In the distant Southern Continent, within the Hutton Kingdom, lay its royal capital, Ikerite.
At ten in the morning on an April spring day, the sky above the capital was painted in soft shades of blue, the air bright and fresh with the fragrance of flowers.
East of Ikerite Academy, across two wide and tidy streets, shops lined the bustling thoroughfare.
A small restaurant radiated the rich aroma of breakfast, the scent of oats and cheese drifting gently through the air.
It was a two-story building crafted from tawny timber. The sign above the door bore words in the Hutton tongue: "Boss Cat Restaurant." The roof curved broadly and gracefully, its eaves stretching out far, and whenever a breeze brushed past, the wind chimes hanging below trilled with pleasant melody.
Every so often, accompanied by a succession of chimes, the restaurant doors swung open as patrons came and went. The ground floor was divided simply yet cleverly into several sections, complete with a front counter and passageways leading toward the kitchen and the second floor.
At this hour, the restaurant was past its morning rush. Customers were sparse. In the kitchen, two young women wore aprons as they prepped ingredients at the workstations, where leafy vegetables, fruits, and assorted seasonings were arranged in neat rows.
Their coordination was seamless enough to require no words. On one side, the rhythm of a knife dancing against the cutting board sounded crisp and forceful; on the other, seasonings and ingredients intertwined in a culinary art.
Talia handled the cutting. Every strike of her blade fell with pinpoint precision, slicing the vegetables into uniform pieces before sweeping them aside.
Asna stood beside her, handling the seasoning and processing, preserving the ingredients' original flavors while imbuing them with new life.
On this particular morning, Asna, as vice president of the student council, had no official duties.
In this final semester of her third year, she had already completed all her course credits and finished her graduation thesis. All that remained was to wait until the scheduled date to apply for graduation.
Now she served as the head chef of Boss Cat Restaurant. She had politely declined Ikerite Academy's offer to stay and teach, nor did she plan to continue into a fourth year of advanced studies. Once graduated, she would formally become Boss Cat's apprentice.
Over this period, she had become an irreplaceable friend and partner to Miss Tata, who helped manage the shop for Boss Cat.
Every time, Miss Tata offered the most precise critiques to help refine her dishes.
And most importantly of all, no matter how much food was made, Miss Tata could eat every bite.
There was never any worry of her stuffing herself to the point of being unable to offer guidance, nor any concern over wasting food.
Ever since meeting Tata, Asna felt her culinary skills leap forward by bounds. She had begun cooking day and night for Tata, and Tata was delighted as well, even stepping in as her prep cook to speed up Asna's work in the kitchen.
The only thing that gave Asna a flicker of concern was whether Tata might be eating too much.
Though Tata showed no sign of gaining weight, if this continued, there might just be a little belly on her come summertime.
Talia remained engrossed in her practiced routine, preparing the ingredients.
Yet, she suddenly came to a halt.
The edge of her knife rested quietly against the cutting board. Pulling her gaze from the sliced vegetables, she slowly looked up toward the far side of the kitchen.
Outside the window, spring sunlight bathed the sill, and leaves swayed gently in the breeze.
"..."
Talia's gaze seemed detached from the tranquil scenery, cast far into the distance, lost in deep contemplation.
In this moment, her expression seemed unusually perplexed, a complex glimmer flickering in her eyes.
Noticing the shift, Asna paused in her work and turned to Talia with concern.
"Tata, what's wrong?"
Asna felt as though something was suddenly weighing on Tata's mind.
Talia shook her head.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
In truth, she could not tell if it was an illusion or reality.
She had a distinct feeling that somewhere in the world, a new great demon had just emerged—and one with whom she shared some sort of connection, which was why she, as demon royalty, had felt such an anomalous resonance.
Thinking it over, the ruins of the Great Demon Trials were almost entirely destroyed. Even if any remained, they were likely under human control.
Humans would never permit a powerful demon to complete the trial and ascend to a great demon.
Unless... some demon she knew had survived, blended in among humans, recently found a chance to slip into a Great Demon Trial, gathered the final imprint, and successfully emerged as a great demon.
Yet no matter how hard she tried, Talia could not imagine who it could possibly be.
A century ago, let alone powerful demons, even those with talent were almost entirely wiped out.
Now, even if one became a great demon, aside from unlocking the upper limit of their innate magic, it served little other purpose.
Without a Demon King or an ancestral realm, they could not even receive a title, remaining nothing more than a "nameless great demon."
If one were to name another purpose, being a great demon meant possessing status worthy of the Demon King's scions.
According to demon tradition, any betrothed of demon royalty had to be at least a great demon.
Still, whether it was an ordinary demon, a great demon, or a human, she held no interest in anyone who courted her.
Even if a new great demon had truly been born—and one connected to her—it could hardly be someone intending to propose an engagement just to stir up rumors across the Demon Realm.
Moments like these always brought her back to the realization that the demon nation had ceased to exist a hundred years ago. She had long since concealed her name and identity; the demons and the Northern Continent would soon have nothing to do with her.
If there was any lingering regret,
it was that she had no idea what had become of her close friend, Antanas of Protection.
Now that her life was looking up, she could not help but feel a twinge of loneliness whenever she thought of Antanas not being by her side.
"Tata, are you thinking about someone?"
Seeing that Tata had seemed absentminded for a while, Asna finished up the task at hand before asking gently.
"I was just reminded of a dear friend. We lost contact a long time ago."
Talia nodded and answered.
By now, she considered Asna a friend as well. It was once unimaginable that she would one day befriend a human, treating each other with sincere warmth, working, living, and chatting together day in and day out.
"Then you could ask Lanqi to help track her down. He's very good at that sort of civil commission work."
Asna recalled how, since the new semester began, the student council's workload felt noticeably heavier without Lanqi and Hyperion around.
"Forget it."
Tata shook her head. Asna had no idea that this was hardly a matter of civil commissions.
Antanas was an ancient great demon. They had been out of touch for a century; even Talia herself could scarcely sketch out what Antanas looked like now.
It wasn't as though she could just casually say to Lanqi, "While you're in the Northern Continent, bring me back a great demon named Antanas," and then expect him to return from his trip and drop Antanas off at the restaurant door like a souvenir.
Not even dreams worked that way.
Besides, she was nowhere near prepared. If Antanas were to suddenly see her living comfortably as a human, coexisting peacefully with them in easy contentment, the sight alone would probably make her want to end it all.
After a moment's thought, Talia returned peacefully to slicing vegetables.
"By the way, Asna, during your upcoming midterm break, would it be all right if I took a few days off?"
Talia remembered that every May and June, Ikerite Academy held a seven-day midterm break. During that time, Asna could be at the restaurant every day, and Student Council President Monaster would also come by to lend a hand.
"Of course. Are you planning a trip?"
Asna nodded.
"No, I'd like to visit South Vantina. There's something that's been lingering in the back of my mind. It just came to me, so I thought I'd go take a look."
Hearing Asna mention Lanqi had reminded Talia of their departure at the train station in the South Vantina frontier territory. Hans, the Wilfort family butler, had seen them off and mentioned that Lanqi had once painted a picture—and what a shame it was that she hadn't seen it.
As time passed, she had grown increasingly curious about what kind of painting it was.
With Boss Cat Restaurant's business now firmly on track, next month offered an ideal opportunity. She planned to return to South Vantina and visit the Wilfort family estate to see that painting of Lanqi's.
Chapter 424