“I’m the Demon King.” The girl said with a playful smile that reveals her sharp inhuman fangs.

My body trembles uncontrollably with anger. To think someone would have the balls to bust into my castle and proclaim themselves to be me while taking the appearance of Anna.

“Who sent you, Loki?” I tightly clench my hands to stop myself from ripping the imposter apart before she could give me information.

“Loki…. Loki?” Unfazed by the bloodlust emanating from me, the imposter quietly repeated Loki’s name while tapping her cheek. “Ah, Loki! That’s one of our, I mean your older brother, right?”

“He’s not my brother!” I snap at her. Just thinking of that little kid calling me brother makes my blood boil.

“I’m sorry, I thought you made up with your sibl- I mean the Entities. Seeing that Athena is constantly checking up on you.”

“How the hell do you know that.” My hatred for the Entities isn’t something I try to hide, in fact, I’m sure the whole world knows about it now, but no one should know about Athena visiting me, not even the other Entities.

“Because I was watching you during those thousands of years you were taking care of me.” The imposter placed a hand on her heart and looked at me with the same gentle smile Anna would always greet me with when I enter her room.

“Stop that! You’re not Anna!” I took a step back away from the imposter who was slowly approaching me.

“You’re right, I’m the Demon King, and you’re Anna. We’re one in the same now.”

“I’m Anna?” My head begins to pound as the horrible dream I awoke from flashes in my head.

“No… that couldn’t have been real…. Could it?” I look into the girl’s eyes. For some reason, it felt like I was looking at my reflection. I could feel that me and this girl went through the same horrible experience, almost like we were the same person…

“One and same huh? I see now.” I collapse to the ground. All the horrible memories flooding in my head drain me of my strength. “So, I fail then.” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself.

I sacrifice everything. My ambition, my life, and even my immortality. And yet I couldn’t save a single girl. How pathetic.

“You didn’t fail.”

“Then what the hell do you call this!” I slam my fists into the ground hard enough to create a crack in the floor. Unfazed by my outburst, Anna kneels next to me. I stare at the ground to avoid looking at her.

“I know things didn’t work out the way you expected, but that doesn’t mean you fail.” She places her hand under my chin and lifts my head up. “See, I’m here now thanks to you.”

“D-Did I actually help you, I mean are you really here?” I swallow down the lump in my throat and lift my hand towards her. I wanted to touch her but was too scared she might vanish if I did.

“Touch me and find out.” My heart begins to beat rapidly as my hand got closer and closer to her face. Just as I was about to touch her, the world exploded into a bright white light….

Chapter 13

A Different World

The light faded, and I found myself in a dark room with my hand reaching for the ceiling.

“A dream? No, not quite.” I bring my hand down to my face to inspect it. It was small and delicate like a princess who never worked her entire life.

“So, it was all real then?” The boy with the idiotic smile pop into my head for some reason. “If that’s the case then I need to repay him for saving me by throwing him off another cliff.”

While plotting my revenge, I slowly get up from the bed. The extra weight on my chest reminded me that I was in a female body. I look down to see that my hands were instinctively reaching for the mounds on my chest. I ball my hands into fists to stop myself from touching them.

“Groping later, right now, I need to figure out where I am.” I look out the window. Heavy rain pelted the glass making it difficult for me to see anything outside.

“This definitely isn’t the castle which means this must be a human settlement.” But that doesn’t mean I’m safe. Humans can be just as bad as goblins if not worse.

With that thought in mind, I cautiously open the door to my room. On the wall adjacent to me was an impossibly detail painting of the boy who helped me escape the forest. Seeing that the kid lived here, I felt a bit safer, but it wasn’t enough for me to let my guard down since I still have no idea what he was doing in the forest with that Alexander guy.

I slowly made my way down the pitch-black hallway my only light source being an occasional flash of lightning.

“Hmm.~Hmmm~.” The sound of a woman humming stop me directly in my tracks. It was coming from downstairs which naturally was the path I needed to take to escape.

“Please don’t let it be a siren.” I shiver at the thought of a ghastly woman with a rotting face blocking my exit.

While debating if I should just turn around and jump out the window, I reluctantly went downstairs. A delicious aroma enters my noise causing my stomach to growl at me.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

The entrance was right in front of me, but my hunger and curiosity overwhelm my desire to escape. While holding my stomach, I headed for the only lit room in the house where the enticing smell was coming from.

I lean against a wall and peek into the room to see a brown-haired woman with a loose braid hanging over her shoulder happily chopping up vegetables. While humming to herself, she tosses the vegetables into a pan. I greedily lick my lips at all the colorful food that was laid out on the counter.

“It looks like someone is hungry.” The woman looks in my direction. I quickly threw myself backward to put as much distance between us.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you.” She drops her knife on the ground and kicks it towards me. “See? I’m harmless.”

What an obvious trick. If I bend down and pick up the knife, she’ll charge at me and disarm me before I can do anything or if she’s a summoner she can easily call it back to her hands. Either way, she’ll probably have the advantage if I go for the knife.

“Funny, these past few hours everyone who said they were harmless tried to kill me.” Granted the boy was trying to help me. But that doesn’t change the fact that he threw me off a fucking cliff. “So, tell me, why should I trust you?” I place my foot on the knife to make sure no one could use it.

“Well, you were unconscious for an entire day. So, if I really did have any ill intentions, I would have done it while you were asleep.” The woman said with a bright and happy smile.

I… I guess she does have a point, but how can she say that with such an innocent face?

My stomach growls loudly again. I grab my stomach as if that would somehow shut it up. The woman giggles at me while heading back into the kitchen.

“I’m going to go finish cooking. You’re welcome to join me.” The lady starts to quietly hum to herself as she repeatedly flips the contents in the pan.

She’s trying her best to act like a normal housewife, but there’s no way a woman who stays at home all day could sense my presence. Nor would they happily give a weapon to a stranger they just met. I’m not sure what she’s trying to accomplish, but it doesn’t seem like she’s out to harm me. At least for now.

I pick up the knife and follow the lady into the kitchen. I could feel something gnawing at my stomach as I took in the aroma coming from the pan.

I knew mortals needed to eat to survive, but I didn’t think it was this serious. It feels like I’m going to past out if I don’t get something inside my stomach soon.

“Go ahead and sit down, the food should be done soon.”

“R-Right.” I followed her orders and sat down at the wooden table. With nothing else better to do, I look around the kitchen as I waited for her to finish cooking.

Strangely, even though the room is well lit, I couldn’t find a single candle anywhere. The light seems to come from the glass sphere hanging on the ceiling.

"It seems that technology has improved.” I shrug my shoulders and calmly accept the weird device hanging above me.

I've been disconnected from the world for thousands of years, so it’s only natural that I’ll be behind when it comes to technology. This reminds me of when Athena happily tried to show me a device that could apparently call and messages people, although she had no idea how to use it herself.

“My name’s Deborah by the way.” The lady blurted out. “What’s yours?”

“It’s Anna….” It felt weird giving myself a girl name, but I’ll doubt she’ll be happy if I told her who I really was.

“Well Anna, dinner is ready.” Deborah hands me a plate of rice covered in a strange brown sauce with chopped meat and vegetables scatter on top.

“Wow….” The knife falls out of my hand as I stare dumbly at the plate.

I didn’t think it was possible for food to look so good. This looks like something a chef would serve at a ball or something.

I look up at Deborah. She sat at the opposite end of the table with her hands clasps together as stares me quietly, the food on her plate untouched.

Does she want to know what I think of her cooking?

I grabbed my silverware and ate a spoonful.

“Hmm~” My body shudders in delight.

How can something taste so good? Everything has a flavor to it. Even the plain white rice has a distinct taste.

“Well, how is it?”

“Ish gud!” I greedily shove more food into my mouth desperately trying to fill the painful void in my stomach.

“Good, I’m glad you like it……” Deborah fell silent. With her hands still clasp she turns her attention upstairs to the pitch-black hallway. “That’s Aaron favorite food.” She said while still looking upstairs

Aaron? Isn't that’s the name of the kid who helps me in the forest. Could this be his mother?

“I made it hoping it would wake him up. But it looks like I woke up sleeping beauty instead.” She looks back at me with a bewitching smile that made my heart skip a beat.

“Beauty? I think you’re going a bit too far.” I awkwardly look away to stop myself from getting suck into her amber eyes.” I prefer if you call me handsome.” I whisper to myself.

“Not at all. You really are beautiful. I have never seen hair as dark as yours before, and your eyes are bright and colorful like gems. You kind of look like a princess out of a fairy tale.”

“Princess, huh?” The dream I had where I talk to an Anna flashes in my head. “So, how is Aaron doing?” Deborah’s smile faded away the moment I mention Aaron.

Sorry, I know it’s insensitive to talk about your comatose son, but the less we talked about me, the better.

“I don’t know. A doctor was supposed to come today to examine both of you. But I doubt this storm will allow his ship to leave the harbor.”

Ships? That’s strange. This country isn’t near a body of water large enough for boats to be traveling here.

Wait, if that’s the case, then what the hell did I see when I was falling off the cliff? I’m pretty sure I saw an ocean in the horizon before I blacked out. Is that possible? Can a landscape change that much in a thousand years?

A crack of thunder shakes the house, snapping me out of my thoughts. The rain grew heavier and beat on the window like it was trying to shatter the glass.

“It doesn’t look like you’ll be able to go home tonight Anna.”

“Yea…” I halfheartedly respond.

Thanks to the goblins, I don’t have a home to return to. It looks like I’ll have to sleep under a tree tonight.

Deborah abruptly stands up and stretches her arms out. “I’ll go find some clothes for you to sleep in tonight.”

“Wait, you’re letting me stay?” Deborah tilts her head and looks at me confused.

“Of course. Why would I kick you out into that awful storm?”

Multiple morbid reasons pop into my head, but I decided to keep them to myself.

“Um, thank you.”

Deborah quietly smiles at me and heads upstairs. Once she was out of sight, I let out a long sigh and sink into my chair, exhausted. “What do I do now?” I look blankly outside into the storm.

So much has changed that I might as well consider this a different world. Going out there without any information could be dangerous. Especially if my so-called “siblings” are chasing after me. If they find me in this vulnerable form, then it’s over for me.

“Anna, I found clothes for you to wear!” Deborah shouted happily.

I’m not sure why she’s going out of her way to help me, but I might as well abuse her kindness, at least until I grow accustom this world.

“I’ll leave them by the bathtub.”

“A bathtub?!” I jump out of my chair an excitement. “It’s been such a long time since I taken a…. bath.” I look down at myself to see I was still wearing Aaron’s jacket and practically nothing else. Anna’s milky white thighs and legs were in full view for everyone to enjoy.

Embarrassed I slowly sat back down and let out a sigh.

“Anna, if you’re still in my head somewhere then we need to talk…”