Chapter 75
“Ugh…”
He hugged her so tightly that it was almost suffocating.
It was the moment Esther struggled in his arms with a panicked expression.
She felt something hot and damp on her back, as if a droplet had fallen. Esther froze.
“…Father?”
“……”
Something rolled down his cheek as he clenched his teeth tightly.
Esther’s breath caught. She hadn’t expected this.
The tears streaming down his handsome face soaked Esther’s back.
“…Father.”
When she glanced sideways, Freya had turned her head to look elsewhere, her eyes tense.
As if out of consideration.
Before Esther noticed, she reached out her considerably long arms and placed her hand on Kaelos’ head.
His body shivered once.
“That’s right.”
Esther awkwardly patted his head.
“Good boy.”
Esther had never comforted anyone in her life.
Most people didn’t cry like this. Few cried for Esther.
So, this situation felt extremely unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and even ticklish to her.
“I’m fine.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Esther tilted her head at his words.
‘Sorry…? What’s there to be sorry about?’
In fact, if you looked closely, Esther was the one who should have been apologizing.
She had done everything she was told not to, collapsed unable to handle her strength, all without saying a word.
“I… didn’t know your body had gotten so weak. Even though I could’ve known, I pretended not to… I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
Uh…
What is he saying?
Esther rolled her eyes at her guilty conscience. At least for this, it wasn’t his fault.
“I was wrong, it’s all my fault. I didn’t know you were lonely enough to spend every day in that annex, feeling isolated… No, that’s not true. I must have neglected you knowing it all along. I…”
“……”
Uh, he’s making a huge misunderstanding.
‘What do you mean I spent every day in the annex?’
Esther pressed her lips tightly together.
A cold sweat ran down her back, and she rolled her eyes.
“In the end… you ended up having to make that choice.”
“…Me?”
What choice did I even make?
Turning to Kaelos, who said she made some choice without even knowing it herself, she noticed Freya had silently turned her back, her shoulders trembling.
She held a handkerchief, constantly busy wiping her face.
‘…What the hell did Raksa just say!’
Esther felt cold sweat running down her back and rolled her eyes again.
“I… I’m fine, Father.”
She really was fine.
Would saying she was even healthier get her dragged off by the heresy inquisitor?
“I, too, am sorry.”
“Excuse me?”
“I was too neglectful toward you, using my illness as an excuse… Even if I had to grab that worthless man by the collar and slam him into a toilet… I should have been by your side.”
What?
The violent words made Esther swallow nervously.
“Ha… haha…”
Let’s keep it a secret.
I made some unknown choice and ended up in this weird situation.
Nodding repeatedly, Esther convinced herself.
“I-I’m fine. I’m healthy now… and Mother and Father are both here with me…”
Kaelos’ embrace tightened even more.
‘…I’ll be okay, right?’
Esther wanted to ask herself what exactly she had done without knowing it.
In the arms of the two, she sweated cold sweat and forced a smile.
“Are we living here?”
Startled, Esther asked. There wasn’t a single human, not even a blade of grass, around.
“Yes. I was dispatched here to exterminate and purify the demonic beasts.”
Whether it was a dispatch or self-imposed exile, it seemed worth hearing others’ opinions.
Esther suppressed the words swelling in her throat.
“Are… you okay now?”
“Yes, thank goodness. If you stay here, there won’t be any more illness.”
“But there’s… nothing here.”
“The supplies will be provided, so you don’t need to worry.”
No, that’s not what worries me.
If there are no people, what’s missing?
No humans to trouble you!
And if there are no humans to trouble, what’s the problem?
You can’t do good deeds.
And if you can’t do good deeds… then what’s the problem?
You can’t lift curses.
And there’s one more problem. You can’t take revenge on the Egbert family.
You’d have to live your whole life parasitically in the body of a half-demon child.
As this chain of thoughts concluded, Esther’s face turned pale.
‘I absolutely refuse.’
I will become a great and powerful Demon Lord, living a leisurely life under that title, enjoying all the honey under my name!
With power, money, and honor, I’ll revive the demon world and play in my castle!
Esther shook her head violently.
“I… I want to go back, Father!”
“Your body won’t be well enough. Neither will your mother’s. So at least until you reach adulthood…”
“I-I’m healthy!”
Healthy enough to live a long life! Longer than humans could ever survive!
The Demon Lord isn’t called that for nothing!
“Of course, my child is healthy.”
Freya adjusted to Esther’s eye level, patted her head, and fed her bread soaked in soup.
Clearly, it was meant to soothe a child; there was no sincerity in her words.
Chewing the bread quickly, Esther swallowed and opened her mouth again.
“I can heal Mother’s illness too!”
I’ll lift that curse!
That’s a good deed too, right? Tell me it’s a good deed! Someone, tell me it’s good!
Before Esther could finish her thought, a parchment appeared in front of her.
[The Burden of a Fallen Royalty (Given Out of Pity)]
The title was outright disrespectful.
Esther frowned.
**[The Kingdom of Surtr fell long ago. Yet its bloodline persists, and the king’s lineage continues.
When the day comes that their god is revived, they dreamed of rebuilding the kingdom in secret.
Freya Valkyrie Surtr is the last of that lineage.
Bearing the blood of the Valkyrie and the Surtr royal family, she is both a strong warrior and noble royalty.
Created solely to produce heirs and await the day she would be queen, she focused on that day alone.
However, she met a man and chose happiness over duty.
She made that choice.
Even if punishment were decreed, Freya decided to bear it.
Yet she did not know that Kaelos Egbert would betray her, abandoning her under the excuse of her illness.
That he would send her back to that prison-like land.
She knew she could not live ordinarily.
Still, she sought freedom whenever time allowed.
She dreamed: how happy it would be to live freely with her daughter and this man.
Yet the punishment of a sinner does not vanish, making it a mere fleeting dream, like the passing of a night.]**
Esther smiled broadly at the parchment.
‘Well, this is something.’
At least this was welcome.
She looked up at Freya.
“I’ll heal you, Mother!”
My prey, don’t go anywhere!
Now that my power has grown, breaking the curse shouldn’t be difficult.
“…You’re saying that?”
“Yes! I can do it! I’ll heal you, Mother! I’ll study hard!”
She had never seen such a seal, but if this was Surtr’s land, it would be simple.
There must be books about it somewhere.
Freya watched Esther silently and smiled. It wasn’t a bright, sunny, or warm smile.
Yet her smile resembled the moonlight: not hot, but clearly bright.
“My child seems very clever.”
Patting her head proudly, Esther’s lips twitched slightly.
‘…Not bad at all.’
It felt good somehow.
Esther peeked around and nodded.
“Of course! I’m a genius!”
“As expected of my child, you take after your mother in that regard.”
Well, technically, I take after myself, but…
Still, it didn’t sound bad, so Esther nodded lightly.
‘The problem is…’
How to break the chain of punishment.
She spoke confidently, but in truth, she didn’t really know much about these things.
There were hundreds, thousands of curses and magics.
Among them, the Punishment Curse was one of the oldest, created by the ancient demons of old.
As human rights improved, so did magic, and these gradually vanished. By the time Esther ascended as Demon Lord, they were rare.
Elders sometimes used them for punishing grave criminals, making them particularly nasty.
‘I’ll have to ask Raksa or Ross.’
Ross’ skill in searching anything might help find an answer.
‘Raksa also surprisingly knows a lot of miscellaneous things.’
Esther sighed thoughtfully.
“But really… we’re not going back?”
Kaelos put down his utensils, his expression serious.
“Esther, do you dislike living here?”
“Uh…”
The sudden blunt question made Esther’s eyes tremble.
