"Hmm, and why do you want to do that?"
"To avoid making enemies and to understand how much power I must display before others so that I can't become queen."
"And why do you think you would need to do that?"
"Oh, please. As you all said, power attracts attention, meaning power rules in your society. Not that there's anything wrong with that. If the one in power isn't a tyrant, then it's fine. But from what I've seen of the Demon King, I can already tell he isn't a power-hungry fool."
"Yes, you're absolutely correct about that."
"I know I am. You kind of told me so."
"Sigh. Well, let's start from the top. Uwe Daimonas is the King of all demons. Then there's me, the Queen, Leah Daimonas. I have three children. Lucas is the oldest, and Julia is the second oldest."
"Oh, that rude girl from earlier."
"I'm leaving. See you all later," the Demon King said as he left the room.
"Alright. Rude? Yes, I suppose she might have been rude to you. But she does have a reason. After all, you did kill her fiancé."
"Yeah, I heard about that. I'll do it again if necessary," I added, my tone more serious.
"And I wouldn't have cared the second time either," Queen Leah remarked with disdain.
"Pfft, I guess you didn't like him."
"He forced the engagement with my daughter, and he's 34 years older than her."
"That's disgusting," I muttered, frowning as the pain throbbed in my arm.
"Don't do that too much. You'll hurt yourself."
"Yeah, I figured that out."
"The youngest child is Karl, and he's only 12."
"So young."
"Then there's the first concubine, Lina. She's also my best friend, so you can trust her as much as you trust me."
"So... not much, okay," I said, nodding to myself thoughtfully.
"That's quite rude but understandable. Now, as for her children, she only has twins—a boy and a girl named Timy and Sara."
"Cool."
"There are two others, but I'll tell you about them another time. It's a sensitive subject."
"I understand."
Knock knock.
"Yo, Leah, can I come in?"
"Give me a second, Lina," Leah called toward the door. "Now come on, Ren, get back in bed."
"Yes, yes," I muttered, teleporting back onto the bed, only to grunt in pain as I grabbed my right arm. "Damn it! I forgot about that," I said, referring to the drip stand I'd left behind.
"You're lucky everything was already injected into your system, or else I would have been upset," the Queen remarked, retrieving the drip stand from the other side of the room.
"Yeah? You still sound upset, though," I chuckled.
"Lina, you can come in," Leah said, tossing a blanket over me.
"Sorry for the intrusion," Lina said as she entered.
"You always say that when you come into my labs."
"Well, you remember what happened the last time I just barged in, don't you?"
"Yeah, I stabbed you with a scalpel," the Queen said nonchalantly.
"Pfftt, what!? Damn, my eyes!" I shouted, making them both look at me strangely.
"Oh, don't worry, it wasn't that bad. She just stabbed me in the hand."
"I get that you demons have a better healing factor than humans, but still... How are you two still friends?" I asked, my feet dangling off the bed as I followed the sound of her voice.
"Hmm, so is it true you adopted her?" Lina asked, inspecting me while ignoring my question.
"Yeah, isn't she lively?"
"Yeah, but something feels... off about her," Lina muttered, probably narrowing her eyes at me.
'Wasn't she just telling me who I am?' I thought, confused, wanting to test the topic.
"Oh, that might be because I'm human, not a demon."
Silence greeted my statement.
"Leah, you know I don't hate humans, but letting one join the royal family? Isn't that a bit too much?" Lina said hesitantly.
"Oh, should I not have mentioned that?" I mumbled, feigning embarrassment.
"Nah, Uwe already knows and has accepted it. As for future problems, we just need to hide her face for a while until the demons trust her."
"Hmm, but what if—"
"I'm not power-hungry. All I want is to travel the world, and knowing that I can travel four worlds has just made that dream even bigger," I interrupted, bringing up my long-standing goal.
"No, that's not what I was going to ask. But it's good to know. I was more worried about the bloodshed if the other factions discovered there was another princess."
"Oh, and to properly introduce my new daughter: her name is Ren Daimonas, formerly Ren Bell."
"Bell, Ren Bell? Are you crazy?! You mean the Ren Bell who killed our Earth General—what was his name again? Whatever. Sigh. If this gets out, there'll be chaos." Lina sounded baffled.
'She didn't even care about his name,' I mused, keeping my expression neutral.
"She's loud," I muttered, making myself more comfortable on the bed.
"Yes, but at least we won't have to worry too much about assassins," Leah added.
"Yeah, if what I've heard is true, it's the assassins who should be worried."
"Wha-what? What kind of rumors are going around? It sounds like I'm some crazed beast tearing people apart!" I exclaimed, confused.
"You did in the throne room, though," Leah mumbled.
"Pochi," I quipped.
"Well, I heard you massacred everyone in the main hall a few days ago, even stabbed Uwe in the gut before getting killed. Not many people can say they've done that. There are also rumors about you on the battlefield, ripping through enemies like butter... or turning them into butter."
"Tsk. Your king was going easy on me. He's at least 20 times stronger. And I was killed?" I said, waving her off.
"I'll explain that later," Leah said, dismissing me.
"And the massacre?" Lina asked, still confused.
"Oh, that happened. I wasn't about to let them execute me without a fight."
"So you killed, like, 40 demons on their home turf, with no weapon?"
"Well, when you put it that way, it does sound brutal. But I did get a sword," I added sarcastically.
"...Do you even know what common sense is?"
"Yes, but I know human common sense, not demon common sense."
"There's not much difference, actually."
"There isn't?" I tilted my head in curiosity.
"No, you'll be surprised. We're quite similar to humans."
"I presume you learned all of this from this crazy doctor," I said, pointing at Leah.
"Hey!"
"Yes, but I have to ask—what's wrong with your eyes? Why are they bandaged? And more importantly, how do you know where I am the entire time?" Lina suddenly snapped.
"Because I'm just that good," I replied smugly.
"Tsk." Both Leah and Lina clicked their tongues at my answer.
"As for my eyes, ask your crazy doctor friend over there."
"Yeah, I gave her new and improved eyes," Leah said cheerfully.
"And to hide her human heritage, I presume?"
"Of course," Leah confirmed.
"Sigh, what variant did you give her?"
"Ah, the newest ones, of course," Leah said proudly.
"The ones you made two weeks ago?"
"What?! You made these?!" I asked, shocked.
"Yes, did you think I was lying?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"Don't look at me like that. Would you believe everything a self-proclaimed crazy person tells you?"
"She does have a point," Lina said, chuckling at Leah's surprised expression.
"Wha-what? Why am I suddenly under attack?"
"Attack? No, we're just stating facts." Lina and I spoke in unison, making us glance at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Now I understand how Uwe feels," Leah mumbled dishearteningly.
"Oh well, what are you planning to do with her until her eyes heal? Hmm, she also needs a makeover," Lina said, eyeing me.