''Let's go see her! ''

'' Yes... ''

Accompanied by Gloria and Luccie, we went to the manor.

We then entered Gloria's room. Once inside, I saw Leonard and another brown horned demon standing near Gloria's bed. Seeing me, they stood up and bowed slightly as a sign of respect.

In the middle of the bed, on a pink cushion, lay the little kitten who seemed motionless.

I moved closer to him and started touching him with my fingertips. He didn't react to any of my movements.

However he was still breathing, which meant he was not dead yet.

'' SO ? ''Gloria asked me with a sad look.

'' It is. How can I say... He seems to me to be very weakened. ''

“Do you think you can do something for him? ''

'' No. I don't think..."

I could have saved this kitten in my past, when I was still Igneel Lamprok. It is known to everyone that demons cannot heal a race other than their own. There's no point trying anything.

''I'm sorry Gloria, but there's nothing I can do for her. ''

Hearing my words, she burst into tears, then she ran out of her room. Leonard directly followed her.

“Don’t worry about her, your Majesty. She will eventually understand. '' Said Luccie.

''I know... But it's still funny. Despite all the power I have, I am not able to save this poor kitten...''

“Your Majesty…”

“Let’s go. ''

We left the room. After this unfortunate episode, I spent the rest of the day in my office. I could no longer concentrate on current affairs.

Gloria's sad look had changed the tone of my day.

The sun was beginning to set and gave way to dusk. The day had now ended.

I decided to leave my office to pace around. My walk took me into the large courtyard of the manor. From a distance, I saw Gloria sitting on the stairs.

She always had a sad look on her face, which didn't leave me unmoved. I decided to get closer to her.

'' It'll be OK ? '' I asked once I got close to her.

'' Yes... ''

A silence settled between us. The kitten's health had impacted him much more than I thought.

“I don’t want Minia to die…”

She mumbled these words under her lips.

“If you want then we can go to town and find you a new kitten. ''

“It’s true that it’s a solution, but I don’t want it. What's the point of bringing another kitten if later I won't be able to save it? ''

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“You’re not wrong…”

''If we were humans, we couldn't have saved her, could we? ''

“Human magic comes from light. This allows them to be able to perform spells capable of healing several species except us demons. We on the other hand, our magic comes from darkness. Light and darkness are incompatible, which explains the difficulty we have in caring for species different from ours. ''

'' I understand... ''

She then looked at me with a blank look, then she muttered words almost inaudibly.

''In that case, I would have liked to be a human...''

I never thought I would hear these words one day from the mouth of a demon.

However, I could understand her. Gloria is a child after all. She was born after the holy war, she surely must not know the hatred that exists between human and demon.

Thinking of a perspective where she could be human meant that she didn't differentiate between the two races. This must surely be due to the short time spent in Seika City.

If everyone thought like her, the world would surely experience eternal peace. I don't know why, but this little discussion put my mind straight.

“Gloria. I will do my best to make sure Minia doesn't die. ''

'' Eh ? '' She said looking surprised.

I just smiled.

I got up and then went to his room. Once there, I took the little kitten and gently wrapped it in a blanket.

After that, I went to my room. I placed the little kitten on the bed and erected a barrier around him. I also took the trouble to stop time inside it.

'' GOOD. What are we going to do now? ''

I contacted Luccie telepathically.

“Luccie. ''

“Yes, your Majesty? ''

“Could you find me an empty room in the mansion? ''

“Yes, your Majesty. ''

A few minutes later, Luccie found me in my room. She was a little surprised to see me with the kitten but she didn't ask me any questions about it and got straight to the point.

“Your Majesty, I found you a free room. ''

“Thank you Luccie. ''

Guided by Luccie, I went to this room. A few minutes later, we arrived at our destination.

“It’s here. ''

“Thank you Luccie, you can leave me alone now. ''

“Yes your Majesty. ''

She made as if to leave, then she stopped.

“Your Majesty, are you going to save this kitten? ''

She ends up asking me about my intentions regarding this kitten.

''I don't know if it's possible. I just have an idea in mind, I'll see what happens. ''

“Can I ask you a question? ''

“Yes, go ahead, I’ll listen to you. ''

''I would like to know why you are putting in so much effort just to save this kitten? ''

For Luccie, it was an incomprehensible gesture coming from the demon king.

“It’s simple. It pains me to see Gloria sad. I'd like to make him smile again, that's all. ''

There was no better reason than wanting to make a sad child smile again.

''You have changed a lot, it's as if you were someone else. ''

''You think? ''

'' Yes. The demon king I know would not have paid attention to such futility. Since your reincarnation, you take the emotions of others much more into account and you also share yours with us. ''

'' Well. Let's say that before reincarnating, I was able to take stock of everything that was most important. ''

It was the only answer I could give. I wasn't going to tell him that I'm a mage who accidentally took the place of the demon king.

'' I see. Maybe it’s this state of mind that we lacked to finally be able to live in peace. ''

She prostrated herself before me.

“You can count on me to help you achieve your goal. ''

“Thank you, Luccie. This goes straight to my heart. ''

She stood up after my response and raised her head again. She showed a beautiful smile, then she left the room.

''Okay... Let's get to work. ''

Now that Luccie was gone and I was now alone, I could start on why I had come here.

I started by drawing a magic circle on the ground which I imbued with my mana. This magic circle had the same constitution as the one I made in the past.

Unlike the results I had obtained when I was still human, the circle on the ground directly turned red and illuminated the room with its color.

Not long ago, I was on the verge of death. Driven by my desire to survive, I ate the result of my experiment before losing consciousness. And when I woke up, I had changed race.

It turns out that the thing I ate before losing consciousness was actually the source of the Demon King. If I manage to reproduce the same thing and pass it on to the kitten, it could surely come back to life even if the chances are slim.

This time, the results might be different from what I knew. The color of the drawn circle was proof, but I had to try.

With the circle now formed, I create mud by combining the elemental magics of water and earth. With the mud spread across the circle, I now had to use an item that would allow me to create the source I needed.

Initially, I used the Demon King's cells, but now that I had become the Demon King, it was easier for me to obtain these cells.

Finally, I opted for something even better. I decided to use my blood instead. I cut my finger and let my blood soak into the mud.

A black sphere formed and began to grow. Like the last time, it cracked and left a pile of dust. Nothing different. And yet in the finality, there was a big difference.

Instead of finding a black source in this pile of dust, I instead saw a scarlet red ball similar to a nucleus levitated in space.

Small red flashes seemed to escape from there. I didn't know what that meant, but the fact that I decided to use my blood completely changed the end result.

I smiled then I delicately retrieved the scarlet red ball.

I then rushed towards the kitten. I deactivated the barrier that protected him and placed him on the ground. He was still breathing, but it was weak. If I hadn't stopped time inside the barrier, he would probably already be dead.

I gently opened his mouth, then made him swallow the strange scarlet red ball from my experiment. All I had to do was wait and hope that it would happen as I hoped.

A few minutes later, the kitten's body began to distort into several strange shapes. Red lightning surrounded him and propelled throughout the room and illuminated it with a blinding red light.

I covered my eyes with my hand and formed a barrier around myself so that one of those lightning bolts wouldn't hit me.

After a few seconds of rampage, everything became stable again. I delicately opened my eyes and saw a small tree.

On one of the branches of the tree, I could see a small fruit the size of an apple. It was blue in color and lit up the entire room with its color.

“It’s strange…”

I decided to get closer to the tree to observe the fruit more closely.

Being able to see inside it, I noticed to my great astonishment that something was living inside.

It's an embryo.

End of chapter.