Black earth, blood‑red sky, and these ugly weeds. I let out a sigh. Here again, huh?

Well then, next up…

“Hahahahaha, you’re pretty good at dodging, little one.”

A gigantic wolf wreathed entirely in flames appeared in front of me, repeating the same line it had already said countless times.

“I’m not ‘little one.’ I have a name.” I snapped back at it.

Just as I expected, the big idiot in front of me acted like it hadn’t heard a word. It just kept glaring at me with those vicious eyes.

I already know it won’t react no matter what I do, and I’m still talking to it anyway. How bored am I?

“Mm… I can’t run anymore. I’ll just surrender quietly. That way you can at least kill me quickly.”

That’s the next line in the script.

“You can’t escape anymore. Give up and surrender. That way you can die a little more pleasantly.”

The giant wolf—or should I say, the Demon King?—said the expected line and stepped closer to me.

“Sigh…” I ignored the wolf and glanced around instead—just in the time it took to say those two lines, I was already surrounded. One, two, three… huh? Including the wolf, there were only seventeen of them. Where’s the last one? Back then there were definitely eighteen, not one less.

“Why’re you talking so much crap? Just kill her already and be done with it!”

From the sky, the goat‑headed, human‑bodied guy with a pair of black wings flapped down, already looking incredibly annoyed. Well, he was Wrath, after all.

He opened his mouth, and black light glowed inside it as a huge amount of mana gathered there.

Back then, when this hit me, it hurt like hell…

Thinking of that, I rubbed my left arm where I’d taken the hit.

But… now, there’s really nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Whether I’m scared or not doesn’t change the fact that this mana orb is about to fire.

Yeah, the move needs to charge, but as the opening attack of the Third Cursed Demon King, of course it wouldn’t have a stupid weakness like a long cast time. It probably took less than a second before he suddenly spat the black orb straight at me.

Once the orb left his mouth, it started swelling like crazy. By the time it crossed the thirty‑plus meters between us and reached me, it had already become a massive sphere of light ten meters across, swallowing me whole with a force that felt like it could annihilate everything.

Boom—

The orb exploded, and the shockwave swept out in all directions like the most terrifying typhoon. Anyone weaker who got pulled into it would no doubt be torn to pieces. Heh, my magic will tear you to pieces.

Of course, a blast like this wasn’t nearly enough to affect the Demon Kings present.

Anyone strong enough to be a Demon King would have sharp battle instincts. They wouldn’t let a chance like this slip by. So they all took the opportunity to unleash every kind of attack they had on the center of the explosion like I’d killed their parents or something…

Come on. If we’re talking grudges, it’s me who should have the higher hate score toward you guys, okay?

“I guess that’s about it, huh?”

I patted the dust off my chest and muttered to myself.

Looking at it now, this outfit really does look terrible. It’s nothing compared to the one Nia gave me.

“It’s over! Execution—!”

One of them suddenly raised the sword in his hand toward the sky. A thin white beam shot from the tip, piercing straight into the clouds and vanishing.

A moment later, as if in response, a gigantic sword of light nearly a hundred meters long came crashing down. This was the one that had almost killed me last time.

Even the blood‑red layer of sky seemed shaken apart by the falling sword, revealing the pitch‑black heavens behind the blood clouds. The sword slammed into the ground with enough power to destroy the world. For an instant, time itself felt like it stopped, and even the ocean‑like mana that had almost formed a mana tide was forcibly scattered.

After impact, the sword of light weathered away like crumbling stone, slowly disappearing and revealing me standing there, having not moved at all, completely unscathed.

As for why I could take that kind of attack without a scratch, it’s actually simple, because…

“So it really was just a dream… You’ve clung to me for so long. It’s about time this ended, don’t you think?”

After all this time, I’d already found the source of the nightmares that had been haunting me. I walked toward the presence I sensed, found a black sphere floating in midair, and reached out to crush it.

“So it was a curse…”

Murmuring that, I closed my eyes. As my words fell, this world sank into chaos and dissolved away…

“Mm… six‑thirty already, huh…”

When I opened my eyes in the morning, the first thing I looked at was the clock on the wall. After confirming the time, I climbed out of bed. Sunlight poured in through the window—looked like today’s weather was going to be great too.

Six‑thirty, then… I can just head straight to the dining room later~

I roughly calculated the time, made a quick plan, then ran over to the wardrobe.

Nia said yesterday that twin tails are really cute. I’ll try that today. This dress should work… and socks…

By the time I finished getting ready, it was already seven. I checked the girl in the mirror, made sure I hadn’t missed anything, gave a satisfied nod, and left my room.

I pushed open the dining room door and looked in. As expected, the familiar black‑haired man was already sitting at the table. Hearing the door, he turned toward me.

“Morning.” I jogged over to him and greeted him with a smile. Every time I see him, I just can’t help but smile.

“Morning. New hairstyle today, huh? It’s really cute.”

He reached out and patted my head. I don’t really understand what head‑pats mean to humans, but it should be a good thing, right? At the very least, I like it.

“Mm? Mira’s not back yet?”

I took a bite of my fried egg. It tasted a little different from usual, so I turned my head and asked.

“Eh? She’s still not back?”

He froze for a moment, then looked over at Nia with a puzzled expression.

“Where’d Mira go? She’s still out?”

The whole time I’ve been living here, Mira’s been the one handling everything in this place. Even if she just stands there doing nothing, her presence makes you feel at ease. Having her suddenly gone for a whole day really feels strange.

But why is Mira working here as a housekeeper anyway? She’s doing tons of chores every day, and she looks so willing about it too. Aren’t demons supposed to be super proud?

If it were me, there’s no way I’d accept that kind of job.

Mm… but if it were for him, I guess I could reluctantly…

“Mira? She probably won’t be back for another two or three days.”

Nia didn’t look worried at all. Considering Mira’s strength, there really wasn’t anything to worry about anyway. Even sealed, a Life Demon is still insanely strong.

If Mira’s not coming back for a few days, does that mean he can spend the morning with me…?

“Luo Sa, play with me this morning.”

Saying it like that… do I sound like a kid? Even though I’m already an adult.

“Mm… since Mira’s not here, sure, I guess. Lemme think what we should play today…”

He nodded and accepted my invitation.

You don’t need to think that hard about what to play, you know. As long as I’m by your side, anything is fine.

“Nia, Mo Mo, how about the four of us play Flying Chess?” he suddenly suggested to Nia and Mo Mo.

“Flying Chess, huh…”

Mo Mo thought for a moment, then agreed. “Just saying this first: no cheating.”

“Come on, let’s hurt each other!” Nia sounded very enthusiastic.

The rules are ridiculously simple, but somehow, chatting and laughing together makes it fun anyway. Human games really are strange…

Since Mira wasn’t home, cooking duty fell to Justice. I’m not very familiar with her. I only know she’s almost always with Honesty guarding something. They seem like siblings, and very close.

After we ate, he hurried out to find Aefina.

If I hadn’t dragged him off to play with me, he probably would’ve gone out in the morning. His feelings for Aefina are so obvious; of course he’d be impatient to see her.

Today, Aefina was waiting right at the gate. They said something to each other, and then Aefina lifted him onto her head and flew off.

I heard there are lots of Monstrous Beasts living around here. I want to go see them too, but they say those beasts aren’t very friendly toward visitors from the Demon Realm… I guess I should forget it.

What should I do this afternoon?

I might as well keep reading.

Once I decided, I headed for the library.

Come to think of it, I’ve been visiting the library more often lately…

“Honor, hello.”

Even though Honor couldn’t understand me, I still greeted him.

“Loli… miss, good… afternoon.”

To my surprise, Honor greeted me back in the Demon Realm’s common tongue.

He must’ve noticed my surprise, because before I could ask, he started to explain on his own.

“Recently, study, language, demon. Information, very, little, hard, learn.”

He spoke in broken phrases, with messed‑up grammar. It looked really difficult for him… And information about the Demon Realm is indeed hard to find, never mind textbooks for learning the language. Being able to speak this much is already impressive.

“Forget it, I’m probably saying it wrong anyway, and you can’t understand me either.”

Before I could say anything, Honor spread his hands and went on, “If you want a book, find it yourself. Just remember to put it back where it belongs.”

“…Alright.” I nodded and slipped into the stacks to grab the next volume of the novel I’d been reading yesterday.

From the afternoon on, the weather started to change. The sky outside dimmed a bit. It might rain… Even though it was so sunny this morning.

Because the weather turned gloomy, my mood darkened with it.

I flipped through a few pages of the book I’d taken, but I just couldn’t focus, so I tossed it aside, leaned on the windowsill, and stared at the sky, letting my thoughts wander.

“Shhhhhh…”

It didn’t take long before the rain really started. It’s rare to get rainy days in the Demon Realm.

“If you don’t like the rain, want me to open the barrier?”

Nia’s voice came from behind me.

I shook my head and stayed silent.

Nia walked up next to me, then hopped—one big jump onto the windowsill. The windows here are huge, so the sill is big too. There was more than enough room for Nia to stand there.

“Lava and Rose, huh…”

Nia glanced at the book I’d tossed aside, then looked out at the rain.

“That story’s real, you know. It happened a few hundred years ago. Mira actually knew the heroine personally back then.”

“…” I still didn’t say anything.

“I ate a translation candy, so I’ll be able to understand everything you say for a while.” Nia continued when I stayed quiet. “About him, what are you planning to do? Is this really enough for you?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“He already has Aefina.”

Nia twisted her body a little. “If things just keep going like this, will you be okay with how it ends?”

I narrowed my eyes. The golden Slime in front of me suddenly felt a bit of an eyesore.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not what you think.”

Nia waved a tentacle like a human waving a hand. “Those two are my friends. Of course I’m rooting for them, or I wouldn’t be helping them along. But I’m me, and you’re not in the same position as I am. If you just keep the status quo, you might end up with nothing. If you understand that, then what is it you actually want?”

“I think you’ve misunderstood something.”

“For me, he’s the one who saved my life and brought warmth to me. From the moment he rescued me, all of me—everything I am—already belonged to him. I’ve never thought about being like Aefina. As long as I can stay by his side, I’m already very satisfied. If he needs my body, I’ll give him my body. If he needs my life, I’ll give him my life. That’s all there is to it.”

“…Tch.”

Nia sounded a bit confused, and a bit helpless. “Are all demons like you?”

Without waiting for my answer, Nia jumped down from the windowsill. In just a few steps, she disappeared around a corner.

I sighed and went back to staring blankly at the rain outside.

Near dinnertime, he came back together with Aefina.

It seemed Aefina had used magic to shield him from the rain, because when he came back, his clothes weren’t wet at all.

After dinner, he headed to Aefina’s place again. Aefina was still waiting at the door in advance, just like before. For a couple in the throes of romance, I guess every second apart is torture, huh?

That night, I hugged that book and ran to the hall, then settled down to read. The hall was completely quiet, with only the ticking of the clock, and the soft sound of pages turning every now and then.

At some point, the rain outside had stopped. Everything felt so calm and peaceful.

It was past ten at night when a heavy wave of drowsiness crashed over me, and I couldn’t help letting out a yawn. Maybe it was because of my injuries, but once night fell, I got especially sleepy. I shook my head hard, forcing myself to stay awake.

After struggling against sleep for more than half an hour, I heard a noise at the door. Then the door opened. He was standing there, saying something over his shoulder to Aefina.

“You’re back,” I called out to him.

“Hm? Loli, you’re still not in bed?” he asked, looking at me.

“I’m not sleepy yet, you go to bed first~” I shook my head, clasped my hands behind my back, and pinched my own fingers hard so I wouldn’t show how tired I was.

The curse was gone. I should be able to have a good dream tonight, right?

I’d been waiting here all this time just to say this one line.

“Good night, Luo Sa.”