It was early morning in the Imperial Grand Mage’s office.
Bathed in the warm, gentle sunlight, the Grand Mage leisurely sipped tea while perusing a newspaper.
“…A Demon King’s disappearance.”
The headline, emblazoned across the newspaper in bold, declared: ‘Void, First-Ranked Demon King, Missing.’
Upon seeing the article, the Grand Mage smoothed his hair back, a wry smile spreading across his lips.
Just then,
-CRASH!!!
A woman, her ashen hair flying wildly, burst through the door as if to shatter it, her face etched with a grave expression and cold sweat beading on her brow.
She then cried out to the Grand Mage in an exceptionally loud voice.
“Damian and the Hero are nowhere to be found!!”
“Sophia.”
“M-Master! Damian is missing!”
Sophia’s eyes, as the Grand Mage addressed her, darted back and forth with profound alarm.
“I know.”
In stark contrast to Sophia’s distress, the Grand Mage leisurely sipped his tea, responding with an unperturbed expression.
“You know…? M-Master, that’s not the issue right now!”
“The Hero and your disciple, whom we’ve painstakingly experimented on, have eloped in the dead of night!!”
“Our losses right now—!”
The Grand Mage’s wrinkled face contorted into a frown.
Concurrently, the surrounding magical energy vibrated, beginning to press down upon Sophia’s body.
“M-Master…!”
“Silence. I already knew everything.”
“W-What do you mean—”
Sophia lay prostrate on the floor, gasping for breath, drool trickling from her mouth as she looked up at the Grand Mage.
Even witnessing Sophia’s pitiful state, the Grand Mage did not rein in his magic; instead, he unleashed it, conjuring a spell.
“The Eye of God! That is the name I bestowed upon this magic!”
“I knew it all!”
“I already knew this future would unfold!”
As he spoke, the Grand Mage’s eyes transformed into inverted pupils (TL Note: ‘역안’ refers to eyes where the sclera is dark and the iris is light or glowing, often indicating a supernatural or corrupted state), beginning to emit a cerulean glow.
Behind him, a colossal eye materialized.
This eye, appearing as if torn from someone, had remnants of ripped flesh clinging to its back and ceaselessly emanated a vibrant blue light.
Its pupil, as if in agony, quivered incessantly, and its focus flickered in and out of existence.
Prostrate on the floor, Sophia couldn’t help but shriek at the sight of her master’s madness.
“A-Aaaagh!”
“Silence!!!”
“M-My apologies.”
The Grand Mage, who had been staring impassively at Sophia as she repeatedly bowed and apologized, stretched his neck with a loud crack.
He then addressed Sophia.
“Prepare the Heroes.”
“Fresh ones.”
“About a hundred of them.”
“No, just extract them indiscriminately. Whether it’s a hundred or a thousand.”
“It’s better to do it all at once than to have them break during the experiment and ruin the entire atmosphere.”
As he spoke, a manic grin ceaselessly spread across the Grand Mage’s face.
“Y-Yes, Master!”
As the magical pressure on her body vanished, Sophia scrambled out of the Grand Mage’s office with a clatter.
“Oh dear, did I frighten her?”
Seeing his disciple flee in terror after witnessing his ‘achievement,’ the Grand Mage, with a mere flick of his wrist, made the so-called Eye of God behind him vanish without a trace.
“Kuk-kuk-kuk, Khahahaha!!!!”
“I’ve figured it out! I’ve figured it out!!!”
“Hey!!!”
The Grand Mage, still cackling maniacally and shouting about his discovery, called out to someone.
“D-Did you call…?”
-SMACK!!!!
“Cough!”
A woman with red eyes and gray hair, wearing a chain around her neck that sealed her magical power, emerged from a corner of the room, peeking her head out.
Upon appearing, she flinched, seemingly accustomed to the violence, and begged for forgiveness.
“I-I’m sorry.”
-SMACK!!
-WHAM!!
As the violence intensified, the girl’s voice grew progressively fainter.
“Hmph… I feel a little calmer now.”
“H-Heuk…”
“Khahaha! Are you crying?”
“N-No.”
“Good.”
The Grand Mage opened his drawer, retrieved five syringes, and plunged them into the woman’s arm.
“N-No, please.”
“Silence.”
After her blood was drawn, the woman was struck once more by the Grand Mage before retreating back into the corner.
“To think such a goldmine fell into my hands.”
After securing the blood, the Grand Mage uttered this remark, then opened the door and exited.
“H-Heuk…”
The woman gazed at her bruised body, tears streaming down her face.
‘Perhaps my very birth was a mistake.’
‘…Because I am a tainted race.’
She was the last Half-Dragon remaining in this world.
Moreover, she was the last Half-Dragon to carry the royal bloodline.
“…God, please, just let me die…”
The woman, who was fortunate enough not to have succumbed to madness, reached out her hand towards the sun; yet, God, seemingly preoccupied with managing the bright, sunlit world, appeared not to cast a glance at her shadowed existence.
Once more, the woman felt her identity as a creature of the shadows, retreating further into the depths of the gloom.
****
Perhaps due to the sheer shock of the morning, I spent the entire day lying in bed with my mother.
After some time had passed, I decided to simply cast aside such worries.
After all, they seemed like criminals, and there was no need to confront them further.
“…Did that Demon King child play nicely with you?”
“Yes, we get along great!”
“Really?”
“Yes! She’s the first friend I’ve ever made.”
It wasn’t a lie.
In this life, my first friend and best friend was Void unnie (TL Note: ‘unnie’ is a Korean term used by a female to address an older female friend or sister).
My mother’s slightly troubled expression shifted to one of surprise.
“A friend?”
“Yes, we’re close.”
“I-Is that so?”
My mother mumbled with a slightly worried expression, ‘The child shouldn’t learn strange things…’
‘Still, I wouldn’t associate with someone truly bad.’
‘Void, for a Demon King, is incredibly gentle and kind.’
‘Demon Kings are usually capricious, prone to rampaging and killing anyone weaker than them, yet she spared me, didn’t she?’
“M-Mino, you shouldn’t get too close to that unnie, alright?”
“Why not?”
“She’s a Demon King, after all. I’m just worried.”
“Yes. I understand.”
While I didn’t quite grasp why she was saying such things, I knew there was no avoiding words born of concern.
I wasn’t so cold-hearted as to simply disregard someone else’s worries.
“I understand.”
“My daughter is so good~”
“Hehe.”
My mother gently stroked my head.
Though it felt a little embarrassing to have my head patted at my age, I didn’t dislike the feeling.
Not long after, my father, utterly exhausted from a meeting, opened the door and entered.
“Dad!”
“…My daughter~”
When I waved at him, my father promptly dived onto the bed.
Of course, he avoided landing on my mother and me.
Because of this, my body bounced up once with a soft ‘whoosh’.
Finding the sensation amusing, I asked him to do it again, only to be scolded by my mother.
She said it was dangerous and not allowed.
‘I’m thirty years old; I can take care of myself…’
Feeling a touch unfairly treated, I looked at my mother.
“Oh my, are you puffing out your cheeks?”
“Ah.”
Unconsciously, I had reverted to childish behavior.
‘This is harder to suppress than I thought.’
‘Should I call it instinct?’
‘It’s becoming increasingly difficult to hide my expressions and emotions.’
‘Perhaps having my body become younger is the biggest reason.’
‘Hehe, Albi. Look at that, what could she be thinking about so seriously?’
‘Indeed, our daughter is so cute.’
Having pondered with a serious expression, stroking my chin, I stopped when I overheard my mother and father whispering.
Then, my father, who had been smiling contentedly, seemed to recall something and spoke to me.
“Daughter, how would you feel if your mom and I had another child?”
“What?”
My momentary surprise was cut short.
“Cough!”
“A-Albi! What are you saying in front of Mino!!”
-SMACK.
-SMACK SMACK!
My father, even more flustered than I was, began to be hit by my mother, whose face had turned crimson.
My mother was quite weakened now, so it probably didn’t hurt much, but my father’s exaggerated acting as he was hit was amusing.
‘I want to tease him a little more.’
“Are you going to make a baby?”
Suddenly, my mouth moved on its own.
And the room, with my words as its last sound, fell into silence for about ten seconds.
The sight of the two dragons, frozen as if petrified by my words, was quite comical.
‘Don’t laugh, Han Mino. You are a pure and innocent child.’
As I diligently suppressed my laughter, my father waved his hands and began to explain.
“N-No, not making a baby! It seems we might have to bring in an adopted daughter.”
“Would that be difficult? It means accepting another family’s child as our own.”
‘Is it really alright for royalty to just adopt someone?’
Due to this question, my head tilted to the side involuntarily.
“…Albi, are we adopting?”
“Well, a Half-Dragon has requested asylum. It seems they possess royal blood.”
My father and mother began to converse in a serious tone.
It seemed I wasn’t meant to participate, so I quietly snuggled between my mother and father, intending to sleep.
“Anyway, Mino will have an older sister.”
“…Mm-hm.”
“Oh my, Mino, are you sleepy?”
“…Mm-hm.”
My consciousness drifted away.
This sleepy body of mine had decided it was time to rest.
Speaking of which, a Half-Dragon seeking asylum.
‘They were definitely a despised race in the game, weren’t they?’
My consciousness severed there.
When I opened my eyes again,
“…you.”
“…welcome.”
“…sir.”
My mother’s voice and someone else’s faintly reached my ears.
As I groggily pushed myself up, still half-asleep, what met my gaze was this:
“Oh my, Mino, are you awake? Say hello, this is your older sister.”
“…Hello.”
It was that woman, who resembled an older sister, shyly greeting me.
“…O-older sister?”
The words escaped my lips without thought.
“Mino~? You should say ‘unnie’, not ‘older sister’. You must still be half-asleep, aren’t you?”
My mother said this as she lifted me, but I saw it.
The woman standing behind my mother flinched, her expression one of surprise.
‘…Could it be?’
