Chapter 2
The Dotting Father Has Gone Dark
‘I’m sure I saw someone take off flying just now! Did I imagine it—?’
‘Oh my goodness! There’s a hole in the wall of this house?!’
Several days had passed since that incident.
I waited endlessly for my dad at home.
The neighbors had helped repair the collapsed wall, and Mrs. Marsha, who worked as our cook, took care of my meals.
But as time went on, a growing unease began to gnaw at me.
‘Where could Dad have gone, leaving me all alone?’
Was the person I saw that day really my dad?
He was. There was no mistaking his face.
Though he looked different—his eyes ringed in black, his irises red, and horns on his head—he was undeniably my dad.
The townspeople also found his disappearance strange. Wings aside, he was known as the village’s most devoted father.
He wasn’t someone who would leave his precious daughter alone—not for a day, not even for half a day.
And the fact that an ordinary human had sprouted wings and flown? That was suspicious enough.
A month passed like that.
Dad still hadn’t returned.
In the meantime, I discovered something: a mysterious bottle of magic potion found in his room.
There was only a small amount left—as if it had nearly been emptied.
Could it be… Did Dad drink that potion and become a demon like he joked about?
I carefully stashed the bottle in a secret place only I knew.
Another month went by.
Still, Dad didn’t return.
But now, news began to spread—rumors from the Holy Palace said that the demon Baal had returned.
‘How is that possible?!’
People whispered in disbelief.
Baal—the demon king who ruled the underworld, lord of all demons, destroyed hundreds of years ago by Duke Baldwin Pluto, a holy knight and head of House Pluto.
As proof, the demonic energy that once plagued the human world had vanished for centuries.
In contrast, chaos reigned in the demon realm. After Baal’s disappearance, demons began warring for power.
All of this was written in fairy tales.
‘And now Baal has really returned?’
What Dad had said turned out to be true.
I was stunned.
‘Did Dad really become the Demon King and leave me?’
How could that be?
News of Baal’s resurrection spread to Neverland as well.
“Crisen… Could you really be the daughter of the demon king?”
“Huh?”
“Oh heavens! No wonder you two were so dazzlingly beautiful—it was almost otherworldly!”
Mrs. Marsha shrieked and ran off. Rumors were spreading that my dad was none other than Baal himself.
People who had seen him fly through the night sky on black wings were spreading the story.
Neighbors who once visited daily to check on me stopped coming.
Dad… the Demon King? That couldn’t be.
‘Dad would never abandon me. He’ll definitely come back someday.’
So I had to eat well, sleep well, and stay healthy—so he wouldn’t worry.
But no matter how determined I was, the food in the mansion slowly ran out. When I thought about the potatoes growing in the garden and stepped outside—
“Daughter of the demon king, get lost!”
“!”
Startled, I froze. A rock flew at me from somewhere.
“I knew something was off about you from the start!”
“Get out of Neverland!”
Terrified, I turned and ran all the way home.
If Dad really had become the Demon King, I wanted to grab him by the collar and scream at him to come raise his daughter properly.
‘Crisen, I’ll protect you forever.’
‘I’ll protect you forever too, Daddy!’
‘Haha. Then our little angel has to eat lots and grow up strong like me, okay?’
‘Yup! I’ll eat a ton and grow tall like you!’
‘Hahaha.’
That happy exchange we once had scattered like a mirage.
Dad said he’d protect me forever… and now he’s really gone and become the Demon King?
It couldn’t be…
The real problem began the next night.
“This is the place? Where the demon was seen? I can definitely sense traces of demonic energy.”
“Yes, sir. This is the house. I had a bad feeling the moment I saw it. I mean, where in the world is a man that handsome without being suspicious?!”
“Everyone knows this father and daughter played demon games all the time! And we just thought it was cute—turns out they were real demons!”
As I hid, I peered out the window.
Men dressed in white uniforms were riding white horses. Even at a glance, they looked formidable—paladins from the Holy Palace.
‘Are they here to kill me?’
Because I’m the Demon King’s daughter?
But I’m not a demon. Dad was a good person.
The paladins exchanged glances—then broke down the door. The shock was so great the entire mansion shook, and I stumbled backward.
If they caught me, I’d die.
That was my instinctive fear.
Without knowing how, my body moved on its own. I escaped through the back door and ran. And ran.
An eight-year-old with no parents and nowhere to go had only one option—
I fled to an orphanage.
How far had I run from Neverland, my old home?
Fortunately, the orphanage welcomed me.
“Oh dear, what’s your name? Your parents must be worried sick, losing such a beautiful child.”
“I don’t have parents.”
“You don’t?”
“No. They both passed away.”
“Oh my goodness…”
The headmistress, Eva, believed my lie without question.
“And my name is…”
Crescent Delight.
I couldn’t use that name anymore.
It was the beautiful, precious name Dad gave me—but now it was branded as the demon’s daughter.
So I blurted out the first name that came to mind.
“My name is Dallas.”
“Dallas. What a lovely name. Don’t worry about anything anymore. Our orphanage will protect you.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
“Thank you…”
I was safe.
For now.
Time passed. I turned ten—without my dad.
I had settled into the orphanage, hiding in plain sight, but I knew the Holy Palace would one day find this place.
They would track me until they did.
Meanwhile, the Empire of Sientry was suffering from an unprecedented surge of demonic energy. Ever since Baal’s return, the dark energy had intensified.
“Prepare yourselves, humans. The demon realm shall soon rule this world.”
‘Everything Dad said really came true…’
Was he truly the Demon King?
I kept thinking about the magic potion he drank.
To uncover the truth, I studied herbalism despite our poor conditions.
At the orphanage, I earned the nickname “mad scientist with healing hands.” All the old tomes I had read with Dad were finally paying off.
Eventually, I identified every ingredient in the potion. But I had no idea what their combination actually did.
Because such a potion had never existed before.
In any case, I could no longer deny the truth—Dad had become the Demon King and disappeared.
Baal had appeared right after his disappearance. And more than anything, Dad had called himself Baal.
Ugh, if you were going to the demon realm, you could’ve taken me with you.
How could you leave me an orphan, Dad…
I was angry and resentful.
Was he really out there destroying the world? Hurting innocent people?
The hardest part wasn’t the fear or the anger—it was the longing.
The warm face that used to smile just for me, the gentle words he always said, the flood of kisses that came before my cheeks even dried.
I didn’t envy a hundred mothers. I had only one dad—and he was enough.
“Hey, what are you doing here again?”
“What?”
I was reading a pharmacology text alone in the orphanage courtyard when I heard the voice behind me.
