The heavy silence after my outburst was shattered by a sound that wasn't loud—but suffocating.
Footsteps.
Each one echoed like it carried the weight of a world.
The room that once trembled with my screams now knelt in dread.
Even Rie's sobs hitched, strangled in her throat as her head jerked toward the door.
And then—
He entered.
The man looked like an older version of Kiel. His long white hair cascaded like a silver waterfall over broad shoulders, his expression unreadable, and his eyes…
Black.
Pitch black.
No whites. No iris. Just endless void—like looking into death itself. And those eyes… locked onto me.
I couldn't breathe.
My body froze on instinct. No mana leaked from him, not a single ripple in the air. Yet the atmosphere shattered, cracked under pressure.
Was it gravity? Mana? Aura? No. It was something else.
Existence.
He was simply too real.
The others bowed their head. The air thinned.
I didn't need anyone to tell me who he was.
The Demon King.
Even now, I could tell.
He was stronger than Kiel ever became—even in the future before I killed him.
Stronger than anything I'd ever faced. So strong that even the idea of survival seemed laughable.
Can I even survive ten hits from him…?
No.
Bullshit.
Not even three.
That wasn't a man.
That was a monster who may have transcended reality itself.
A being who could erase me—not kill, erase.
My heart beat faster, but not from fear.
Dread.
A deeper, older emotion.
Fear….
A Primordial Fear
My little act was forgotten.
The room dropped in temperature as if the world itself was told to kneel.
The king's eyes flicked—first to me, then to Kiel.
Kiel's knees buckled. His mouth opened, lips trembling.
"F…Father… I…"
The King didn't say a word.
His eyelids dropped just slightly, like a man exhausted from watching too much foolishness.
"…Leave," he said.
A single word.
It didn't sound like an order.
It sounded like a law—something etched into the world's script.
And instantly—
Everyone moved.
Even the butler. Even the royal guards outside. Even Lily, who'd he loved the most, left without looking back.
Just like that, the room emptied.
Only he and I remained.
He stood in silence for a while, his back to the light. I couldn't even hear him breathe.
Then—
"Rei."
My name fell from his lips. Soft. Almost fond.
I swallowed, unsure what to say.
I waited.
Then came his question.
"Did you… hate me?"
Huh?
My thoughts stilled.
What?
As I hurt the child, he loves the most.
I was expecting punishment.
A decree.
Not… this.
My mind was unable to think anymore.
Too much had happened since I came back.
Too much was happening now.
My brows furrowed. My expression darkened. What kind of absurd question was that?
But soon I understood.
He must have heard. The words I screamed in front of everyone.
The truths I vomited out like blood.
He looked at me again.
His eyes… still half-lidded. As if drunk. Or hypnotized.
There was something broken in them.
But I didn't look away.
"It doesn't matter," I said.
He tilted his head slightly, like a curious child. Or a cat.
I continued, my voice hollow now—not trembling, not emotional.
I was no longer crying…
"Whether I hate you or not… it doesn't matter."
"What matters is—"
I finally looked up.
"—does 'Father' hate me?"
"…"
That silence that follows was suffocating.
As if someone open the gate connected to the void…
But I didn't flinch.
I could feel my chest ache—something raw in me stirring. I didn't know if the tears were still flowing, but I was serious.
This wasn't part of the act.
It was real.
He stared at me without blinking, there was no change in his expression.
I stared back.
I refused to back down.
I didn't hate him.
He was the only one I never truly hated.
Even in the past life, when he tried to kill me, even when he stood by and watched as I was stripped of everything—I still didn't hate him.
In fact.
I pitied him.
I saw something the others never did.
Because I knew the truth.
Finally, after a long pause, he whispered—
"What kind of father would hate their own child?"
I felt my throat tighten.
But I didn't respond.
Because that was a lie.
Well maybe not entirely since he doesn't see me as his child.
Still His voice held no emotion.
It was flat. Like a puppet reading lines someone else wrote.
And I knew why.
It's because of her.
The Queen.
My mother.