NOVEL NEXT Ch 66. The Cursed Child
While the fight between the two Demon Lords continued, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before. It was the fact that the kid that served the Ice Lady was also with us.
In fact, I noticed it because she was the one that started talking to us. Well she talked to Phlum, but it’s the same, right?
“Long time no see, right Phlum?”
“Uh...?”
“Now that I think about it, since both of you left the castle the day that I came here I could only have a glimpse of yourself, so I never got the chance to introduce myself... You haven't changed too much though.”
“Are you perhaps that girl...?! Weren't you human?! You should have died long ago!”
Phlum looked really surprised at the child’s words. Besides, if she is telling Phlum that she hasn't changed that much right now that Phlum looks like a child, I can't imagine the amount of years that had passed since the day she is talking about.
The girl continued talking to Phlum. It seems as if contrary to the permanently neutral expression she had drawn on her face, she enjoys talking to people.
“I’m human, you know? I’m just a cursed child, just like that woman who is by your side.”
Cursed child? I think I’ve heard something like that. Wasn't Kirwha cursed by the souls of the people that used to live with her in that village that the Demons destroyed? I think Fynx said something like that, something like the survivor's guilt but more complicated.
“Of course,
cursed childs don't usually live long. Also, as you’ve already said, I'm a mere human, so even if I was normal I should have died a long time ago. If I’m still alive it is simply thanks to my Lady’s power.”“Due to her power… It sounds like something possible for someone like her…”
“Of course! After all, she is one of the Four Great Demon Lords, The Ruler of The North, Great Demon Lord of Eternity, The…”
At this point, the child continued naming every single title the Ice Lady has been given along the years, and as you might be expecting, I simply zoned out. Suddenly, Phlum interrupted her and I came back to my senses.
“Why did your Lady wanted to bring us and our Lady here? I can't understand that.”
“As you already know, your Lady has recently taken over a whole country. That's one of the steps that lead to becoming a Great Demon Lord, and as you might be expecting, that's no good for The Great Four. Another Great Demon Lord would break the balance of this world.”
“So they choose to kill us before we get that far?”
It was just as cliché as it sounds. Four Great Demon Lords were currently ruling over the whole world, and our Lady was on her way to become the fifth of them. What's worse, her territories were located right in the middle of theirs.
“No, they still haven't decided what to do yet, so my Lady decided to move before them in order to eat your Lady’s heart.”
“Eating a Demon’s heart? Wasn't that just a legend?”
Fynx asked. I knew nothing about a legend like that, and since I had no idea what they were talking about I decided to ask them for a little bit more context.
“There's this weird legend that goes about eating a Demon’s heart in order to become more powerful.”
“Oh, but that's not a legend. If you eat a Demon’s heart, you'll become stronger. However, if you do that, you’ll mix your soul, memories, feelings and everything else with the ones that belong to the Demon you ate. In the end, you’ll end up being something else, you won't be yourself anymore…”
“So your Lady decided to move first in order to become more powerful?”
Although everything sounded as if the Ice Lady wanted to eat the heart of a powerful Demon in order to become the strongest of the Great Four, the kid decided to deny my words and explain even further. She really loves to talk…
“Oh no, no. My Lady really likes you guys, even if she doesn't want to acknowledge it. That's why she wanted to eat your Lady’s heart.”
“Sounds hard to believe…”
“That's a really extrange way to express your love, you know?”
“Oh no, no. It's really romantic, you know? There's this legend about a human and a Demon falling for each other. At the end, the human ends up eating the Demon heart because she wanted to save his life. However, at the end, the human can not witstand the burden of the Demon’s soul and the guilt of being the one that stays alive, so he decided to commit suicide in order to meet her lover in the next life.”
“...”
“...”
“Oh, that was the legend I was talking about!”
“That's an old child story, I haven't heard it in a while.”
The reaction was totally different between the Demons and humans that listened to the story. While they think of it as a normal love story, we couldn't think about it as anything different than a depressing and sad story full of despair. It seems that the interpretation of love can vary depending on the race who's talking about it.
While we were having this strange talk, the Demon Lords were still fighting. However, it looked as if it was time four our Lady to finally make her move.
“You really aren't adquatined to fight without using your magic, are you? Whakaka~”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
The sound of two pieces of steel heavily clashing into the other echoed through the room.