It was a day of freezing rain when someone knocked on my door.
I was curious. Yilansiya’s army was being driven back step by step under the assault of the Demon Army.
My family’s farm had already fallen, and even the nearby village of Cyrus had been designated an Occupied Zone.
The nearby villagers were either dead or had fled. And if it were the Demon Army, they would not have knocked so politely.
So, driven by curiosity, I opened the door. It was a boy. I call him a boy because his face was still youthful, and he looked to be about my age.
He wore the uniform of a Yilansiya soldier, and that uniform was soaked in blood and icy rain.
I knew the blood on his clothes was not his. Otherwise, he could not have been alive.
And I also knew the dimness in his eyes was not caused by the gloomy sky, but because he had lost someone irreplaceable, someone unimaginably important to him—
Just like me.
“May I come in?”
He asked me. I saw my reflection in his eyes, but I understood that he was not truly looking at me. He could not see anything at all.
The weight of his despair stirred something in my heart. So I stepped aside and let him enter.
He walked into the house, found a corner, hugged his head tightly, and crouched down.
He did not say another word. Neither did I.
I added several pieces of firewood to the dying stove, reviving the faint, lingering flame, then sat beside it as before and continued to wait.
Wait for what? I did not know. But I felt that before I could figure it out, the unavoidable end would arrive.
That I had managed to survive alone in an Occupied Zone stationed by the Demon Army until now was already a miracle.
Yet the miracles in my life did not end there. At that time, neither the boy nor I could have imagined that we would later fall deeply in love, and after a courtship conducted only through letters, without meeting in person, we would become husband and wife.
I believed that nothing in my life could ever be more precious than that miracle.
…
…
…
“How are things on the street?”
“The City Defense Force and my doppelgangers are focused on protecting the Demon Race residents and tourists… but there have still been cases of agitated citizens attacking them.”
In front of Meliya, the desk was piled high with documents as usual. She had to move some aside just to see Sephy, who was reporting to her.
It was the third day after the official Grand Festival schedule had ended. In the past, Cyrus would still be immersed in the lingering joy of the Festival at this time. But things were different now.
“Some people even tried to set fires in the Demon Race residential districts in the city. Fortunately, the residents and patrol officers stopped them.”
“That is a relief. What about Vera?”
“She went into the city to command the City Defense Force and patrol officers in maintaining order. She also met with several representatives and officials from the Demon Race residential districts on your behalf. They are very worried about the situation facing the Demon Race residents. Even they and their families have been threatened.”
“We must protect them.”
“It has all been arranged. Additional personnel have been deployed to several major Demon Race residential districts. And your intuition was correct—the foreign guests and tourists from Nolan have also become targets for people’s resentment… though not as severely as the Demon Race.”
“I see.”
Sephy could not see Meliya’s expression either. But she could tell that Meliya was very calm at this moment.
“You have read the official document sent from Nolan, correct?”
“Yes. I have.”
“There is one more matter. A march is taking place in the streets right now. Their slogans go beyond demanding punishment for the culprit and calling for revenge. A large crowd has also gathered at the palace gates to submit a petition.”
“A petition… what are they petitioning for?”
“They are demanding the execution of the Daughter of the Demon King. You know that already.”
“…”
Meliya fell silent. After waiting for a while and hearing no response, Sephy stepped forward and used Magic to move the documents blocking their view aside.
She stared at Meliya and asked:
“What do you plan to do? So far there have only been injuries, but if this atmosphere continues, sooner or later there will be deaths. And what happened at the Festival is spreading rapidly. Not only the Northland—the other three Territories of Yilansiya, the Imperial Capital, the Sea of Trees, and even the Holy Nation will soon react.”
“…”
“Meliya.”
“…Let us go see that child first. There are some things I want to ask her.”
After Sephy called her name once more, Meliya finally responded. She smiled at Sephy, then stood up and left the room.
…
…
…
Sephy followed behind Meliya. There was no need to open a portal or take any transport, because the Demon Race girl was being held in the Duchess’s Main Hall.
The room where she was confined was not a damp dungeon. Instead, it was a sunlit room on the first floor of the Main Hall.
The soldiers guarding it wore gleaming silver armor. When they saw the Duchess and the Sage arrive, they saluted neatly and opened the door for them.
Luc sat on a chair in the room. She had changed into a clean, simple black dress that matched her glossy black hair.
Her limbs were not visibly restrained, but around her neck was a silver collar.
It had been forged from Anti-Magic Silver from the Holy Nation, a material long used by humans to restrain High Demonkind prisoners.
Once fitted with such a restraint, even powerful High Demonkind could not use a single trace of Magic Power.
Their physical strength would become no different from that of ordinary humans without Magic.
Thus, Luc was truly, as she appeared, nothing more than an ordinary girl in a dress.
“Hello. Are you settling in well?”
Even when Meliya walked up and greeted her, Luc kept her gaze fixed on the painting on the wall in front of her, just as she had when they entered.
She had no intention of replying. Meliya knew she was not admiring the painting, merely finding somewhere for her eyes to rest.
Meliya had experience with this. She moved a chair over and sat beside Luc.
Seeing this, Sephy sighed, lay down on the bed, pulled her hat over her eyes, and entered a low power mode.
The room was quiet, filled only with the steady breathing of the three of them. Meliya closed her eyes and recalled the past.
After a long time, the cold, detached voice of the girl beside her finally brought her back.
“…Why are you here?”
The sky had darkened. Dusk seeped into the room. Luc did not look at her, but Meliya knew she was speaking to her.
“I came to see you. When I entered, I asked you, did I not? Are you settling in well?”
“I am a prisoner. I do not understand why you do not lock me in a cell.”
“I am the Duchess. Where you are confined is for me to decide—”
“I will not tell you anything. So you do not need to try to soften me like this. You can drag me through the streets for public humiliation, or cut off my head in the marketplace before the humans. As the defeated party, I have no complaints.”
“Well… there are many who would like me to do something so dreadful.” Though the girl had spoken in despair, Meliya continued gently.
“To drag you, the Daughter of the Demon King, out and behead you in front of the Demon Race residents? I certainly have reason to do so. But if I did, the efforts your master and I have made over the years would turn to nothing.”
“…You know that man? No… why do you know that he is—”
Meliya’s words finally shook Luc. For the first time, she turned and looked directly at her.
“I know far more than you imagine. So tell me, your mother’s favorite flower… was it this?”
Meliya took a white flower from her pocket and held it out before her. At the sight of it, Luc’s eyes filled with shock.
“That is impossible…”
“Your mother never told you its name, did she? It is called Moon-soul White. Although it is a rare flower famed in the Northland, few know that it was originally transplanted from the royal gardens of the White Sea Imperial City in the Imperial Capital of Yilansiya.”
Luc could no longer hear what Meliya was saying. She remembered the garden at the Demon King’s Castle, filled with those pure white flowers.
Her mother had planted them herself. After the war, when all the rare and exotic plants had been looted from the empty garden, she had somehow obtained the seeds of this flower.
Year after year, Luc watched her plant them. And year after year, under the bright moonlight, she watched her weep over the flowers as they withered quickly in foreign soil… like a sorrowful goddess.
A goddess from ancient myths shared by Demonkind and humans alike—the moon goddess who, after losing her beloved, was said to fall into endless mourning.