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Big... sis?
The moment she called herself that, Bokue's brain nearly froze.
He had only been gone for about two weeks, and now that he was back at the capital of the Current Demon Lord faction, someone new was sitting on the throne. For a second, he thought there had been some kind of sudden coup—like demon politics were so brutal and fast-paced that the faction had already been overthrown mid-conflict.
But no—apparently that wasn't the case at all.
Turned out, the "big sis" was literally just that. Leo had gone off somewhere, so his sister was covering for him while he was out.
Huh. So the northern demons had functional family dynamics too. Who would've guessed?
While Bokue was still sorting through those thoughts, the girl—Liala—had already skipped cheerfully over to him. Hands held cutely behind her back, legs together, toes pointed, she tilted her upper body forward with a dazzling smile.
"Nice to meet you~ I'm Liala! Feel free to call me by name. Or, if you'd prefer—and I personally do prefer—you can call me Big Sis, just like Leo-chan does. It sounds friendlier, don't you think? But of course, I'll respect whatever you're comfortable with."
"..."
She was seriously this bubbly?
Bokue raised a brow at her enthusiasm, but still gave a polite response.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Bokue Keikain."
"Bo...kue Keikain?"
Liala repeated his name to herself a few times, eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"That doesn't sound like a name from around here. Actually... now that I look at you, you don't seem like a demon at all. Not just your looks, but your aura's completely different."
"That's because I'm human."
Bokue said it flat-out, no hesitation.
"H-Human??"
Liala flinched back half a step, eyes wide and hand over her mouth like she'd just heard something outrageous.
"W-Wait a sec... Now that you mention it... Leo-chan did tell me about some crazy strong human he met a couple weeks ago—someone who took down Zolgear and even fought him to a draw."
"To a draw? Is that what he told you?"
Bokue raised a brow, amused.
"...Fine, that part might've been a slight exaggeration."
Liala's cheerful mask cracked for a moment, puffing her cheeks as she admitted it.
"What can I say? Big sisters want to make their little brothers look good, so I may have... stretched the story just a bit."
She held her thumb and index finger just barely apart to emphasize how small the "bit" was.
Even though she hadn't witnessed the fight herself, from Leo's own retelling, it was obvious Bokue hadn't failed to kill him—he simply hadn't intended to. His weapon was taken right out of his hands, his men were crushed on the spot, and by the end of it, he couldn't even stall Bokue's exit.
The gap in power was overwhelming—like the sky versus the mud.
"Anyway! Standing around chatting like this isn't very cozy, is it?"
In just a second, her mood snapped right back to sunny and sweet. Liala's smile returned in full bloom as she beckoned him with a playful wave.
"Why don't we move somewhere more comfortable? There's not even a proper chair here. Come on, come on~ I've got nothing better to do today, so why don't you keep me company for a bit, Bokue-kun? Let's go~!"
Before he could say yes or no, she had already turned on her heel and led the way out of the throne room, humming as she skipped toward the side corridor.
Bokue shoved his hands into his pockets and raised a brow—but followed without complaint.
❁❁❁❁
Liala's idea of a "more suitable place to chat" wasn't far. About a minute later, the two of them arrived in the royal palace's inner gardens.
Bokue had never had much interest in plants. He couldn't name most human-world flowers, let alone anything in the demon realm. But this place... well, it smelled pretty nice.
Their destination was deep in the garden's heart. They passed through layer upon layer of tall flowerbeds that curled like spirals, winding inward like a crushed mosquito coil. It really did feel like a floral labyrinth.
Eventually, they reached the very center—a place where the scent of every blossom in the garden mingled into one serene, calming fragrance.
There, nestled at the heart of it all, was a single round stone table with two stone chairs on either side. A tea set sat clean and ready on the tabletop.
"Please, have a seat, Bokue-kun."
Liala smiled as she reached for the empty glass teapot, then giggled and lightly tapped her head with her finger.
"Oops—give me a sec. I'll be right back with tea, okay?"
"No rush. I'm not going anywhere."
Bokue shrugged.
With that, Liala dashed off into the flower maze.
The garden's flowers were unusually tall—even taller than two meters when combined with the flowerbeds beneath them. The spiral path around them acted like curved, leafy partitions, sealing off the central space from the outside world both visually and acoustically.
All in all... it was surprisingly well designed.
About two or three minutes later, Liala returned—now carrying a steaming pot of fragrant floral tea.
Judging by the petals floating in the pot, she must've freshly picked them from the garden herself.
"Okay, I'm back~!"
She cheerfully set out the teacups, then poured the hot tea into each one. Fragrant steam rose from the cups.
"Still a bit too hot to drink right away, so let it cool a bit."
She slid a cup toward Bokue and took a seat across from him. Even the wisps of steam couldn't obscure her stunning face. With her chin resting on both hands, she tilted her head and smiled sweetly.
"So, back to what we were saying—Bokue-kun, you're human, but stronger than Leo-chan. Are you really human?"
"Could ask you the same, Liala."
Bokue raised a brow and leaned back casually.
"To be honest, I'm just as curious. Are you really a demon?"
It was a fair question. The harsh northern regions of the demon realm were a rough place, where only the toughest demons survived.
People like Leo looked like they were carved out of iron.
But Liala?? She was a whole different species.
Golden hair, ocean-blue eyes, flawless porcelain skin—nothing about her matched the wild, cruel northern lands.
In fact, if anything...
She gave off the same pure, sacred aura you'd expect from a God.
She looked more like a member of the God Race than a demon.
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