Stella recognized Via the instant she saw her. Overjoyed, she ran straight over and threw her arms around her.
“Via!!”
“I missed you so much!”
They hugged tightly right there on the spot.
“Our relationship is that good?” Via teased. “We only spent one night together.”
“Yes! We even slept in the same bed in that couple’s room at the inn the whole night.”
“Why bring that up again?” Via sighed helplessly. “Don’t make it sound so ambiguous. Nothing happened that night, okay?”
Stella breathed in Via’s familiar scent. It calmed her tense nerves considerably. She had felt utterly hopeless, with no chance of turning things around—yet at this critical moment, Via had appeared and saved her.
“Thank you, Via. You found me when I needed it most.”
“Wow~”
Sitting on the dragon’s back, Stella felt the high-altitude wind against her face and gazed at the land far below. Her heart surged with emotion. This was her first time riding a real dragon. So this was Albion? She had to be one of Via’s subordinates. She would probably provide plenty of help during their actions in the human world.
“Via.”
“Hm?”
“Look at this.” Stella pulled out a slip of paper.
“You still kept this?”
Via glanced at what was written on it and felt a little embarrassed. That night at the inn, she had secretly taken Stella’s money, taken the carriage, and left without a word. Before leaving, she had left this note behind.
“Via, you’re really bad,” Stella complained. “You left without saying anything and made me waste so much time and money getting back to Avalon Academy.”
“The situation was urgent!” Via made an excuse. “If I had stayed in the human world any longer, it would’ve been very dangerous for me.”
“So… you’re not something like the Demon King, are you?”
“How did you know?” Via was surprised.
“I didn’t know for sure. I just guessed from everything that happened in Kado City!” Stella smiled brightly. “But you actually admitted it right in front of me.”
Via was speechless. Still, she had planned to come clean about her identity to Stella anyway when she returned to the human world. She covered half her face with one hand, lowered her voice, and laughed.
“That’s right. The me standing before you is no longer just an ordinary human. Now, I am the Demon King who rules over the Desolate Fallen Continent!”
“Amazing!” Stella started clapping.
“Don’t act like you don’t believe it.”
“I’m not disbelieving! I’m just surprised. Via is really a demonkin? You looked completely human before, and your mother was a saintess.”
“Because I’m mixed-blood. Half demonkin blood flows in my veins.”
“Could it be… Via’s father?”
Stella blinked. The idea that the revered Saintess Sylvia would have a child with a demonkin was absurd to anyone who heard it. It would sound like a fabricated rumor, even blasphemy against the saintess. But with Via—the former saintess candidate, now the Demon King—standing right in front of her, Stella had no choice but to accept the truth.
“Anyway, my father is a demonkin and my mother was human. I’m mixed-blood from both races. That’s why the Holy Land never wanted to reveal my father’s identity. It makes sense now,” Via explained. “Before my Demon King bloodline awakened, the demonkin side didn’t show much. I left the human world and went to the Desolate Fallen Continent. After going through all kinds of experiences, I finally awakened the Demon King bloodline.”
“Then… your hair, Via…”
“This is just a disguise for the human world. It’s still the same as before.”
Via demonstrated by temporarily removing the human disguise. Her hair turned back to its original pink color. But the pair of demonkin horns on her head was more than enough to prove her current identity.
“Via has horns!” Stella’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, it’s a demonkin trait.” Via felt a little shy. “Can you stop staring? It feels weird.”
“Can I touch them?”
“Huh?”
“Please, Via. Just once. I want to make sure they’re real.”
“They’re real. No need to touch.”
“Just once! Please!”
Stella showed intense curiosity. She clasped her hands together and looked at Via with a pitiful expression, begging. There was no one else around. No one would see. Via felt troubled.
“…Only once.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Stella was full of anticipation. She reached out and placed her hand on Via’s horn, touching it gently. Via immediately pulled her head back and took a step away. The contact made her react—her face grew warm—and she avoided Stella’s hand.
“Via, why did you dodge?”
“We agreed on just once. That was it!” Via looked away. “Now you should be able to confirm they’re real, right?”
“It still doesn’t feel real. I need to touch them more. Don’t try to trick me.”
“I’m not giving you that chance.”
Via refused immediately.
“Anyway, you don’t need to worry now. The Saint Luo Empire’s army has been left far behind. You can relax for the time being.”
“Okay.” Stella sounded a little regretful.
“Mm. In short, Stella, you really don’t need to worry anymore. They can’t catch up to Albion.”
“Via, is Little Ha still with you?”
“Yes, but I didn’t bring him along. I left that annoying little guy back in the Desolate Fallen Continent and had my subordinates look after him. The necklace—did it reach you safely?”
“Necklace? How did you know?”
Via looked slightly surprised. Then she realized—Little Ha had brought the necklace to find her. That had been Stella’s idea. That night, Stella had known Via wanted to leave. She had only pretended not to know and deliberately had Little Ha bring the necklace Via had thrown in the trash to track her down.
“From your reaction, it looks like it reached you.” Stella smiled faintly.
A small ripple stirred in Via’s heart. She felt a trace of kindness from Stella. Besides her family in the human world, this seemed to be the first time.
“Via, since you’ve become the Demon King, why did you return to the human world?” Stella asked curiously. “With your current status, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to stay in the Desolate Fallen Continent?”
“Do I even need to say it?” Via replied proudly. “Of course it’s to fulfill the promise I made to you back then—to help you ascend the throne and become the Emperor of the Saint Luo Empire!”