Although Sephine did not have much money left, she could at least hold out for several days with the basic food she had.
In the Royal Capital, as long as you had two hands, you would not starve to death.
At least, that was how Sephine felt.
The buildings within the Royal Capital now had a rather modern flair.
Sephine felt, quite without modesty, that in a few more years, their city could certainly become the center of the world.
However, that did not seem to have much to do with her now.
Being able to live a good life on her own was already quite good; the urgent matter was to find a job.
“I wonder if a restaurant would hire me to wait tables. I’ll think about it tomorrow; I’ll get a good night’s sleep today.”
Sephine took off her clothes.
The entire outfit had been worn according to Vi’s wishes, and to be honest, Sephine did not like it at all.
She removed her top and short skirt, leaving only the thinnest inner chemise.
Fortunately, there was still some firewood in the house, and after lighting the fireplace, it was quite warm.
Her old wardrobe seemed a bit too tall for her now, and the clothes on the upper shelf were difficult to reach.
If she stood on a stool and stood on her tiptoes, she should be able to reach them.
‘But I might fall,’ Sephine thought, eventually giving up.
Lying on the large sofa she had bought, Sephine collapsed into a pile of White Slime.
There was no place more comfortable than this.
She grabbed two slices of bread, added some ketchup, and finally tossed in some lettuce and pickles.
This was Sephine’s dinner for today.
The wrist that had been twisted red by Daenifen’s hand still throbbed with a dull pain.
Sephine found her first-aid kit in the cabinet, which still contained some ointment for abrasions.
“I really shouldn’t have helped her with the blanket. I should have just let her freeze to death.”
Sephine did not even want to mention the Demon King’s name; it was truly disgusting.
Her Mother’s Ring, the only thing she had left, had actually been thrown away.
Just how stupid had she been to give such an important item to that woman?
Sephine wanted nothing more than to slap herself a few times, but even so, the ring could not be recovered.
‘What should I do… what should I do…’
Sephine wriggled on the sofa.
She didn’t have enough money, her job was gone, and even the ring was lost.
Could life get any worse?
‘There seems to be some spare change in the house; let me look.’
Sephine did not like keeping her money in the bank.
She only had a few Gold Coins in total, so there was no need to deposit them.
There seemed to be a few Silver Coins left in the piggy bank at home, which would be enough for her to spend for a long time.
At the very least, she did not need to rush to find a job.
Who knew if that Demon King fellow would ambush her somewhere?
If she went bankrupt, she might actually be sent to the Demon King to be a pet or something.
Sephine would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen.
*Knock, knock, knock—*
Someone was actually knocking on the door at this hour.
It was very unusual.
“Did someone still know the location of her home? Had the Demon King already woken up?”
Sephine’s heart thundered in her chest.
She hoped it was just someone’s prank and that there would be no one there when she opened the door.
Sephine approached the crack in the door.
The door at home did not have a peephole, so she could only rely on the crack to see what was happening outside.
“Hello?”
Sephine opened the door and poked her head out to take a look, but she saw no one.
“Big Sister, I’m down here.”
To her surprise, it was a child.
He was holding a small basket filled with many candies.
However, Sephine did not remember today being a day for trick-or-treating.
“Is today some kind of special occasion?”
“Everyone is celebrating the Demon King defeating the invading enemies!”
“Oh, I see. Do you want some candy? I still have plenty.”
“Hehe, Big Sister is even sweeter than the candy, so I don’t need any. Goodbye, Big Sister!”
The little boy waved his hand and left.
It seemed they were just enjoying the joy of passing on the news to others while asking for candy, rather than actually wanting to eat it.
However, he really had to mention the one thing she didn’t want to hear.
Sephine gave a stiff smile and closed the door.
‘I didn’t expect that I wouldn’t even be able to hide from it here. But then again, she is the ruler of this Kingdom, so how could there be anywhere to hide from her?’
Sephine added more firewood to the fireplace, brought a blanket down from the upstairs bedroom, draped it over herself, and fell asleep on the sofa.
—
In the dark of night, the light from the burning wood in the fireplace cast a slender shadow.
She approached Sephine and gently tapped her stomach.
Before long, two small figures appeared on the floor.
“The Gods return to the mortal world this day…”
“Such a perfect vessel, rare in 10,000 years.”
“The Kingdom’s prosperity will be eternal…”
With those final words, the person turned into ash and dissolved into the smoke.
—
The wood in the fireplace finally finished burning, but Sephine had calculated it accurately; she woke up just as the embers were dying out.
A good night’s sleep made her feel refreshed for the new day.
“I should clean up the ash…”
The ash in the fireplace had piled up into a small mountain.
The house had been vacant for a long time; although Alona had come to clean it once, that was a long time ago.
Sephine found her cleaning tools in the corner, preparing to do some serious work after she finished washing up.
*Gurgle… gurgle…*
Some sound came from behind the sofa.
It sounded like someone’s breathing, but it was a bit thick, as if someone was sleeping.
Could there be someone else living in her house?
That would be a bit too terrifying.
Sephine had checked as soon as she returned home.
Since she last left, no one had been in the house at all.
This location was considered remote, so it was basically impossible for anyone else to stumble into the wrong house.
Last night, Sephine had locked the door tightly.
“Just what was making that noise over there?”
Sephine walked forward cautiously, slowly testing the waters as she approached.
Suddenly, she felt something grab her leg.
“Mother!”
The sudden cry gave Sephine a fright.
Losing her footing, she tumbled onto the sofa.
The little thing that had just screamed “Mother” then jumped onto Sephine’s face, rubbing its small face vigorously against Sephine’s cheek.
Sephine picked it up with her hands and looked at it closely.
“What did you call me?”
“Mother!”
It couldn’t just be said that this little thing looked exactly like her; it was as if it had been carved from the very same mold.
‘Is this some kind of joke?’
It was only then that Sephine noticed why she felt so light; her previously swollen belly was now completely flat.
But whose child is born this size?
It could already talk!
It even had little demon wings.
The gurgling sound from behind also vanished as another little thing crawled from behind the sofa and onto Sephine.
One on the left and one on the right.
The little one on the left had horns but no wings, while the little one on the right had wings but no horns.
Both of them looked very much like her.
One had white hair, while the other had black hair.
It was exactly as if she had split herself apart!
‘Oh no, I absolutely cannot let the Demon King catch me now, or my plan to regain my freedom will be ruined!’