Chapter 111

——It was exactly like the expression Sheffy made when she saw donuts.

Sheffy’s little fists were ready to strike, but alas, with her mother’s oppressive presence here, she couldn’t throw out that righteous iron fist.

After that little interlude, Sheffy had nearly forgotten why she had rushed over in the first place.

She almost turned and walked away, but then her steps suddenly halted.

Only then did she remember…

She hadn’t even asked the question she came for!

“Wait a minute, Father, Mother, what exactly are you two here for?!”

The belated question finally received a patient answer. Up until just now, the Demon King Dielzner, who had been sitting on a large rock gazing at the sunset, noticed that Herilet seemed to have cooled down.

Only then did His Majesty the Demon King dare to flick his cape and stride suavely into the crowd.

“Hahaha! Sheffy, what a foolish question. Since we’ve come, it naturally means we should be here. Why ask so many questions?”

“Father, could you please speak human language… Honestly, you’re really annoying when you’re like this.”

“Wha…!”

Dielzner had been trying to play it cool.

But he never expected his daughter to actually dislike his performance!

Not having the spare attention to notice Herilet quietly snickering on the side, Dielzner quickly clenched his fist and coughed lightly into it, trying to speak seriously to salvage his image in his daughter’s eyes.

“Ahem… Sheffy, that was a good question. Your mother and I didn’t come for anything else, we just wanted to check on how you’re doing lately.”

“Oh… well, that’s easy. As you can see, I’m alive and kicking, doing just fine. Father, your mission is accomplished. Please, you two elders may return now—I won’t see you off.”

“Huh? How can you be so cold and heartless, child? Is your heart made of stone?!”

“You’re blaming me?! Father, aren’t you the one at fault here?! You knew I’d be participating in this arena match, and you still decided to sit on the viewing platform?! A fun event suddenly turned into a parent-teacher meeting! It’s so awkward!”

“Fun?! You’re calling this arena match ‘fun’? You little rascal, how can you be so carefree?!”

“You’re yelling at me?!”

Like father, like daughter.

The quarrel between the Demon King and the Princess sent waves of magic power rippling across the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and making the distant trees rustle noisily.

It was like two mad dogs meeting on a narrow path—if neither would yield, they’d have to see who was madder.

But the very next second, they both swiftly withdrew all their magic, whistling nonchalantly as if nothing had happened, each gazing off into the distant scenery.

The reason was simple.

——It was none other than Herilet stepping between the two with a smile.

Some people feared a kick.

Some protected their ears.

Herilet sighed helplessly. She, too, had a headache over how this father and daughter had never gotten along since the beginning. Even back at the royal palace, they often quarreled. Couldn’t they be a little more harmonious?

Since her husband couldn’t explain properly, it was up to her to explain personally.

“Sheffy, the main reason we came this time was, of course, to see you. You really are strong, but a daughter being away from home for so long without returning, not even sending a message home—any parent would be worried, right?”

“Mm… But this was me running away from home. Sending word back would’ve been so humiliating… Besides, you both must’ve guessed that this was a fake surrender.”

“That’s a different matter. Just because we guessed it doesn’t mean we weren’t worried. Sigh… Back then, your father and I probably demanded too much from you. We’ve been reflecting on that.”

“……”

A warm hand gently stroked her head from above.

Startled, Sheffy looked up, only to see her mother softly brushing her palm over her head.

With her prideful nature, Sheffy had originally wanted to step back to avoid it. But…

In this world, what child could refuse a mother’s love?

She didn’t step back. Instead, she lowered her head and leaned in a little, eyes narrowing slightly, as if to better feel the warmth of her family—even if she herself might not have realized that small action.

What Sheffy didn’t know was that, as she lowered her head to bask in the affection—the hand on her head had quietly changed.

Herilet signaled to Belith with her eyes to come closer. Belith immediately understood what her mother meant.

Without anyone noticing, amidst the peaceful silence, Herilet slowly withdrew her hand.

And Belith’s small hand gently replaced it atop her older sister’s head.

To avoid alerting her sister to anything unusual, Belith even tiptoed, keeping her height level with their mother’s.

Stroking that smooth silver hair, Belith’s lips trembled. Tears she couldn’t hold back welled in her eyes.

Perhaps she had remembered the clover.

Remembered the childhood kite.

Remembered the large fish her sister had handed to her, only for her to throw it away.

But she couldn’t sob out loud. She had to endure it. She couldn’t let her sister realize that the one stroking her head… was that annoying younger sister.

Big Sister…

I’m really sorry…

All these years, Belith had never managed to become her emotional support. She kept being foolish, kept drifting further from her heart.

She could only pray for her from afar, even now, as Sheffy had left her homeland and run away from home.

By the time she realized just how foolish she used to be, Sheffy was no longer willing to treat her as someone to confide in…

But it was alright.

Belith definitely wasn’t going to give up… okay?

Say she was annoying, call her shameless—whatever.

Just like a fish couldn’t live without water, like a bird couldn’t be without the sky.

She didn’t even know when it started, but at some point, she could no longer be without her sister.

Who told her to carry Belith’s heart away with her too, when she left all alone?

When Sheffy furrowed her brow and looked up, there was no longer a hand stroking her head.

Belith stood before her with both hands behind her back, still smiling as always.

And her mother made a motion of pulling her hand back, then clasped both hands in front of her and continued speaking.

“On one hand, we came to see you. On the other, incidentally, we wanted to come and sound things out for ourselves.”

“The Pope, huh…?”

“Hmm? Haha… what a coincidence. So my Sheffy’s participation in this match is also to probe the intentions of that Pope of Coreia?”

“Well… I just want to enjoy some peaceful days now. If some uninvited guest wants to disturb that, I see no reason to tolerate him.”

Dielzner rested his chin in his palm, pondering for a moment.

As if echoing his displeasure, the six black wings extending over two meters behind him shimmered with a sinister dark light. Beneath his feet, his dark red leather boots crushed the stones on the ground.

“These arrogant ants of the Human Race. The Demon Clan went easy on them, and by a stroke of luck, we’ve had this period of peace. But they just don’t know how to cherish it… Ailellek sent word back, saying there might be something uncertain in the Holy Theocracy… The Human Race poses little threat to us, but the Holy Theocracy of Coreia seems to be hiding something… Hah, how interesting, truly interesting! If I don’t come see for myself, what fun is there in cooping myself up in the Demon King’s Castle all day? If something truly entertaining is happening, all the better!”

Dielzner clenched his fists and slammed them together forcefully.

A simple, ordinary gesture—one that appeared completely unremarkable.

But if one looked up—

The clouds in the sky above him had already been pierced through, creating a vast, circular hole that reached beyond the visible dome of the heavens.

Herilet frowned and warned him not to cause too much of a commotion—this wasn’t the Demon King’s Castle.

Sheffy gave it some thought. What Father had just said aligned closely with her own suspicions.

The Ailellek Father had mentioned earlier was, aside from her parents and Jeffriel, the last of the Six-Winged Demons.

That guy was powerful, but he paid no attention to political affairs. He enjoyed roaming the world and would occasionally send valuable intelligence back to the Demon Clan.

“Did Sister Ailellek say what exactly that ‘presence’ in the Holy Theocracy is?”

“No,” Dielzner replied indifferently. “It’s probably the trump card the Human Race is trying desperately to keep hidden. It won’t be so easy to expose their secrets. But now that I’ve come all this way, I’ve got to see what that old codger’s hiding in his gourd! Hahahahahaha!”

The Demon Clan loved battle—and the Demon King loved it even more.

Sheffy could tell that a large part of the reason her father had come was simply to pick a fight.

Stuck dealing with state affairs day in and day out, the Demon King’s Castle was suffocating him. Now that he had a chance to get out and stretch his wings, he wasn’t going to pass it up.

Sigh… maybe Sheffy’s yearning for freedom really was genetic. Truly a legacy passed down the bloodline.

As for the Holy Theocracy’s trump card, Sheffy had her own theories.

The Kingdom possessed three great treasures, had Hero Xiarette, had the Holy Sword Sylatrella, the Wright Family, vast territory, and a massive army.

With such a deep foundation, compared to the Kingdom, it was the Holy Theocracy that appeared weak on the surface.

They did have three Tenth-Rank individuals, but if that were all, it wouldn’t qualify them to use the Kingdom as a shield—nor would it explain how they remained hidden in the shadows for so long.

If they truly had nothing, the Kingdom would’ve already made time to deal with this “vampire” lurking behind them, forcing it to join forces against the Demon Clan.

The fact that the Kingdom hadn’t dared to act against the Holy Theocracy all these years, behaving so cautiously, even going so far as to accept someone like Firex as Prime Minister, meant the Holy Theocracy possessed something that compelled the Kingdom to compromise.

And that something was shrouded in the utmost secrecy.

Only the highest levels of the Kingdom’s leadership could possibly know.

Most likely, that old man King Celt knew something…?

As Sheffy was pondering the various possibilities, a frown forming on her face—

Her mother reached out a finger and gently tapped between her brows, easing the furrow with a soothing touch.

“Hmm?”

“Sheffy, don’t overthink it. Since your father and I came here, this is something we intend to handle. Don’t worry—leave this matter to us. As for you~ why not just enjoy the fun of the arena? Didn’t you say earlier that the arena was a form of entertainment for you? Don’t let these irrelevant concerns ruin your mood~”

“Wasn’t I already thinking along those lines… and then you two show up to steal the fun. If you settle everything, won’t I have nothing to do…?”

“You mustn’t always try to shoulder everything yourself, okay?”

“!”

A mother always understood her daughter best.

Sheffy’s words just now sounded like “playfulness.”

But Herilet could tell—it was nothing more than her daughter’s willfulness in wanting to bear everything alone once again.

Ha… having that kind of heart was good, but Sheffy, what you must understand is…

The Demon Clan was one of the pinnacles of this world.

And your father and mother were the rulers of the Demon Clan.

With six wings unfurling to either side, scattering light like blue rose petals, Herilet’s violet eyes radiated elegance and nobility—like frost, like extreme cold.

“A child, at this stage, only needs to focus on play. Compared to such dull matters, Sheffy, I’d rather ask you something else.”

“What?”

“Hmm… rather than me asking, why don’t we let your sister ask instead? Belith, you had something you wanted to ask your sister too, right? Now’s a good chance—why don’t you go ahead and say it?”

What was going on here?

How did the topic shift so drastically?

Sheffy cast a puzzled glance at Belith, who stepped forward.

Belith stopped less than a meter away from Sheffy.

In her eyes, only her elder sister’s face was reflected—not even the vast sky could occupy the slightest corner of her gaze.

Belith tilted her head slightly and smiled gently, her voice clear and ethereal.

“Big Sister… during this time with the Human Race, have you been doing well? Have you been happy?”

“……”

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