CHAPTER 05
. I Died from Overwork and Became the Enemy Nation’s Princess (5)
Tarloz, who was four years older than me, looked smug as he lectured me.
“Your duty is to carry on the divine power.”
“…So annoying.”
“A saintess has no rest until she passes on her power to the next.”
“You’re an annoying bastard.”
He always kept his eyes on me, but never once offered a kind word.
We were close in age—could’ve grown closer, maybe even become friends…
“Damn piece of trash!”
I ground my teeth in my sleep.
I should’ve told them all to go to hell before I died.
The temple priests. High Priest Yulipos. And especially that smug jerk, Tarloz.
…But when I blinked, I saw the burning sky of Charon.
“Saintess, please save us!”
“Send me back to my family…!”
Injured holy knights groaned, clutching my ankles.
It wasn’t just the knights.
Children who had barely survived were sobbing.
“It hurts… It hurts so much!”
I’m sorry, everyone.
“I wasn’t enough…”
I really tried.
“But still…”
I sat down on the ground, hugging my knees and murmuring.
I’d been tired for such a long time.
‘I just want to rest now.’
I wanted to escape a life of endless service, of always giving and never receiving.
“I really…”
Just then, I heard a woman’s voice, like she was singing from somewhere far away.
“The child’s name will be Elysion.”
A scarlet twilight flooded an unfamiliar corridor made of white marble.
One side of the corridor was open, giving a view of the outside.
‘That’s the Charon region, way out in the distance.’
The place where I’d died was glowing in golden and pink hues.
A couple stood quietly watching the brilliant sight.
A woman with long platinum-blonde hair, and a tall, dark-haired man with his arm around her shoulder.
“Whether it’s a boy or a girl, I want to name them Elysion.”
“That’s a unique name. No one in House Erebus has ever had it.”
“Is it wrong to start a new tradition, Your Highness?”
“If it’s something you like, I’ll allow anything. But what does it mean, Ria?”
“Hehe. I’ll tell you after the baby is born. Until then, it’s a secret!”
The man smiled blissfully at her words.
I stood watching them from afar and lowered my gaze.
‘I’m jealous.’
So jealous of a happiness I’d never known.
Family, love, dreams, affection.
Things that had been taken from me in the temple.
Then, the woman turned around.
Even in this dreamlike state, she was stunning—so much so that I’d remember her vividly forever.
Her platinum-blonde hair caught the sunset and looked like it was burning red.
Her eyes were teal, but her pupils were black.
Why was she looking at me with such a sorrowful smile?
“Was it hard, little one?”
…Little one?
Was she talking to me?
I let out a small laugh at how absurd it was, but her gaze held mine, and I gave a small nod before I could stop myself.
“Yes. A little.”
“…”
“Well… if I’m being honest.”
I buried my face into my knees and whispered.
It’s just a dream, so I figured I could speak freely.
“I don’t want to wake up.”
“Why?”
“I have no parents. No friends. No one to lean on.”
“…”
“I’ve been at my limit for a long time…”
She said nothing, just listened to my pitiful whining.
I hastily wiped the foolish tears pooling at the corners of my eyes.
‘God… what a relief.’
Even if it’s a messed-up dream, at least someone kind showed up at the end.
But I didn’t expect her to suddenly pull me into a hug.
“Uh, um, excuse me―”
“I’m giving you the name Elysion.”
“Huh?”
She let go and smiled warmly.
“My child and I didn’t make it, but you can live with this name and be happy.”
Then she pointed behind me.
“Wake up, and claim all the things you said you wanted.”
“Uh…”
“Because people deserve to be happy while they’re alive.”
And with that, she disappeared.
In her place, a familiar voice called out from behind me.
“Our beloved daughter, Elysion. We’ve been waiting so long for you to come to us.”
It was the voice of the Demon King—reviled by all in the Holy Kingdom as a ruthless tyrant.
Drawn in by that voice, I took a step forward.
Someone gently shook me awake.
A man’s urgent voice whispered at my ear.
“…Elysion, wake up.”
“Hic, ugh… sob…”
“Daddy’s here. Okay? Open your eyes.”
I blinked through my tear-streaked vision.
The Demon King was staring down at me, flustered.
I was just as flustered myself.
‘Wait—was I crying?’
Unbelievable.
Even in my old life, I hardly ever cried.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the dark sky.
“Waaah!”
An involuntary sob burst from me.
‘Damn it all.’
Must’ve been that thunder that gave me the nightmare.
It sounded exactly like the ones on the battlefield, every single day.
Back then, I pretended I wasn’t scared because I had to set an example.
But honestly, I was terrified. Every day.
I wanted someone to hold me, to let me say I was scared and comfort me.
But no one ever let me show weakness.
“Uuuh… sob… waaah…!”
Once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop.
The Demon King hugged me tightly, patting my back gently, and that just made it worse.
“Elysion, it’s okay. Daddy’s here.”
“Hhkk, ugh, mmm…!”
“Shhh, it’s all okay now.”
“Waaaah…!”
I cried even louder.
‘No! This is all your fault! I died because of you!’
But deep down, I had to admit one thing.
My body gave out from war, yes.
“Ugh, why are you so slow?!”
But my heart died that day—because of those words.
That night, the Demon King held me tightly until I cried myself to sleep.
The current Demon King of Tartarus, the 24th ruler of House Erebus.
As crown prince, he’d been a renowned commander and warrior, expanding the eastern borders.
But now, looking at his tear-stained daughter, he was just a soft-hearted father.
“Elysion.”
Why did his young daughter hate him?
Why did she shut everyone out so completely?
‘She understands everything that’s going on, just from the way she reacts…’
In fact, the royal physician had already given his diagnosis.
The princess was heartbroken.
That’s why she distanced herself from everyone, even at such a young age.
“Sigh…”
He hugged his precious daughter tightly once more.
Back when his wife was alive, they had practiced this posture many times—it was second nature by now.
“Elysion.”
“Mm…”
“Daddy will definitely make you happy. So…”
He paused, thinking of his late wife.
His heart, charred and blackened by grief, throbbed painfully.
But he gently patted his daughter’s back and whispered,
“…Let’s be strong together.”
The ones left behind would keep living—doing their best, together.
As Erebus kissed Elysion’s forehead, a single tear slipped down her long lashes.
A few days after soothing his crying daughter,
Erebus summoned Lethe.
“It seems the princess is recovering slower than I hoped.”
“My apologies, Your Majesty…”
“Sigh. I’d wait forever if I could.”
Erebus rested his chin on his hand with a sigh.
As a father, he was willing to wait as long as it took for his daughter’s heart to heal.
He didn’t need anything more—just for her to grow up healthy.
But…
Lethe replied, watching Erebus’s expression carefully.
“More and more people are beginning to ask about the princess.”
“Yes.”
Erebus’s only daughter.
The one and only princess who would succeed him as Demon King.
A child every demon noble was desperate to meet, even just once.
‘But our people naturally follow the strong.’
The Erebus royal family stood atop the demon hierarchy thanks to their powerful “darkness.”
Without demonstrating it, the people wouldn’t recognize her as royalty.
“We managed to avoid attention by keeping her in the Persephone Palace instead of the central Hades Palace.”
“Yes.”
“But that won’t work for much longer.”
Too many nobles and bureaucrats passed through the Hades Palace.
They couldn’t bring her there until she could speak—and stop crying like a baby Cerberus.
Erebus rubbed his temple in frustration.
‘Am I really not enough as her father?’
Could he not raise her properly on his own?
His dead wife’s face, so similar to their daughter’s, flashed in his mind again.
‘Ria… What should I do?’
Lethe then spoke cautiously.
“Your Majesty… what if we gave the princess a playmate?”
