DSB 2

At the Demon God’s words, Lebel’s lazily drooping eyes opened wide, startling Karon into jumping back.

“Th-the human world?!”

[Look at those pathetic humans down there. They scurry about diligently, worth less than specks of dust.]

“Could you not just bring me into your embrace, Demon God?”

“L-Lebel, my lord! You would leave me behind…?”

Lebel paused mid-sentence, witnessing not only Karon’s tears streaming down but also the letter weeping.

Asking to be taken into the Demon God’s embrace was tantamount to requesting the reclamation of his soul.

In human terms, it meant death.

Yet Lebel harbored no fear of death.

I have lived long enough, and there is nothing left I desire. So is it not natural that my greed for life has faded away?

[H-How can you say such a thing to me?! Go, learn! Experience the lives of humans and recall those days when you burned with fierce passion!]

Fierce passion in the past? He had not lived particularly passionately even back then.

Reading Lebel’s unmoved expression, the Demon God – or rather, the letter – began to tremble. The Demon God spoke with determination.

[Reclaim your will to live and return.]

“Even without a will to live, living poses no issue…”

Before Lebel could finish, the letter hurtled toward him. Lebel watched impassively, curious as to what it intended.

In truth, he had dismissed the talk of sending him to the human world as jest.

Even angels, revered as gods by humans, could not devote themselves to the human world due to divine restrictions.

The same held true for demons.

Only lower-class demons of lesser rank could be summoned to or traverse the Middle Realm; if someone as immensely powerful as Lebel entered it, the impact would be unavoidable.

The letter, now inches from Lebel’s face, twisted into a grotesque form. A mouth formed upon it, and it plunged straight through his chest.

“Ah! Lord Lebel!”

Nestled within the letter’s maw was Lebel’s soul. The eyes of his now-soulless body closed languidly.

The instant the letter swallowed his soul whole, Lebel felt himself endlessly plummeting down.

***

Splash-!

Lebel blinked. His entire body was drenched. From the crown of his head, droplets fell with every blink.

Water…?

Lebel lifted his head, wondering who on earth had dared to douse him.

“Hurry up and get up already? Tch, you’re so slow. I can’t even hit you like old times. If there’s a mark on your face, it’ll be a problem for me, so even though it’s frustrating, I’ll hold back.”

A human appeared before his eyes.

Lebel, still soaked with water, examined the human standing before his eyes.

So this is what a human looks like. How fragile.

Dust. That comparison fits perfectly. To him, a demon, they were beings who would scatter like motes if he so much as exhaled.

Humans were creations of the Celestial God and the Demon God. They were not beings who lived infinite lives, but rather those who endured long yet finite existences.

As proof of their harmony, the Celestial God and the Demon God had crafted the Middle Realm and populated it with lifeforms to inhabit that world. Humans were one such creation.

Among the races dwelling in the Middle Realm, humans were not particularly strong.

However, through their exceptional reproductive capabilities, they multiplied in vast numbers, and in place of physical shortcomings, they leveraged knowledge and strategy to surpass the advantages of other races.

Because of this, one could say they had claimed the most extensive territories of all.

“Here, I gave you a towel, so dry yourself off.”

The human woman tossed the towel onto the bed and simply watched Lebel in silence.

But that lasted only a moment before the maid sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead in irritation.

“Ah, why do I have to take care of this fool of a prince? He can’t do anything for himself, so it takes way too much effort!”

She picked up the towel from the bed and began wiping Lebel’s face with ruthless vigor.

Even a rain-soaked dog would not be scrubbed this harshly.

Lebel’s head shook from the maid’s brutal grip strength. The towel’s surface was rough, and it carried a musty odor.

It was nothing like the soft, warm towels infused with comforting heat that Karon had always brought him.

“If you can’t even wash your own face, what are we supposed to do? That’s why I poured the water for you.”

Poured the water? He had clearly seen her dump it straight onto him while ordering him to get up.

Lebel had overheard her calling him a prince. If that was the case, then was he not someone of considerable status?

The Demon Realm had its kings and dukes as well. Naturally, hierarchies were rigidly enforced there.

But apparently, that did not apply to humans.

From what he could observe, a mere maid-like figure was addressing the so-called prince with disrespect.

At that moment, a flood of this human’s memories surged into him.

A human might have fainted or clutched their head and collapsed from the onslaught, but Lebel simply blinked slowly and absorbed them all.

He had witnessed every memory of the “Lebel” who had been called the Foolish Prince.

“…So the body was empty of a soul.”

Had the Demon God planned this from the beginning? This body had been born without a soul. As a result, it had been nothing more than a hollow shell, unable to speak or express any will.

That was why, despite bearing the emperor’s bloodline, he had been subjected to constant disdain.

“Huh? What? Who’s there?”

The reason he was called the Foolish Prince was precisely because he could not express his will, let alone speak.

So the maid could hardly avoid being startled upon hearing a voice that was not her own.

Lebel lifted his head and looked at the maid.

“It stings.”

“Wh-what…?!”

“The skin of a human is so delicate. My cheek is raw from a mere towel.”

The maid could not hide her shocked expression. A voice devoid of inflection, calm, had emanated from the Foolish Prince.

She was so stunned by that alone that she failed to notice the subtle oddity in his words.

The Foolish Prince could not speak, and it was questionable whether he even understood language. That was why, no matter how much he was tormented or beaten, he never uttered so much as a groan.

Yet now he had opened his mouth. It was the first time since the maid had started serving as his attendant.

And that cold gaze. Eyes that had always stared blankly into empty space were now fixed directly upon her.

“Kyaaah!!”

Thwack!

The maid shrieked as if she had seen a ghost and threw the towel at Lebel before fleeing in terror.

“Ha.”

Lebel let out a hollow laugh and flicked the towel, which had draped over his face, away from him.

“I was about to set her ablaze.”

If the maid had overheard that, she would have been horrified.

Lebel might be indolent and devoid of ambition, but he did not forgive those who sought to harm him. And killing a human would require no more than a mere gesture.

It should have been sufficient.

Lebel looked down quietly at his own hand.

Even when she had roughly rubbed his cheek with that abrasive towel, or when she had pressed down on his shoulder with brute force, he had intended to incinerate her, but he had failed.

Lebel furrowed his brow and summoned his demonic energy. A violet flame, the telltale sign of it, flickered into brief existence before vanishing without a trace.

“…So I cannot wield my power here.”

His soul had possessed a human body, yet it remained Lebel’s own. The demonic energy embedded in that soul was intact. However, the human vessel posed the problem.

Lebel clicked his tongue. But it did not matter. Since the soul now inhabited it, the vessel would adapt to accommodate it in time.

Soon enough, he would be able to use his strength again. It would be limited to what the vessel could endure, but killing a human would not prove difficult.

“The same name, yet so different.”

One could sum up the Foolish Prince’s past in a single, simple phrase.

Livestock raised in the household. He had overheard talk of raising him as a dominant omega just to sell him off, repeated countless times by his father, his brother, and even the servants.

He had accumulated a litany of nicknames as well. Fool, halfwit, idiot, trash, half-baked, dimwit, mute, and so on, every derogatory term imaginable had been applied to him.

If they had prepared the vessel in advance, it would have been preferable to place him in a somewhat better environment.

Lebel recalled the Demon God’s words. He had asked if Lebel understood how fiercely humans lived and urged him to experience it firsthand.

Was that why he had been inserted into a body in such dire straits?

“I wonder what the Demon God expects me to do in this human world.”

Guessing at a god’s intentions was the height of irreverence, but the Demon God had a habit of concocting the most outlandish schemes from time to time.

Lebel spotted a mirror beside the bed. He glanced at his reflection and offered a single comment.

“The hair that shimmers like gold is worth a look, but that’s all there is to it. How unimpressive.”

Contrary to Lebel’s words, the figure in the mirror was beautiful.

Golden hair that gleamed as if gilded entirely in the precious metal, crimson eyes bearing a hue as vivid as fresh blood. The color had faded slightly due to poor health, but it remained a distinct shade of beauty.

His features were the same. Though his cheeks were gaunt and his eyes sunken, the large, expressive orbs and long lashes, the moderately high nose, and the plump lips that seemed as if they might burst with juice if bitten, all combined into allure.

Yet for a demon, beauty lay not in mere appearance, but in strength. A body as frail as a slender twig held no appeal in his eyes.

“I shall live moderately and die accordingly.”

The moment his soul had entered this human form, Lebel had intuited one truth. He could not return until this human’s life reached its end.

A human lifespan that would pass in the blink of an eye. He had no intention of striving diligently, but he would enjoy this body’s existence in moderation until death claimed it, then return to the Demon God.

As Lebel surveyed his surroundings, something caught his eye, prompting him to rise from the bed.

There was only one reason for his movement.

Through the dust-covered, slightly cracked glass window, radiant sunlight and a clear blue sky were visible.