Chapter 68 : I’m Sorry, Milly…

“Milly… all of it… it was all fake, right?”

Tifna’s eyes reflected her own—not blue, but blood-red.

Beneath her skirt, a tail twitched.

No wonder her strength had surged during the fight, her stamina recovering so quickly.

So, that was it.

Milly gave a bitter smile. If she hadn’t stepped in, she wouldn’t have been exposed. But she couldn’t just watch Tifna get hurt.

And the price? She looked at the weapons aimed at her. Her eyes stung.

Why were they all so afraid of her?

Idis, who always wanted to be close to her, was trembling so hard she could barely hold her staff.

“Milly… you’re a demon, aren’t you?”

Her inhuman healing could have been explained away, but the wings and tail were irrefutable. There was no excuse.

The final nail in the coffin.

She looked at them all.

Alva, the man with the great shield, who always stood in front of his teammates. Now, his shield was facing her. She was the enemy.

Layn, the priest who had healed her, who had been so concerned about her scrapes. Now, he was frantically flipping through his holy book. Was he looking for a way to deal with demons?

Sion, the silent ranger, had his bow drawn, an arrow aimed at her eye. If he let go, she would suffer the same fate as the Horned Lizard.

Joseph, the warrior with the heavy axe, who had told her to come to him if anyone bullied her. Now, he held his broken axe handle, the blade facing her.

All their warm words, their kind gestures, were now boomerangs, hitting her right between the eyes.

She had stepped forward to protect them. Why were they all looking at her like this? Did her identity matter that much? Because she was a demon, did it matter if she had good intentions? Was she an enemy just because of who she was?

“But I was protecting you…”

No one responded. No one lowered their weapons.

Were they all just programmed NPCs? Did they automatically switch from ally to enemy the moment they identified a demon?

Milly gave another bitter smile and looked at Tifna, the girl who had shown her so much care, who had promised to protect her. Now, she was gripping her wrist with crushing force.

“Milly, tell me, all of it was fake, right?”

Her wings drooped. Even her restless tail stopped moving. In this situation, even if she said what Tifna wanted to hear, would she believe it?

She had said it herself: demons were filthy creatures.

“Captain…”

Someone tried to pull Tifna away, but she held on tight, her eyes locked on Milly.

“Milly, that night, what I saw… it was a tail, wasn’t it?”

“Yes…”

A hoarse whisper. Tifna’s grip was so tight, it felt like her bones would break.

“And the first day we met, you said you were kidnapped… that was a lie too, wasn’t it?”

Tifna’s voice trembled. Only now did she realize she had never truly known this girl.

Her identity was a lie. Her true form was a fearsome demon. The story of being kidnapped was a fabrication to gain their sympathy.

And the sigil… only now did Tifna realize how strange it was. No s*ave brand would react like that.

“Yes…”

Tifna collapsed, the color draining from her eyes. She thought she had found a new reason to live, but now she saw it was all built on lies.

She wished it were all a lie.

But the truth was right in front of her.

“Captain…”

“No…”

She pushed away the hands trying to help her up. Tears streamed down her face. She grabbed Milly’s hands, desperate for the final answer.

But when she spoke, her voice was a broken sob.

“Milly… tell me, why is my brother’s sword, Dawn, in your hands? Why? Tell me, why…”

The air grew still. Milly’s pupils shrank. She looked at the weeping girl before her, her throat closing up. She couldn’t say a word.

The sky suddenly darkened. A cold wind whipped past, swirling leaves and dust, a mournful song.

Cold raindrops fell, blurring Milly’s vision. She stared at the broken girl before her. She didn’t know the answer.

“I don’t know…”

Her voice was lost in the rain. Tifna looked at her, her expression growing darker.

The rain fell harder, as if to drown the world. Milly’s figure in the rain seemed so small, so fragile.

Tifna finally let go, her hands falling limply to her sides.

“I’m sorry, Milly…”

…

Another prison.

Colder than Stacy’s carpeted cage.

Her limbs were chained. The cell was spacious, but her range of movement was pitifully small.

The priests in their holy robes had used some kind of magic. She had no strength, and her powers seemed to be sealed. She couldn’t break free.

And even if she did, where would she go?

There was no place for her here.

She had hoped to lie low with Tifna, grow strong, and defeat Stacy.

Just last night, they had leaned on each other. Now, less than a day later, everything was reversed.

The question she hadn’t asked yesterday, Tifna had answered with her actions today.

Even though she had saved them, because she was a demon, she was the enemy. An enemy who had approached them with ill intentions. Maybe they even thought the Shadowblade Beast was part of her act.

Where could she go?

Home?

Home? Where was home?

Home…

Back to the home she remembered, before she transmigrated. The small, warm home.

Could she ever go back?

Two clear lines of text appeared in her mind. Before she could decipher them, the sound of heavy footsteps approached, breaking the silence outside the cell.

A knight in full armor came to the cell door. The narrow slit in his helmet hid his face. He said nothing, just sat down, leaning against the bars.