Volume 1, Chapter 33 – More to Look Forward to Every Day

The dining hall was as noisy as ever during dinner.

Stella carried her tray through the crowd and soon spotted Remedios sitting in a corner.

The platinum-haired girl was quietly leafing through a thick book, with a salad in front of her that she had barely touched.

Stella sat down across from her.

Remedios closed the book and looked up, her gaze lingering on Stella for several seconds.

“You’ve changed,” Remedios said.

Stella touched her face.

“Is it that obvious?” She asked.

“Your aura, and the way your magical power flows.” Remedios pointed at the ends of Stella’s hair. “And your hair color. It’s faint, but that trace of red is hard to miss.”

Stella sighed and picked up her fork, poking at the dessert parfait in front of her.

The large sundae glass had originally been piled high with whipped cream, with plenty of sliced peaches and apples tucked into it. By now, most of the cream had melted, leaving several pieces of fruit sunken in a white swamp. It didn’t look particularly appetizing.

“Looks like Vice Principal Mara succeeded.” Remedios smiled. “Considering the potential against divinity that you showed during Human Interrogation Studies, now that you’ve gone through this awakening, your bloodline talent should have completely taken shape, right?”

Remedios leaned forward, her blue eyes filled with curiosity.

“What is it? Since you’re SSS+, it can’t be anything ordinary.”

Stella’s movements paused.

How was she supposed to know what it was?

That so-called awakening was nothing more than a side effect of taking drugs. Truthfully, aside from having far too much energy and a higher body temperature, she didn’t feel like she’d gained any strange new abilities.

If she absolutely had to name something, she felt more like hitting people than before.

“…I haven’t completely mastered it yet,” Stella said vaguely.

“Just try it.” Remedios was unusually persistent. “A talent is like breathing. You don’t need to learn it. You just have to follow your instincts. You’re in the perfect state right now, so concentrate a little.”

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“Fine, I’ll try. No promises it’ll work.”

Stella felt a headache coming on.

She put down her fork, crossed her arms, and stared blankly at the empty coffee cup in front of her.

Instinct.

Her instinct was to pray before meals.

Stella picked up the table knife again and absentmindedly tried to cut a piece of apple inside the cup. The blade slid across the fruit, and because the cream was too slippery, the tip slipped aside and stabbed straight into the pad of her finger.

A sharp sting followed.

A bright red bead of blood instantly welled up and dripped from her fingertip.

“Ah, you’re bleeding.”

Remedios pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and reached out to wipe it for her.

“Be careful, Stella—”

However, Remedios’s hand stopped halfway.

Stella was stunned as well.

Because the falling drop of blood did not land in the cream, nor did it stain the table red.

It stopped in midair for an instant, then seemed to come alive. Defying gravity, it floated upward, circled around Stella’s fingertip, and finally condensed into a tiny yet razor-sharp red needle.

Stella stared at the blood needle hovering above her fingertip, her mind completely blank.

‘What is this…?’

She hadn’t used any magical power at all. She hadn’t even thought about doing anything. Her body seemed to have reacted on its own, and the blood had obeyed some kind of command as naturally as though it were an extension of her limbs.

“Blood… manipulation?”

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Remedios lowered her voice.

Stella looked at her blankly.

Remedios stared at the blood needle, then at the striking streak of scarlet at the ends of Stella’s hair.

A demon’s bloodline talent was innate and highly exclusive.

To be able to use blood as a weapon with this degree of activity and control… Among all the records she knew of, only one person possessed such traits.

There was no need to think any further.

The sight from yesterday at the training grounds, of blood turning into spikes and piercing straight through an opponent, was still vivid in her mind.

Cheryl Valentine.

Remedios took a deep breath and reassessed Stella in front of her.

The red at the ends of her silver hair, the tyrannical scarlet that occasionally flashed deep within her eyes, and this unmistakable bloodline talent. If before she had merely suspected that Stella was the illegitimate daughter of some noble family, then now the possibilities had narrowed to a terrifying degree.

Valentine.

That ancient family qualified to become an Elector, infamous for its madness and brutality.

‘Stella…’

Remedios’ expression grew complicated.

‘Could you possibly be Cheryl’s…’

‘Sister?’

She didn’t dare ask.

If that really was the case, then this was no longer merely a conflict within the school. The current head of the Valentine family was an absolute lunatic, and the family’s internal purges and power struggles were notoriously brutal even in the Demon Realm.

An SSS+ bloodline wandering outside the family while possessing such a pure talent would bring unimaginable consequences once exposed.

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No wonder Stella used such an obviously fake surname as “Darkfallen.” No wonder her attitude toward Cheryl was so subtle that she had even gone so far as to initiate a physical duel.

A family civil war.

A struggle over the position of heir had always been like this.

Remedios felt as though she had touched the edge of an enormous vortex of conspiracy.

But soon, her wariness was replaced by an inexplicable excitement.

If Stella truly had such a distinguished and dangerous background, wouldn’t that make their plan to hunt a Saintess even more likely to succeed?

“You’re going to make it big, Stella,” Remedios said in a low voice, her tone certain.

“…What?”

Stella dispersed the blood needle at her fingertip and looked utterly confused.

She had only accidentally cut her finger. How did that suddenly mean she was going places?

Seeing Stella put on that clueless expression only made Remedios even more certain of her deduction. This really wasn’t the sort of thing they should discuss in public. Stella was right to play dumb.

“It’s fine, I understand everything.” Remedios gave her a knowing look. “It’s your secret, so I won’t ask any more. As your accomplice, knowing this much is enough.”

The corner of Stella’s mouth twitched.

‘What exactly do you understand?’

Even she didn’t understand what had happened with that drop of blood. It was probably just a lingering effect of that special Valentine version of the potion.

“Oh, right.”

Remedios suddenly remembered something and pulled History of Dark Cursecraft out of her schoolbag.

“About this. I still haven’t found the source of the curse on my sister, but I’ve read through the entire book over the past few days and found a very interesting piece of dark sorcery.”

She opened the book, pointed at a passage written in twisted characters, and pushed it toward Stella as though presenting a treasure.

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“This spell is extremely discreet, and its power is nothing to scoff at. I think it’d be perfect for you to play around with. Since we’re partners, I can’t keep taking advantage of you.”

Stella lowered her eyes.

On the page was an illustration of a skull screaming in agony, with large characters beside it.

Heart-Piercing Bone-Gouging.

“…”

Stella raised her head expressionlessly and looked at the eager Remedios.

‘She wanted me, a Saintess, to learn dark sorcery…?’

Life in the Demon Realm really was giving her more to look forward to every single day.

“Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it, sister.”

Author Note

The illegitimate daughter of the family plotline should count as one of the main storylines, but I’ll still develop it gradually.

Translator Note

Remedios thinks so far ahead AHAHA XD