≈ Chapter 3 ≈
Nod. Nod.
The child simply nodded quietly.
Zigfried was shocked once again.
‘I’ve never heard of a case like this. Not even in the academic world.’
Humans and demons might look similar, but they were completely different races.
On top of that, demons naturally hated every other race.
The idea that a child could be born between a human and a demon…
It was something no one had ever imagined.
‘Then it’s possible that this child really was a slave in the Demon King’s Castle…’
The child in front of him clearly had much stronger human blood than demon blood.
Even her demonic energy was so faint that it made sense the demons had treated her as a human and made her a slave.
The Demon King’s Castle never kept permanent slaves.
They probably brought her in from a slave camp, and before they could send her back, the battle had started.
‘A slave camp…’
It was proof that demons never saw other races as their equals.
Zigfried felt his stomach twist.
But…
‘I still have too many reasons to doubt this child.’
After quietly watching her for a while, he suddenly asked,
“You’re very young. How old are you?”
“I’m four.”
“…Four.”
She was still at the age when she should have been living safely with her family.
Yet she was already a slave.
For some reason, Zigfried felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
His voice softened on its own.
“Do you know? Until now, there has never been a single human-demon half-breed.”
“I know.”
“Your existence is extremely rare. Then how did you learn about your birth?”
Even after hearing that sharp question, the child didn’t shrink back at all.
“Mom told me.”
“…”
Mom.
Those innocent words hit Zigfried like a blow.
Of course.
This child must have had parents too.
He didn’t know why he had completely forgotten about that.
“Mom told me to keep it a secret.”
“…”
“She said I must never let anyone find out. She told me to keep my mouth shut.”
Still hanging from Zigfried’s hand by the collar, the child kept talking innocently.
After staying silent for a long time, Zigfried finally spoke.
“Then your mother…”
He stopped himself.
Whether her mother was human or demon…
He doubted she had lived a peaceful life.
If her parents were still alive and well, they would never have abandoned such a small child.
A bitter feeling filled his heart.
Just then, the child looked at him with pleading eyes.
“Can you let me go now?”
“…”
“I have to treat the other misters too…”
“…”
Zigfried stared at her for a long moment.
Finally, he let out a deep sigh and released her collar.
Then he suddenly asked,
“Why are you treating us?”
It was a rather cold question.
To be honest…
He still hadn’t completely gotten rid of his doubts about her.
“Because you’re hurt.”
The child answered without even a second of hesitation.
Caught off guard, Zigfried froze.
The child smiled brightly at him.
“My mom told me… when someone is hurt, you should make them stop hurting first.”
“…”
Zigfried couldn’t say a word.
It was such an obvious thing.
Yet…
He, a Warrior who had sworn to protect justice…
Had forgotten that simple truth.
Even if this was the enemy’s castle…
Even if he had to be careful of everything around him…
He had threatened such a small and helpless child.
“…Go.”
Feeling ashamed of himself, Zigfried answered quietly.
The child tilted her head for a moment.
Then she smiled brightly.
“Then get lots of rest!”
She gave him a deep little bow and quickly ran away.
She walked over to where Kyrios and Caesar were lying.
The tiny child busily began taking care of both of them.
At that moment…
Zigfried finally felt all the tension weighing down his body disappear.
‘They’re… alive.’
Their faces were still pale.
Neither of them had fully regained consciousness yet.
But at least…
Their lives were no longer in danger.
‘I really thought we were going to die this time…’
Zigfried looked down at his own body.
The demonic energy that had been eating away at his life had completely disappeared.
‘The Five Demon Kings must have all died.’
Since the masters controlling that power were gone…
The demonic energy had naturally vanished as well.
Besides…
Before entering the Demon King’s Castle, they had already wiped out all the demon forces outside.
‘For now… we’re safe.’
The moment he reached that conclusion…
His eyelids became heavy.
Zigfried fell asleep as if he had fainted.
It was a deep, dreamless sleep.
✦ ✦ ✦
After making sure all three Warriors would survive…
I returned to my room and let out a long sigh of relief.
“Phew… I thought he found out…”
Seriously.
How did he notice that I had demonic energy inside a human body?
My heart almost stopped!
Good thing I had imagined what kind of questions Zigfried might ask beforehand.
Otherwise, I would’ve been in real trouble.
“Seriously… he’s way too suspicious.”
I shook my head.
I quickly made up a story about a mother who didn’t even exist.
Thankfully…
It seemed like he believed me.
After calming myself down for a while…
I finally took out all the anger I had been holding inside on my old blanket.
“If it wasn’t for me, you would’ve died!”
Thump!
“Instead of thanking me, why are you so rude?!”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“You even grabbed me by the collar! I should’ve just left you there to die!!”
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
While I kept kicking the blanket with all my anger…
Suddenly…
A cough rose in my throat.
“Cough! Cough, cough!”
I covered my mouth and kept coughing.
Then…
A metallic taste rose from deep inside my throat.
“Blegh!”
Blood splattered onto the floor.
“Ugh… gross…”
I frowned and casually wiped the blood from my hand with a towel.
I wasn’t surprised.
After all…
This had happened many times before.
‘I pushed myself too hard while removing the Warriors’ demonic energy.’
Every demon normally had their own unique demonic energy.
If they had too little…
Or too much…
Side effects like coughing blood or collapsing would happen.
Back then…
Whenever the other demons stole my demonic energy…
I always showed these symptoms.
This time…
I had absorbed the demonic energy that was eating away at the Warriors’ lives.
Because of that…
Too much demonic energy had gathered inside my body.
Of course…
It only became a problem because my body was so weak.
Objectively speaking…
It wasn’t even that much demonic energy.
For an ordinary demon…
Their body would naturally balance this amount before it became dangerous.
But maybe because I was half human…
Controlling demonic energy was extremely difficult.
‘Even this much is enough to make me suffer… My body is seriously useless.’
I pouted unhappily.
Then I forced myself to think positively.
‘At least I won’t die right away.’
Well…
If you wanted to be exact…
I was basically living on borrowed time.
I was half human and half demon.
The demonic energy inside me naturally rejected the human blood flowing through my body.
If I couldn’t control it properly…
My life would slowly be shortened.
Even so…
The reason I wasn’t worried was simple.
‘In the original novel, Tatiana lived until she was twenty-five.’
Tatiana awakened as the true Demon King at the age of twenty-five.
And to awaken as the Demon King…
Being able to control demonic energy was absolutely necessary.
Which meant…
At the very least…
The original Tatiana never died because she failed to control it.
I’m only four years old now.
That means…
I still have twenty-one whole years left!
During that time…
I’ll definitely find a way to control my demonic energy.
Besides…
‘Once my demonic energy calms down, coughing blood will disappear soon.’
I’ll probably be completely fine by tomorrow.
“Whatever… I’m going to sleep.”
Frowning, I crawled back under my blanket.
Without realizing…
This small symptom I thought was nothing…
Would later cause a huge reaction from the Warriors.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day.
I woke up early in the morning and started searching the entire castle.
To treat the Warriors…
I needed clean cloth, water, and medicine.
So I went to the laundry room first.
Then…
‘What is this…? It’s like a whole new world?!’
My mouth fell open.
The laundry room hadn’t been damaged during the battle.
Everything was perfectly clean.
Not even a speck of dust could be seen.
There were plenty of supplies.
Expensive silk clothes that the high-ranking demons probably wore…
And even uniforms for the servants.
But the biggest surprise was…
I found a first-aid kit!
It only had disinfectant, ointment, and bandages.
Still…
That was more than enough.
‘You left me locked up in that dirty little room while all of you lived comfortably? That’s so unfair!’
After looking around…
I pulled out a large laundry basket.
It was big enough for my whole body to fit inside.
I filled it with all kinds of useful things.
Then…
I noticed several clean towels neatly folded on top of a cabinet.
‘Hmm… I have to get those somehow.’
No matter how much I stood on my tiptoes…
Or stretched out my hand…
I still couldn’t reach them.
After struggling for a while…
I let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh… I guess I can’t.”
I turned around to find a chair.
Then—
“Waaah!”
I jumped in surprise.
Zigfried was already standing inside the laundry room.
He was quietly staring at me with a blank expression.
Seriously!
If you’re going to come in, at least say something!
Or make some noise!
You almost scared my heart out!
