Transmigrated as the Villainess Princess - Chapter 250

Chapter 250: A New Direction (14)

Ahcehera had always been sharp. Ever since she lost her powers, she learned to rely on instinct and subtle observation, paying closer attention to the shifting winds and unspoken currents in the kingdom. Recently, she noticed something off about the Sirius Kingdom’s usual peace.

It started with whispers, unusual movement along the northern walls, guards reporting faint scents of sulfur, and shadows that flickered against the sun. As she passed through the corridors of the palace, her gaze swept over the soldiers stationed around the perimeter, and then to the common folk passing through the busy square.

Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of a man cloaked too heavily for the warm weather, his eyes flickering unnaturally with a red sheen. The people didn’t notice. But she did. The traces of demonic energy left behind were almost negligible, but not to her.

These intruders weren’t ordinary spies or mercenaries. They were trained. Masked well. Purposeful. The way they lingered in the kingdom’s shadows wasn’t to observe. They were preparing for something. Watching for someone.

She kept her concerns quiet. Not because she doubted her observations, but because fear was a contagious thing, and the Sirius Kingdom had just begun to heal. If she cried wolf too soon, it would lead to paranoia. She needed confirmation. So, for several days, she discreetly investigated.

She tracked down reports from the guards, cross-referenced unusual merchant activity in the capital, and even rode out to the outer borders of the kingdom. The pattern was too clean. Someone was infiltrating their land. Someone who understood demon art and was careful to cloak it beneath layers of ordinary behavior.

But even carefully layered masks begin to fray with time. She could feel the brewing chaos. The kind that heralded war. And it didn’t sit well with her. While on patrol, she discovered a shrine deep within the western woods, one that hadn’t been on any recent maps. It pulsed with faint magic, black and scarlet runes drawn beneath its altar. When she reached out, her fingers recoiled from the icy coldness.

It was the same energy she’d fought years ago. Demon markings. A signal. Possibly a gateway. That night, she summoned her brothers and her father in private and reported what she’d found. They agreed to increase surveillance, but even they couldn’t deny that the threat seemed more focused, targeted. Someone wasn’t just invading Sirius randomly. They were looking for someone.

Back at the palace, Ahcehera kept Liliana close. She didn’t show it, but her heart had grown heavy with worry. The child had grown so quickly, blooming into someone graceful, curious, and endlessly clever. But recently, Ahcehera began to notice strange patterns. Liliana would sometimes appear in rooms she hadn’t entered through any visible door.

Animals came to her uninvited. Birds sat upon her windows, and insects never stung her. Just the other day, a wild white fox bowed its head to Liliana like she was royalty. Ahcehera brushed it off as a coincidence, but now, with the demonic presence rising around them, her instincts screamed something deeper.

One night, after putting Liliana to bed, Ahcehera lingered outside the child’s chamber, her heart conflicted. She wanted to protect Liliana with everything she had. But a nagging thought haunted her. What if the reason the demons came wasn’t to target her… but her daughter?

The silence that followed was heavy. Until a whisper of wind brushed past her ears. A warning. She turned on her heels and gave orders to double the guards near Liliana’s room, and then returned to her quarters to examine all the knowledge she had gathered about demonic energy, symbols, and portals. Something connected these attacks to a larger threat.

Meanwhile, in the secrecy of her chamber, Liliana sat on her bed, her fingers gently brushing the wings of a crimson moth. The creature glowed faintly under the moonlight, its eyes flickering like tiny embers. She tilted her head and listened to it speak in a tongue long forgotten by the surface world.

“They’re drawing closer. They seek the demon heart that was once your throne.” She nodded solemnly, unbothered by the news. “Let them come,” she whispered. “I have no throne now. Only a family to protect.”

After the moth vanished in a soft puff of black smoke, Liliana walked to the center of her chamber. Her footsteps echoed despite the carpets laid across the floor. With a flick of her wrist, a crimson portal appeared before her, spiraling like a vortex into her true domain. She stepped through it calmly, as if she had done it a thousand times before.

Inside was a vast realm of shadows and flame, echoing with voices both ancient and restless. It was her sanctuary, once feared by gods and mortals alike. Now, it lay dormant, sealed from the chaos of the world, waiting for her will to awaken it.

She stood at the highest cliff overlooking a river of glowing blood and whispered, “I was born again, not by choice, but by fate.” She had been the Fourth Demon Goddess. A sovereign of destruction, silence, and memory. Cast down during the Great Celestial Rebellion.

Reincarnated into the form of a powerless human child, hidden from the gods who wished to erase her existence. At first, she plotted. Her rebirth was a strategy to gather strength, to find weaknesses in the divine ranks. Meeting Ahcehera had been the key, she had crafted the timing, chosen the setting, and anticipated control. But then… something changed.

The first time Ahcehera held her hand. The first time, King Dan smiled at her and called her “our little jewel.” The first time Queen Tereza scolded a guard for scaring her. The first time, her uncles gave her candy after training. All of it chipped away at the armor of vengeance she had wrapped around her soul.

These people weren’t pawns. They were family. They never asked who she was or why she was special. They just accepted her. And for the first time in her long, cursed existence, she felt warmth. Real warmth. Not from blood or fire, but from love.

“I will not let them take this from me,” Liliana murmured, flames rising behind her eyes. “They can destroy a kingdom, raze cities, and command death. But they will never steal this bond. I would rather die as a child of the Bloodstones than live forever as a god without a home.”

Her voice echoed into the abyss, awakening ancient creatures slumbering in her realm. They stirred, recognizing their sovereign. But she didn’t summon them. Not yet. She returned through the portal, sealing it shut with a symbol even the Demon Kings couldn’t undo. As she lay back in bed, pretending to sleep, when a guard peeked through the door, she thought of her mother.

Ahcehera had so much pain buried behind her strength. So many losses. And yet, she smiled for Liliana every single day. It was no wonder the woman was so loved. It was no wonder the demons hated her.

“Let them come,” Liliana whispered once again. “They will not get past me.”

And in the silence of her room, the air turned colder. The stars above flickered, and somewhere beyond the cosmos, the First Demon God stirred. The war was beginning, and the key to its ending… was now a little girl with a heart divided by two worlds.