"Turns out President Enlil’s friend…"

"…was Elsa and Airi’s parents."

Roy tightened his grip on the bouquet, his expression growing solemn.

He took a deep breath.

Then slowly stepped forward until he stood before the gravestone of Elsa and Airi’s parents.

A soft breeze lifted the strands of hair from his forehead, revealing noble violet eyes tinged with sorrow.

The boy placed the pure white flowers before the stone, closed his eyes, and pressed his palms together over his heart in silent prayer.

Sister Elsa watched, her eyes red-rimmed.

Airi, too, stared at the boy’s straight-backed silhouette, slightly lost in thought.

By the time the sisters snapped out of their reverie—

Roy was already standing before them.

Without hesitation, he wrapped his still-youthful frame first around Sister Elsa.

Then around Airi in her wheelchair.

It was an impulsive act.

One Roy later found himself quietly reflecting on.

He scratched his cheek, flustered.

"S-sorry, Elsa, Airi."

"I just thought… maybe this might help ease your pain a little."

"If it doesn’t… just forget it happened."

Roy was accustomed to being hugged, to others crossing boundaries.

But initiating an embrace himself? That was difficult.

Even so, he couldn’t stand by while Elsa and Airi suffered.

This very quality had first drawn Elsa to him—

A kindness and gentleness as pure as a flawless gem.

Not naive innocence, but a heart that had weathered the world’s filth

Yet remained unstained, blooming pure and upright in the mud.

Roy was soon engulfed by softness a second time.

Elsa, as usual, pulled him tight the moment her emotions surged.

But Roy had long learned the trick of breathing in such moments.

"Don’t apologize, Roy," she murmured. "Your comfort helped me more than you know."

Airi added in a shy whisper, "Me too."

She clutched the knight plushie in her lap with her remaining strength,

Holding it as if it could stand in for embracing Roy himself.

A childish comfort, perhaps—but enough to soothe her fragile heart.

Then—a hoarse, chilling voice cut through the air nearby.

Accompanied by a sinister chuckle.

"How… touching. Heh heh."

A figure cloaked in black had appeared within the cemetery grounds.

Hooded and faceless, draped in shadow.

But the mocking tone left no doubt: this visitor meant harm.

Roy’s eyebrow lifted almost imperceptibly.

*Finally.*

*My flowers were nearly wilted from waiting.*

His subtle shift went unnoticed.

But Elsa, sensing faint danger, instinctively pulled Roy closer.

She stepped forward, shielding Airi’s wheelchair with her own body.

Most would flee from peril.

But Elsa’s instinct was to protect what she loved.

Watching her, Roy understood:

*No wonder the Goddess of Light chose her as Hero.*

In her past life, she’d failed to save Airi.

So she’d trained relentlessly in holy and healing magic,

Determined never to fail her companions again.

A troublesome foe from an enemy’s view—

But the most steadfast ally to those beside her.

*Companion to a Hero…*

*Only another Hero could truly stand at her side.*

Roy’s gaze darkened.

………………

"Who are you?" Sister Elsa asked, guardedly polite.

*Maybe he’s just strange-looking. Not evil.*

The possibility existed.

Slim, but real.

Elsa knew this—her eyes locked onto the hooded figure.

Beneath the veil, the man’s broken teeth ground together.

*So alike…!*

*Just like the woman who crushed me!*

Lia of the Dawnbreak Adventurers—Elsa’s mother.

She’d shattered his ambitions, stripped him of his rank as a Demon General,

Left him a ghost who couldn’t even return to the Demonfolk’s Seventh Stronghold.

*Or worse…* He shuddered.

The Autocratic Demon General ruling there would feed him alive to monsters—or serpents.

This hatred had driven him to attack Elsa and Airi’s parents.

(He forgot his own war held no justice.)

First, he’d kidnapped young Airi playing in the woods.

Cursed her using the soul trapped within his bonded war-eagle:

*As long as the eagle couldn’t fly, as long as its soul couldn’t rest—Airi would never walk.*

Then he’d used Airi as bait to draw out her parents, Aze and Lia.

The farm’s tragedy followed.

Wounded himself, the Demon General Juno had hidden to heal.

His only regret? Leaving the woman’s daughters alive.

But his curse bound them: only the cursed one’s hand could kill him and free the eagle’s soul.

Airi was trapped. Elsa would never abandon her.

So Juno waited. Patient. Healing.

Years passed. At seventy percent strength, he’d come today—

Their parents’ death anniversary. *They’d be here.*

Everything unfolded as planned.

Except for the fair-faced boy. An unexpected variable.

Juno’s lips curled. *Better.*

He saw the tender tension between Roy and the sisters.

*What if I slaughter this boy before their eyes…?*

*Wouldn’t their despair be sweeter? A deeper echo of that woman’s pain?*

*Heh heh heh!*

Once a mid-tier Demon General, Juno was now a madman drowned in vengeance.

His future? Ash. His life? Meaningless.

Only revenge kept him breathing.

And now—*now*—it was within reach!

How could he not tremble with ecstasy?

He’d decided:

This feast of vengeance

Would begin…

With the boy’s death.