"Daddy! Daddy! Wake up!" Freya jumped up and down on the bed.
Even after regaining her memories, she decided to act like a typical five year old. It wasn't because she didn't want anyone to know her secret but because she wanted to experience a nice childhood this time.
Although she doesn't have a mother, she still had a loving father, a cousin that dotes on her and her uncle that treated her no differently from his own daughter.
In her last life, she had no one when she was a child. Compared to then, it was much better now.
Arche grunted as he woke up, his toned abdominal muscles revealed itself through the thin sleepwear. He looked like a panther waking up from it's nap.
Freya couldn't help taking a second glance at the abs, she wanted to have abs too...she only has baby fat now. She couldn't help but squeeze her tummy and look at her father's stomach enviously, life is so unfair!
She heard Arche chuckle and looked up.
"You want to have abs?" Arche's eyes held amusement. Freya didn't care about hiding the truth and nodded. She had them in her last life, she will have them in this life too.
Seeing the fire of determination burning in her eyes, Arche held back from laughing and picked her up. He took her back to her room and let the maids dress her. Though she felt shy having others dress her as she wasn't used to it, she was still very obedient.
When she was done, Arche was already dressed and waiting for her outside. She blinked at her father and looked at herself with the help of a window. Their clothes were matching in color.
She was wearing a baby blue dress with her hair tied into pigtails. It was very cute, as expected of the most beautiful woman in the hero's harem. Freya raised her arms as Arche picked her up as usual.
"Daddy, is the magic test hard?" She rested her chin on his shoulder, eyes half-lidded.
She was so excited that she didn't sleep the previous night and now, the enthusiasm she had in the morning was used up. Freya felt her eyes threatening to close, at last she could only give in. A child's body was hard to control.
"You don't really have to do anything. We demons have our powers sealed up the moment we're born, it's just removing the seal. After that, we only need to see what your powers are. Don't worry." Arche explained patiently but his daughter didn't reply to him. "Freya?"
He felt her even breathing and smiled softly, it seemed like her energy was drained. He knew she didn't sleep from tossing and turning all night. Arche continued his way to the banquet hall with stable steps.
"Freya, we're here." Arche patted her back gently.
The examiners were all stunned...was this their king? That cold, merciless demon king who killed others without batting an eye can talk with such a dotting voice?
Freya opened her eyes and yawned. She rubbed her eyes to energize herself. Her actions were so adorable that it left the examiners stunned but Freya didn't notice.
They were all convinced, such a cute existence really can melt any ice mountain.
"Hello." Freya greeted with a nod. There was no need to be formal in the demon realm as long as your rank is high. Aside from the demon kings, there was no one else that she needed to be formal with.
"Your majesty, your highness." They all kneeled down on one knee.
"Rise." Arche didn't even pay them any heed, he was busy restraining Freya from rubbing her eyes.
"Your highness, please sit here." One of them beckoned politely.
Arche let Freya down as she walked over. She sat down at the center of the magic circle. It started to glow, half of the circle was pink and the others blue. It blended into a light purple hue in the middle. Her eyes held her astonishment, it was such a pretty sight.
The light faded after fifteen minutes, she blinked confusedly. Freya didn't feel any change in her body. She furrowed her brows and looked up. Everyone's eyes were wide open, even Arche's expression held faint surprise. She quickly realized something was wrong.
Was it because....her power sucks??!! Q口Q
"Daddy?" Her sweet voice reverberated in the empty hall, snapping everyone out of their trance.
"Freya, come here." Arche kneeled down with one leg. She went over to get picked up.
"Is there something wrong with my powers?" She buried her face into the crook of his neck dejectedly.
"No, there's nothing wrong." Arche shot the examiners a glare to make sure they keep their mouths shut. "I want to be alone with my daughter. Wait for my command in the next room."
Who dares disobey? The examiners didn't dare to dilly-dally and headed to the side room of the banquet hall.
"Tell daddy, can you see a number on top of daddy's head?" Arche asked in a serious tone.
Freya nodded, "I can see that since a long time ago."
"Do you know what it means?"
"Yes, it's how many people daddy killed." Freya replied with not much thought, she figured it out a long time ago.
"Aren't you scared?" Arche asked. Freya could feel his fingers trembling...so that's how it is. He was scared of being closed off by his daughter.
"No, why should I be?" Freya tilted her head in genuine confusion, "I know daddy won't hurt me."
Arche felt relieved but he couldn't help but ask, "Do you know how severe taking a life is?"
Of course she knows, the lives she took weren't a small number either. She started killing when she was twelve in her last life.
"Freya knows." She smiled and nuzzled her cheek against her father's. "But Freya doesn't care how many lives are taken as long as daddy is safe."
Because she was going to kill the hero if he dared step into the demon realm. She won't hesitate. Reasoning with him will put her in a disadvantage. So what if he was innocent? How many innocent lives has she claimed? One more won't make a difference.
Arche looked at his daughter as his eyes widened, his daughter was saying something quite ruthless. Though it was touching in some way...
"Can dad tell me, what's wrong with my powers?" She steered the topic back to its original track.
Arche sighed, he tried to hide this fact for five years. He didn't want his daughter to feel different from others. He didn't want her to know that many wanted her dead. Such a lovely child, why should she endure the discrimination of others?
"Your powers unsealed itself sometime ago, because you have angel blood." Arche explained in a soft tone, "You have healing attributes that follow after your mother. Freya, your mother is an angel. You are the child of a demon and an angel."
Freya let out an 'oh', her face held indifference, "How does my healing powers work? How do I activate it?"
Arche didn't know what reaction he was expecting but he certainly didn't expect this. Wasn't his daughter too calm? She was more interested in her powers than her birth origin?
As if knowing his thoughts, Freya reassured him, "As long as daddy is by my side, I honestly don't care. And I already knew all along."
Knew all along...how did she know? He's banned anyone from saying things related to his ex-lover in front of his child.
Freya wasn't lying, before regaining her memories she was already a precocious child. She was very good at reading expressions and atmospheres.
She knew others looked at her weirdly, like she was some special animal in a zoo. She knew her father was trying to hide something from her. She knew she wasn't normal and her birth must not be simple.
Especially when she saw her father's kill count rising in front of her, she knew he dealt with an assassin. It was normal for royals to be targeted, but she was targeted too often.
She overheard the maids saying she was abandoned by her mother when she was wandering in the palace at the age of four. They said her mother loved her just that morning...she couldn't hold back the tears when she reached her room. She was a four year old after all.
Getting her memory was the last piece to the puzzle. The past events connected themselves and she knew about her mother's identity. Her mother wasn't raped but she never expected a child. She wanted to abort the child but Arche stopped her. He gave her a lot of compensation just to have Freya arrive in this world safely.
Her mother didn't love her, nor did she want her to exist in the first place. But Freya didn't care now, this was child's play compared to her situation in her last life. At least, she has her father.
"How did you know?" Arche didn't pay any heed to her powers any more.
In fact, the reason why they were all shocked was because there had never been a demon with healing elements, even if the child was a hybrid. Demon blood had always been stronger in hybrids. The last hybrid who died a century ago was a demon king with destructive powers. Unfortunately he was killed.
"Daddy, promise me not to punish anyone first."
Arche nodded unwillingly.
"I overheard the maids saying my mother abandoned me. In the demon realm, who doesn't look up to daddy...so I just assumed my mom was from another race." Freya said smiling with a 'praise me' expression. Be proud, your child is smart.
But the corner of Arche's lips tugged down, his brows furrowed. He felt a throbbing pain in his heart.
"And you didn't tell me?"
"It's something minor, daddy doesn't have to worry about that." Freya said after pondering.
His lips pursed into a straight line, he thought he was protecting her but she had long been the one who was protecting him. She was like the sun in the cold demon realm, even his brother couldn't help but take fancy to his daughter.
He could only tighten his hold around her. Freya didn't say anything, she could guess what was going on in Arche's head. But she felt like she should say it now, from the morning till now...she felt something stuck in her throat.
"Daddy...I don't feel-urk"
The red blood that poured out from her lips stained both of their clothes. Arche's pupils shrunk from fear. Freya did not stop, instead she coughed out even more blood.
She felt that it was uncomfortable but it wasn't the first time she puked blood so she was relatively calm. Being calm is one thing, her body won't cooperate.
She coughed until the rim of her eyes were red with tears, the blood won't stop coming out. Arche was stabilizing her condition with magic while yelling for the guards to bring the doctor, it was very chaotic.
The last thing she heard was Arche calling her name before her vision turned black.