to buy something.”
Jahar, who had been examining Ratia’s outfit with me, was the first to speak.
Ratia’s clothes weren’t something that could be judged as simply good or bad quality.
She was wearing a single dress that was far from clean—and to be honest, it couldn’t even really be called a dress.
It was just that her frame was so small that she could wear an adult-sized top as if it were a dress.
On top of that, there were holes here and there, as if rats had gnawed at the fabric, and at the hem of the garment were stains that looked like… blood.
Wait, blood?
Startled, I grabbed Ratia’s sleeve.
“What’s this? Don’t tell me those kids from before…”
I remembered how she had run away through the bushes from the orphanage.
Maybe because I looked like I might march straight back there, Ratia quickly waved her hands.
“N-no! It was already like this when I found it!”
“Where did you even get that? We don’t have clothes like that at home.”
Jahar stepped forward and asked.
He was right.
Even if she picked it up somewhere, where could she have found something so ominous?
“From the orphanage donation drive.”
“…Then what were you wearing before that?”
Please tell me she wasn’t walking around naked.
“I was a bird then!”
What a relief.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief and patted my chest.
“I clung to the carriage Serena and Sian were riding and followed them to the orphanage. I wanted to sneak in and watch, but when we got there, I felt something strange and—boom!—I turned into a human!”
“…So that wasn’t intentional?”
“Nope! Turning human means I have to wear clothes and stuff. Too much hassle.”
“Right. But I’m hungry, so I don’t feel like doing it now.”
Yeah…
I gave a reluctant nod and turned my head, only to see Jahar staring with bright eyes—like when he’d first learned that Ratia was a spirit.
“Then let’s get her some proper clothes first.”
That was a good idea.
If we took her out looking like that, people would surely think we were abusing a child—or worse, that we’d bought a slave.
Since neither Sian’s, Jahar’s, nor my own outfit looked cheap, it would definitely draw suspicion.
In the carriage on the way, I quietly asked Ratia, who was sitting next to me swinging her legs.
“Hey, Ratia.”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you run away from the orphanage? Even if there were a few kids, you could have easily handled them.”
Ratia answered with innocent honesty.
“What if I hit them too hard and they died? I just wanted to avoid them.”
“Ah…”
Her words made me think of how I’d once been careful not to hurt the humans around an anthill.
It made perfect sense.
I nodded and closed my mouth.
***
Three days had passed since Illay descended to the human world.
He still hadn’t seen his master, the Demon King—or even anyone remotely like her.
On top of that, humans were unbearably noisy and frivolous.
They laughed loudly in the streets for no reason, got drunk and made a ruckus, and their children constantly ran around bumping into people.
“Ha…”
If the Demon King were alive, he would have sensed her magic somewhere in this realm—no matter how faint.
She wouldn’t have gone to the divine realm or the spirit realm. She must be in the human world…
He sighed again and climbed down from the back of a winged beast.
Illay had landed in a forest near a quiet, remote village—chosen carefully to avoid human eyes.
The creature left silently after dropping him off.
After searching near the royal capital for traces of her magic, he’d grown weary of the crowds and had just moved to a quieter region.
Expressionless, he entered the village.
The population seemed small, and it was much easier to move around here than in the capital.
“Customer! Take a look at this!”
As soon as he stepped into the market street, a voice called out.
“You must be new around here?”
The shopkeeper greeted him with an easy smile, but Illay only gave a small nod.
“Oh my, what beautiful eyes you have!”
“…”
“How about this? It’d look perfect pinned to your clothes!”
Maybe the merchant thought he looked wealthy from his fine clothes.
With a pleasant smile, the shopkeeper kept trying to make a sale.
Normally, Illay would have ignored him and walked away.
But the brooch the man held out happened to be set with a red ruby—the exact shade of his master’s eyes.
My lady…
He called to her silently, but of course, no answer came.
It was a cheap, synthetic ruby—something he’d never even glance at on any other day—but today, he couldn’t walk past it.
The color was identical to her eyes.
“I’ll take it.”
The merchant, sensing an easy profit, seemed to quote a price a bit higher than usual, but Illay didn’t care.
He bought the brooch and wandered down the street, eyes fixed on it.
It felt as if he were looking straight into her eyes again.
The last time he’d seen her, she had smiled brightly—saying he’d done her a favor even though he knew it wasn’t true.
She had been born with more power than any Demon King before her, yet she always looked listless, lacking any ambition.
“Was that really the last time I’ll see her?”
He hadn’t expected that he would sense no trace of her magic in the human world.
She couldn’t have gone to the spirit or divine realms.
Even if she had, that would mean she was already…
If he’d known things would turn out this way, he never would have let her go that day.
In all his centuries of life, he had rarely shed tears.
Even when the previous Demon Kings had perished, he hadn’t cried.
He had watched them all rise to power from birth, and their deaths were simply part of the cycle.
He would mourn them in his own way, but never weep.
He was a demon, after all.
Attachments were only obstacles.
So why now?
Why did the thought of her death make his chest ache?
It was unbearable.
She’d barely lived.
There was still so much she hadn’t experienced.
“Are you truly gone, my lady…?”
As that unfamiliar heat welled in his eyes, he quickly bowed his head.
He was afraid someone might see.
If the demon world sees me in tears now, they’ll take it as weakness.
He raised his head again, forcing his brows into a fierce scowl.
People passing by gave him wide berth at the sight.
Then—
“It’s fine like this.”
That voice. The one he’d longed to hear.
Illay froze, then slowly turned his head.
He couldn’t even think to hide his expression.
And there she was.
The one he’d been searching for, walking casually as if nothing had happened—alongside two humans and a small child.
“…”
He couldn’t bring himself to speak.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know what to say; he just couldn’t open his mouth.
He wanted to call out to her—to make her look at him—but…
She looks… happy.
In the demon realm, she’d always looked bored, like nothing could interest her.
But now, her face was bright, full of life.
He’d never seen her like this.
Did those humans know who she really was?
That she wasn’t someone ordinary people should even dare to approach—
He didn’t even have time to wonder why he hadn’t found her sooner, or why he couldn’t sense her magic now.
I have to reach her.
That was the only thought in his mind.
Just as he gathered himself and looked toward them—
“Serena, you’ve got something on your hair!”
One of the humans—the smaller one—reached out and touched her hair.
A human dares…
Rage instantly flooded through Illay.
Before he knew it, his body moved on its own.
He stepped forward, and suddenly his hand was gripping the wrist of the human who had dared to touch the Demon King’s hair.
“…Illay?”
Their eyes met.
Her eyes—clear and red as ever—made the cheap ruby brooch in his hand look like a dull pebble.
