My heavy-ass purple blackout curtains made sure no sunlight ruined my well-deserved rest.

My stomach began to grumble, forcing my eyes open like I had just heard the breakfast bell.

I fixed my hair while looking around my huge room.

My glass flatscreen television was still on, showing some demon cartoons.

“Oh, look at that,” I said. “They’re getting better at animating now.”

I tried to remove the blanket from my body, but Noxx was sleeping between my legs.

His sleeping face was still cute.

But…

“That damn fairy.”

I stared at his collar.

One of the small lanterns attached to it flickered on and off slowly, like she was in there sleeping away.

Don’t you remember you’re inside my body?

“Hey, Noxx baby, come on. I gotta go to the bathroom.”

Noxx lifted his head.

And my mouth slowly closed.

His face looked different.

Not fully different.

But wrong enough to make my stomach pause.

His head had grown sharper. His jaw looked stronger. His sleepy eyes carried something older behind them, like he had gone to bed as my silly little Noxx and woke up halfway into something else.

His shoulders looked broader under his fur.

His body was more muscular than it should have been.

Like his base form had started growing into an adult overnight, but his mind never got the message.

Because he still tried to curl up between my legs like he was the same small baby I carried around before.

I stared at him.

He stared back.

“So you gonna stare at me?” I asked. “Or are you trying to act tough just because you got a growth spurt?”

He licked my face with his long tongue, dragging it from my chin all the way up to my forehead.

“N-Noxx, that hurts!”

The rough hairs on his tongue pushed me back into my pillows.

“OWWWW! GET OFF THE BED!”

Noxx trembled in fear after hearing me yell at him seriously.

He carefully climbed down from the bed, keeping his eyes on me the whole time.

“You sad now?”

He kept watching me as he walked toward his pillow…

which was clearly not his size anymore.

When he sat down, he finally noticed what was underneath him.

His pillow had shrunk.

He looked at the pillow.

Then at me.

“WOOF! WOOF!”

He hopped and spun around in midair like he had just realized what happened to him.

Then he looked at me and got ready to run over.

I immediately raised my hand in front of his face and backed deeper into my pile of pillows.

“Yeah, we’re not doing this anymore,” I said. “You’re too grown for this now.”

He whimpered as his eyes started to water.

I sighed and rolled mine.

“Fine, fine. Just hug me, okay?”

He embraced me with his head and laid his body against mine like he was sorry for hurting me earlier.

I smiled and petted the long new coat along his side.

“Just know, we need to go shopping now.”

“WOOF!”

He barked loudly, like he understood what I said.

Laughing while watching him grow made me feel human for a moment.

But when I glanced toward the corner of my eye, I saw a special ledger.

“Demonization…” I whispered. “That can’t be good.”

[ DEMONIZATION: 80% ]

I waved my hand across the ledger, and it closed like an old television from the 90s.

I smiled.

For once, I had controlled the ledger instead of letting it control my life.

A victory I had wanted to taste ever since I was reborn in this world.

My eyes stayed on the blank space where the ledger had been.

“I’m starting to understand what it feels like to control my powers instead of just working with them.”

I turned my palm toward my face and stared at it as Umbral Grace misted over my skin.

Like it was getting ready to start my day by wrapping my hands in latex gloves.

I closed and opened my hand.

The mist slipped back inside my body.

For some reason, it felt like the mist ran from me because I caught it acting out.

“This is getting weird now,” I said. “Demon progression sure is different from humans in these kinds of worlds.”

I got up and grabbed my robe from where it hung over my desk chair.

Noxx raised his head.

He noticed something different about me that I hadn’t noticed yet.

“Mmmh~Mmmh.”

He whimpered like he was trying to get my attention.

But the shower was calling my name.

I walked toward the bathroom with a view that felt higher than my normal perspective.

My shoulders felt heavier than usual.

“What the hell is going on today?”

I closed the door behind me.

Then I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror.

For a second, I felt like I was staring at someone completely different.

I walked closer to the sink.

My hand reached for the mirror.

I touched the glass, hoping this wasn’t real.

A soft knock came through my bathroom door, and the demon behind it introduced herself with calm decorum.

“Sophia, it's Jessica. I came to remind you that your new clothes from your mother arrived and are now on your desk. I'll wait outside your room, and if you need help, please call out to me.”

Her light footsteps moved away from the door.

I could still feel her presence standing outside my room as if she was guarding it.

Jessica always carried herself differently than most demons.

Elegant.

Composed.

Dangerous.

Like a beautiful rose covered in so many thorns that most people would bleed before they ever got close enough to touch it.

I turned on the shower and let the water warm up.

[ SHHHHHHHHH ]

“I need to talk to someone about this.”

I rubbed one of the markings beneath my eye.

“Hopefully someone is home.”

I washed up in the shower and adjusted to my new size.

The water crashed over me, washing away the sleepless night.

“I think I’m growing into something like my mother.”

For a moment, I stared at the water and imagined myself becoming elegant like my mom.

Lysandra.

The Umbral Ice High Elf.

I slapped both hands over my face.

My cheeks flushed, and the markings beneath my eyes glowed with a hazy purple light.

“OH MY GOD, THAT’S GONNA BE TOO MUCH!”

Jessica heard me spiraling in the shower, saying outlandish things like I was speaking in another tongue.

Then she heard me slip.

[ BANG! ]

She rushed in to help me up and make sure I was okay.

“Sophia?! Oh shit!”

Jessica helped me out of the shower and took care of me until I was finally in my new clothes.

She removed the ice pack from the back of my head.

One eye stayed closed as I rubbed the sore spot. A light pain still lingered there.

I turned my gaze toward the mirror and saw how much I had grown.

It felt like I was looking at myself from another angle.

“I guess I really forgot how I looked back home… huh?”

I reached for the mirror and touched it with my fingertips to check if the reflection was real.

[ TAP ]

The glass felt cold against my fingers.

For a moment, I just stared.

The girl in the mirror looked familiar.

But not completely.

Like I was slowly becoming someone new while still trying to remember someone old.

I pulled my hand away.

“Noxx, let’s go eat.”

Noxx got up and ran out of the room with Nira still sleeping in his lantern.

Jessica followed me as I walked toward the stairs. She held the back of my long dress so it wouldn’t drag down the steps.

She complained while I rushed down, holding the staircase rail.

“Princess Sophia! Please restrain yourself!”

The smell of food got stronger.

And it smelled way too specific to be demon-made.

It smelled American.

I heard oil popping from the kitchen.

Noxx ran into the dining hall ahead of me.

“I smell eggs being fried,” I said. “And is that bacon?”

I walked into the kitchen and saw a woman who looked like a female version of Bel.

That alone made me stop.

Her black hair was tied into a ponytail, and she looked way too happy cooking like she owned the whole kitchen.

The common demon clothes she wore looked basic, but somehow she made them look expensive.

Then she turned toward me.

Her eyes were pitch black.

The same kind of Abyss I had seen in Bel.

Something in my stomach twisted.

Not because she looked dangerous.

Because she felt familiar.

The feeling hit me so suddenly that I took a step back before I even realized I was moving.

Like my instincts recognized something my mind hadn't caught up to yet.

[ GULP! ]

She plated two dishes with eggs, fries, demon beast bacon strips, and toast on the side.

Then she turned toward me.

Her eyes closed into a warm smile.

The expression looked welcoming.

Yet somehow dangerous at the same time.

She bowed before standing upright again.

“Good morning, Princess Sophia. My name is Saleena. Would you like something to eat?”

Jessica was about to take control of the kitchen, but I reached out and stopped her.

I turned toward Jessica.

She noticed my new markings flare for a brief moment.

A small droplet of drool slipped from the corner of my mouth.

“I think I'll eat her cooking this morning.”

I pointed at Saleena.

“You can take a break, Jessica.”

Jessica raised one eyebrow.

Clearly, she understood exactly what was happening.

She grabbed her purse from the wall and headed toward the exit.

“I'll be back in a few hours with your weekly supplies then.”

She paused by the doorway.

“Also, there is a file waiting for you in the dining room. It's from the hospital.”

I nodded so fast my neck almost snapped.

Then I grabbed my warm plate.

My eyes practically spiraled as the smell invaded my soul.

Saleena carried a plate in one hand while her pure black eyes remained fixed on Bel.

Bel was already sitting at the table.

Eating.

Reading my paperwork.

I slowly tilted my head to the side.

There was no way he was serious.

My voice came out sharper than I intended.

“Uhm... HELLO?!”

I pointed directly at him.

“THAT'S MINE!”

Belzagus was reading my patient results like he was proofreading them for me.

He wore a black T-shirt and black shorts, like he had just rolled out of bed.

Then I remembered.

He didn’t live here.

He didn’t even bat an eye at me.

Like he already knew my type of personality.

“Sit down already,” Bel said. “I wanna talk to you about something.”

He turned a page with one hand and took a sip of his coffee.

His mother sat beside him and placed both plates in front of us.

“Enjoy, sweetie.”

Bel closed the file and slid it over to my side of the table like he hadn’t just done something illegal.

But it was clear as day.

He knew this world better than me and didn’t care anymore.

I sat down and placed my plate in front of me while giving him an ugly look.

He gave me an ugly look back while chewing, then rolled his eyes at me.

I gasped like he knew exactly how to get under my skin better than everyone else.

I don’t know why that was the first question that came out of my mouth.

Maybe it was the smell of breakfast.

Maybe it was the way he acted.

Or maybe I just wanted to know if I was the only one who still remembered home.

“Do you remember your old life or something?”

Bel looked at me while chewing his food aggressively.

He didn’t mention why Madina wasn’t present.

I didn’t ask.

His face looked ready to talk about something deep instead.

“Yeah,” Bel said. “I remember growing up in the Bronx and trying to make ends meet.”

His mother shifted closer to him, moving her chair until her hip touched his.

She kept eating like this was normal.

Something told me Belzagus had already told his mother about being a different spirit.

Saleena forced a piece of tomato into his mouth with a creepy smile across her face.

“But now he’s my baby boy,” Saleena said. “Without him, I wouldn’t be living here with all of you.”

She glanced at Bel with warmth in her endless black eyes.

“Do I think about the person who was supposed to be Belzagus? Not really.”

She opened her eyes fully, exposing the deep endless darkness inside them.

The kind I could get lost in and probably never return from.

Saleena kissed Belzagus on the cheek.

Bel kept his eyes on me like this was normal to him.

Then he pointed his fork at me while his mother returned to her seat and continued eating calmly.

I did the same, waiting for his question.

“Do you remember the first day you got here?”

I thought about it.

The robbery.

The gun.

The way I struggled to get my wallet out of my purse.

The old hag Evil Goddess waiting for me afterward.

“Yeah,” I said. “I got robbed, met the old hag Evil Goddess, and now I’m here trying to keep my new family alive.”

Belzagus stabbed a piece of bacon and lifted it toward his mouth.

“Yeah,” he said. “I got murdered in my apartment.”

My eyes shot open.

He said it so casually that my brain almost refused to process it.

I stuttered, trying to get the question out.

“What led to that outcome?”

Bel took a bite of the bacon.

His face went calm.

Dead calm.

He hesitated before answering, but when the words came out, they sounded numb.

Like some part of him still blamed himself.

“I did some things growing up back in the Bronx,” Bel said. “People don’t really forget. They just get colder and start looking over the American laws.”

He leaned back in his chair while his mother cleaned his lips with her eyes closed.

He waited until she went back to eating.

Then he continued.

“I was reading the same manga you probably read when I died.”

I had almost forgotten about that manga.

At some point, I accepted that this was my life now.

“But it’s not following the story anymore,” I said. “Scorin is protecting me now. That wasn’t supposed to happen, right?”

Belzagus nodded while his mother stood and carried their plates to the kitchen.

He looked at me with a serious expression.

Like he already knew what was going to happen to me.

“I need you to be careful around him,” Bel said. “The direction he chose just shifted.”

He took a sip of his coffee.

Then he gave me a dead stare.

“I was the original author of it.”

The room went quiet.

Not empty quiet.

Heavy quiet.

Like the whole world had stopped chewing with us.

My fingers tightened around my fork.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

The manga.

The Demon Kingdom.

Sophia.

Scorin.

Belzagus.

Everything I thought I had read.

Everything I thought I had understood.

All of it suddenly had a face sitting across from me.

I slowly reached toward him with a shaking hand and pointed at his face.

“Your…”

My mouth dried out.

“Your…”

Bel didn’t move.

He just watched me figure it out.

“You’re… Douglas?”

Bel placed one finger over his lips.

Like he wanted that part to stay buried between us.

Then he folded his hands together on the table.

“Since you get it now, I’m going to be blunt,” Bel said. “We need to start physically training you.”

I couldn’t look away from him.

“If you’re alive, then this world has a chance.”

His black eyes stayed locked on mine.

“And if you weren’t here, I probably would have devoured this world already, my dear little sister.”

I looked at him like he hadn’t just told me he was the original author.

Like his murderer wasn’t still somewhere continuing his story.

I couldn’t speak.

Pure shock sat in my throat.

My empty plate sat in front of me.

My belly was full.

But my mouth went dry, and my lips felt like stone.

Bel stood from the table and walked toward the dining room exit, keeping his eyes on me.

“The earlier, the better…”

He stopped at the doorway.

“Dear little sister.”