Volume 1, Chapter 54 – Sense of Belonging

Cheryl had imagined countless times what sort of opponents she might face in the future.

Perhaps it would be some collateral relative in the family who did not know their place and wanted to climb higher. Perhaps it would be an heir meticulously cultivated by another Elector family. It might even be that deranged family head.

Even Stella Darkfallen, the succubus genius who had defeated her time and again, had only ever been regarded by Cheryl as a whetstone. One day, she would defeat Stella and trample her beneath her feet.

But she had never imagined that Stella could treat the crimson magical power she took such pride in as if it were nothing, make the blood flowing through her veins turn against her and submit, and even ignite that legendary origin bloodflame…

And this Stella was actually her elder sister.

Stella, whom she had always regarded as a mongrel demon, an ant, and a stepping stone, was her elder sister.

“Hehe…”

An extremely faint, self-mocking laugh sounded in the depths of Cheryl’s heart.

She recalled everything she had done over the past few days.

Her provocation at the opening ceremony, her overbearing arrogance in Mental Seduction Studies, her clamoring in the training grounds, every ignorant declaration of “mongrel demon.”

‘Looking back on it now, how utterly…’

‘Ridiculous.’

She had been like a kitten baring its fangs and claws before a malevolent dragon, believing itself ferocious, never realizing that in the other’s eyes, it was nothing more than harmless petulance, even a laughable display of ugliness.

And now, the questions that had plagued her all this time had finally been answered.

What Stella had done to her was absolutely not something as shallow as an illegitimate daughter’s revenge…

Why had Stella always remained unmoved by her provocations?

Because it was not cowardice, but the tolerance and disdain of an elder sister toward her ignorant little sister.

Only someone standing above the clouds could remain so utterly indifferent to the clamor in the mire.

Why had Stella refused to make a move during the duel, even going so far as to avoid making her bleed?

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Because it was compassion born of blood. Her elder sister did not want to hurt her only little sister, no matter how utterly foolish that little sister was.

And that… that spell that had humiliated Cheryl so deeply she had wanted to die, yet had carved itself into her very bones…

That had undoubtedly been punishment.

‘Mm. Discipline… from Elder Sister.’

For an arrogant little sister who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth, who dared challenge her elder sister’s authority and even sought to tear apart their blood bond, mere death would have been far too merciful, while simple physical pain would have been far too shallow.

Only shame that struck directly at the soul, domination that crushed one’s dignity to pieces before rebuilding it anew, could qualify as family discipline of the highest order.

Stella had been telling her:

“Look carefully, Cheryl. This is the difference between us. Put away that ridiculous pride of yours. Learn reverence. Learn humility.”

How painstakingly thoughtful.

How…

Gentle and tyrannical.

Cheryl felt her heart pounding violently as a sense of belonging unlike anything she had ever experienced filled her empty soul.

She had once believed herself alone, standing atop a mountain peak battered by freezing winds, without a single relative in sight.

But now, atop that mountain, someone had descended from the clouds.

That person possessed blood purer than hers, strength greater than hers, and even the Primordial radiance that not even her mother had possessed.

“Elder Sister…” Cheryl murmured softly.

“Please, don’t look at me like that.”

Stella retreated half a step until her back pressed against the medicine cabinet.

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“I’m not your elder sister, and I’m not a Valentine either.”

“Everything just now was a misunderstanding. You should know that I’m only a… um, slightly luckier…”

“Mongrel demon?” Cheryl finished the sentence for her.

She got off the sickbed and began walking forward, closing in on Stella step by step.

“Lucky enough to make the Eye of the Abyss explode? Lucky enough to make my blood turn against me? Lucky enough… to wield the legendary golden-crimson flame?”

Cheryl stopped in front of Stella. The distance between them was far too close.

“Stop pretending, Stella.”

She reached out, hooked a strand of Stella’s silver hair around her fingertips, and gently inhaled its scent.

“I know what you’re worried about. The infighting within the family, the Elder Council’s surveillance, and those venomous fangs hidden in the shadows… As an illegitimate daughter who was cast out, yet awakened a Primordial Echo, you had no choice but to disguise yourself as an incompetent lowly demon. You had no choice but to act cold and tyrannical. You even had no choice but to…”

Cheryl paused, a faint flush appearing on her face.

“…use such a humiliating method to trample me and educate me, even at the risk of exposing your Primordial Echo.”

Stella: “???”

‘No, what I had used was a dark cursecraft.’

‘Dark cursecraft meant purely to knock you unconscious…’

“I understand.” Cheryl released the strand of hair and took a step back, performing an impeccable ancient Valentine family salute toward Stella. “The one you want revenge against isn’t just me, is it?”

“It’s the entire Valentine family.”

Cheryl lowered her eyes.

“Of course. How could you possibly not hate us?”

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“We, the so-called legitimate bloodline, regard people like you as rats in the gutter, as fertilizer for the garden. How many children cast out into the world do the prestigious families of the Demon Realm execute every year? Those infants who never even had the chance to look upon the world, those girls struggling to survive in the mud…”

“Beneath this glittering Eternal Night Corridor, how many bones and how much blood belonging to people like you have been buried, Elder Sister?”

“You must have climbed back from the abyss by stepping over all those corpses.”

Stella no longer knew what to say. A thousand words condensed into a single powerless sigh.

There was no saving her.

This girl’s brain had probably been burned out by the bloodflame during the duel.

What kind of tragic revenge drama was this supposed to be?

All Stella wanted was to muddle her way through until graduation…

She had thought the trouble would end there. How could one counterfeit conclusion about her being an illegitimate daughter somehow produce such a deadly sequel?

Now that things had turned out like this, she could only ask the Inquisitor to figure something out.

‘Inquisitor!!!’

‘Save me!!’

“I… have something else to do.”

Stella abruptly turned around and rushed toward the infirmary door as if fleeing for her life, leaving only a hurried gust of wind behind.

Cheryl remained where she was and did not give chase.

She merely gazed silently in the direction Stella had left, then slowly closed her eyes.

Her eyes remained tightly shut…

Before her appeared Stella’s fair face, which almost seemed to exude a fragrance, her indifferent expression, and that sorrowful visage of hers…

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Stella’s face gradually overlapped with the haughty visage of the deranged family head.

No.

Stella was more beautiful than the family head, stronger, more noble.

Never beating around the bush, never exchanging empty courtesies, and never offering false consolation. That coldness that rejected everything, that purity that disdained all pretense, so striking, so beautiful, and so… mesmerizing.

“I’ll push you onto the seat of the Valentine family head.”

Cheryl opened her eyes again. Reflected in those crimson eyes was a future that only she could see.

“Elder Sister.”

Her voice was very, very soft.

“And then, trample me to your heart’s content.”

Translator Note

I was like: “Ohh! She’s gonna support her elder sister to acquire the throne!”

Then the next moment: “??? What the fuck this masochist talking about?” xD

Anyway, I assume this should be the first main plot introduction for the novel.

Valentine internal affairs!