Sephiel’s daily life was very satisfying.
“Genius, Miss Baby.”
“Did you have a nice dream tonight?”
The sunlight is gently shining and the breeze tickles her ears pleasantly.
Sephiel was sitting between Marie’s legs, tying up her hair nicely in front of the mirror.
“You mustn’t get hurt, our Lovely Miss Baby.”
Berry was carefully cutting Sephiel’s fingernails.
‘Huh, that feels good.’
‘Whenever I felt someone’s loving touch, it felt like a drug.’
Sephiel felt like she could fall asleep right then and there.
“You know, the young master is still sleeping… Sometimes, he sleeps for days, so in the meantime, you’re allowed to explore the castle, except for the main building.”
“And never enter the locked rooms. Those are private spaces belonging to the Grand Duke’s family. If you make a mistake and get caught, you’ll receive a severe punishment.”
Marie added.
“Yes!”
Sephiel was truly happy.
‘Hehe, I’m so wicked. My flattery actually worked.’
Sephiel felt a little guilty, but also proud of herself.
Last night, Marie and Berry had been utterly shocked and asked,
<It’s one thing for other servants, but how did you figure out what we are? We look exactly like pure-blooded humans.>
To that question, Sephiel had only one answer.
‘I knew it all from the beginning.’
Succubi—also known as dream demons.
It was said that siblings born from the same parents resembled each other like twins.
<Huh? That’s strange. Human children usually have slightly rounder bellies.>
<And her growth rates don’t match the standard for pure-blooded human children.>
<We need to increase growth stats as written in the book! Let’s increase nutritious snacks starting tomorrow.>
‘You two were totally giving yourselves away…’
Several times, Sephiel had overheard them whispering, thinking she was deeply asleep.
‘Normal people don’t use terms like ‘pure-blooded humans’.’
On top of that, they’d sometimes stare at her napping, saying things like, “Let’s check if she’s having good dreams”.
‘Thanks to them, I was able to strengthen my dream.’
There were many negative rumors about succubi, but Sephiel wasn’t afraid of them.
In fact, she didn’t mind if they peeked into her dreams.
For succubi, happy dreams were like fine wine—something that lifted their spirits and brought them joy.
There was just one downside: the dreams they peeked into would be forgotten by the dreamer the next day.
Perhaps because of that, Marie and Berry had become even kinder to Sephiel.
‘Anyway, according to what I heard from Elton during my mansion tour, most of the pure-blooded non-humans have left for another world.’
That’s why most of the servants left in the Grand Duke’s castle were mixed-blood, with very few pure-bloods remaining.
So calling them ‘people’ wasn’t entirely wrong.
Like the elves, beings who possessed intelligence and acted like humans were called non-humans, but they were still sometimes referred to as ‘human.’
“You’re not afraid of us at all? Our Miss Baby is so brave.”
“I’m not afyaid at all!” (I’m not afraid at all)
Sephiel knew that humans could be much more fearsome and cruel.
“But then… thwere ayen’t any humans here?” (But then, there aren’t any humans here?)
“Oh, there are. But most of the servants working in the main building are mixed-blood non-humans. Ah, and some live in the forest beyond. A small number of remaining pure-bloods. They don’t work in the Grand Duke’s estate directly, but instead, they live quietly in the forest.”
Berry added that the pure-bloods who lived in the forest were known to be extremely aloof.
“Then… What about Eltyon?”
“Ah, that.…”
Marie and Berry gently patted Sephiel’s head.
“That’s a secret.”
“What? Can’t I gyues?”
“If you guessed correctly, Elton might just faint.”
“Oh…”
‘Actually, I wasn’t that curious about Elton.’
There was something else that made her much happier.
For some reason, Marie and Berry had found her a pair of beautiful red shoes.
Made of the finest soft leather, they were adorned with intricate decorations they had carefully crafted.
‘They have ribbons, and I can jump around without my feet hurting.’
No matter how much she looked at it, it made her feel good, so Sephiel put it on the bed and looked satisfied.
‘I never went outside when I was a child, so I never wore nice shoes.’
In the prison, she had always been barefoot or given shoes that were way too big.
So the red shoes quickly became Sephiel’s treasure.
“Would you like to try on your new shoes and play ball outside?”
“No, I wyant to savve them. Not today. I’ll weay them lateyr….” (No, I want to save them. Not today. I’ll wear them later)
“We can ask Elton to buy you more pretty shoes when the young master wakes up.”
“No!”
Sephiel said in surprise. The young master already disliked her enough—if he had to pay for her shoes too…
‘He might even cut down my food portions.’
Just a few days ago, she had managed to charm the vampires in the kitchen, and they had increased the variety of pies served at dinner to four!
Sephiel shook her head, hugging her shoes tightly.
“These are from Beyyi and Mayyi, so I dwon’t need any otheyrs. A tyeasuyre is special because there’s ownly one.” (These are from Beyyi and Mayyi, so I don’t need any others. A treasure is special because there’s only one.)
“Really?”
Berry and Marie smiled broadly and said:
“Then, let’s leave the shoes out under the moonlight tonight.”
Berry explained a legend—that exposing new shoes to the bright moonlight for one night would make them last longer.
“Yes! I wyant to weay these for a veyi, veyi lwong tiwme, so let’s do it!” (Yes! I want to wear these for a very, very long time, so let’s do it)
* * *
That evening.
In the main building, inside Erga’s bedroom.
—Ssshhh.
A snake was circling around the sleeping Erga with its head raised.
And moments later—
The boy slowly opened his eyes.
“The young master has awakened!”
The Grand Duke’s estate bustled with activity.
Erga, who had woken up after a long time, was in a bad mood.
He pressed his fingers against his forehead.
“How are you feeling, young master?”
Erga stood up. Her face, which was sculpted like a doll by the gods, had an aura of resentment that did not befit a child.
Suddenly Erga looked out the window.
“It looks like it’s going to rain.”
Elton looked up at the sky. The pitch-black expanse showed no signs of change.
“Shall we prepare to hunt?”
“Yeah.”
Erga rubbed the corner of his eye. Elton quickly prepared Erga’s bow and outfit.
“It looks like Marie and Berry are really into Miss Baby.”
Erga frowned for a moment.
“Ah. That. Like a raccoon.”
Hearing that, Elton mused, “Hmm, she does look a bit like a raccoon.”
“I mean, you know, the way raccoons scurry around hugging their food so preciously, with those lovely markings around their eyes. Her hair is white, but her eyelashes are deep black, right?”
“What are you even talking about?”
Erga seemed to understand the gist but made a displeased face.
“But once she grows up, she will be as sleek and beautiful as a silver fox.”
“Really?”
Erga examined the bow and replied indifferently.
“That is—if she manages to survive under the people of our family until then.”
And Erga turned his head.
“I want to hunt properly today. Prepare the shotgun as well.”
“Yes.”
Elton responded politely.
“Tell everyone not to come out tonight. If anything lingers in front of my eyes, I’ll have to shoot it down to feel better.”
“Yes.”
Half-dragons were completely different before and after adulthood.
Once they became adults, they grew calm and composed, but during childhood and adolescence, their emotions were always up and down.
His inherent ferocity, like that of a carnivorous predator, was an added factor.
Rainy days were when Erga could unleash his wild nature by hunting animals in the forest.
On such nights, no one in the grand duke’s estate would step outside.
Encountering an enraged half-dragon in the middle of a hunt could mean instant death.
—Swoosh!
Rain began to pour.
Just as Erga had predicted.
—Bang!
Every time the shotgun was fired, birds would fall like flies.
Elton quietly shaded his eyes with his hand as he watched the annex.
‘Ah, I hope Miss baby doesn’t wake up.’
Elton thought to himself.
* * *
“ Mmm… mmm…”
Sephiel slowly hugged her pillow before opening her eyes.
Her throat was dry.
‘It’s quiet…’
She carefully got out of bed and looked around.
‘Huh?’
There was no sign of anyone in the annex.
Sephiel barely managed to find some water and gulped it down.
Until now, either Berry or Marie had always slept in the room next to Sephiel’s
‘Wait.’
Sephiel suddenly realized something surprising.
A child’s body needs a lot of sleep.
She had been sleeping for about nine to ten hours a night.
When she woke up in the morning, one of them was always by her side.
So she had assumed Berry or Marie stayed in the next room all night.
But now, there was no one.
Had they only stayed until she fell asleep?
‘So… I’ve been sleeping alone every night? In this large annex?’
The feeling she had at that moment was a little lonely.
‘Am I supposed to start living alone already?’
In her previous life, Mitara said she had often been left alone in an annex with no one around.
Mitara had said that was the hardest part.
‘I was prepared for this.’
Maybe soon, she’d have to spend the daytime alone as well.
‘As expected, Good things never last long.’
But Berry and Marie are still affectionate.
Still, Berry and Marie were kind.
She wanted to believe that wouldn’t happen, but even if it did, she wouldn’t be surprised since she had been warned.
‘Ugh. What should I do?’
She was now fully awake.
‘I’ll sleep in the living room… Let’s turn on the light…’
Sephiel tiptoed over and reached up to turn on the magic stone lamp.
—Click. Click.
‘The light won’t turn on!’
Berry and Marie once told her.
<In this castle, there are days when all the magic stone lamps go out at once. It’ll be fine in a few hours, so don’t be scared.>
‘Why today, of all days?!’
Sephiel’s heart dropped.
Being alone in a dark annex was terrifying.
Her heart pounded.
‘It’s nothing. Don’t be scared. This place is safe. You’ve been fine since you got here. Just go back to bed…’
At that moment—
“Hic!”
Sephiel froze in shock.
A silhouette flickered outside the window.
Sephiel was lying on the floor under the window, shivering.
—Swoosh!
The rain pounded against the window.
‘That looked like….. Lotto.’
Did she see it wrong?
Lotto was Sephiel’s assigned guard and knight.
The thought that Lotto might be there always made Sephiel feel scared.
“Mmm…”
‘Stay calm. I needed to think rationally.’
‘Let’s go to the main building.’
If she got caught sneaking in without permission, she’d be in big trouble. But maybe she could just sleep in the hallway?
‘Just until the rain stops… I’ll hide in the hallway.’
‘All the employees were kind. So even if they caught me, they wouldn’t hit me.’
‘Erga is sleeping.’
If Erga caught her, she’d just apologize.
Erga had a nasty temper, so she might get hit a few times, but… she was used to that. Her half-brothers used to hit her all the time, so it wouldn’t be new.
The body of a child who just woke up was filled with vague fear.
That made Sephiel’s thinking more dull than usual.
‘Let’s go.’
The rain had weakened a little.
Sephiel wrapped herself tightly in a blanket and made up her mind.
The annex and the main building were actually very close.
Sephiel began to walk slowly along the forest path.
‘Last time I passed by, it wasn’t far at all.’
But something was strange.
No matter how much she walked, the main building didn’t seem to get any closer.
‘What’s… going on…?’
Tears welled up in her eyes.
—Tuk, tuk
The rain began to get heavier again.
“Mayyi, Beyyi.”
Sephiel wanted to cry. That was the moment.
Something rustled and moved in the forest.
“Huh?”
Sephiel tensed her shoulders.
Krrrrr…..
It was a small coyote. However, to Sepiel’s eyes, it looked much larger than the beast she had seen before, Erga’s pet, Black.
Krrrr….Krrrr….
The coyote was out of breath, as if being chased by something.
Sephiel sat down on the ground, hugging the blanket. Hesitantly. She stepped back.
‘What should I do when I encounter a wild beast?’
‘Hitting its nose? Throwing dirt in its eyes?’
Her mind was spinning, but no useful answer came to her.
Her whole body trembled.
—Crash!
The moment the coyote lunged at her, An arrow flew from somewhere and pierced the coyote’s neck.
“Ahh!”
Another coyote that had followed met the same fate, becoming another target for the arrows.
Sephiel slowly backed away from the lifeless coyote bodies.
—Tuk. Tuk.
Heavy rain hit Sephiel’s head and ears.
‘His eyes… look strange.’
Through the rain, a boy twice Sephiel’s size was slowly approaching.
‘Huh!’
Sephiel felt her heart pounding.
‘He… doesn’t recognize me?’
Erga was looking directly at Sephiel. It was like…
‘The eyes of a predator hunting its prey!’
‘He’s going to stab me with that dagger!’
“Ugh… huh…”
Sephiel let out a frightened sound without realizing it. Her whole body trembled.
Then, Erga hesitated.
“What?”
“……”
“Raccoon?”
“Hah, hah…”
Sephiel gasped for breath and nodded frantically.
‘When you’re too scared, you can’t even speak. I have to say it’s me.’
“I came to finish off my last prey myself.”
A sharp blade gleamed in Erga’s hand.
“But it wasn’t a coyote….”
“Hic!”
“It was a raccoon.”
Erga whispered.
* * *
