Demonkin

Although the morning had been chaotic, the evening unfolded like any other.

Dinner, bath, bedtime story.

“And so, the heroine Fina fell in love with the prince…”

Steady, even breaths echoed softly beside me.

The young lady, clutching her lion plushie, had already drifted into slumber.

Perhaps it was her brother Claude’s departure that left her feeling lonely—

it had taken an extra hour of stories before she finally fell asleep tonight.

I gently brushed aside her bangs and caressed her forehead, taking in her sleeping face.

Bathed in moonlight, with none of her usual daytime mischief, she looked even more beautiful in this peaceful stillness.

…It made my heart itch.

I had to admit, our young lady was absurdly, overwhelmingly adorable.

“Good night, Lady Katarina.”

After tidying up her hair, I tiptoed quietly out of the room.

“Haaah…”

I stifled a yawn.

It was far too late to be awake.

I was still just a ten-year-old child, and staying up this late wasn’t healthy at all.

There was an early wake-up call tomorrow too—

I should hurry back and get to bed…

But just as I was sleepily making my way down the corridor, a sharp chill suddenly shot down my spine, instantly clearing away all my drowsiness.

I stopped in my tracks and instinctively looked around—

Yet, as far as I could tell, no one was there.

…Was I imagining things?

But before I could convince myself, I caught a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye—

A shadow shifting unnaturally.

“…!”

Without hesitation, I drew the dagger hidden against my inner thigh and hurled it toward the shadow.

“Who’s there?!”

“My, my… what keen senses.”

The shadow writhed strangely under my gaze, then began to swell and distort, taking on the shape of a man.

From within that mass of darkness stepped out a man with slicked-back black hair, wearing a deep purple cloak.

His crimson eyes gleamed eerily in the dim light.

…but the most grotesque thing of all was the pair of massive bat-like wings sprouting from his back—

an ostentatious, undeniable sign that this creature was no human.

“Demonkin?”

—Demonkin.

Strictly speaking, a subspecies of magical beasts.

Unlike mindless monsters, they had humanoid forms, intelligence, and even rudimentary societies.

They could wield advanced magic and posed a far greater threat than typical beasts.

To distinguish them, we categorized them separately as demonkin.

But… what was a demonkin doing here?

This was the tightly guarded estate of a Duke!

How had he bypassed all the guards?

“I would prefer you not address me with such crude terminology.

Call me Vladimir, lovely Lady Moonlight.”

“…Ugh.”

His words sent a wave of goosebumps down my arms.

“What a shame…

Only half of you is ‘pure.’

Had you been free of such impurities, I would have asked to make you my bride.”

He bared his sharp fangs in a leering grin—

absolutely revolting.

I hugged myself, rubbing my arms to banish the crawling sensation.

“With all due respect, I must decline.

I have no interest in perverted creeps with a thing for children.”

“Ah, but humans and their peculiar ethics…

We demonkin have no such constraints.

To us, it’s only natural that strong individuals combine and create even stronger offspring.”

…Of course.

Trying to reason with demonkin using human morals was like lecturing a rock on manners.

These were the same creatures who abandoned their own children to survive or perish as a form of “natural selection” and “training.”

“But I must say, I didn’t expect to run into you now.

You should’ve been fast asleep by this time.”

“…Why do you know my schedule?”

“When a man is in love, it’s only natural for him to learn everything about the one he adores.”

Bullshit!

This guy wasn’t some love-struck fool—he was just a disgusting stalker!

As someone who used to be a man, I could confidently say:

No normal guy would do something this vile!

…No, I’m letting him control the pace of the conversation.

He came here at this exact time, right outside the young lady’s room.

He had to be up to something.

But I couldn’t just scream for help…

…I didn’t know why, but I was certain—

If I shouted for backup right now, he’d kill me before a sound escaped.

So I needed to stall him.

Make noise.

Draw the guards’ attention.

“No more talk!”

I drew another dagger and lunged straight at him.

Vladimir flared his wings and twisted his body, effortlessly dodging my strike.

“My, what a fiery little vixen.

I like you even more now.”

…Gag.

I seriously wanted to throw up.

No matter.

I couldn’t let his words get to me.

Him dodging was expected.

And now, he was no longer near the wall—

which meant I could use that spell.

Keeping to the plan, I hurled a fireball toward him.

As before, he tried to sidestep.

But this wasn’t just a basic fireball you could dodge by leaning a little!

Just as it neared, I snapped my fingers.

Boom!

The fireball exploded mid-air, a deafening burst of flames and smoke erupting outward in every direction.

I’d controlled the mana so it wouldn’t damage the estate’s walls—

So while the blast looked impressive, it probably didn’t do much real harm.

But that wasn’t the point.

“Cough, cough…

Hot-tempered, aren’t we?

You’ve irritated me a little.”

The smoke cleared, and as expected, he was unharmed.

He casually shook off his cloak and bared his fangs again.

“Very well.

Let me get a bit serious.

Once I’ve subdued you by force, you’ll be mine.”

“…!”

In an instant, a wave of dread surged through me—

My body temperature dropped, and my limbs froze in place.

The pressure was crushing.

Even breathing felt impossible.

A massive swirl of mana gathered in his hand.

If I didn’t block this next strike, I was dead.

But I couldn’t move—

Fear, dark and oppressive, shackled me where I stood.

But just as despair began to take root—

A shadow darted into Vladimir’s body.

“…It’s done already?”

The immense mana in his hand dissipated.

The pressure vanished along with it, and I could finally breathe again.

Thud-thud-thud!

Heavy footsteps thundered down the corridor.

Within moments, the hallway was packed with armed guards.

“Who are you?! Stay where you are!”

“Hands up!”

“Hmm…

Seems it’s not time to claim you just yet.”

Vladimir scanned the surroundings and, judging the situation, withdrew his killing intent.

Slowly, his body began to sink back into the shadows.

“Time is on our side.

As for the Duke’s daughter’s portion…

We’ll take our time.”

“You’re not getting away!”

One of the guards lunged with a spear—

But it passed through Vladimir’s form like smoke, hitting only shadow.

And just like that, Vladimir vanished into the darkness, leaving only his voice behind.

“We shall meet again, my lovely Lady Moonlight.”

“Haaah…”

Once I was sure his presence had completely disappeared, my body finally relaxed.

All strength drained from me, and I collapsed in a duck-sit on the floor.

Click.

At that moment, a drowsy golden blowfish toddled onto the scene, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

“What was that noise? So annoying…

Ailena?!”

The young lady rushed over, clearly alarmed, trying to help me up.

But the tide of fatigue and sleepiness crashed over me, overwhelming everything.

My consciousness faded into black.