"Father is back?" Deziara and Rosa exclaimed at the same time. The older girl nearly jumped from excitement, barely able to contain it. Rosa, however, felt a mixture of emotions wash over her. At first she felt excited about Alphegor's return, but she quickly tempered this emotion as cautiousness took over.

I'll have to be very careful with Alphegor around. Asdeus will no doubt force me into her puppet show, so that means I'll have to act as if I like her. Can I even do that? But if I don't, then it's all over for me.

"Yes, Princess! He kept the victory over the fallen as a secret in order to return to the Demon Castle as soon as possible. But soon the whole Demon Kingdom will celebrate his glorious victory," the guard announced, giddy from excitement.

"That is wonderful! Where is he now? We must greet him right away. Isn't that right, Rosa?" Deziara grabbed onto Rosa's hand, and she nodded, caught up in her sister's enthusiasm.

"His Majesty went to his room to wash up first. He has spent more than a month on the battlefield after all. But I am sure that you can meet him as soon as he is done and dressed," the guard replied, and Rosa's heart stopped at that moment.

Alphegor went to wash up and change clothes? But I… I never removed my painting from his wardrobe.

Rosa staggered back, feeling bile rise up from her stomach.

"What's wrong, Morri? You look very pale suddenly," Deziara turned to her, reaching her hand out to touch Rosa's face. Rosa stepped back, shaking her head in horror.

"He'll see… He'll know…" she uttered, her head spinning and her hands shaking.

He'll know I'm a human. Maybe he's already seen the painting. The painting of another world. Nobody else is allowed inside his room. He'll find out I am human. Maybe he already knows and is on his way here. On his way to… kill me.

"Know what? What's wrong, Morri?" Deziara's eyes were filled with concern and she took a step closer to Rosa. But before her sister could take a hold of her, Rosa slipped into the shadows and ran.

She headed straight towards the castle gate and slipped through without pausing for a second. The four guards never even noticed her, so she continued rushing forward.

Faster! Faster! Before he realizes that I am gone. Before he comes to kill me.

Rosa couldn't cry any tears in her shadow form, but she felt her being breaking apart. The cityscape around her blurred as she rushed through as quickly as she could. A small, lone shadow that nobody would notice.

But it felt like everybody knew where she was going. She felt as if a thousand eyes were observing her and telling Alphegor where to find her.

I have to be far away from here. Somewhere where Alphegor cannot find me. Somewhere away from the Demon Kingdom.

She kept rushing from street to street, from building to building until slowly they became more sparse. Large buildings were replaced with smaller houses and streets, until those too dwindled.

Darkness overtook the scenery as the lights from houses grew more and more sparse. Eventually all artificial lights were gone and the only way for Rosa to see anything was from the occasional bioluminescent mushroom or plant. They seemed to be lined some distance from each other as if to indicate a pathway through the unrelenting underground.

But Rosa had no time to ponder their arrangement. Her only goal was to run away as far as possible. Away into the neverending dark – where nobody could ever find her.

***

"Finally I got all the blood off my hands," Alphegor grumbled, stepping outside of the bathroom. He had wanted to see Morrigan straight away, but he didn't want to scare her with blood and dirt that soiled his whole body after the relentless battle.

I should have razed the whole Fallen Kingdom off the map for making me spend so much time away from Morrigan.

At first, Alphegor hadn't thought much about leaving Morrigan alone. After all, he left his other daughters alone all the time. Their mothers and the nannies were more than sufficient in taking care of them.

But it had always been different for Morrigan. Right from the start, she didn't have a mother to rely on, so Alphegor had to step up and fill up a role that should have belonged to Eirwen. And even discounting that, there was something special about that child.

Alphegor wasn't thinking about her magical potential, although when the elf slave had confirmed her astounding magic while she was still a babe, he had been ecstatic. No, it was about her personality. She had him firmly in her grasp, making him dance to her little whims. In that way, she was very much like her mother.

But even with all that charisma, he had not expected to miss her so dearly while away on the battlefield. He constantly worried whether the concubines were planning to poison her or send any assassins after Morrigan. He worried whether she enjoyed the food she ate or if she could sleep comfortably at night with him gone. The little girl spent three years sleeping next to him before she was comfortable enough in her own bed.

He worried whether Azrael would find a way to circumvent his oath and cause Morrigan any harm. Even if he knew it was impossible to do, he was still worried. And he also wondered whether she missed him at all. Or if she could continue on with her days as if his presence never mattered in the first place.

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How foolish! I am a King. I should not be worried about something so trivial.

And yet he was.

Alphegor sighed at his foolishness and approached his wardrobe to find himself some fresh clothes to wear. He opened the door and picked out the first outfit that he saw, putting it on in a hurry. As he swung the wardrobe door shut, a loud clatter came from inside it – as if something had fallen.

"What was that?"

Alphegor opened the wardrobe again, looking inside it for anything out of place. To his surprise, there were a bunch of painting supplies scattered on the wardrobe floor. He leaned down to take a closer look and saw that small canvas had fallen down within it.

"How did that get here?" he asked aloud, although he already knew the answer. Nobody could enter his chambers besides Morrigan, her nanny and the cleaning maids. The dwarf woman had no business rummaging through his wardrobe, and neither did the maids since his clothes didn't need to be washed while he was away. So it was no doubt Morrigan who had put these inside his wardrobe.

"Little rascal, what has she been up to?" Alphegor chuckled and picked up the canvas, wondering what kind of a 'masterpiece' could the little demon produce.

As the gentle pastel colors of an unknown world and rectangular buildings filled his vision, Alphegor nearly dropped the painting. His breath hitched as he took in every single detail of the foreign world. Of Morrigan's old world.

"She remembers… How is that possible?"

He traced his finger over the painting when a loud, panicked knock resounded on his door. Alphegor waved his fingers and the painting disappeared – safely hidden in a pocket dimension.

"What is it?" he growled, irritated at the disturbance.

"Your Majesty! You must come," sounded a panicked voice of one of Morrigan's guards. He had specifically picked out this demon as her guard as he was one of the strongest and most trustworthy warriors he had at his disposal.

Alphegor went to the door and opened it, giving a merciless glare to the guard. But he appeared unbothered by his anger, his features already filled with panic, his skin completely pale.

"This better be important that you dare to bother me," he warned, but there was an unexplainable heaviness growing in the pit of his stomach. As if he had eaten something poisoned.

"Your Majesty, Princess Morrigan ran away!" the guard blurted out.

"Ran away? What do you mean 'ran away'?" Alphegor smashed his hand into the door frame, destroying it and leaving a giant hole in the nearby wall. The guard flinched back, his face turning even paler.

"M-My colleague told both Princess Deziara and Princess Morrigan about your return, and then Princess Morrigan turned into a shadow and disappeared," the guard stammered, fumbling over his words.

"Then why are you still standing here? Go after her!" Alphegor roared and the guard rushed away, tripping over his feet.

Alphegor smashed into the door frame a second time, completely destroying the adjacent wall.

Why would you suddenly run, Morrigan? Is it because I returned? Because of the memories you regained? Or did you have them from the very beginning?

Alphegor wanted to understand her reasoning, but he knew he had no time to waste. The little girl was incredibly fast in her shadow form. If he were to linger, she could even find herself in one of the neighboring kingdoms.

Alphegor took a breath and then allowed his senses to expand outwards, hoping to feel his link to Morrigan. But instead of her, he got bombarded by Deziara's loud wails.

That's right, Deziara was with her. She could give me a clue as to why Morrigan suddenly ran off.

The King let the darkness envelop him and willed himself to reappear in the castle yard. Deziara stopped her crying for a moment, shocked by his appearance. But her eyes quickly filled with tears again and she threw herself at Alphegor.

"F-Father! M-Morri suddenly disappeared," the girl cried and hiccuped, barely able to form a coherent word. He crouched down on one knee and patted her head in a soothing motion.

"Tell me exactly what happened. Down to every last detail," he said, trying to make his voice as calm as possible. Showing his own distress would only make Deziara even more panicked.

"We were just playing with Haku, when a guard came and told us that you have returned," Deziara hiccuped but did her best to explain.

"And then she ran?"

"No," Deziara shook her head. "Morri looked very happy that you were back. I asked where you were and the guard replied that you went to take a bath and change your clothes."

"And then?" Alphegor urged her on, doing his best to keep his hand steady as he stroked his daughter's hair.

"Then she suddenly looked very pale and she said something weird."

"What did she say?"

"She said 'He'll know, He'll see' and then just disappeared," Deziara finished and a whole new set of giant tears began rolling down her cheeks.

"Thank you, dear! This is very helpful. I'll find Morrigan and bring her back. Don't you worry," he gave her a last stroke on the head and then got up.

So Morrigan most likely got scared when she realized that I would see her painting. Is it because she fears my reaction if I were to find out about her human past? If I had known that she remembered her past, I would have reassured her a long time ago.

"Really?" Deziara looked at him with large eyes as she wiped the tears away in the sleeve of her dress.

"Yes, without a doubt," he confirmed as he looked at the castle gate.

I'll find her no matter what.

"Azrael!" he called and a few seconds later, the white-haired demon emerged from a shadow in front of him.

"You're back already? That was fast," Azrael smirked, casually raising his hands behind his back.

"Morrigan has run away. Find her at once," Alphegor commanded, and Azrael's face instantly shifted to a more serious expression.

"Ran away? Why would she do that?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter why. Your only concern is to get her back safe and sound."

"Tracking her shadow form isn't easy."

"But it's not impossible. Alert me as soon as you find her," Alphegor glared and Azrael gave a curt bow.

"At once, Your Majesty," he replied and then slipped into the shadows. But just before he disappeared, Alphegor noticed a barely noticeable smirk on his lips.

Is he somehow involved in this? It would be better if I found Morrigan first, but I can't take any chances.

"Your King is speaking!" Alphegor suddenly boomed, his voice increased in volume by magic. It reverberated through the whole Demon Castle, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and listen.

"Princess Morrigan is somewhere outside the Demon Castle in her shadow form. Spare no resource and find her! Inform me as soon as you have any clue as to her whereabouts," he ordered, and demons poured out of the castle dispersing to search for the little princess.

Please stay safe, Morrigan. The outside world is too dangerous for a little demon like you.

And with that thought Alphegor slipped into the shadows and sped through Linberor, grasping at any sign of his precious daughter's whereabouts.