Transmigrated as the Villainess Princess - Chapter 248

Chapter 248: A New Direction (12)

Liliana walked down the hall with her usual grace, her small feet making no sound on the polished marble floors of the royal palace. No one would have guessed what resided beneath the surface of those curious eyes. After her quiet time with her mother earlier that day, she had excused herself, claiming she wanted to rest.

But the moment she returned to her chambers, her demeanor shifted. The moment her door clicked shut, a hum of power rose from the corners of the room. Symbols appeared, etched in violet and black light. A ripple of energy tore through the air as a glowing portal formed in the space before her. Without fear or hesitation, she stepped through it.

The room shimmered and melted away, giving birth to another realm, a domain forged from obsidian flame, ever-blooming nightshade flowers, and floating chains of ancient demonic script. It was her true home, her forgotten temple, now awakened from slumber.

Her domain had been sealed the moment her soul had been sent to the mortal plane, and it had taken years of careful effort to slowly regain fragments of her power. The Fourth Demon Goddess had been born again in the body of a powerless child, cursed by fate but determined to carve her own path.

Standing at the center of her domain, she inhaled deeply, her form subtly shifting into the likeness of her former self, taller, cloaked in dark violet silk, hair flowing like ink down her back, and her eyes burning with a thousand truths. But even in this form, a quiet sorrow lay in her gaze.

“How foolish I was,” she whispered to herself, walking toward the obsidian throne that once sat in the heart of the Underworld. “To think I could merely use her…”

Meeting Ahcehera had never been a coincidence. It had been a calculated move. The moment she was reborn and learned of the Sirius Kingdom, she set a plan in motion. Trap Ahcehera. Entangle her in fate. Find a way to use her as a vessel to retrieve the relics of the Demon Gods. That had been the plan. But things changed.

From the first moment Ahcehera embraced her, without question, without fear, Liliana had felt something foreign. Warmth. Love. Genuine affection. She was never questioned about her origin. She was never ridiculed for having no power. Instead, the entire Bloodstone royal family wrapped her in their arms, offering her a name, a title, a place to belong.

Queen Tereza kissed her forehead each time she saw her. King Dan always carried her on his shoulders when she grew tired. Her uncles shared their books and told her stories about when Ahcehera was still a little girl.

They treated her like the most precious thing in the world. And Ahcehera, Ahcehera loved her like a real daughter. She protected her, taught her, played with her, and told her bedtime stories every night. She became Liliana’s whole world.

Now, standing at the center of her once-mighty domain, Liliana clenched her fists. “They love me,” she murmured. “Not for power. Not for benefit. Not for alliance. They simply… love me.” That truth weighed heavily on her demonic heart.

Once a fearsome goddess who commanded armies of shadows and bent dimensions to her will, now she found herself hiding within the shell of a child, protecting not her empire, but her family. A laugh escaped her lips, quiet, bitter, laced with amusement.

“What irony,” she said to no one. “The demon born to destroy the world… found a reason to save it.”

She walked toward a pool of black crystal at the edge of the domain. It reflected not the stars, but visions, memories, premonitions, and threats. Within the mirror’s surface, she saw shadows stirring. Assassins still prowled the edges of the realms. Demonic factions were restless. They had learned of her existence.

Some wanted her back to lead. Others wanted her dead. But she would not allow them near her mother. She had already intervened once, secretly guiding a red sparrow to deliver a warning to Eros about an incoming spy.

She had subtly manipulated a senator’s mind when he attempted to poison Ahcehera’s position at the academy. She had threatened one of the wandering dark beasts to remain dormant beneath the city. And none of them knew. Not her mother. Not her grandparents. Not her uncles. Not Eros. No one knew that the child they thought they had saved… was the one saving them all.

She kneeled in front of the mirror and touched its surface. The crystal rippled, and she spoke to it in the ancient language of the demon gods. “I will not awaken fully. Not yet. Not until I am strong enough to protect them. Even if it means hiding forever. Even if it means never being accepted for who I really am.”

Her fingers traced a sigil in the air. A binding spell. One that would suppress her power from fully rising unless necessary. She sealed her own domain once more, locking the gate to her true self behind ancient fire and unbreakable chains.

“Let them continue believing I am just Liliana,” she whispered. “Let them think I am fragile and small. That I am merely Ahcehera’s daughter. That I am nothing more than a child of the Bloodstone.” She smiled, a tear slipping from her eye. “Because that is who I want to be.”

With one final look at her throne, now empty, she turned and walked back through the portal. Her room in the Sirius palace greeted her as if she had never left. The toys remained on the shelf. Her books sat on the table. Her slippers rested by the foot of the bed. The window remained open where the breeze danced lazily through the curtains.

No one would suspect a thing. No one would see the cracks beneath the surface. She returned to her form, a small girl in her soft nightgown, barefoot and curious. She climbed into her bed and tucked herself in, pretending to be the sweet child everyone believed her to be. But her thoughts wandered.

What would happen if one day Ahcehera found out the truth? Would she abandon her? Fear her? Or worse, pity her? That was what scared Liliana most. She could endure hatred. She could endure fear. But pity… pity would break her.

She closed her eyes and whispered a silent prayer, not to the gods of old, but to the stars that Ahcehera loved. “Let me protect her. Let me protect them all. Let me keep this family safe, even if it means lying for the rest of my life.”

Sleep took her in a quiet hush, her dreams peaceful this time, filled with memories of laughter, warm meals, stargazing nights, and the soft lullabies her mother sang to her under the moon. And while monsters may lurk outside and assassins scheme in the shadows, Liliana, no, the Fourth Demon Goddess, slept soundly in the arms of a family who saw her not as a weapon, not as a threat, but as a child worth loving.