In the room where the light had left, wrapped in deep darkness, Byakuren was scowling at the empty s.p.a.ce and indulging in reverie. Takashiro had already been told to leave and only Byakuren was left in the bleak room.
Closing her eyes to enjoy the comfortable cold air that was blowing from the balcony, she was thinking about Alfra.
Tonight she intended to give her more blood but in the end, decided against it. 「If just one drop leaves me in this state, what will happen to me if I get more at once?」, hearing Alfra mutter this with flushed cheeks, Byakuren remembered Takashiro say that the powerful demon"s blood was close to a strong poison.
Alfra even seemed a little disappointed.
Byakuren hated children. Often those called children didn"t understand reason, were thoughtless and noisy.
It could not be helped because they were children, but Byakuren"s heart was not so tolerant.
Byakuren used to have a child before. However, she had not felt affection for that child. She did not know how to raise or nurture them.
Byakuren thought that her mother"s influence must have been strong too. She had never felt anything even remotely resembling love from her mother. There was even a time when she was directly called a failure.
Her mother was a powerful demon. When she was young, she had even thought that her mother might have been the strongest in the world. And from the perspective of such a strong mother, she must have definitely seemed like a failure. In truth, she was indeed treated as such.
Before, she had different emotions towards her mother: fear, anger, rebellion. Perhaps, when she was a child she also had Alfrlike blind affection towards her mother. However now she couldn"t remember even a sliver of it.
Love that will never be returned. The feelings of wanting to be accepted by her mother. She might have had those before.
However, when she was directed an honest killing intent by her mother, she gave up on everything and froze her own heart.
――But my mother must have also been responsible for me being a failure.
It is said that Byakuren"s father was human. Without ever entangling their bodies, a child born from the sperm that was stolen with the help of succubus. That is Byakuren. She is not a pure demon.
―― Would such child grow up properly?
Her frozen heart didn"t move.
“Is it my fault that I am a failure?”
She tried muttering to herself but her frozen heart didn"t feel any pain.
She remembered Alfra"s puppy-like eyes. Wanting to attract interest, wanting to be liked – you could see right through her feelings.
―― Annoying.
However, she understood that these were not like the deceitful eyes of the men that disguised raw l.u.s.t with gazes of worship and admiration. Rather, her gaze was far purer, and conveyed only the feeling of wanting Byakuren"s affection.
The puppy-like eyes that looked at her as if clinging to her. Was what Alfra was seeking from her the same thing she had sought once from her own mother?
――No such thing exists in this world. I want to let her see the cruel reality, just how cold the world really is.
She remembered her mother, glaring at her with red burning eyes. At that time, her body went numb because of fear.
She remembered that her instincts as the demon race which loved fighting were ringing an alarm. Hurry up and run away! You"ll be killed! it screamed.
Half a lifetime of Byakuren till now was cold and chilly.
――The world is such a place, right? Am I wrong?
Nevertheless, she remembered Alfra"s body that clung to her.
For her, who had a low body temperature, Alfra"s body at the moment when she gave her blood was too hot. The warm feelings that were transmitted from the parts where they touched were too much to bear for her frozen heart.
―― Isn"t that warmth and feelings exactly what Alfra desires?
――I wonder why is she seeking it from me when she already possesses them?……
The warmth that Byakuren was not familiar with.
――Even though it is useless no matter how much she desires it from me…………or, is there perhaps some inside of me too?
Byakuren should not have had it. Because she grew up without receiving it even once.
She matured without receiving love and reached the present without ever loving. She had a vague feeling that it would be the same for the rest of her life too.
In the darkness, Byakuren grimaced.
―― Then just steal it! Demons are the ones who steal!
Isn"t Alfra offering it herself?
―― I will take that warmth. But I have no use for such a thing. If even a fragment of it exists inside of me, I will give everything to Alfra!
―― Because it is something that I do not need.
Even if she knew the definition of the word, Byakuren, who had grown up without receiving it once, did not understand what affection was.
When pitiful demon woman desired it once again, a dense presence of death could be felt there.
Alfra"s morning started early. First, she would quickly get ready by using the hot water prepared by Fermar. After that, she would carry out the daily routine determined by Takashiro. It was primarily a menu for improving flexibility and physical strength.
After sweating a little, Fermar would once again bring breakfast.
There were also times when Byakuren would pay a visit and ask about the results of the training.
When Byakuren came it was a good morning, and when she didn"t it was an unfortunate morning.
After the meal, she would practice her form with Takashiro on the practice field, a place once used by the savages. At first, Byakuren would come to watch quite often.
However, because it caused Alfra to get distracted and made her unable to continue the training due to nervousness, Byakuren seemed to have been politely advised and ever since. her visits had abruptly stopped. Nowadays Alfra and Takashiro have been silently working together on practicing the form.
From the afternoon, she would be cram in some time for a nap. There were times when she would unintentionally oversleep because of the comfortable fatigue, but she was never scolded. Rather, she was even praised with “children who sleep well, grow up well.”
It seemed that Takashiro was also concerned about Alfra"s short and thin stature.
Because Demons are long-lived, they are relatively lax regarding the time.
From the afternoon, the training was mainly just light sparring with Takashiro. As usual, it was training with him clad in his well-suited butler uniform, but contrary to his appearance, his movements were nimble and powerful.
Takashiro"s teaching was also easy to understand. Alfra was happy because he would praise her often.
Recently, even she herself had started to think that she might have improved a lot.
What made her the happiest was that, if you did not pay close attention you would not notice it but, Byakuren"s att.i.tude towards her had become softer.
She seemed to be careful to leave more time for talking with Alfra. Though, it was mostly her talking and Byakuren only making agreeable responses. Even so, Alfra was satisfied.
Byakuren"s expressions were still as scarce as ever, but from the tone of her voice and slight gestures Alfra could sense something resembling human emotions.
She also noticed that she was allowed to touch Byakuren even at times other than for cooling down her body.
Whenever Alfra touched Byakuren with her heated up body, she would start feeling guilty for some reason. She still had not realized that there was an ulterior motive of wanting to touch Byakuren"s skin.
She would always apologize for hugging her because of that guilty conscience, but she was told that there was no need to apologize,
After that, whenever she got a chance she would hug Byakuren but there were no cases when she showed an unwilling att.i.tude.
Alfra was happy.
***
“I don"t know how to interact with Alfra.”
“…..huh?”
Takashiro committed a terrible blunder.
It wasn"t like he did not listen attentively. Always foresee every possible situation. This was his att.i.tude towards his duties.
A single sentence that even he was unable to foresee. He did hear it, but he was so surprised that his head could not process it.
“I"m not good with children. I don"t know how to deal with them.”
If it was before, he would be immediately reprimanded, but this time Byakuren didn"t seem to mind it and explained in more details.
“I see. It looks to me…that for children of Alfrsama"s age, praising them would be the best way.”
“Praise……….”
Byakuren looked down, looking lost in her thoughts. A listless ice beauty with distant eyes. Even for Takashiro, who had retired from the front lines long ago, her features bore such beauty that it made his heart thump.
“I have heard that physical interactions like patting their heads or touching their bodies are basics of child raising.”
Suddenly standing up, Byakuren quickly headed towards the door.
“Madam?”
“I will give it a try.”
As if unwilling to waste time in turning around, Byakuren answered over her back.
Takashiro, who had his head down until her presence completely disappeared, unknowingly smiled bitterly.
Just what had happened to his intelligent and haughty master who was always calm and prudent?
―― When it comes to that hastiness….
Takashiro found this kind of Byakuren more preferable than her old self.
When she realized that it was unfortunate to grow up without being given anything, just like the youths who drowned in love, Byakuren was also trying to drown in affection.
***
I wonder what kind of fortune this is.
Alfra was in the middle of having her head rubbed with considerable strength, but the person herself seemed to be in a dreamy state,
Perhaps the other person couldn"t gouge her powers, it was a quite forceful patting.
At a glance, it could also be seen as the older sister bullying a slightly younger sister, ――However, both the aggressor and the victim seemed to be satisfied with that.
“U-umm….Byakuren-san?”
“What is it?”
“What is this reward for?”
That was when Byakuren remembered Takashiro"s words that praising was the best. But troubled by how she was unable to think of the reason for the praise, Byakuren ended up speaking slightly questionable words.
“W-well….you have started to close your mouth properly recently. It"s a reward for that.”
“I see…..”
She did manage to forcefully come up with something, but Byakuren felt a bit depressed, thinking that there must have been other things she could praise instead.
Still, patting Alfra"s head was unexpectedly fun. Unintentionally, she got caught up in it and kept stroking the small head.
It was a quite rough way of stroking, but Alfra seemed to be happy with it so she judged that it wasn"t a problem.
Still, Byakuren couldn"t keep on patting her forever.
――Touching is the basics….
It was about the time to advance on the next level. Byakuren decided.
Before she noticed, Alfra"s hair had become like a lion"s mane, so Byakuren combed her fingers through her hair to bring it in order.
Just like that she slid her hand down and touched her cheek.
“Ah…Byakuren-san.”
“I wouldn"t mind even if you dropped the honorifics and called me Byakuren, you know?
Alfra"s cheeks were dyed in a cheery-blossom color and warmth was transmitted through their joined palms.
Unknowingly, Byakuren"s thumb traced her lips.
Alfra"s mouth opened slightly.
“Byakuren….”
“Alfra.”
Unexpectedly, the distance between their lips had gotten shorter. For some reason, Alfra closed her eyes and the atmosphere around them turned strange.
Something seems wrong!, thinking so, Byakuren hurriedly released her hands and took distance.
After that, she gave blood to Alfra and chilled her heated up body as usual, but as expected, the atmosphere still seemed different from the usual.
Eyes that looked at Byakuren were several times more feverish than normally. She realized that somewhere, at the fundamental place, she had messed up the direction.
Thus, Byakuren, having noticed her own failure, quickly withdrew from the room.
***
Sitting on the throne, Byakuren was brooding.
Takashiro looked at her anxiously. From time to time, sigh could be heard from the opposite of him.
“Is there anything wrong?”
“It looks like I have failed.”
“If you would like, I can hear you out.”
“Actually….I don"t know why but the atmosphere turned into something strange….”
Byakuren, who rarely showed her emotions on the surface, answered with an unbelievably depressed voice.
“Could you please tell me more in details?”
“….First, I patted her head. I praised her and combed my hand through her hair. I even let her touch my cheeks…”
“From what I have heard just now, it was a perfect correspondence. What was the strange atmosphere like?”
“I wonder how I can word it….it was like that kind of time between a male and a female….”
“Oh? why would you arrive to such conclusion…?”
“I wouldn"t have difficulties if I actually knew that.”
“You are absolutely right. Please forgive me.”
Even Takashiro was unable to give advice.
The old butler thought for a little while and cautiously opened his mouth.
“Madam is awfully popular with gentlemen, right? they say that you have been courted not only by the n.o.bles but also the demon king herself?”
“So what?”
The reply came with a rather grim tone.
“Madam, you are beautiful, and possess that sort of charm…or rather, a talent, do you not?”
“Alfra is still a child! and a girl on top of all!”
“….Have you ever had an experience of being approached by women?”
A horrifyingly disagreeable answer came from Byakuren who had been straining her willowy eyebrows.
“I……have.”
“How many times?”
“………………”
Deeply hanging her head down, Byakuren"s silver thread-like hair spilled down to her knees. And she started to silently contemplate. Takashiro couldn"t see her expression, but he could feel that it was most likely very gloomy. Is she perhaps counting the number of times she had been hit on by the women?
“……………………”
“……”
“I don"t remember them each!”
“…….I have somehow understood the cause…..”
“……”
Aggrieved eyes sullenly glared at Takashiro.
***
Alfra grew brighter and more robust day by day.
The moment she would catch a glimpse of Byakuren, she would cling to her just like a puppy that was frolicking around. She would keep talking forever about trifling things. Generally, the time Byakuren spent with her was limited, but there was a time when Alfra tried too hard at the training because she wanted to be praised by Byakuren and ended up injuring herself. As expected, at that time she got scolded.
After that one case, even when Alfra and Byakuren were alone, the atmosphere never turned strange.
In the end, Byakuren decided that at that time the cause was definitely something incredibly irregular.
Were the things that Alfra and Byakuren sought from each other slightly different? She had started to feel such suspicions a little bit. However, even for Byakuren, the time she spent together with Alfra had become the most precious moment in her life.
***
One evening, Takashiro, who was called to Byakuren"s room, was handed a heavy golden necklace.
There was a high-quality dark ruby embedded in the center, with a magnificent detailed design.
“Send someone to the city. Let them arrange Alfra"s personal belongings. Cashing that would be enough, right?”
Was she perhaps intending to send him to buy a house?, Takashiro tilted his head with such thoughts. It was a fine item enough to amount to a fortune after turned into cash.
“What kind of things do you require? If the load is going to be big, it would be faster if I went instead.”
“I"ve made her make a list. Apparently, the biggest necessity is the panties.”
“Panties…….was it….?”
“Yes, underwear.”
“Yes, I am aware, but….if I converse this choker, a considerable amount of gold coins will be left over.”
“Gold coins tend to be bulky so try to use up as much as possible.”
――This….the warehouse will overflow with panties…
Despite being dumbfounded, Takashiro still bowed reverently.
“……As you will. I will head to the city immediately.”
***
The panties that she had been dreaming of arrived.
Alfra was in high spirits. She could at last bid farewell to the unreliability in her lower half she always felt whenever she wore skirts.
She was handed an armful bag with panties from Takashiro.
For a moment, she was taken aback by the size of the bag, but the moment she unwrapped the contents, she felt an even bigger astonishment. Alfra stiffened up.
A large amount of frilly, thin l.u.s.trous cloths were in there. She tried picking up one of them.
“…………”
When she tried holding it in front of her, she could see the other side through it. And the fabric was surprisingly small. That thinness and smallness of the surface area even seemed somehow artistic.
For some reason, there was even a hole in the middle. Some were even decorated with small jingling chains and jewels.
“What about…pumpkin panties?”
Alfra asked for pumpkin panties, the loose panties made of cotton and hem with a waist strap.
“Yes, I have inquired, but….madam said to buy the best quality items in the city…”
Takashiro underestimated the underwear for ladies. Enough gold to buy a mansion with a plot of land. Most of it, however, changed into a mere one bag of panties, not to say anything of the warehouse.
―― Humans" sense of value is collapsing……
Takashiro thought seriously.
“I don"t know…how to put it on.”
With tears in her eyes, Alfra flicked the thin cloths called panties.
Thin strings stretched down from both sides of the cloth, with small metal fittings at their tips.
“For this, you have to stop this string at the metal fixtures….do so to this part of the cloth….basically, pa.s.sing it through your crotch….”
Takashiro"s cheeks had a slight blush as he kindly gave his instruction.
“Those seem to be the finest quality items that are currently in fashion among the n.o.ble children.”
From what Takashiro had heard, it was a very popular item within high-cla.s.s prost.i.tutes too.
―― I wonder what madam intends to do with Alfrsama…
Of course, Byakuren had no ways of knowing that.
A castle on the snowfield, where happy times pa.s.sed leisurely.
However, in the distant demon region, ravages of war which would bring blood-stained future to Alfra had already started to make its footsteps resound.
The curtains of the war was about to be cut through by the powerful demons.
—
Notes:
so, the form is actually 型 that can be mold, type, style, pattern, form etc.
What is this reward for/what kind of reward is this? (alternatively) 「これはなんのご褒美ですか？」I went with the first version because it fit better with Byakuren"s answer imo
technically 心外だといわんばかりの視線が、むっつりと高城を睨みつけた。 would be something like “gaze that was fully aggrieved glared at takashiro” or some s.h.i.t like that.
Phew, it took me way too long to finish this chapter.
Honestly, it"s almost midnight and I kinda wanted to quickly get this put so the proofreading might not have been too thorough.
Just hmu about mistranslations, typos and awkward grammar.
Alfra got her panties but they ended up being crotchless g-strings lmao
super sweet chapter but the foreshadowing is strong in here.