Vario did not sleep again that night.
When morning came, the convenience store lights flickered on as usual, shelves humming softly, refrigerators buzzing like distant insects. Everything was normal—too normal. And yet, something inside the Demon King had shifted.
He stood behind the counter, arms folded, staring into nothing. The dream lingered in his mind—not the images themselves, but the feeling they had left behind. An unfamiliar weight. A warmth he did not recognize.
Yuwen entered the store shortly after, adjusting her cloak as she floated toward the back aisle. "Morning, my lord," she said casually, her usual teasing calm intact.
Vario stiffened.
"…Good morning," he replied, far too quickly.
Yuwen paused. Just for a moment. She turned, one eyebrow raised. "You sound… strange. Did the rotten noodles finally finish you off?"
Vario looked away immediately. "No. I am… perfectly functional."
Nyx, crouched nearby sorting cards, slowly looked up. "Oh?" she said, grin spreading. "You're doing the look-away thing. That's new."
Vario ignored her, but his gaze kept drifting—against his will—back toward Yuwen. The way she moved through the aisles, the confidence in her posture, the familiar presence that he had commanded for ages without ever noticing.
This was wrong.
He was the Demon King. She was one of his generals. Feelings were inefficient. Dangerous. Weakness.
And yet…
When Yuwen laughed softly at something Drogan said, Vario felt a strange tightening in his chest. Not pain. Not sickness. Something else. Something quiet.
"What is this…?" he muttered under his breath.
Bella leaned over the counter, watching him with narrowed eyes. "You okay? You've been staring at her for, like, five minutes."
"I have not," Vario snapped instantly.
Bella smirked. "Sure."
Yuwen floated back toward the counter, placing a box of restocked items down. "My lord," she said, tilting her head, "are you unwell? You seem… distracted today."
Their eyes met.
For just a second, Vario forgot what he was going to say.
"I—" He stopped, coughed, straightened his posture. "I am merely… contemplating recent events."
Yuwen smiled faintly. "That sounds dangerous."
Nyx gasped dramatically. "WAIT. Oh. Oh no. I see it now."
Bella sighed. "You've got to be kidding me."
Vario turned sharply. "See what?"
Nyx pointed back and forth between them, barely containing her excitement. "The dream did something to you, didn't it? Oh this is juicy. Demon King character development!"
Vario clenched his fists. "Silence. This is… irrelevant."
But even as he said it, his eyes betrayed him, drifting back to Yuwen again. She noticed this time. Her teasing expression softened—just slightly.
"…If something troubles you," she said more quietly, "you may speak of it. You know that."
That was the problem.
Vario looked away again, jaw tight. "I do not understand this feeling," he admitted, barely audible. "It is… inconvenient."
Yuwen studied him for a long moment, then chuckled softly. "Feelings usually are."
Nyx clasped her hands together. "I KNEW IT! The convenience store claims another victim!"
Bella shook her head. "First rotten noodles. Then vaping. Now this. Retail really does change people."
Vario said nothing. He simply stood there, the Demon King of a fallen realm, undone not by heroes or gods—but by a dream, a human world, and a feeling he could no longer ignore.
And somewhere between the snack aisle and the soda fridge, something new had begun.