Was there a strange person mixed in here?
Avira suddenly thought of Oleniya’s forbearing, arrogant face. The woman, who relied on the Hourglass of Mercy to sustain her life force, not only needed Ophitia to provide her with magic power, but her dependence on others’ lives was always cause for concern. However, Ophitia had mentioned that she had a way to save Oleniya.
Since there’s a way to save me, there should be a similar way to save Oleniya… That was what Avira had originally thought.
So, when the second name besides Lena appeared earlier, her first reaction was that Ophitia had misspoke. How could she possibly create a child using such a strange method? It didn’t make logical sense.
“Mm, then let’s make it quick.”
Avira’s eyes looked at her like she was trash. “Hurry up and get it over with.”
But unexpectedly, Ophitia’s face turned bright red, and she suddenly grew tense.
“That’s what we agreed on, then. Tonight…”
“No problem.”
Avira said this while stroking the dragon egg. After all, a short pain was better than a long one. It was just hatching two eggs, right? It didn’t sound like a big deal.
With that, she shrank into the bedding. The blanket divided the outside air from the warmth inside into two completely different climates. Avira found a comfortable position, lying on her side with her arm wrapped around the dragon egg, using the depression in the bed as a support. She closed her eyes.
It was a peculiar feeling.
Avira didn’t feel very sleepy, but she just wanted to hold the egg and rest. Even after closing her eyes, she had no drowsiness at all, yet a certain part of her heart felt satisfied in this way.
It reminded her of how she used to huddle in bed during winter back then, though at that time she still wasn’t quite used to this body. Now that Avira had given birth to a demon race egg, everything seemed less important.
—This behavior was apparently called incubating eggs.
Before sunset, Avira found her body much lighter. The more spirited she felt, the more she realized the dragon egg had absorbed too much of her magic power, leaving her exhausted and sleepy for months.
However, she had just promised Ophitia, and next she would spend another period giving birth to and incubating eggs.
She had no idea when this kind of life would end, and she always felt like the events unfolding were pulling her further from her original goal.
She glanced at the dragon egg; it felt even warmer to the touch than her own body.
A voice in her heart told her that she could leave now—as long as she protected the dragon egg well, there was no need to keep incubating it.
It was like how the brain gradually woke up after getting out of bed, a feeling one instinctively accepted.
Avira yawned, got dressed, and left. Ophitia wasn’t in the room right now. If she wasn’t mistaken, she was still talking with Lace about getting into her belly…
In her imagination, Ophitia would absorb Lace, then go to bed with her and insert that portion of soul into her belly in an embarrassing way, combining it with her own genes.
But as soon as she stepped out, Avira ran into Lace.
“Lace? Where’s the ma… Demon King?”
Lace was dressed in a maid outfit, apparently borrowed from Oka. However, because of her large tail, the back of the maid outfit had been cut open, exposing her fair spine and a tantalizingly beautiful figure.
Her daughter had originally wanted to say she hadn’t seen Ophitia-mom either, but suddenly, she noticed the pair of black wings like an angel’s behind her mom. Her envious eyes sparkled with two shining yellow stars:
“Mommy’s wings are so pretty! I want wings that big too!”
“No matter how big they grow, they won’t have feathers.”
“But Mommy, I have feathers!”
“That’s the Silver Feathers, right? I remember you only have one piece.”
“A few pieces can grow into wings~”
“Don’t try to grow wings!”
Avira walked up to Lace and pinched her little cheek. The latter didn’t resist at all, smiling as she let Mommy pinch for a good while, looking utterly delighted. She nearly fell into Avira’s arms, thinking Mommy was going to pick her up.
“Little dummy, you’re a dragon. I don’t have your scales or the Crystal Dragon’s power. Got it?”
“Got it!”
But Lace felt something off. “Mommy’s stronger than me, though?”
“I’m not as strong as the Demon King. Lace, you’ll surpass me someday.”
Avira tapped the little dragon’s forehead and sighed. If nothing unexpected happened, their next meeting would be months away. Thinking about losing such a cute little servant made her a bit sad.
“Mm!”
After giving birth to the dragon egg, Avira had recovered most of her mobility. Still, Lace supported her arm like always.
“By the way, Lace, has Ophitia talked to you? About that matter…” Avira said as they walked.
“Nope.”
“What? Then what is Ophitia doing? Cooking?”
“Probably right now. Auntie is cooking, though.”
Thirty versions of Lena flew through Avira’s mind.
This foolish Demon King—had she already forgotten the promise from this morning?
But for Avira, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. A couple days of rest to sort out her thoughts wouldn’t hurt. She’d given birth to a child, but her plan to undermine the Demon King hadn’t even properly started. What kind of state was this? She was supposed to hollow out the Demon King’s power, after all.
As soon as she reached the dining room, she ran into Ophitia.
Ophitia was chatting with her sister—a common sight. The two often discussed military matters, politics, and family affairs, sometimes even outside or inside the bedroom. At those times, Avira would pretend to sleep to eavesdrop on outside news.
But now, something seemed different.
Oleniya was actually blushing, stammering incoherently like she’d been scolded into silence. Yet the sisters weren’t arguing; the Demon King was laughing happily.
Seeing Avira arrive, Ophitia greeted her enthusiastically: “Daughter, wife, you’ve finally come~”
“Demon King~!”
“Good afternoon… What happened?”
Avira really couldn’t get used to Oleniya’s shy demeanor. She wanted to figure out what was going on.
But Ophitia just gave a mysterious smile and glanced at her sister, who couldn’t even lift her head now.
Sensing the awkwardness, after thirty seconds or so of silence, Oleniya finally raised her head.
But she only looked at Avira, like a student called on in class who couldn’t think of an answer.
“Sorry about the past.”
Oleniya rubbed her hands, her head dropping quickly again. The poised smile of before was gone, as if she’d become a different person.
“Why say that all of a sudden?” Avira tilted her head.
“…”
“Sorry is enough. It’s nothing, really.”
