I probably fell asleep, or whatever humans do when they are upset, because I woke up to frail hands rattling me awake. How dare they lay hands upon me! My fighting instincts kicked in, and I seized whoever was attempting to kill me in my sleep. Ora! Take that! Wait, the resistance was too weak. I cracked an eye open to view a grey haired crone struggling within my grasp.

“I’ve survived many assassination attempts in my long life, coward,” I growled. “Speak now, or forever—“

“L-Lady Charlotte,” the would-be assassin struggled in my grip. Surprise etched her tone, as if she was confused because I was still alive. Of course! I was surprised as well when I woke last night as someone else! Despite the initial advantage I had over her, I was quickly realizing my strength was not at the same level it used to be. “I-I am your loyal—“

“Lady? Charlotte?” I whispered and let the old lady go. I have a name? I nearly choked at the realization. “I have a name!”

Of course, humans have names. It took one to earn their title in the Demon Lands. One must defeat the original title holder in order to become the newest. I, of course, defeated all of them and became the Lord of All Demons. Not anymore, but I resisted something tugging at my eyes when I heard her say that name again. My name, now.

“Y-Yes, Lady Charlotte,” she bowed. Confusion welled up in her eyes, but she composed herself. “I-I had only come just now to check on you. It seems you are in better health now.”

“Well, I am awake,” I helped her up. I realized this human before me was simply a servant, I never treated those poorly. “F-Forgive me, I was so startled I seemed to have forgotten my place.”

The woman looked at me with shock in her eyes, but fled out the door before I could question why.

“I shall call for Master Bohun!”

The thumping pressed upon rough a set of stairs until it went quiet, leaving me alone to ponder my situation. I must be situated inside a tower of some sort, location-wise, but enough of that. For now, I was incredibly bitter! I lost to a hero, who invaded my realm. The humans have attacked us so many times and I won against them all, besides that insufferable hero! What gives!? How could I be so weak? Even the Forbidden Skill I spent years researching went wrong! My eyes caught a glimpse of a mirror, and I stomped angrily towards it.

And who are you supposed to be? I glared at the reflection. A frowning, but charming black haired girl pouted back at me in the mirror. Such a cute face! I raised a hand and the girl did the same. Then I smacked myself. Gah! Alright, I felt my cheek. This is not a dream. A red painful mark left itself squarely on my face as I recoiled from the sting. I have never seen such fragile creatures invade through the portal before, though with this lack of height I could guess why. I was completely defenseless and I hoped the human realm was more peaceful than the Demon Land was.

An uneasy thought entered my mind, but it was not unwelcome. The girl in the reflection’s face smiled evilly to herself. I held up my hand again and clenched it, feeling the odd sensation of not having claws forming within my fist. I shall enjoy learning the weaknesses of humans while being one! This plan was foolproof! Yet, I could not help but think I was the fool here. I heard angry stomps trampling up to my room and fear nearly overwhelmed me. The old Lady Charlotte must have a good reason for this feeling, did she? I jumped off the step stool that I was on and prepared for a fight, only to realize my claws and tail were gone. There was no way out of this, huh?

A strong hand shoved the door open and I suddenly knew why. This beast of a man looked more terrifying than the hero! He stopped as he glared down upon me.

“Charlotte!” He growled. “I come all the way from the manor to check on your health and you’re already up to your usual antics! Have you forgotten what it means to be a proper lady? We don’t attack servants here and I will not fire any of them because you’re being rotten! And self-harming? What’s this about? No matter what you do Prince Devon will not be seeing you, you hear?”

Proper lady? You’re a man! How could you teach me to be what you aren’t?! I sulked. This overwhelming presence and authoritative tone of voice could only mean one thing. He was raising his hand to strike me, so I croaked out the only response as my countermeasure. A last resort before my Forbidden Skill was all for nothing!

“I’m sorry! Father!” I squeaked, raising my hands to block the blow no matter how futile it seemed. The meteoric hand stopped and surprise painted his face. He scoffed. I survived!

“Hmph. A first,” He turned to leave, but stopped just before exiting. “No matter. You are to remain here in this tower until your health recovers and someone retrieves you for your Awakening Ceremony. Heh, it’s not like a brat like you with such a frail Status could even survive an hour out in these Forbidden Woods.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

He left, while the servant that I apprehended chased after him. I tiptoed to the door and closed it quietly. Health recovery? Frail Status? I wondered. Those were things I heard many humans talking about while fighting them. When my first Generals died, they mentioned their Statuses growing through a phenomenon called “leveling up.” I heard wheels moving below me, so I looked out the window to experience human daylight for the first time. A sun glowered down upon the sprawling forest beneath me, and below me was an ornate carriage slowly crossing into the dark wilderness. A group of soldiers were escorting it. The soldiers were pesky, often picking at villages on the outskirts of the Demon Land in Hell, furthest away from my protection.

That carriage was my Father’s, I assumed. I pondered if abandoning one’s youth in a dangerous place such as “the Forbidden Forest” was a common trait shared between Humans and Demons. My parents in Hell abandoned me in the Hypogean Labyrinth to fight monsters within it. Was this a part of growing my Status? I wondered. Wait. How do I even see my Status?

“Status!” I uttered. Nothing happened. Figures. I scoffed. That old maid probably did not have any idea how to summon her Status, so I was better off waiting. Oh, I should check one thing. I squared up against the wooden support beam in the middle of my room and moved a few paces away from it. “Hiyah!”

Punch, punch, kick! After a few savage martial arts forms, I delivered a swift side kick against the beam. I was initially satisfied that I still remembered how to fight in hand to hand, but suddenly a massive stinging sensation shocked its way from my foot all the way up my leg. Gah! This body was too weak! I wobbled and fell onto the floor. As I rubbed my poor foot, I realized a translucent blue light barrier was floating above my head, staring down at me. Human language was written upon it. Easy, I thought. I spent decades learning their language with Wisdom unlocking the Forbidden Skill.

—Wisdom’s Intervention Activated. Select “Status” to continue.

“Eh?” All I did was kick a wall. That voice reading along with me sounded like Wisdom’s, but she has been gone for centuries. Could this Status be the result of her research? I looked at the barrier once again and saw the word it was telling me to select. “Status.”

A new barrier, or window, revealed itself to me. This must be what the humans see! I crawled closer to look at the beautiful text, but my hand passed through the magical screen. Demons did not have writings like these. Well, I sat back. It was hard to write with our claws.

—Charlotte, level 1

—Class: Human [Common]

HP: 51%

Mana Pool: N/A

Stamina: 51%

—Attack: F

—Magic: F

—Defense: F

—Magic Defense: F

These are Stats? Skills? Common Human Class? Questions flooded me. The numbers meant little to me, but the fact that they existed meant this was a Status. Have I already gone through the Awakening Ceremony if I have one of these? I shook my head. If Wisdom knew this much about the humans, it was no wonder why she kept herself guarded from even me for so long. The rest of my Status was level locked. But how do I level up? There were so many questions and my curiosity seemed bottomless. Suddenly, a voice cleared its throat from the corner of my room before I could open the Skills menu. I nearly shrieked, but noticed the maid has been standing there watching me this whole time.

“L-Lady Charlotte?” She questioned me. Right, my name was Charlotte. Well, if she was a servant then she would have no choice other than answering my question.

“So,” I interrupted her and pointed at the magical window. “You can see this, right?”

“The wooden beam?” The maid looked at where I was pointing, but it was evident that she could not see the Status window. “S-Surely you need more rest, milady. That fall must still be taking its toll upon you.”

She urged me to get back in the bed, so I complied.

“What happened to me?” I asked as I was tucked in. A fall? Does that explain what happened to the old Charlotte? The woman looked at me oddly, but simply smiled sadly.

“You were playing with your siblings a bit too much,” the maid was lying. I noticed the way she nervously checked her hands, as I did with all my subjects. Perhaps the old Charlotte was a brat, but I knew this was the woman who actually pushed me. “That’s when you took a fall, poor lady.”

“I see,” I flopped back down on the pillows and lay there in thought. I wish I could dive deeper into the mind of this human I occupied. Memories could help me understand the Human realm a lot better. “Do you know anything about the Awakening Ceremony?”

“I would not think so much about it, dear,” the old lady knew something. “Every child goes through it and receives their Status from the Gods. You, too, shall get one when you turn 10. Get some rest.”

“How old am I now?” I frowned. The lady confirmed that I was turning 10 in the next few weeks, while I ignored her and looked at the Status hovering right above the maid’s head. A mere 9 years of age was a blink for demonkind, I scoffed. Still, Wisdom really outdone herself. The old lady bowed, surprised that I remained quiet, but she backed out of the room silently and closed the door. If I were to run into that Hero again, I will level up again and again. We will fight on equal terms, and I will defeat him and his overpowered sword!

That was what I thought, but I had my worries. That was a lie I told myself. With Wisdom being gone and my old self dead, I felt utterly lost. My Realm was shattered, but at least it was left alone now with that final portal left shattered to pieces but she vanished before the final battle. Another Demon Lord will rise, I guessed, and these humans will build portals to invade the Demon Lands once again.

I should have told her how I felt about all of this, I curled up. How I felt about her.