How to Live as the Mad Duke's Fake Daughter

I folded my arms and raised my chin. It meant to give it a try.

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Garou then wiped out the Imperial Army as if he had been waiting.

Like the wind, no, maybe even faster than the wind.

I didn’t want to flatter Garou, but my jaw involuntarily dropped.

The army that filled the courtyard disappeared like chess pieces.

To be precise, their bodies were as dry as sand and crumbled.

Dust flew everywhere. I covered my nose and rubbed my stinging eyes.

I was used to seeing corpses since childhood, but it was my first time in such an unrealistic battle.

After a while, there were only the three of us left as living creatures in the courtyard.

“Isn’t it simple?”

Garou returned to a human form before me.

Broken blades were lodged all over his body. The man covered in red blood grinned.

“Are you scared of me?”

I looked straight at Garou. The existence in front of me that had killed several people was definitely something beyond common sense.

But it would be absurd for me to tremble.

“…I’m not scared.”

I sighed and grabbed the blade with my bare hands. Red blood gushed out and dripped onto his shirt.

“Because I am the same.”

He and I were equal, both human-killing monsters.

“Lilietta, you’re hurt.”

Garou grabbed my wrist anxiously. I was at a loss for words.

“Who are you worried about?”

I ignored his words and pulled out a blade.

Clink!

The blade thrown on the floor splattered blood and glided through the blooming flowers.

“Benny, can you help him regenerate?”

Like a dog chasing chickens, Benny, who had been only watching from afar, approached.

And instead of helping Garou, he grabbed my hand first.

“I wasn’t really hurt…”

“Stay still.”

Benny spoke softly and wrapped the scar on my palm with his demonized hand.

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My blood vessels were pulsing, and soon the skin was regenerated.

Benny examined Garou only after completely removing the dust on my hair.

It was questionable how harsh the hand rubbing the affected area would help the regeneration.

“Come on, let’s go!”

…Garou didn’t say thanks either, so I guessed it was even.

***

“Indeed, she’s my mother. She has already built a maze with magic.”

As soon as we entered the Imperial Palace, we got lost.

We were trying to kill the emperor, so anyone listening to us now might wonder what kind of crazy talk this was, but there was a reason for it.

The palace had been transformed into a completely different structure from what I remembered.

“…Haven’t you been here before?”

Familiar sights were repeated countless times. Next to the white hallway was a white room, then it was another white hallway.

I got tired of walking and patted my knees.

“Why does Her Majesty the Emperor’s white magic work work on us?”

According to the power structure between the races, the spirits were helpless to the demons.

In fact, it was a piece of cake for us to knock down the spirit guards.

The beasts could stop us for a longer time, but there was no way they could withstand the demons who were stronger than evil spirits.

However, somehow, the great World Tree played us in its hands.

I felt that the situation was somewhat unfair.

“There are exceptions everywhere. Sometimes there are plants that eat animals.”

Garou shrugged.

“She is the first great being created by the plant god, right?”

“Isn’t it insidious?”

Garou smiled softly and stroked the white wall with his fingertips.

A white wooden ring shone on the middle finger of his right hand.

“…What can you do with that ring? You used white magic with it before.”

“How can you break the barriers of the world tree with a ring carved out of the world tree? It wouldn’t be strange if this ring cut my finger off at any moment.”

“Then how do we get out of this maze?”

I twisted my braided hair.

Being in a small space, I felt cramped.

“This is a kind of barrier magic.”

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Garou jumped around the corner like a clown. Another hallway appeared.

“There are gaps in every barrier. You should look for it well. Although I don’t know how long it will take.”

“Doesn’t this mean that we can get lost for a few days…?”

Suddenly, the future turned dark.

Feeling slightly despondent, I looked around the place, but Benny, having followed me, asked me out of the blue.

“Princess, what have you been doing during this time?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

I turned to him and tilted my head.

“I’m looking for a way to Her Majesty the Emperor. Did you find anything?”

“…….”

Benny put his hand against the white wall and transformed it into a muddy form.

I almost fell down in amazement at the following scene.

As Benny put his hands together as if gathering the strength to tear the wall apart, the place I thought was cement melted away like a piece of paper soaked with water.

There was a big hole that could fit two people.

“I found it.”

I think the expression ‘made’ rather than ‘found’ would be more appropriate.

“Haha, I can’t believe you made a hole in my mother’s barrier. What the hell are you?”

Garou whistled and entered the hole Benny had made.

Benny reached out to me without answering.

I took his hand and walked through the hole in the barrier.

As I came out of the white hallway, this time, endless darkness filled the surroundings.

I clasped Benny’s hand tightly so that I wouldn’t fall.

Then the useless one also reached out his hand from the right.

“Lilietta, hold my hand too.”

It was not very desirable.

As I narrowed my eyes, Garou began to act cute.

“It’s so dark, what if I get lost alone?”

His eyes, which had turned into reversed ones, shone brightly.

I sighed and took Garou’s hand.

Benny’s hands were icy like a cold-blooded animal, while Garou’s was hotter than average, so it felt like body temperature on both sides of my body was opposites.

“It seems like we are all going on a picnic together.”

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Garou hummed. It sounds strange, but he seemed to be enjoying exploring the Imperial Palace with the two demons.

“If we had been friends since childhood, we might have played hand in hand like this.”

“Do you think I want to befriend you?”

“When we’re young, we played together. We’re the same demon race, so of course we’ve become friends.”

I was a little persuaded because it was a very natural reasoning.

“…If all the demons had been together, Her Majesty would have captured them quickly.”

“Haha, that’s right.”

Garou waved the hand he was holding.

“It would have been fun, though. Thanks to living apart, you guys didn’t even know there were other demons. If I had known in advance, I wouldn’t have felt alone. I would have told you about the demons in detail.”

“Do you know much about demons?”

Benny, who had been silent all along, suddenly cut in.

“What? Of course. Didn’t I tell you everything you were curious about?”

“I’m suddenly curious about something.”

It was a surprise. Benny was showing interest. I wondered what his question was.

Benny chose his words for a moment, and asked in a calm tone.

“Can demons have children?”

Thud!

I twisted my leg and fell.

I stood up with the support of two people, but I couldn’t raise my head.

“B-Benny, wha, what are you…”

“Why? Are you guys already making plans for children?”

Garou smirked. I wanted to punch him in the back of the head.

“Just let me know if we can have them or not.”

Perhaps because his opponent was Garou, Benny’s tone was too business-like, even though he said something embarrassing.

Garou held my hand again and gave a refreshing reply.

“You can have them.”

It was an unexpected answer. But what followed was somewhat disappointing.

“It’s possible when a demon and another race combine. A child born in such a case would unconditionally follow that other race.”

“…Demon and demon can’t have children?”

“Who knows? I don’t know as I’ve ever seen such a case before. You two are the only demons I have met since I killed the former Crown Prince.”

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Garou shrugged and added.

“But indeed. I don’t think it’s possible. It’s strange that monsters that wield evil black magic create life together.”

“.……”

“If demons could create demons, that would be another tragedy.”

There was a slight murmur mixed with his laughter.

Then a light appeared in the distance. We headed there.

The light was so strong that it made my skin tingle.

I could barely focus as I looked up at the huge tree in front of me.

The world tree I saw for the first time in 8 years was the same as before.

Garou let go of my hand and took a step forward. As I stepped on the lush grass, the green scent strongly stimulated the tip of my nose.

“Mother.”

Swooossh.

With the sound of pulling sand, his body began to turn into a demon’s.

“I’m here to kill you.”

Garou spoke as if he was playing a game.

The shining tree gave no reply.

‘…Huh?’

Something was strange.

The feeling of majesty and awe at the size of the world tree I had when I saw it years ago still remained.

I could even feel the lake air sucking into my lungs.

But now, the tree standing in front of us looked like a mere plant with a similar size.

“…Garou!”

A frightening foreboding ran down my spine.

I reached out, but it was already too late.

Thump, krrrrr, ack.

The landscape split into dozens and collapsed.

In the space where the mirror cracked, I lost both Garou and Benny’s hands.

I let my guard down.

Just because we broke the barrier, there was no guarantee that there would be no other barriers.

What we just saw was an illusion of the world tree.

I fell into endless darkness.