After an hour, Kael finally returned to the office where Serenna was still asleep over the desk.
The room remained silent, illuminated only by the faint bluish light of dawn that slipped through the half-open curtains.
The pile of documents was still scattered all over the table like a small endless mountain of responsibilities that no one in their right mind would want to look at for more than five minutes straight, much less sign through an entire night.
Kael stood still by the door for a moment, watching her.
Serenna had her head resting on one of her arms, with several strands of hair falling over her face and the slow breathing of someone who had collapsed from exhaustion without realizing it. Even while sleeping, she still held a pen between her fingers, as if her body refused to abandon work even unconsciously.
Kael let out a tired sigh.
Without making a sound, he slowly walked over until he was beside her. Then he took off the dark long-sleeved shirt he was wearing over himself and carefully placed it over Serenna's shoulders to shield her from the cold that was beginning to fill the office.
Underneath, he wore only a white shirt that was already slightly wrinkled from exhaustion.
For a moment, he stood there watching her in silence.
Not because he was thinking something deep, but because he honestly did not understand how someone could survive surrounded by so much paperwork without losing their sanity. That was more terrifying than any monster he had seen since arriving in that world.
After that, he sat down again.
There were still dozens of pages left in front of him to review.
Kael began reading them one by one while signing with a trembling hand, though his mind was far away from that office.
Every word from the strange encounter in the kitchen kept repeating inside his head like a thorn lodged in his mind.
The system will betray you.
Do not go to the vampire kingdom.
Go to the paradise of the gods.
You need a mask.
That voice still echoed inside him with an uncomfortable clarity.
He tried to convince himself that it had all been the result of exhaustion. After all, he had spent days training until his body nearly broke, and then he had spent the night signing documents he probably did not even fully understand.
Anyone in that condition would start hearing things.
Or at least that was what he wanted to believe.
But something inside him told him that it had not been a hallucination.
And that was what disturbed him the most.
Time passed slowly.
The night eventually disappeared behind the first lights of dawn.
The rays of the sun began to enter through the window and bathed the office in a warm glow that contrasted with the exhaustion covering Kael's face.
His eyes were surrounded by deep dark circles.
His hair was completely messy.
His fingers could barely hold the pen.
Even so, he kept signing.
Page after page.
Document after document.
Until he finally pressed his signature onto the last sheet.
The dry sound of the pen falling onto the table seemed to mark the end of a silent battle.
At that exact moment, Serenna began to move.
Her eyelids slowly opened and for a second she looked around without understanding where she was. Then she sat up abruptly, startled when she realized she had fallen asleep.
—Where am I? Kael, where are yo...?
Her voice faded when she noticed the shirt over her shoulders.
She slowly lowered her gaze to the dark fabric and then looked back at Kael, who was already standing up in front of the desk.
She watched him for a few seconds.
The exhaustion on his face was so obvious that even someone as distracted as Kael would have been able to notice it in a mirror.
—Hey… Kael… where are you going?
Kael barely turned toward her.
His movements were slow, clumsy, as if every muscle in his body weighed more than usual.
—Ah… you're awake now, Serenna… —he said with a small exhausted smile—. I already finished signing everything you asked me to… I think I'm going to rest for a bit… my body is already considering suing me.
Serenna looked at him in silence.
For some reason, that tired smile left a strange feeling in her chest.
He did not seem like the same carefree Kael as always.
There was something different in his eyes.
Something she could not explain.
—Well… get some rest —she finally murmured.
Kael nodded and quietly left the office.
The castle hallway was calm at that hour. Only a few maids were beginning their duties while the first rays of sunlight illuminated the long stone corridors.
Kael walked slowly through them.
His steps were unsteady.
His mind was still trapped in that dark kitchen.
That being.
That voice.
That warning.
Every time he tried to ignore it, the words returned with greater force.
What are you to me?
Just remembering that phrase sent a chill down his spine.
Several maids looked at him as he passed.
They whispered among themselves when they saw the state he was in.
His appearance was pitiful even for someone accustomed to Agnitus's brutal training. He looked like an elegant corpse walking out of pure stubbornness.
Kael barely paid them any attention.
He turned a corner in the corridor and was about to keep walking when a soft voice stopped him.
—Kael… are you alright?
He lifted his gaze.
Standing in front of him was Seraphyne.
As always, her presence seemed to wrap the hallway in a different kind of calm. Her long silver hair fell elegantly over her shoulders and her eyes watched him with a mixture of concern and serenity.
Kael smiled by reflex.
A clumsy smile.
A tired one.
Clearly fake.
—Relax, Seraphyne… I'm super mega fine… just a little tired.
He even tried to raise his arms to show strength, in a ridiculous pose that would have convinced exactly no one.
Seraphyne watched him silently for a few seconds.
Then she let out a faint sigh.
—Of course… it shows very clearly.
Kael let out a short laugh, though without any energy.
He started walking again, intending to continue toward his room, but suddenly stopped.
The voice of that figure crossed his mind again.
Go to the paradise of the gods.
Kael immediately turned around.
—Wait, Seraphyne.
She slowly turned back.
—Tell me.
Kael hesitated for a few seconds.
He did not know if asking was madness.
But he could not remain with the doubt.
—Seraphyne… do you know where the Paradise of the Gods is?
For the first time, Seraphyne's calm expression changed slightly.
Her brows faintly furrowed.
—The paradise of the gods?
Kael nodded.
Seraphyne raised a hand to her chin, thoughtful.
—I think you mean the place where some ancient gods were exiled… although no one has called it that for centuries.
Kael felt his heart begin to beat harder.
—So it exists?
Seraphyne looked directly at him.
—Yes.
The silence between them became heavier.
Kael had not expected such a direct answer.
Part of him still wanted to believe that everything had been a delirium.
But hearing that from Seraphyne changed something inside him.
—Where is it? —he asked quietly.
Seraphyne took a few seconds before answering.
—In the Abyss.
Kael blinked.
—The Abyss?
—It is near the old Great Dungeon —she explained—. In the center of the world. It is a region where space is unstable and the boundaries between planes are weak. Few return after entering there.
Kael swallowed.
It sounded exactly like the kind of place any person with common sense would avoid.
Which, of course, meant he would probably end up going there.
Because apparently reincarnating as the Demon King did not come with the right to make normal decisions.
—Thank you, Seraphyne.
She watched him carefully.
—Kael…
He lifted his gaze.
—Be careful with whatever it is you are thinking.
For a moment, Kael felt like she could see far more than she was saying.
But he simply nodded.
—I will.
After that, he continued walking down the corridor.
This time more slowly.
More thoughtfully.
Every step he took seemed to sink him deeper into his own doubts.
When he finally reached his room, he barely had enough strength to open the door.
He entered dragging his feet.
And without even bothering to take off his boots, he let himself fall onto the bed.
The mattress sank under his weight as exhaustion hit him all at once.
His body could not take any more.
Neither could his mind.
The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the ceiling of the room slowly spinning above him.
And the last thing he thought was a single question.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
But Kael was not alone.
On the other side of the room, completely motionless with a cloth in her hands, Nyxelle had frozen when she saw him suddenly walk in.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
She had not expected to find the Demon King collapsing in front of her as if life had run him over several times in a single night.