'Demon World'

There are two ways to access the Demon World. The first is by conjuring a portal using magic. The second is by entering the main door, which serves as a permanent portal located in the west.

Upon entering the Demon World, time will pass at twice the speed of the outside world, and all communication with the outside world will be severed.

From dawn to dusk, you will marvel at the sight of the radiant sun and the gentle moon sharing the canvas of the purple sky. As night descends, the sky transforms into an enchanting abyss of black, and the sun and moon gradually fade into the distance, casting a serene and mysterious beauty over the world.

Many say that the demon world is very different from the human world, making me curious and wondering what it would be like if I lived there.

Oh, right. Just for information, that feeling can be said to be inherited from my mother. She is a curious person. She likes adventure, and she will always bring and show things from the human world to me and my father.

My mother is an angel who likes to mingle with all races. She is a cheerful angel with soft speech. She is also a bit reckless, careless, and stubborn in some aspects.

My father seems very lucky because he was able to marry my mother because of my mother's stubbornness.

In today's society, marriage between an angel and a demon is not considered taboo. However, due to a past incident during my grandparents' era, my mother's family strongly opposed the marriage between an angel and a demon.

But my mother was very adamant about marrying my father to the point of doing many things, that I don't want to know what they are.

In the end, the marriage was agreed to even though several conditions had to be obeyed. One of them is the 'time limit for living together'.

In the agreement, my mother is allowed to stay no more than 15 days in the demon world. The calculation uses the time in the demon world.

After that, she will live outside the demon world for 2 months. Still in the calculation of time in the demon world.

During those 2 months, my mother will look for something in the outside world, then she will show it to me and my father.

My mother is half angel and half demon, but her appearance is more prominent as an angel. My father is a pure-blooded demon and is the king of the demons.

My relationship with my father is not very good. Since childhood, my father's education to me was very... Different from my mother's education.

The system in the demon world taught me to be a strong leader who oppresses the creatures under me.

He lightly taught me things about violence, how to torture, how to kill, and so on. As if it was not a big problem that could disturb his conscience.

In short, that's why my father and I are not close.

Sometimes I wonder, what made my mother like him.

Even so, I never thought about or was interested in hearing their love story.

I don't want to know anything about my father. I don't want to understand his way of thinking. And I don't wish my father's mindset and character to influence or be passed down to me.

Of course, I know that no matter how hard I refuse it, the fact that I have my father's genes is something I can't avoid. I'm sure one day my character will resemble his character intentionally or unintentionally.

But I never thought that the day would come much sooner than I expected. This is my biggest problem and secret that I buried deep down in my heart.

That day was the day that Mother could return to the demon world.

I waited for Mother while sitting at the glassless window in one of the towers occupied by the portal guards. I let my legs hang in the air, occasionally swinging them.

I stared at the portal while playing with origami, a human creation, that Mother brought some time ago.

Remembering that today was the day Mother came, I smiled unconsciously until my face became stiff.

I got even more excited when the portal shone, a sign that someone had entered the portal.

With a smile, I spread my wings and flew closer to the portal, trying to greet and surprise her.

But my smile disappeared when I got a surprise back before I managed to surprise her.

Mother fell face down, right after exiting the portal, and her white wings rolled up, covering her body so that it wouldn't get scratched by the ground.

"Mom..?"

Spontaneously I turned my mother's body over. And unexpectedly, I found a human child in my mother's arms.

The human stared at me with her trembling blue eyes, looking scared. I saw her body was full of wounds.

Without thinking any longer, I called a portal guard to take Mother to the castle.

The human stood firm as if her body had no wounds. Her gaze was fixed on my mother from the beginning of being transported until she disappeared from sight.

After that, she glanced at me nervously. She squeezed her dress which looked luxurious but dirty.

She hesitantly opened her mouth. "Will... She be okay?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Who are you?"

She looked down, shaking slightly. "La.. Lavenia... Alfaret."

"I didn't ask your name. Who are you to my mother?"

The human fell silent. She looked up and then looked down again when she saw my if my horns were something unsightly to look at.

Ignoring the human's opinion of my horns, I tried to find out the relationship between this child and my mother.

Is she my mother's child..?

Impossible. There was nothing about her appearance that resembled my mother.

Then who?

I pushed my thoughts away when I saw the human shaking with wounds.

So I considered.

Should I take her to the castle? But bringing a human to the castle would make Father angry. Moreover, this human is related to the injury of my mother.

What if I throw her back out of the portal? Tsk, that doesn't seem like an option. Mother brought her here, she would be angry if she found out.

But leaving her alone here...

"Argh!!" I ruffled my hair, then stretched out my hand. "Come here!"

She looked at me in confusion, then took a small step. Standing still and trying to keep as much distance as possible, which makes me feel irritated.

Impatiently I embraced her shoulders with my right hand and lifted both of her legs with my left hand.

She was surprised and put her hands around my neck, making me stare at her sharply. "I didn't give you permission to touch me."

The hands on my neck trembled but did not let go. "Me too! I didn't allow you to lift me!"

Her high-pitched voice made my right ear ringing. "Shut up, you're so loud."

She fell silent, looking down again when she looked at my horns.

"Shut your mouth if you don't want me to leave you here," I warned, then flapped my wings to fly back to the castle.

The human closed her eyes tightly.

Her closed eyelashes trembled like her small body. Her hands were tightly wrapped around my neck as if she would fall if she let go.

That unconsciously made me smile a little.

This human is like a small, scared animal.

Not long after that, I frowned when I realized my thoughts.

Did I just smile because I saw a scared human..?

No, I'm not like other demons who are entertained by negative emotions.

Without realizing it, the human stopped shaking in the middle of the way and stared closely at my distorted face.

After arriving in front of the castle, I told the guards to keep their mouths shut about this human.

"If you don't want to be killed, then be quiet and don't make a sound," I whispered to the human child in my arms.

After she nodded, I walked in carefully. After making sure that there was no father or his trusted person inside, I rushed to my room.

Only a few steps left. Suddenly the air around me became cold and tense.

"Alastor." Father's intimidating voice came from behind, making my feet freeze.

I swallowed my saliva and turned around with sweat dripping from my temples. My father was standing 20 meters away from me with a dark aura.

He pointed at the human child in my arms with his chin. "Give that to me." He said with a gloomy expression while approaching me.

Ha... Of course, Father will hear about this human. I'm sure the guard who brought the mother reported it.

My mind went blank. My body was about to move to do his orders, but my feet stopped when I felt a small hand gripping my collar.

The human stared at me with her bright blue eyes that radiated fear.

I took a few steps back, put her down from my arms, and pulled her to stand behind me.

I don't know what pushed me to dare to deny Father's orders and talk back. "Father, mother won't like it if you do something to this human."

He scowled. "You want to protect the human who made your mother like that?"

"Did Mother imply that this child caused her injuries? No, right? What could a small human child covered in wounds possibly do to mother?"

"Your mother is strong. If she is injured, then this human must have something to do with your mother being injured."

"Yes, I know for sure that Mother was injured because she protected her. And that's why you shouldn't touch her."

He gritted his teeth and approached me in rage. Right when he was standing in front of me, he punched me until I fell and my head hit the wall.

My cheek stung. I could feel the salty taste of blood in my mouth.

Ignoring the dizziness and pain in my head that I felt, I rushed over to the child while staring at my father fiercely.

After kneeling, I pulled the child into my arms and covered her with my wings, showing that I wouldn't give in.

"She is the one who made your mother like that," He said with a distorted face.

"Mother is protecting her," I emphasized and reminded him again.

Father took a glass decoration that was nearby and threw it at me without hesitation.

Out of instinct, I tightened my hug and blocked it with my wings.

Unfortunately, the glass shattered into shards that scratched my wings and face.

My white wings turned red because they were covered in blood. The condition of one side of my face was not much different.

My attention to the pain was disturbed by a small hand.

I lowered my gaze and found the human child staring at me in horror. Her round eyes widened, clearly showing her bright blue pupils that were shaking.

It seemed like she was not used to seeing blood. I'm sure the condition of my face made her terrified.

It's cute, but this is not the exact time to feel like this.

I could only smile reassuringly and cover her eyes with one hand.

I know very well how cruel my father is, especially when he's angry. But I am determined to protect this human child for my mother.

This will not be easy. Father is stronger than me. I won't be able to fight him directly.

If I can't convince him with words and take this child by force, then my only option is to run away from the castle until Mother wakes up.

I took a stance, ready to run if Father approached.

But the unexpected happened. He just snorted and left, making me confused and relieved.

I relaxed my shoulders which had become stiff for some time.

After his figure disappeared, I released my hug and sat, leaning against the wall.

I have to admit that I will never get used to my father.

The child crouched down and patted my hands gently. She looked at me with pity.

Huh? Who did she pity in such a situation? Didn't she know that she was almost dead?

She's... Amusing.

I sighed and looked at her helplessly. "What are you doing?"

"You're scary, but he's scarier... Does it hurt? Your face is covered in blood." She stared at my face.

I gently pushed her hand away. "It's nothing. I'll be fine in no time. Demons regenerate faster than humans," I stated firmly as I wiped the blood off my perfectly fine face as if it had never been injured.

She tilted her head. It seemed like she didn't understand my words.

"Your heart is beating fast. Your wound needs to be treated quickly. Your head also hit hard earlier. I could hear the BAM sound clearly," She said with round eyes while opening her hands when she said 'bam'.

I raised my eyebrows and unconsciously smiled a little. "Does that scare you?"

She nodded. "I'm afraid that if something happens to you then I will be taken by him," She said, making me smile helplessly.

"So I'm your protector? Aren't I scary?"

She glanced at my horns for a moment, then looked at me while shaking her head. "Not that scary."

I sighed and stared closely at her. "If you don't want to be taken by my father then you have to tell me what happened from the beginning when you and my mother met until you entered the portal."

She was silent for a moment then asked a question that left me speechless. "What's a portal?"

I stared at her small body and thought for a moment. "You... How old are you?"

"Uhm... Five. What about you?"

Her answer made my head throb. "Ha... Five years old. How to interrogate her..." I muttered to myself, which was heard by her.

She pouted her lips. "I may be five years old, but I can already read difficult books." She said making me smiled.

"Right, you can," I said nonchalantly. She looked at me, dissatisfied.

"You don't believe me?! Ask me something! I'll answer." She said while pouting.

Before I could speak, the sound of a hungry stomach was heard from her, making her face red like a tomato.

I chuckled, put away my wings with a little difficulty, then stood up. "I don't know if the food in the demon world is the same as in your world, but I'm sure there are no ingredients that can poison humans here," I said while lifting and carrying her to the dining room.