Ch. 9
Chapter 9. Jet-Black Hair, Jet-Black Eyes! Am I Being Treated as a Monster?!
In the embrace of her parents of this life, in that instant—joy, anger, sorrow, happiness... All kinds of complex emotions surged up from within the young Restia's heart.
Suddenly, she let out a loud waaah and began to cry her heart out.
Her violet eyes grew misty with tears. Just moments ago...She had almost believed she was about to be abandoned again, or treated as nothing more than a【monster】.
But she had tried so hard—She had even given up all her power, just to reincarnate, just to have a small, ordinary home.
If even then she still could not be accepted by those closest to her...Her fragile heart would have broken in despair.
Hearing their daughter's cries—cries carrying what seemed like unbearable grievance—
her parents had no idea that within that crying was also a farewell to her lonely "past,"
and gratitude and joy for the beginning of her new life.
They only thought that it was their own actions that had hurt their child's heart.
The young couple panicked.
They were just an ordinary pair of youths.
In terms of age, they might not even be much older than the "Demon Lord" from her previous life.
It was their first time raising a child, and they had no idea how to comfort Restia.
For a while, both kept apologizing over and over, whispering gently in her ear, their hands stroking her back and hair.
They were merely imitating what they had seen other parents do when soothing children.
It was said that gently patting a child's back could help them feel at ease.
However—
Faced with their tenderness, Restia was so moved that she cried even harder.
This left the young couple dumbfounded.
What was going on?! Why was their daughter crying even louder!?
Could it be that their posture was wrong, or they were doing it the wrong way?!
......
Another sunny afternoon.
"Giselle, today let's go meet your new friends!"
Yan said suddenly, just after finishing his magic control practice.
"Will Big bro-ther come with me?!"
Giselle asked in her soft, milky voice, filled with anticipation.
"Of course—!"
A bright smile spread across the boy's face.
Hearing that, the little girl happily threw herself into his arms.
"Big bro-ther is the best!"
Looking at Giselle's face, glowing with joy, Yan also felt that he had made the right choice this time.
If only nothing else had happened afterwards—
"Black hair!!"
"Uwaa! That guy looks so weird!"
"Yeah, yeah... black hair and black eyes, it looks so evil, so scary!"
"Uuu, is the girl next to him kidnapped by him?"
"Ahhh!!!"
As soon as one child blurted out "kidnapping," the rest shrieked in terror, scattering in all directions to hide.
Yan's forehead twitched with a dark line as he watched the brats scatter as if he were a demon.
It was just a different hair and eye color—Was it really worth being that afraid of him? There wasn't any particular taboo about black in this village, was there?
He had walked the streets before and hadn't seen any of the adults showing disgust.
At most, they gave him a few curious glances...Yan didn't really care. Since those brats didn't like him, then so be it!
He hadn't planned on playing the "let's be friends" game with them anyway.
But now, they had ruined Giselle's chance to make friends.
"Ah, Big bro-ther! You're not even angry?!!"
Giselle puffed up her cheeks like a little bun, fuming.
Those bullies dared to say such awful things about her most beloved Big bro-ther.
Onii-chan didn't look evil at all.
—Big bro-ther was the coolest! Those kids just didn't understand her big bro-ther's charm!
Turning into the ultimate little sycophant, Giselle pouted angrily all by herself for a long while.
"Giselle.."
Yan's gaze flickered, but in the end, he didn't try to persuade her otherwise.
He had wanted to say she didn't need to give up making friends just because of him.
But still—
Those brats really were a bit annoying. Yan smirked to himself.
In the end—
Neither of the siblings made any new friends.
It was just the two of them "occupying" the village playground where children usually gathered.
Though "occupying" wasn't quite right—because of Yan's presence, the other children simply didn't dare approach.
A few of them hid in the shadows, watching Yan chatting and laughing with Giselle, their eyes filled with resentment.
"What the heck! That— that demon, actually hogging such a big playground all to himself."
"What's the point of whining here? If you're so bothered, why don't you go drive him off!" another kid muttered, helpless and indignant.
"Uh..!"
The boy from earlier froze when he heard that, instinctively staring at Yan a few times.
Suddenly—
Far off in the distance, Yan seemed to notice something. His gaze suddenly sharpened, sweeping abruptly toward the "grass" where they were hiding.
"Ahhh!!! N-no way. I can't! The demon will kill me for sure! Run!!!!"
The boy screamed, stumbling backward in terror. Then, realizing what he just saw, he immediately broke down into loud crying.
Hearing the brat's wails echo from afar, Yan fell silent: "..."
On the other side—
A young girl was hiding behind a large tree, quietly peeking in Yan's direction as well.
Unlike the other children, she had eyes as clear and pure as violet amethyst.
It was as though countless stars shimmered inside her gaze—
At this very moment, they were reflecting the figures of Yan and Giselle, the brother and sister, together.
"... I want... to make friends."
The expressionless girl mumbled softly to herself, her voice blank yet adorable.
But then—
Her delicate face was suddenly filled with hesitation and nervousness.
‘Sure enough... nothing in this world ever turns out to be as simple as you imagine.’
Restia thought quietly to herself, her little head beginning to ache with worry.
Yes—
She was none other than the reincarnated "Demon Lord!"
The true pinnacle of combat power in this world.
And yet now, she was just an "ordinary" human girl.
Before Yan appeared, Restia's original plan had actually been to approach that group of brats from earlier.
But because of her eyes—those unique, violet-colored eyes unlike anyone else's—
She had already been shunned by the others.
Not as badly as Yan was right now, but still, she had been excluded.
Restia sorted through the events that had happened since her reincarnation, one by one.
First of all, she had indeed been born into the "ordinary" village family she had wished for.
【At this time, Restia had not yet realized that being born into a clan where every single child carried a complete "Magic Circuit" was anything but ordinary compared to her impression of normal humans.】
【But for someone who once crushed the Seventy-Eight Demon Pillars with just a single finger, such a mere talent of being born with "Magic Circuits" truly was only at the level of an ordinary person.】
And then—
Her new parents loved her dearly. Even when, due to some strange anomaly, she grew and developed as though one day equaled a year—
By the ninth day, however, that power had already "disappeared."
Yet her parents still accepted her "abnormality" without rejection.
For the first time, Restia felt a warmth she had never known in her previous life—true parental love.
And with that, she had already taken one step closer to the goal she set before her reincarnation.