Amelia had set a buffer period.

A buffer period after her death.

Amelia knew that if her soul was truly annihilated, the enemy she faced back then was far beyond what her fragmented soul could handle. If her soul fragment instantly awakened and claimed her body right after her death, the enemy would likely track it down and destroy this last piece of her.

So she established a buffer—a full millennium after her true death. Only then would the memories of herself and Lu within the soul fragment awaken, instantly claiming this body to reunite with Lu.

Demonfolk lived incredibly long lives. A thousand years was merely a lifetime for an ordinary demon. For the Demon Royal Family, it wasn’t even enough time for a child to reach adulthood. And for a Phoenix like Amelia? Not even sufficient for her offspring to hatch from their eggs. Setting the buffer at a mere millennium was practically rushed.

Basic knowledge flooded my mind. Amelia had meticulously prepared this contingency. The resurfacing memories and knowledge instantly clarified everything—how this body’s power worked, and what I must do.

*"You’ve worked so hard… my true self."*

After skimming the unfamiliar memories now swirling in my head, I silently thanked Amelia—the original owner of this body, my other self.

This world wasn’t the one Amelia and Lu originally belonged to. It was a parallel realm. Amelia had expended tremendous power to hide me here. Lu, too, had been sent here with Amelia’s dying strength… but tragically, the helpless, naive Lu was quickly discovered by pursuers. Though Lu crushed them with royal Demonfolk bloodline power, a mage’s final spell sealed her here—until today.

(Incidentally, though Lu called herself Demon Emperor, she remained technically a Demon King. She’d been driven from her homeland before her coronation, never inheriting the title’s full authority. Yet as the last royal bloodline, she was still the *de facto* Demon Emperor.)

"*Sob*… Amelia, do you know? Those bastards kept bullying me! I was all alone—cold, starving, lost, so scared… and they *still* wouldn’t leave me alone! *Wahhh*…"

Lu clung to me, nuzzling my chest like a kitten while pouring out her ordeal since arriving here. I stiffened, deeply embarrassed—

Though I was both Su Nan and Amelia now, Su Nan had lived entirely as a man. Suddenly inhabiting this mature, sensitive female body was jarring enough. Lu’s insistent rubbing sent strange tingles through me, making my cheeks burn.

"Y-Your Majesty…" I managed, my lips twitching as Lu’s movements sparked uncomfortable warmth. "Could you… loosen your hold just a little?"

*This tingling sensation from her rubbing… it’s getting really weird!*