"Congratulations, it's a baby girl~"
Perched on a nearby armchair, Luo Shu smirked as he looked down at the little girl who had just opened her eyes on the sofa.
Beside him, La Folia, Kurumi Tokisaki, and Megumi Kato sat on the surrounding sofas, watching Ravel with expressions ranging from curiosity to amusement.
Further back, the short-haired Mammon and the maid Linda stood stiffly behind another armchair, seemingly too nervous to even sit.
At the sound of the voice, Ravel's thoughts briefly stalled. Several seconds later, she turned her head to take in the group around her, her gaze shifting from confusion to grim realisation.
"Not planning to get up?"
Luo Shu spoke with gentle warmth, like an amiable big brother from a Japanese drama.
Hearing this, Ravel calmly propped herself up on her elbows, attempting to rise from the sofa.
But the moment she moved, she immediately sensed something was wrong.
Why were her hands so small and chubby?
Were these even her hands?
Noticing Ravel's bewilderment, Luo Shu grinned and said:
"Miss Mammon, it seems your young mistress could use a little assistance."
At his words, Mammon silently raised a hand. A blue magic circle covered in runes appeared, and the moisture in the air gathered like soldiers obeying a command, forming a floating water screen large enough to reflect an image.
Ravel looked at the screen—and at the image of an adorable little girl, no older than five, with porcelain-like features.
The girl's dark-golden, twin-tailed ringlet curls instantly confirmed her identity.
"How did I...?"
Ravel let out a stunned, childishly high-pitched voice.
Even for a demon, suddenly turning into a little girl was an utterly bewildering and unbelievable experience.
"Truly astonishing."
Luo Shu sighed, feigning calm as he spun his deceptive tale:
"To think you could be reborn after death—and as a child, no less. Does this count as giving birth to yourself?"
"What?" Ravel gaped at him, stunned.
Had she already died once and been resurrected?
Although the phoenix indeed possessed this bodily immortality—able to revive even if half their limbs were destroyed as long as they weren't completely annihilated—she had never heard of someone becoming younger after resurrection!
Just as Ravel was reeling from this shock, Luo Shu turned to her and asked:
"So, are you Ravel, or her daughter?"
Hearing Luo Shu's question, Ravel's muddled mind finally grasped a shred of rationality.
As if well-practised in such situations, she quickly played along with Luo Shu's words and feigned ignorance:
"No, I'm still Ravel. I just used the ingested phoenix blood for a crude rebirth."
She avoided claiming to be Ravel's daughter, partly out of concern that such an obvious lie might provoke him.
By admitting she was Ravel while mentioning the phoenix blood, she hoped to divert his attention to the latter.
"I see." Luo Shu nodded with sudden understanding, then chuckled. "Ingested phoenix blood, huh?"
The moment Luo Shu laughed, nearly everyone present joined in.
Only Mammon and Linda kept their heads bowed in silence, while Kurumi Tokisaki and La Folia laughed with particular delight.
Even Megumi Kato curled her lips into an amused smile.
Ravel was no fool. She sensed something was off, but her two years in this otherworld had taught her that sometimes, playing dumb was the only option.
Even if she ended up looking like a clown, survival was what truly mattered.
As Ravel nervously pretended not to notice the reactions around her, Luo Shu spoke:
"Ravel Phenex."
"Does the Phenex family have some bizarre tradition of drinking their own kin's blood?"
Hearing her full name and identity laid bare, Ravel whirled around, staring in shock at Mammon and Linda beside her.
"You betrayed me?"
Only these two from her homeland—the messengers bearing Ajuka Beelzebub's decree—knew her true identity.
Now, these strangers of unknown origins had uncovered her background. How could Ravel not suspect the worst?
If it were just otherworlders wanting to devour her flesh and blood to become phoenixes, she could understand. But even her fellow demons from home had sold her out?
Was she really that despised?
"Miss Ravel..." Mammon opened her mouth but hesitated, glancing uneasily at Luo Shu, her expression too complicated to explain.
At this point, Ravel understood her predicament. Blaming Mammon now was pointless, she realised.
She had trusted these envoys from home solely because they carried Ajuka's cross-world communication, never considering the risk of being backstabbed by her own kind.
This consequence, Ravel knew, was something she'd have to swallow bitterly.
Right now, the priority was figuring out what these people wanted.
"You've already investigated my identity. So what is it you're after? A ransom from the Phenex family? Or a large quantity of Phoenix Tears?"
"I must warn you in advance that Phoenix Tears require specific techniques and instruments, and must be shed by a phoenix with a completely pure heart. Other methods, such as blood or flesh, simply cannot achieve the miraculous effect of instantly healing all injuries."
Ravel deliberately emphasised the function of Phoenix Tears, attempting to use the allure of producing them to deter Luo Shu from acting recklessly.
She was well-versed in the method of creating Phoenix Tears—after all, it was the Phenex family's closely guarded commercial secret, their trump card for amassing vast wealth in demon society. Even the four Satans of the Underworld, her homeland, had a certain demand for Phoenix Tears.
With such a valuable product at her disposal, Ravel was confident she could preserve her life. What worried her was whether Luo Shu and the others were like the Phenex Society fanatics, obsessed with transforming themselves into phoenixes—the very nightmares that had haunted her for the past two years.
Faced with Ravel's warning, Luo Shu simply smiled:
"It seems deliberately having Kurumi turn you into a child has made you quite uneasy."
'Kurumi? Deliberately turned into a child?' Ravel's mind raced to process the information.
But the next moment, Luo Shu's words shattered her composure:
"Ravel Phenex, to be honest, what I desire more than Phoenix Tears... is you yourself~"
Instantly, Ravel's eyes reddened, and fat teardrops began cascading down her face like rain. The little girl's terrified, shrill voice pierced the air:
"No, no! Don't eat me! My flesh really isn't tasty at all! Eek!"