Chapter 12
The evening after our first meeting on the bed.
The grand banquet hall was filled with dazzling food and elegantly dressed people.
Meteo, perhaps still displeased that I had said his lips looked heart-shaped, didn’t so much as glance in my direction.
To think I ruined my first impression with the male lead right from the start.
When I stole a glance at him, he seemed to notice and clamped his lips tightly shut, hiding them from sight.
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
“…Tch. It was just because they happened to look like a heart at the time, I thought it was neat.”
But Meteo behaved as though I had said something unforgivable to a man.
He was only nine years old, yet his pride as a man seemed bruised.
“Oh my, our Metty and Crescent already met? What a fated encounter.”
When Rearwin spoke cheerfully, Meteo frowned.
“Yes. I nearly had my new bedroom taken from me.”
“It was just a little mistake on my part. She’s like a little sister now, so be sweet to her, won’t you?”
“Little sister…”
Meteo repeated the absurd words as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, then shook his head.
At that moment, Duke Ruben, who had been silent until then, spoke sharply.
“Like a little sister? Rearwin, your greed has gone too far.”
At the family head’s words, everyone turned to look at him. I glanced between Duke Ruben and his son, Marquess Miles.
Even upon a second look, their appearances were unbelievable.
“Is this what divine power personified looks like…?”
Meteo himself looked sacred and mysterious enough to draw admiration. But indeed, his father and grandfather were no less extraordinary.
Perhaps it was the overflowing divine power that ran in their bloodline.
Both had the same shining silver hair and clear blue eyes as Meteo.
Yet each possessed a different kind of aura.
Duke Ruben Pluto had the solemn presence of a saint so lofty one dared not even approach, while his son, Marquess Miles Pluto, radiated the devout reverence of a messenger of God.
Ruben’s voice grew colder as he continued.
“That child is merely your ward. She has nothing whatsoever to do with House Pluto.”
Rearwin frowned slightly, then glanced at me before speaking as if offended on my behalf.
“Father, there was no need to speak so harshly in front of the child.”
“This will be the last time she joins us at the dining table.”
“…Ahem.”
What a thorny seat to sit in.
Still, it wasn’t unexpected.
Families like House Pluto, blessed with divine power, placed great importance on bloodlines. Accepting an orphan of unknown origins as one of their own would be difficult.
Even if I had been taken in as a ward, calling me a “little sister” must have rubbed the Duke the wrong way.
I could understand.
Then Marquess Miles, his eyes narrowing slightly, looked at me.
“But the more I look at her, the more peculiar it seems. I thought it impossible for a child to exist who resembles Rearwin.”
At his words, Rearwin’s face lit up.
“Exactly! Anyone can see she looks like my daughter. To think Crescent’s parents could leave behind such a beautiful girl… their hearts must have been broken.”
But her bright expression quickly clouded. Tears welled up in her eyes as she dabbed at them with her napkin.
Adults who learned I was an orphan always reacted like that.
But was it only the parents whose hearts broke?
The children who lost their beloved parents were no less devastated.
“…That’s right. This daughter’s heart was also torn apart when she lost her amazing, kind, and brilliant father to the Demon Realm…”
If I was considered an orphan, then my father was no different.
My expression naturally grew solemn.
Soon Rearwin spoke to me again.
“But don’t worry. You’ll live well here, enough to put your parents at peace in heaven. My husband and father-in-law are usually in the Temple of State anyway, so you won’t have to see them much.”
The Marchioness winked at me with a smile.
A gentle way of saying: Don’t mind your grandfather’s disapproval—you won’t be seeing him anyway.
At that, Duke Ruben sternly called his daughter-in-law’s name.
“Rearwin.”
But she simply carried on smiling as she ate, unbothered. Ruben soon looked away and returned to his own meal.
Seeing that he didn’t scold her harshly, and that she continued cheerfully, they must have been a family with a good relationship.
Since the Temple of State had been mentioned, I carefully spoke up.
“Um… would the holy knights also be there? In the Temple?”
My eyes sparkled a little.
Only then did Duke Ruben glance at me, surprised that I had brought up holy knights.
I didn’t expect him to treat me like a grandchild, but holy knight training was something I absolutely needed.
Rearwin suddenly brightened as if she had remembered something.
“Oh, right! I promised I’d show you the knights training, didn’t I? Of course we’ll go. You’ll love it—it’s quite the sight.”
“Thank you! Hehe…”
I grinned.
Rearwin’s smile grew even broader at my own.
The meal didn’t last long after that.
Ruben, having drawn a clear line, left without so much as a farewell, taking his son and daughter-in-law with him.
But his coldness and indifference left me entirely unscathed.
If anything, I felt guilty.
“…I’m sorry. I may be the Demon King’s daughter, but I’m here to defeat him. One day I’ll repay you with the Demon King’s true destruction.”
Deception always left me with a strange, uncomfortable feeling.
Just as I was about to rise from the table, still dwelling on that awkwardness—
“Your name’s Crescent, isn’t it?”
“?”
Meteo’s voice came from across the room. He had remained in the banquet hall.
I tried not to look at his lips as I turned to him.
He continued, as if clarifying something important.
“Since you’ve met our grandfather and father, you should know by now.”
“Know what?”
“That you shouldn’t expect to ever be recognized as a member of this family.”
Well, I never expected that, not even a speck!
Was this family addicted to imagining things?
I rolled my eyes and replied.
“I wasn’t expecting to be part of the family anyway…”
“What?”
“But there’s something I really do want. I want to become a holy knight.”
My eyes gleamed as I said it.
Meteo looked utterly dumbfounded.
“What? A holy knight?”
Of course it must have sounded ridiculous—an eight-year-old girl dreaming of joining what was practically an all-male order.
“You think anyone can just become one because they want to? …What’s your family name?”
“Huh?”
“Your full name.”
“Oh, my full name?”
I had one ready for a moment like this—a fake one.
It was better to hide my real surname, Delight.
If anyone ever learned about the Demon King’s days living as a human, it could cause trouble.
Even though thanks to the “wish,” everyone in the human realm had forgotten about me and Father, rumors could always leak from the Demon Realm.
And the surname “Delight” was almost nonexistent in the human world.
So I gave him my fabricated full name.
“Crescent Dallas.”
“Dallas?”
Meteo furrowed his brows as if thinking, then said,
“Never heard of that name before… it sounds like cotton candy.”
“…Huh?”
For a moment, I was too startled to answer.
I had heard those exact words before—from thirteen-year-old Meteo during the tutorial.
‘…What’s your name?’
‘I—I’m Dallas.’
‘…Dallas. I see. Sounds like cotton candy.’
How could he say the exact same thing?
Perhaps because, no matter the difference in age between the tutorial Meteo and the current second-life Meteo…
…they were still the same person at their core.
