Rosa wondered whether she could quickly shift back to her demon self, but it wasn't like doing so would undo the damage she had done.

  "Would you like to see what you've turned into?" Azrael asked, his lips pursed together and his eyebrows furrowed.

  "Y-Yes," Rosa asked shakily, praying that Azrael wouldn't get suspicious of her. He disappeared into the shadows for a few minutes and then reappeared, holding a full-body mirror in hand.

  "Come take a look," Rosa walked up to the mirror slowly. Her heart beat like crazy while Azrael observed her every step.

  What is he thinking right now? Does he suspect that there's actually a human in this body? I need to look surprised. If I play it well, he might think it was just a child's imagination running wild.

  Finally reaching the mirror, Rosa looked at her reflection and did her best to feign surprise. Of course, what looked back at her from the mirror was her very familiar human self. Same platinum blonde hair, same pale skin, same blue eyes. It was a stark contrast to the dark-skinned, white-haired demon holding the mirror. In fact, they probably couldn't have been any more different.

  "W-What a strange shape…" Rosa said with a forced chuckle. "Did I fail?"

  "You look different so, no, you shape-shifted correctly," he replied, his signature smile returning to his lips. "I just didn't expect you to try mimicking your mother?"

  "I…" Rosa gaped at him for a moment, then recalled the conversation she had with Lady Lily.

  My demon mother had white hair and the platinum blonde hair I had as a human is pretty close.

  "You must have been snooping around the King's stuff. Little rascal. Not that I blame you – I'd be curious about my mother too. You did get some things wrong, but it's to be expected on the first try," Azrael laughed, and Rosa exhaled in relief.

  "Yes, I only saw her portrait once," she smiled and lied through her teeth.

  "That is not enough information to shift, Princess," Azrael pointed his finger up and smirked. "You need to have a clear image when you transform, not just some vague idea. It's easier to transform into people you have seen from all angles."

  "Really?" Rosa chuckled awkwardly.

  "Yes, really. Now change back into your normal shape and let's try to transform into something else this time," he commanded and propped the mirror against the nearby wall.

  Rosa did not need any more encouragement. She closed her eyes and imagined her demon child self. But before she could fully open her eyes, she heard the door to the training ground open.

  "Excuse me, but Lady Asdeus sent me to retrieve Princess Morrigan for her lesson," the shaky voice of Faenor resounded through the training grounds. Morrigan changed back into her demon form, but she had no doubt that the elf had seen her transformation.

  "Really? Tell her to wait. It's not like she's actually teaching the Princess anything useful," Azrael tried to wave Faenor off. But the elf shifted uncomfortably and then spoke up again.

  "L-Lady Asdeus has decided that it is time for her to begin her studies in earnest. She believes the Princess is ready," the elf said in a trembling voice, not daring to meet Azrael's eye.

  Caught between a rock and a hard place. Poor Faenor. If goes back to Lady Asdeus without me then he'll get punished. But how is he supposed to convince Azrael who doesn't have even a sliver of compassion for slaves. I suppose it's best if I intervene.

  "I'll go with Faenor. I'll practice shape-shifting by myself later," Rosa assured Azrael. The white-haired demon sighed.

  "Fine. I suppose I'll just go rest instead," he relented, although she had a feeling that the demon was not adverse to having some extra free time. Faenor's shoulders visibly relaxed and he walked up to Rosa, reaching out his hand for her.

  "Let's go. Your sister is already with Lady Asdeus," the elf informed her. Rosa nodded, wondering what exactly would the demoness try to teach her.

  It's like she'll start with reading and writing, but thanks to Faenor I already recognize letters. I've never had a chance to practice them, but I imagine it shouldn't be too difficult.

  Turns out that Rosa had been right about her prediction. Lady Asdeus was set on teaching her how to read and write. So she had a giant letter… well, it was one of the demon alphabet letters, written on the blackboard in front of her.

  How quickly do children begin understanding letters? They probably don't get it right on the first try.

  Rosa glared at the letter and wondered how she could mess it up in a way that would appear natural for a child. Hopefully, she looked at Deziara, but Lady Asdeus was drilling some math equations into her, forcing the girl to grip painfully at her ponytail out of sheer desperation.

  Alright, let's just go full-on stupid.

  She just drew random squiggly lines, not bothering to make them neat or in any way resemble the letter in front of her.

  "Done," she announced with a smile. Lady Asdeus checked over Deziara's writing one more time then walked over to Rosa's desk. Her face instantly scrunched up and the corners of her mouth dropped.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "Princess Morrigan, I believe you didn't understand the task I gave you. It was to draw this exact letter. I've seen you draw very nice pictures before," the teacher said and pushed a stray lock out of her face.

  Drat… I guess I overdid it. Let's try to make it at least somewhat legible this time.

  "Oh, I understand it now," Rosa plastered on a smile and turned the notebook to a fresh page. This time Lady Asdeus remained by her side, watching her every movement.

  I'll go slow and press a bit too hard. Lines always look ugly that way.

  She dutifully copied the letter, but it looked unsteady. As if it wasn't sure of its own existence.

  "Wonderful! That's a great start. Now you need to repeat it fifty more times," Lady Asdeus said with a smile.

  Fifty? Are you crazy? Who forces a four-year-old to write a single letter fifty times? I may not be a preschool teacher, but I'm pretty sure that is not a good education method.

  Nonetheless, the task was set for her, so she had to obey. Rosa had already seen plenty of times how Lady Asdeus dealt with Deziara when she tried to cut corners. It would always result in needing to do more.

  "Okay…" Rosa mumbled and began slowly drawing crooked-looking letters. It was actually tiring, trying to do each of them wrong but in a different way. After all, no two mistakes were alike so she had to make sure that hers weren't either. Sometimes she'd make some lines deliberately longer, sometimes – shorter. Occasionally she wouldn't connect the letters right or draw way beyond where a line should end.

  "Please, be more careful. Try to copy the letter exactly as shown," the demoness came up to Rosa and with a bright red inkpen crossed out half of the letters. "Do those again."

  Do you want me to do ten letters again? You demon! No wonder Deziara is always complaining about your lessons.

  "Okay…" Rosa barely managed to contain her displeasure and slowly began tracing the letter again. Her little hand was getting tired because she had been pushing the inkpen rather hard.

  I still have fifteen left to do… I wish I could just go at normal speed. I'd be done already.

  "Deziara, very well, you can go for today," Lady Asdeus suddenly announced, and the demon girl threw her hands in the air from joy.

  "Yay! Finally," she was about to run out of the study room, but then paused and looked at Rosa with a piteous gaze. "What about Morri?"

  "She'll finish her letters and then will be free to go as well," the demoness announced with the sweetest smile.

  "Isn't she too small to write so many letters?" Deziara asked with an arched eyebrow and inched a bit closer to Rosa.

  My true ally. Tell her, sister!

  "She is the King's heir, so she is expected to exceed other children in this Kingdom. Don't worry, I'll never make her do anything she isn't capable of," Lady Asdeus explained, then smiled wickedly and added, "Or perhaps you wanted to review the equations one more time?"

  "Nope!" Deziara said resolutely and was out the door.

  No… Don't abandon me here!

  "Come on. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can go," the demoness tapped Rosa's desk with one of her sharp nails. She had no choice but to continue painstakingly writing letters. After what seemed like forever, Rosa finally drew the last lines and slumped down in her chair.

  "I'm done…" she announced, and looked at her tiny ink-stained hands. They were trembling from exertion.

  "Let me see," Lady Asdeus took the notebook and carefully assessed her hard work. A wicked smile twisted her features, and Rosa felt an unpleasant chill pass through her. "Most wonderful. Most wonderful indeed…"

  Her smile grew wider, almost manic at that point, and she bent down to show the notebook to Rosa.

  "Tell me, how can a four-year-old child count to fifty so perfectly?"

  What? Can't four-year-olds count that much? Why did you ask me to do exactly fifty then?

  Rosa gaped at Lady Asdeus like a fish, her heartbeat increasing steadily.

  "I… Faenor taught me how to count," she finally managed to say, as she hid her trembling hands in her skirt.

  "Oh, yes, he's taught you many things hasn't he?" Lady Asdeus circled around Rosa as if she were a lioness closing on her prey. "He's told me lots of things about you. How clever you are for a child that young. How curious you are about everything within this world."

  Why is she looking at me like that? Something isn't right.

  "He also told me that you've recently learned how to shape-shift. This morning in fact," she said in a sweet voice. Rosa's heat hammered in her chest and she felt herself getting light-headed.

  Faenor saw my transformation into a human. I'm pretty sure he already has deduced that I am actually a human that was reborn as a demon. But I always believed that even if he figured it out, he wouldn't tell anybody. Why did he tell Lady Asdeus? Does she know I'm a human?

  "Oh, Princess, please do not look so alarmed," the demoness chuckled, and then put her hand on Rosa's shoulder. She could feel her firm grip, and shivered underneath her touch. It felt suffocating. If she knew that Rosa was a human, she should flee. But before she could do anything else, Asdeus crouched down next to Rosa and smiled at her.

  "I understand that you must be feeling very frightened right now, but I assure you, I mean you absolutely no harm," The demoness gently caressed her shoulder while looking her straight in the eye.

  "I don't understand what you're talking about," Rosa tried to play dumb.

  "There is no need to pretend anymore. I know that you're actually a human," Lady Asdeus said with a smile, and Rosa felt her blood run cold.

  She knows. A demon knows that I'm a human. What is going to happen to me now?

  "Faenor, would you please come in?" Lady Asdeus rang one of those servant bells that was standing on her table, and after about half a minute, Faenor came into the room. The elf appeared a bit confused about the situation at first, but then realization hit him and his ears drooped a little.

  "You two look as if someone has been killed," Lady Asdeus chuckled, then walked up to Rosa again, crouching down in front of her. "I understand that this situation must be very scary for you. You were a human one moment and then the next you are surrounded by demons who hate humans more than anything else. However there is nothing to fear. I will help you."

  "You will? Why?" Rosa looked at the demoness skeptically.

  "Because I've seen you grow since you were just a little babe. Even if you are human, I've grown to care for you. I do not wish for anyone to do you harm," Lady Asdeus said and put her hand on Rosa's shoulder. The gesture was supposed to be reassuring, but her hand was cold and made Rosa shiver.

  "So you won't tell anyone?" she asked.

  "Of course not! If King were to find out… No, I do not even wish to think of such a horrid scenario. But do not worry. Me and Faenor here will protect you. Won't we, Faenor?" the demoness said sweetly.

  "Of course," Faenor confirmed and bowed his head.

  So Alphegor really would kill me if he found out. He always seemed so caring towards me, but perhaps it was only because I am his perfect prodigal heir. If it turned out to be a human, then perhaps…

  "It'll be alright, Princess Morrigan. We'll make sure that nobody ever finds out."

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