Chapter 52. Get Her Memories Back

The wind rapidly padded the clothes, sending them to flap like a dove's wings.

"I've been searching for you for a long time," the mysterious woman stated, her brilliantly shining hair glazed as bright as glacier ice. However, her eyes glowed a devilish colour of sangria wine red. She leaned against a building's wall, crossing arms over her chest.

Lucilline stepped back.

From what he'd seen so far, this woman named Farrah was able to kill a shadow demon with the snap of her fingers. She contained superior strength—a type of magic... or of some sorts?

"Run away!" All of a sudden, the Dream demon in his head had alerted. "She is not to be messed with! Farrah Umbra; Umbra is the surname of the Royal Demons! She is the Princess of the Royal Demons! The last one of the Royals-"

"I can hear you loud and clear, bug." The mysterious woman snarled.

Her eyes glowed crimson red, seething with animosity. She stepped forwards, her black heels clicking the ground. Stretching out a hand, she snapped her fingers.

All of a sudden, Lucilline coughed. He felt something ominous tear away from his own body—

The black-haired nobleman collapsed onto the ground, his knees scraping against the cobblestone. He couldn't help but cough continuously, his chest heaving. His face grew pale from the coughing, cold sweat sliding down his cheek.

Before him was a gooey figure covered in viscous black liquids. That figure belonged to a small boy, resembling a child taken out of his mother's womb. He was gasping in pain, as if something was clawed inside his abdomen, tearing his heart apart.

"Hmm, you're not only ugly in voice but also in appearance." Farrah lowered her eyes, "Dream demon."

She turned her eyes to Lucilline, her gaze softening. "I need you alive."

Then, she looked at the Dream demon. Farrah stretched a hand towards him—

"W-Wait!" The Dream demon coughed, his small child form squirming lifelessly on the ground. "Don't do anything to me! We are both demons, aren't we? Why would you kill one of your own kind? I thought that one of the last Royal Demons would care for their kind!"

Farrah's eyes turned threatening, her pupils sharpening as thin as a needle. "Are you done speaking?"

The Dream demon laughed nervously. "P-Please don't kill me! Please! I beg you! I never meant any harm towards anyone! All I wanted to do was eat off of my host's nightmares! Otherwise I would die!"

Farrah ignored him.

She bent down, picking up Lucilline from the ground, plopping him over a shoulder. The latter found his body completely numb... unable to move at all!

The Princess Demon then walked away.

"D-Does this mean I'm free?" The Dream demon shrunk, still laid across the ground.

*****

Farrah stopped behind an alleyway, the shadows cloaking her figure, reducing her to nothing. Her pale face glowered like a ghost, her crimson red eyes harsh as the drop of viscous blood. Her every step chilled the cobblestone ground, as if ice were to form wherever she stood.

The whispers of the wind had faded away.

Everything was silent; only emptiness.

Lucilline was dropped heavily on the ground, his shoulder scraping against the harsh cobblestone. He tried to lift himself up, but his limbs were numb with cold.

"Do not move." A pair of crimson red eyes glared at him.

In an instant, his body fell back to the ground. No matter how much he tried pulling himself back up, an unknown force pressed him down. His blood raced, his heart pulsing and hammering against his chest, as if struggling—scrambling to pull itself out of the ocean, the latter dragging it back to drown. His fingertips twitched, but that was the most it could move.

Lucilline's golden eyes widened. He was a dove trapped in a cage, his wings clipped and dried of blood.

"I am here to ask you a few questions." Farrah spat. Her white hair glowed in the dark, the snowy hue more blinding than a winter barrage of blizzards. "Depending on your answer, I may or may not hurt you."

Lucilline clutched at the ground, his nails almost peeling due to the pressure.

His ears suffocated, almost oozing blood from the drums. His throat wanted to fold over, and his knees were bruised from the fall.

"...Do you know who Farrah Umbra is?" The Demon Princess asked.

Lucilline, "..." But aren't you Farrah Umbra?

Noticing the confusion in his eyes, Farrah coughed twice. "I mean, do you know me?"

The black-haired nobleman paused. Just like what the Demon Princess started before, depending on his answer, he may die or live.

A strand of silky black hair landed before his forehead, blocking his honey gold eyes, dimming the shine of the golden treasure. "To be honest, I've only heard you in history books." Lucilline admitted. "You are Farrah Umbra, the Fourth Demon Princess, one of the mighty Royal Demons that waged war with Lydia Kingdom centuries ago."

Farrah stilled.

The intense pressure behind her crimson red eyes had decreased, allowing Lucilline to gasp for breath. "Where is Lydia Kingdom?"

Lucilline, "...you are in Lydia Kingdom right now."

"Oh." Farrah blurted out.

Her crimson red eyes thinned, quickly turning serious once again. "That is right. I am one of the Royal Demons who waged war against Lydia Kingdom centuries ago." The shadows snaked around her imposing figure, her height reaching to the peaks of mountains. "...then, what else do you know about me?"

Lucilline faltered. "...it is said that all Royal Demons became extinct after the war. So... you should be dead."

Farrah: .....

The black-haired nobleman thinned his eyes. If it is what he thought, then... is this truly Farrah Umbra? Or... could it be that Farrah Umbra... can't remember herself? But then... why would she come to him? Why would she look for him? It wasn't like they had any interactions with each other before. Rather, Lucilline had no correlations with the demons... why?

"...you're right." Farrah deadpanned. The surroundings became eerie silent, only her glowing pale face, her snowy white hair, and her bloody red eyes stood out amidst the darkness. "I should be dead, shouldn't I? But I am still alive—and I lost all my memories."

Her hollow cheeks were like sunken boats, and small fangs poked out from her cherry red lips.

"All I remember is a young black-haired nobleman named Lucilline Rubius." She stepped forwards, "Oh, look at that? You are Lucilline Rubius, the only person I remembered. So, shouldn't you be the one to know something about me?"

"Why is it that I remember you? What is so special about you?"

All of a sudden, a gust of wind rushed behind her head—

Farrah dodged the incoming kick, then grabbed onto the leg, swinging it around and slamming them against the cobblestone ground!

Willow didn't allow herself to slam into the ground, utilizing her palms to kick herself back on foot.

"Let my Young Master go!" She grabbed onto a dagger, then pointing it at the Demon Princess. Farrah appeared unmoved, her crimson red eyes betraying no emotions.

It was then a shard of crystalline ice shot right in her face—

Farrah did not dodge. She extended out her hand, the shard of ice only cutting a shallow wound on her palm—the wound immediately healing. The shard of ice was thrown onto the cobblestone ground, melting instantly into a small puddle of water.

Jacques' gritted his teeth. His incantation did not work. He left Hugo by himself to stay inside the inn, hoping that he'd be safe inside the locked room.

A flash of silver stunned the Demon Princess.

Farrah quickly avoided an incoming dagger. Augustine clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, seeing that his attack missed.

"Weak." The Demon Princess deadpanned.

With a swift kick of her hind leg, she knocked the butler to the ground. But Augustine got up almost instantly, rushing towards Lucilline...!

"You dare to steal my prey?" Farrah seethed.

In an instant, everyone collapsed to the ground.

Even those noblemen still eating inside the inn had felt something wrong, dropping their utensils onto their plates. For some odd reason, their heart was caught in their throat for a second...

Willow struggled against the pressure. She tried to lift herself up from the ground, but the unknown pressure was slowly sucking strength from her limbs...

"Stop fighting!" Lucilline declared. His golden eyes flashed, reminding the Demon Princess of a familiar face she'd seen before... but too washed away from her memories. The black-haired nobleman slowly crawled up... his body becoming lighter and lighter...

"...this!" Farrah gasped. How is this possible...! Just earlier, the black-haired nobleman was frozen to the ground. So how was he able to stand up again?

Lucilline coughed a few times, feeling a bit nauseous. He outstretched a hand. "Stop fighting. Farrah Umbra, I will help you get back your memories."

*****

Hugo was laid to sleep.

His soft breathing had soothed out, his eyelids closed shut.

"How did you guys find me?" Lucilline sighed, sipping a hot cup of coffee. He fondled the porcelain cup, his slender knuckles brushing upon the smooth material.

Augustine pulled up a bag of black goo. "This helped us."

The Dream Demon extended out a hand, waving the black goo around. "Hey there, dear host!" Right when it had been released by the Demon Princess, it hurriedly ran back to the inn. It found Willow, Augustine, and Jacques, then led them to find Lucilline and Farrah. It would have a better chance at survival if it could stick to the black-haired nobleman.

Naturally, it took a long time to convince them.

Thus, it revealed all of the truth. It admitted that it was a Dream Demon who haunted Lucilline and fed on his nightmares. There was nothing left to hide. It begged for them to spare its life, in return that it would show them where Lucilline had gone.

"Ahh, I didn't expect you to help." Lucilline's eyes softened.

The Dream Demon paused. "Well, I've been feeding off of your dreams for three years. This is just to pay back for what you've done for me—"

"THREE YEARS!?!" Willow rose out from her seat.

A fiery fire burned in her purple eyes. "You've been feeding off of Young Master's dreams for three years!?!"

The Dream Demon shrunk back inside the bag of goo. "I- I was just hungry! I-It's not like I had hurt him or anything! All I did was give him more nightmares and feed off of that—"

"I don't care!" Willow snatched the bag of goo out of Augustine's hand. "My Young Master had to suffer three years worth of nightmares because of you! No wonder my Young Master does not sleep well anymore! It was all your fault!"

The Dream Demon just blurted. "Wait wait wait! It's not like he has bad dreams because of me! I only fed off of him because he has bad dreams!"

Willow, "..." She paused.

"Y-Young Master, is this true?" She stammered.

Lucilline shrunk back as well. "I-it might be true."

Before Willow could throw another temper tantrum, her mouth was shut close by Jacques. "Please be quiet, Miss Willow. Hugo is still sleeping."

The maidservant pouted. "I'm going to ignore you from now on, Young Master."

Lucilline: ..... I may have done a very bad mistake.

Meanwhile, sitting on one of the two beds, a figure cloaked in a jacket had pulled their hood off. Farrah frowned, "Why did I have to wear this?"

"Your eyes and hair is too inconspicuous." Lucilline explained. "To prevent any attention towards your identity as a Demon Princess, it is better to hide traces that might give your identity away."

Farrah stood up from the bed.

She frowned, "Then, how are you going to get my memories back?"

Lucilline took another sip from his coffee. His locks of silky black hair ran down his back, the soft strands drawn like ink upon paper. His face blurred due to the steam pouring out of the coffee, his contours softening like the morning dew.

"We will be heading inside the Capital City. There, I will have enough information to research on restoring memories." Lucilline listed out the possibilities. "I have authority over the library in House Rubius, House Leinhart, and House Delta. Additionally, I just might be able to collect information from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself."

He took a solid breath.

"Do you believe me now?"

Lucilline took a look at the Demon Princess.

Farrah plopped back down on the bed, shrugging. "I believe you." She tucked herself under the blanket, then turned away. "I'm sleeping then." She fell asleep in an instant.

Augustine, "..." This woman sleeps when she says sleep. As expected of a demon.

For the night, Jacques slept on the same bed as his younger brother. However, he barely slept a wink, always keeping his attention on the Demon Princess, making sure she doesn't wreck any havoc.

In the opposite room, Augustine began discussing about the story's content to Lucilline.

Farrah Umbra was the villainess of the story. She was attracted to the resentment that Lucilline harboured against the main protagonists. Thus, Farrah took advantage of this and presented an option to Lucilline. She gave him access to an army of demons, and brought them to invade Lydia Kingdom.

If Lucilline was the main villain—the Evil King, then Farrah would be his right hand Commander.

But then again... the characteristics seen in Farrah tonight was not the same as described in the book. Just what was going on?