cryptography

The next morning, Rosa barely managed to open her eyes when Demon Man rushed into the nursery with a slightly concerned Gunna coming in after him. He barked something at her in a slurry of impatient gestures, and she just nodded obediently in response, too tired from trying to catch up to him, to object.

Gunna produced Rosa's usual bottle of morning milk, and then gingerly picked Rose up to feed her. Rosa was already sick of drinking nothing but milk every day, but it's not like she was able to eat anything else. Her little baby body probably couldn't handle anything more serious. Not to mention the lack of usable teeth. So begrudgingly she latched onto the bottle and began drinking while keeping an eye on Demon Man.

He was tapping his foot impatiently and pacing from one side of the room to the next. This annoyed Rosa.

What the hell do you want first thing in the morning?

She noticed that he was holding something in his hands. Something like a case, but Rosa wasn't sure what exactly it was for. She had a strong suspicion that she'd find out soon enough. And she also suspected that she would not be too thrilled about it.

Her bottle was soon empty, and the moment Gunna was done changing Rosa's cloth diapers, which Demon Man observed much to her chagrin, he grabbed Rosa. She considered screaming at him again, but then he opened the large case and pulled out a book from it.

So that's what this is about! You got jealous of Faenor. Petty demon!

Demon Man smiled at Rosa enthusiastically and read the title while Gunna nervously observed the situation as she changed the sheets in Rosa's crib. Rosa just stared at him with a vacant expression. His eyebrow twitched at her lackluster response, but he managed to keep his smile and opened the book. It had no pictures in it whatsoever. Just text written black on white. Rosa puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.

Demon Man's eyebrow twitched again, but nonetheless he began to read whatever it was that was written in the book. She understood maybe a total of three words from it, the rest sounding like absolute gibberish. It's not like Demon Man was reading slowly, he was speeding through the story as if he would gain a medal for it. Once he was done, he plastered a wide smile on his face and looked expectantly at Rosa.

She just stared right back at him, her cheeks puffed out and nose scrunched. This was nothing like the enjoyable reading time she had with Faenor the day before.

What are you even trying to accomplish? I'm not going to like you just because you attempted to read a book for me once.

She imagined that the demon could only be good at something violent or something where he could belittle people all day. Like a lazy CEO of a large company where workers barely have enough to eat while their glorious leader has his own private island.

Demon Man groaned dramatically, his previous smile completely gone. He looked straight into Rosa's eyes and said slowly, dragging out each word, "What do you want, Morrigan?"

Oh, I actually understood that!

Rosa was so pleased that her knowledge was slowly improving that she inadvertently smiled a little. Perhaps if they all spoke much slower, she could understand their words better. But how could she convey that? Rosa tried to move her little tongue and produce some sort of coherent sound.

"Sow, sow," was all that she managed to draw out, instead of 'slower' that she wanted to say.

Curse this infuriating baby tongue! How the hell is it moving in every way that I don't want it to.

But despite her failed attempt at speaking, Demon Man's eyes were sparkling with delight. He stood up from the chair and laughed in triumph. He said something to Gunna while mentioning Rosa's demon name Morrigan, and the nanny just laughed awkwardly at him. Then he handed Rosa back to the dwarf woman, and stormed out of the room while loudly speaking with himself.

Why do I have to deal with this lunatic?

***

Several months passed with simple, but a far more enjoyable routine than before. Demon Man came to read his indecipherable stories in the morning, from which Rosa understood ten words in total. And that was on a good day. She never shied away from showing her displeasure to Demon Man who despite her best menacing glares still came to read each morning.

Thankfully Faenor came every afternoon with children's story books to offset the useless reading done by Demon Man. Rosa learned a great deal from him so she had no doubt that he must be a scholar or teacher of some sort. Thanks to his efforts and patience, she could understand most conversations without much issue.

Gunna started feeding her solid food. Well, calling it solid was a crime against actual food, but it was food other than milk – fruit and vegetable purees, as well as some simple porridges. Their flavor wasn't the best thing in the world, since they had no sugar, salt or spices in them. But at least it was something different than milk. Rosa especially loved the fruit purees since their natural sweetness made for a wonderful treat.

Her body was also getting stronger – she was able to sit up and was slowly working towards standing. Her legs were awfully weak and wobbly; one would think that demon babies are stronger than human babies, but no. They developed pretty much at the same rate.

Demon Man and Gunna were delighted the first time they saw her sitting in her crib. Demon Man called her a 'genius baby' and Gunna agreed with much fervor. Faenor was more reserved with praise, generally saying something only when she actually did something impressive. That didn't happen very often since there weren't many impressive things a baby could do.

This day Gunna had decided to put on a puppet show using the toys in Rosa's nursery. Had it been Demon Man doing this, Rosa would have put up her best annoyed face with an icy glare on top, but since it was Gunna she did her best to pretend to be interested.

It's alright, Gunna. Stop and go rest. I'll be fine on my own. Just please stop this…

The door to the nursery burst open, ending the puppet show much to Rosa's delight. She was about to give a small smile to Demon Man for saving her, but it wasn't him who entered. It was a small demon girl. She was no older than six, had black hair tied into two ponytails and a purple goth-lolita style dress. But what stood out the most were her black eyes. Those eyes instantly reminded Rosa of Demon Man.

The demon girl scrunched up her nose at Rosa as if she had just spotted a cockroach crawling on the floor. Some shouting came from the hallway, and the girl quietly closed the door behind herself.

"Don't you dare to say anything about me being here, slave!" the little brat ordered Gunna, holding her nose so high that Rosa thought her neck would break.

Slave? That's a rude way to address somebody. Did all demons think themselves better than other races?

But thinking about it carefully, it was certainly odd that a demon would have a dwarf as a nanny. At least none of the fantasy stories Rosa has read ever had a dwarf willingly work for a demon. They were usually enemies – their interactions limited to those on the opposite sides of the battlefield. Not to mention, that Gunna always appeared skittish around Demon Man.

"I wouldn't dream of going against your wishes, Lady Deziara!" the nanny said in a humble voice, and inclined her head towards the girl. The girl produced a 'hmph' as if to indicate that Gunna's answer was subpar, but would suffice for the time being. Rosa, however, had no intention of upkeeping manners, and gave Deziara her best piercing glare.

"Why are you staring at me like that, you stupid baby! Don't you know who I am?" the girl hissed and pointed her finger at Rosa.

I've never met you before in my life. How am I supposed to know who you are?

"Please, calm down, Lady Deziara. She's just a baby, she cannot understand what you're saying," Gunna attempted to pacify the brat.

"Don't talk back to me, slave! I'll have my father cut off your head!" she screeched, making the nanny flinch at her words.

Was Gunna actually afraid of this little, rude brat? It is time for her to leave.

Rosa took a deep breath and then began wailing on top of her lungs. Her plan was to attract the attention of whoever it was that the brat was trying to avoid.

This will teach her not to burst into other people's rooms and start ordering them around.

"W-What?! Shhh! Stop crying, stupid baby!" the brat shook her fists angrily at Rosa and stomped her feet, but she just continued screaming. A few moments later, the door swung open again and a demon woman with the largest breasts Rosa had ever seen in her life, entered the room.

Good God! Those can't be real! Do they have breast implants in this world? Or breast enlargement magic?

"Lady Deziara, there you are! We must get back to your lesson at once!" the demon woman said without so much as sparing a glance in Rosa's and Gunna's direction, and dragged the girl away.

"There, there, Lady Morrigan! It's over now," Gunna pacified Rosa although the dwarf woman looked much more shaken than her.

Was that little brat a daughter of someone important? Whatever! Good riddance!

***

Time passed and Rosa's new body finally grew strong enough for her to stand on her own. She could even take a few steps before her little legs gave out from exhaustion. It felt very odd walking with a body that had such a disproportionately large head. It constantly weighed her down, making balancing very difficult. Not to mention that her legs felt more like jello rather than actual legs – they were incredibly unstable.

But despite her clumsy walking posture, Demon Man couldn't have looked any prouder. He came to the nursery more often and stayed there for longer periods of time. His new hobby apparently included coercing Rosa to walk towards him. Much to his dismay, she made a point to always walk away from him.

Sometimes it would turn into a sort of game of 'Avoid the Demon' where Demon Man would run to the direction where Rosa was walking and Rosa would quickly turn away from him. Usually it ended with her getting exhausted and almost falling face first into the floor, except that Demon Man would always catch her.

You may not be the worst demon father in the world, but I still don't like you. Rosa thought after Demon Man caught her yet another time, and held her close.

"Most excellent! Now that you are able to walk, we'll be able to introduce you to the rest of the family," Demon Man said with a satisfied nod, and Rosa noticed how Gunna, who was quietly observing from the other side of the room, paled.

"Don't you think it is a bit early, Master Alphegor?" the nanny asked, her voice shaky. Rosa noticed a slight tremor in her beard.

Why is Gunna worried? Shouldn't it be a good thing that I am finally meeting my family? But wait… Why am I meeting them only now?

Rosa, of course, had wondered where her biological, most likely demon mother was. She was already seven months old and only Demon Man, Gunna and Faenor came to the nursery. Except for that one time with that bratty girl, but that was an accident.

Many scenarios crossed her mind – starting from her demon mother being divorced from Demon Man (if demons even got married) and ending with her just being dead. But she had no idea. Nobody ever spoke of her mother, and she wasn't able to form any coherent words yet to ask.

"No, she is ready! Morrigan is exceptionally strong and talented for her age. It'll be a good opportunity to introduce her as my heir," Demon Man exclaimed confidently, and Gunna had no other choice but to nod in agreement.

Heir? I am his heir? He must have a high social standing to need one. But who would need to declare a baby as their heir? That is very odd.

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A few days later Rosa's room was invaded by a bunch of demon maids. Despite Gunna's protests, they swarmed around Rosa and began tugging at her from all sides. Rosa was so startled by being surrounded by them, that she couldn't manage more than just gape in shock as she was quickly undressed and dressed up in a small black and red goth style dress and her short hair tied into two twin-tails with large black hairbands. Once done, they put Rosa in front of the mirror for her to admire their handiwork.

The demon maids looked very proud of themselves, but Rosa just grimaced at her reflection. She looked like some demonic goth doll that people set out on their porch at Halloween.

This is not how you dress up a small child! What is wrong with demons and their sense of style?

Of course, she could not voice her complaints aloud, so she glared at the maids with distaste while they fawned over her, saying how cute and adorable she was. Before they could smother Rosa too much, Demon Man entered the room, forcing them to scatter and scurry away like mice.

"Excellent! You look like a proper princess now!" Demon Man said with a self-satisfied smile and picked Rosa up.

So you're the one responsible for these horrid clothes! I should have known.

He was wearing a grand black and red suit, and quite honestly he looked like the perfect villain of every fantasy story. Rosa could only sigh in resignation, as he, for the first time since Rosa's arrival, took her outside the nursery.

There were bulky demon guards stationed by the door who gave a curt nod to Demon Man. They tried to appear stoic and disinterested, but Rosa saw how they occasionally stole glances at her. No doubt they wanted to know who it was that they were guarding this whole time. Rosa hadn't even known that she was being guarded.

Demon Man must be pretty high up on the food chain to have slaves, servants and even guards.

Rosa looked at everything with keen interest. The interior of the hallways was similar to her nursery – dark and gloomy. There was an occasional painting or a sculpture of a monster, but mostly it was just walls and doors that all looked much the same. After a few minutes of Demon Man turning this way and that, Rosa felt completely lost. She'd always had trouble with directions, usually relying on the GPS.

Demon Man stopped in front of one of the large doors at the end of the hallway, and looked down on Rosa.

"Keep your head high, and don't show any weakness!" he said sternly. Rosa shifted uncomfortably in his arms, a bad feeling rising at the pit of her stomach.

What? Why would you say that to a baby?

He swung the door open and strode in with his back straight and his head held high. The sight that greeted Rosa was probably the last thing she imagined to see. This was supposed to be her first meeting with her family which she assumed to be a gathering of demons at various ages – grannies, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, little demon babies like her running about.

Instead she, or to be precise Demon Man, was greeted by what can only be described as a harem. Demon women of all possible hair and eye colors in colorful dresses that barely covered anything were sitting around a ginormous dinner table, each with a little miniature version of themselves sitting next to them.

Please, don't tell me that all of those demon girls are my sisters?!

Seeing Demon Man enter, the women and the girls rose to their feet and gave him deep bows and curtsies. Looking at the demon women Rosa was surprised how their dresses even managed to hold their breasts in place.

It must be done by magic, because there's no way that little amount of fabric could contain all of… that.

"Greetings to the Dark King of the Underworld!" they said with sickeningly sweet smiles as they batted their eyelashes at Demon Man. Each woman tried to pucker their lips and show off their cleavage as much as possible.

He is the Demon King? I knew he must be pretty high up in demon society but the King himself?

Rosa barely contained a disgusted grimace. If it weren't for the many eyes looking at her right now, then she wouldn't have bothered to hold back.

But with these concubines or whatever similar title they held, Rosa had to be careful. Unlike Demon Man, they had no reason to like Rosa, in fact, they without a doubt wanted her out of the picture to have him pay attention to them and their daughters. She's seen enough historical drama to know that. Only one of them, namely Rosa's biological mother, would be her ally.

Which one is my mother? I don't really feel… a connection to any of them.

"Greetings to everyone in my flower garden! I am happy that you all were able to attend this special occasion," Demon Man said in a deep, loud voice that carried strength and authority Rosa hadn't heard before. While he could be quite pushy, he never really struck her as an authoritative figure. But here he appeared and spoke like an actual king.

But you're calling them your flower garden? Really? I'm yet to see any flowers in this dingy place.

"We wouldn't dream of missing it, Your Majesty," said a voluptuous demoness with wavy, purple hair that stretched all the way down to her knees. Her starry, dark blue dress left very little to the imagination, and quite honestly Rosa would classify it as some lingerie rather than a dress one wore for a formal occasion.

The girl next to her looked like the oldest child out of all those present in the room, about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was already developing nice curves, and she clearly tried to appear more mature than the other girls in the room.

Why do all demon women have such huge breasts? Or is it just some weird benchmark to enter the King's harem?

Demon Man nodded and lifted Rosa forward for everyone to see.

"I am proud to introduce my youngest daughter and the daughter of the late Demon Queen Eirwen, as well as the Crown Princess of the Underworld – Morrigan Nachtstern," he announced in a voice that reverberated throughout the room and sent a shiver through Rosa.

All of the women looked straight at Rosa, and she felt like a lamb that was about to be thrown into an enclosure full of crocodiles. Although they wore smiles on their faces, their eyes were filled with malice and hatred and their tails flicked like cat's before it attacked its prey. Rosa's breath hitched, her heart began beating faster and she felt her hands turn clammy.

Every single one of them wants to kill me…

Rosa cursed her luck for being dragged into another world and becoming a daughter of a powerful man. There could be nothing worse than that. She'd no doubt be a target of many assassins and political ploys. They'd try to stab her, poison her, marry her off to some fat old, graying demon with a bunch of money.

Well, maybe not that last one.

Rosa's little hands began to tremble while thinking of all the horrifying scenarios she'd have to live through. But just as she thought that she'd completely lose her nerve, Demon Man pulled her back and put her in his lap.

"Now, let's enjoy the feast to honor the Crown Princess. Let her grow strong and prosper!" Demon Man took a cup which looked to be filled with wine and downed it in a single swig. His closeness seemed to repel the grudging looks of the concubines, so Rosa took the opportunity to scuttle even closer to him, hiding herself behind his arms.

"Morrigan looks so much like you, Your Majesty. She's so beautiful!" said the concubine sitting on the right side of the emperor. She had unusually light skin for a demon and bright pink hair tied into two high ponytails. Unlike most women in the room, who went for a sexy look, this one was clearly pushing towards being cute. Although her clothes were no less revealing.

"You shall address her as 'Her Highness' or 'Princess Morrigan'," Demon Man growled in response, and the concubine quickly dropped her gaze.

"O-Of course, Your Majesty," she muttered through a forced smile.

"Your Majesty, how old is P-Princess Morrigan?" a demoness with a long, black braid and alluring glasses addressed Demon Man. Rosa noticed that Deziara, the tantrum throwing brat from before, was sitting next to her, biting her lips in frustration and glaring daggers in Rosa's direction. No doubt, she had recognized the baby who had sold her out.

"She is seven months old," the Demon Man replied coldly and took a bite of meat that was served on his plate. Then he snapped his fingers, and a maid with a trolley came up to him with some sort of porridge on it. She set the bowl in front of Rosa and Demon Man. He took the small spoon that the maid had set next to the bowl, scooped a bit of the porridge and offered it for Rosa to eat. All the eyes in the room once again turned to her, judging her every tiny movement.

"What's wrong, Morrigan? Are you not hungry?" Demon Man asked and moved the spoon closer to her lips.

Of course, I'm hungry, but I can't eat with all of these women glaring at me! I thought that being a baby I would be safe and doted on. Isn't that usually the case?

Nonetheless, Rosa opened her mouth and Demon Man put the porridge in it. It was delicious, sweet and reminded her vaguely of plums.

"You never fed Ferna like this, Your Majesty," the purple-haired demoness closest to Demon Man noted with a tinge of bitterness in her voice. She quickly collected her expression and put on a smile, but her daughter looked like she was about to burst from jealousy, her cheeks puffed out. It was a little bit cute in a way, seeing almost an adult demon revealing her childish side.

"I am the King, not a nanny," Demon Man stated, and the woman flinched back.

He sure is harsh towards women he supposedly takes to bed. Not the atmosphere I expected in a harem. Rosa thought as Demon Man continued to feed her the porridge, while occasionally taking a bite from his own dinner.

"Your Majesty, has Her Highness manifested any powers yet?" the purple-haired demoness asked, trying to divert Demon Man's attention. But that was definitely not the right question to ask, as the demon glared at her and stopped feeding Rosa. Then he stood up from his seat while holding her close.

He's about to snap!

"Morrigan has more magical potential than any demon born in the last five thousand years. She'll become the most powerful demon queen and raise the Demon Realm to heights it has never seen before! And you will all support her as her loyal subjects and sisters," Demon Man boomed, his voice reverberating throughout the room and making the air heavy and thick. The women bent their heads low and the smaller girls clutched onto their mothers in fear.

S-Stop! There's no need to go this far.

Rosa tugged at his coat in an attempt to pacify him. Demon Man's icy gaze broke, and he looked down on her. The women in the room gasped for air.

Demon Man regarded them with annoyance, then turned on his heel and left the room. Rosa couldn't understand how he could be so cold and cruel towards them. She could somewhat understand his overbearing stance towards concubines – they'd slit Rosa's throat at first opportunity. But what about the girls?

Aren't they your daughters just like me? Why don't you show any affection towards them? Is it really all about power?

Then Rosa remembered that Demon Man said that she had more magical potential than any demon born in the last five thousand years. Her stomach churned and she felt her head spin. She didn't want any magical power or unmatched strength. All Rosa wanted was to return back home and paint in peace.

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