Episode 31

Contrary to his sharp personality, his disorganized appearance was obviously a sign of fighting someone, but he was only calm. No matter how much I tried to read his aura, it was the usual ash-gray color.

‘I really don’t know what this kid is thinking.’

It was much easier to read the feelings of children like Yuric. Whenever Yuric’s aura was blue, it was usually the day he met Liatris, his mother. Whenever it was red, it was the day that his brothers bullied him. 

Dietrich, on the other hand, had a few moments when he was sick or when he was in danger, but there wasn’t a time when his feelings were ever shaken. 

‘The power of Baal may have an effect in blocking his aura, but….’ 

Dietrich was also very good at controlling his expressions. 

‘Or maybe he just doesn’t feel anything at all.’

He’s not even some kind of robot.

“Don’t peel gyod?” (You don’t feel good?)

In the end, I had no choice but to ask him myself. I gazed blankly at Dietrich. He put me down on the floor trying to avoid my gaze. 

“Brother…?”

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t look for me. You’re not so young anymore as to be unable to live alone.” 

‘No, five years old is young enough.’

I wanted to contradict him, but he turned his back and left.

I watched silently at the small back of Dietrich, who was much older than when I first met him, but still a child, moving away. 

“Are you okay?”

Yuric hovered restlessly around me as I stood in a daze. I think I’ve been abandoned by Dietrich. 

But Dietrich’s relationship with me had always been like this from the start. I always had to chase after him or watch his back getting further away. 

I haven’t seen Dietrich for a while since that day. In the Dahlia Palace, in the woods of withered roses, everywhere. As if he was avoiding me on purpose. 

* * *

I searched every nook and cranny of the palace but I hadn’t seen even a single hair of Dietrich. Thinking about it, I stamped my foot on the ground.

“Baal, where is brother?”

“I don’t know.”

“I know Baal knows! Take me to brother!”

“That’s not possible.”

I puffed out my lips at Baal’s firm refusal. 

“I have something to say!”

I had nothing to say in particular, but I didn’t like the feeling of being avoided. I made my point clear by stamping my small feet on the ground, but Baal only picked his presumed ear and shrugged his shoulders. 

“Ah, I really do not know as well, princess.”

“But Baal is Detrie’s debon!”

“It’s not debon, but demon.”

“Tch.”

As if infected with Dietrich’s pronunciation correction disease, even Baal had that attitude. 

‘What can I do when I don’t have anyone to talk to!’

I huffed a breath, leaving the demon behind and running into the groove of withered roses.

‘Where’s Yuric?’

He would have more free time than Dietrich, but Yuric didn’t show up often either. 

The ranking of the sixth place as the successor was not as easy as I thought. In the first place, not all children were ranked. 

In addition, even if they were ranked, they wouldn’t be considered as a candidate for the successor if they exceeded the 10th place. 

‘If I remember….I was 21st?’

After Derek found out about me, I received that “rank” but I wasn’t even in the top 20, let alone the top 10.

‘The youngest in Liatris’s palace was 13th, wasn’t it?’

Liatris’s youngest child who still was a baby was only two weeks old. 

‘My ranking is lower than that of a newborn baby…’. 

When my ranking, which was closest to the bottom, came to mind, I suddenly lost energy.

I got a little sullen and pushed my face into the doggy hole. A dark shadow was wavering outside the hole as if Yuric was also looking for me. 

“Yuri!”

I called his name and completely pushed my body into the hole. Then, as I stuck my arm outside the hole, someone pulled me out.

‘Oh?’

Yuric had never pulled me out so forcibly even once. 

‘It’s not Yuric!’

In a panic, I hastily struggled to take the hands off me, but in the end, I was thrown inside Liatris’s place with brute force.

“Kyaah!”

Falling headlong to the ground, I rolled and fell into a rose vine. The prickly thorns pierced my arms and legs everywhere. 

“What the. Isn’t this just a useless kid?”

When I lifted my head to the voice I heard from above, a boy whom I saw for the first time was looking down at me.

‘......Alphonse?’

I have never met him, but I can guess the identity of the boy just by his appearance. He had the build of a 15-year-old and more reddish blonde hair than Yuric. 

The land he stepped on was the garden of Liatris, so he must be Alphonse Lagrange.

He didn’t have pale, light red eyes like me, but a boy who had the color of blood-stained eyes. 

Likewise, even the aura was stinging like a burning flame as he came close. 

“This little girl is the younger sister Dietrich is trying to protect?”

Alphonse lifted my chin with his fingertips and turned it around to observe my face. 

“You’re pretty, but you don’t even have any abilities, do you? Well, it's a trivial fraternal affection like slaves."

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

I didn’t understand the situation right away, but anyway, they were not words that were good to hear. I flung his hand away and quickly got up from my place.

The rose petals which were crushed against me fell one by one to the ground. 

“Where are you going?”

“......I came to meet with Yuri. I have no business with the likesh of you!”

Damn it.

I wanted to speak clearly in front of Alphonse like an adult, but at the last moment my tongue lost its strength. So instead, I hardened my eyes and bit my lips.

“And why would you meet with Yuric?”

I replied to the boy’s question by snapping my head away as Yuric might take the brunt of the damage. Then he pushed me back, as if he was offended. 

Alphonse had a physique that was close to an adult of over 15 years old, and I was just a 5 year old kid. Of course, as a result, I fell backwards on my back. 

“Answer.”

“No!”

I pushed the boy on top of me with all my strength. As if my timing was right, he lost his balance. I quickly got up and crawled back into the hole.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Alphonse grabbed my ankles protruding out of the hole and held on with force. I was eventually roughly swept on the floor and had to be dragged in front of him again.

‘This was a dress Marilyn made for me, you bastard!’

Thanks to that, the yellow dress, which Marilyn did not hesitate to praise for saying that it suits me very well, became completely stained. I shook off the dirt from the lace and made a tearful face.

“I heard Dietrich will come running if I bully you.” 

“No! Detrie won’t come anymore! Stupid! You stupid! Moron! You’re ugly!”

“What do you mean no? Follow me!”

I bit hard on Alphonse’s arm which grabbed me by the collar roughly. The boy whom I bit on the arm with all my might, containing all my grude for the ruined dress, shrunk away and let out a scream. 

“Ahhk! Damn it, what kind of dog is this girl?!” 

Chewing on curses, Alphonse raised his hand. It was just one slap, maybe it was because he was capable of handling the demon’s power but I flew all the way to the wall and crashed into it. 

“Uh.”

As I curled up my body in pain feeling like my back was about to break, he came closer with heavy steps.

‘He has a similar aura with Derek.’

I didn’t want to inhale his scent so I held my breath.

Alphonse clenched his teeth, pressing my back, which was only a little bigger than his two palms combined. 

"Dahlia Palace doesn't seem to teach manners, does it? Did your brother teach you this way? To bite just anyone?”

‘You’re not just anyone!’

You tried to drag me away first. I wanted to tell him of this unfairness, but I couldn't breathe properly because he was stepping on me. 

“Kuhh.”

“Oh? You must have come from a lowly slave!”

Alphonse moved his foot as if he was going to kick me.

“Detrie!”

Finding Dietrich in a moment of crisis was like a force of inertia[1] to me now. In the future, he would be a villain who would endanger the entire empire, but he was very friendly, and he would always show up and help me when I was about to get hurt or be in danger.

“Brother!”

When I called out loud, as if I’m being raised from the ground, Dietrich suddenly appeared and naturally hugged me. 

“Ahk!”

I expected as usual that the one who stopped the violent kick of Alphonse was Dietrich. But the one who saved me wasn’t him.

As soon as I was about to be beaten by the Alphonse, his feet, which came close to my nose, were wrapped in white and disappeared in a flash.

It was a light that felt similar to Baal's aura, but it was a gray-green glow, not Baal's ash-colored light. 

‘Amon?’

The gray-green colored demon, I was familiar with the devil, also called the ghost of the forest.[2]

The devil who threw Alphonse far away was Amon, the shadow demon of Yuric. I remembered that together with Baal, they fought Hermann’s Sun God. 

‘Did Yuric already sign a contract with Amon?’

* * *

[1] Law of Inertia - an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. She meant when she’s in dangerous situations it becomes a habit to call on Detrie. 

[2] Greenery or recording, it’s either of the two. But seeing as she’s talking about grayish-green color, it’s probably safe to say it’s the former. 녹음 means shade of trees; leafy shade ( and also meant audio recording ) so I went with forest instead.

TL Trivias:

I wanted to know if there was a connection between their demons and their characters so I looked them up a bit. There’s a bit of a fit there. 

Dietrich:

Baal - most likely referring to Beelzebub (Baal’zebul), is the Prince of Demons. Identified as the “ruler of all demons” in the Testament of Solomon. He tells Solomon that he lives in the Evening Star(Venus) and is the highest ranking angel in heaven and is the only one left of the heavenly angels who fell. He ruled over Satan as well after Satan bragged about dragging Jesus into hell (but failed because Jesus was too powerful even Beel was helpless) so Satan pledged to him instead. He also possesses the power to make people invisible. Baal is actually a title that literally means “Master.”

Yuric:

Amon - a Fallen Angel as the Seventh of the 72 Spirits of Solomon. In Hell, Amon is a strong and powerful Grand Marquis. He is sometimes referred to as a friendly demon because he has the power to reconcile friends who have become enemies and secure the love of another who has summoned him. 

Source: occult-world.com