NOVPUBAs the clock of Demon Academy struck five in the morning, time seemed to slow down momentarily, as if waiting for some sort of change to occur.
The first light of dawn streamed in through the windows of the botanical garden, sifting down through the leaves.
The soft glow filled the fog, and the entire Demon Shadow World began to dissolve like a mirage.
Lanci finally put down his book.
The next second, the ancient book of Demon Clan that seemed to be weathered by the years, along with the scene of the Demon World Experimental Botanical Garden, gradually dissolved away.
In the blink of an eye, Lanci and Hyperion found themselves standing in a small transparent room enveloped by the eternal night sky; the sparse starlight illuminating their surroundings enough to see their immediate environment clearly.
This is the Fringe Space, where the real world and the Shadow World intertwine.
Lanci could see a small crack in the transparent barrier not far away, through which spilled a few rays of tranquil, flowing purple light. It was a Mini Void Door.
In a little while, they should be able to return to the real world through it.
However, the settlement of the Shadow World didn’t seem to have appeared for a moment.
Although the real Shadow World wouldn’t be as unable to produce results as the artificial one, Lanci had heard that if too many abnormal situations that do not follow the mechanism occurred during the real Shadow World challenge, it could momentarily lengthen the settlement process of the Shadow World.
He didn’t know how much longer it would take this time.
Lanci raised his head with a smile, preparing to chat with Hyperion.
He remembered that Hyperion had been talking to him just now, but he was too focused on the final content of the book.
Then a hint of confusion appeared on Lanci’s face.
"Hyperion, what’s wrong?"
Lanci looked at Hyperion’s expression, murmuring in puzzlement,
"Oh, is it because that guy said you are a mixed-blood demon tribe?"
Lanci realized that Hyperion had been fine until the moment that the criminal, who was eventually consumed by the demon, said on his deathbed that Hyperion is a "Mixed-blood Demon Tribe". Her state had seemed somewhat unusual since then.
"Hmm."
Upon meeting Lanci’s consistently gentle gaze, Hyperion somehow felt a weight lift from her heart.
Until this moment, she was very sure that she didn’t want to lose Lanci as a friend.
But then...
Her imagination never fathomed this.
"My god, you have demon blood?"
Lanci, unable to hide the admiration in his eyes, stared at her and said.
Hyperion did not know how to react for a moment.
It was the first time someone reacted not with disgust but with genuine... favor upon knowing her mixed-blood demon’s tribe identity?
"You really don’t hold anything against the Demon Race? You’ve been around a demon for an entire day."
Hyperion said in disbelief.
She had never met someone with such a friendly attitude towards the Demon Race before!
Even her father, at first, was repulsed by the Demon Race, and it was only after meeting her mother that his attitude began to change gradually.
"Uh..."
Lanci hesitated, cupping his chin in thought for a moment, seemingly reminiscing about the leadership group he formed at Purgatory Corridor Academy.
"..."
Hyperion too was left speechless.
Forget about it, this guy is just a demon among demons. It’s not surprising if he is friendly with demons.
Hyperion recalled what Lanci had done at the Demon Academy.
In conclusion, she felt at ease.
"My mother is from a Great Demon Clan who drifted down from the North. She fell in love with my father, Duke Migaya Aranzar, in the guise of a common girl and they gave birth to me."
Hyperion’s gaze dropped, her eyes filled with a whirlwind of emotions as she confessed to Lanci.
Hyperion didn’t know whether her father, Duke Alansar, had discovered her mother was part of the Demon Race or if he had known all along and pretended not to.
It wasn’t until the birth of her, a half-blood demon infant, that the truth could no longer be hidden. Not long after that, her mother quietly left the capital of Hutton...
Hyperion still remembers the often melancholic expression on her father’s face. Even after finding out her mother belonged to the Demon Race, his greatest desire was still to bring her back.
Duke Alansar was the only person Hyperion used to think of in the capital of Hutton, who genuinely did not despise the Demon Race.
And now, it seemed there was another such gentle anomaly.
Lanci scratched his head upon hearing.
It sounds vaguely familiar.
Another demon from the North, and a Great Demon Clan at that. She couldn’t possibly be related to Talia, could she?
"I feel like all the demons I’ve met are pretty nice. I don’t understand why everyone dislikes them..."
Lanci said in confusion.
He felt that this world was too hostile to the Demon Race, even though they posed no harm.
"... Could it be possible that you’re just too kind-hearted?"
Hyperion didn’t know what to say about Lanci.
If anyone else in the human kingdom had just made that comment, they might have been attacked and called a white knight, but if the one who made that comment was Lanci, the situation would change, because in front of him, the Demon Race really appeared to be as harmless as a gentle rabbit.
"Oh, that’s why, even as the daughter of a duke, I’m shunned in the Capital City Ekrite. After the war forty years ago, everyone believes that the Demon Race cannot coexist with humans, even if it’s the half-demons like me who only have half demon blood."
Hyperion confessed to Lanci, as if she was finally able to share the thoughts that had been weighing on her heart for a long time. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
Lanci had only recently arrived in the capital, which had once been haunted by wars, from the southern border. It was just over five o’clock on the second day of school. He felt somewhat out of place.
In fact, as long as he spends a few more days at school, meets and interacts with more people, he should soon find out about Hyperion being a half-demon.
By then, it would naturally become clear the hostility of the people in the capital towards the Demon Race.
"So you’re saying, even though people in this capital know about your demon heritage, they still regard you as Miss Duchess?"
Lanci said with a slight smile curling up the corner of his mouth.
Hyperion was stunned at his words, staring into Lanci’s warm, emerald green eyes.
She did not know how to respond for a moment.
She didn’t understand.
Why did the circumstance of "being the Duchess’s daughter and being ostracized by everyone because of her demon heritage"...
...turn into something fortunate when spun through Lanci’s words?
"You really are..."
Hyperion looked at Lanci helplessly, with an expression that seemed to convey "I give up",
"The way you talk, like you did last time between Vivian and me, leaves one unable to respond to you."
Although it seemed like a complaint…
But in the end, she laughed. It wasn’t a fake laugh, nor was it an act learned in the Fourth-order Demon’s Shadow World, but an honest smile that a person could show.
