“Tha…. That is because they are….” Ning lowered her head. She did not know what they would do when they found out she was a demon.

“Really!?” Linda kept stroking the horns out of pure curiosity. 

“Yes? Well… From what I can tell, I am not from this world. And you might not be either. My world was filled with magic and never came under attack by these angels, as you call them. But recently, I was transported to another world, and it seems my world was merging with it. I found a ruin that had a teleportation magic circle and ended up in your lands. So either I teleported to your world, or your world has also merged into the world I was on.” Ning did not know what she was going to do to get back since it seemed that the teleport was one-way only.

“Teleportation…. Ruins… did the ruins look like a large shrine?” Linda asked reluctantly, pulling her hands away from Ning’s horns.

“Yes… yes, it did.” Ning nodded her head.

    “It seems you stumbled upon one of the ancient shrines that were created to bring humans here. They had once set up a bunch of punishment shrines. Those who did nasty deeds were sent to this place after they contained the angels here. But we stopped receiving people a hundred years after they were formed. You might not know this, but to advance as much as we have is only because, for some reason, the people who live here do not die of old age. Everyone has their stopping point, but once they reach a certain age, they will no longer grow. Some when they are young. Some when they are old. There are people who look ten years old but are really over a thousand years old. 

“If it were not for this fact our current conditions…. Our current life would not be possible. It is also what allowed us to create this faction and keep women safe from those who have different ideas. It has also kept our old traditions alive and well. Those who run the government are still basically those who formed it in the first place. While humans have grown quite a lot, we still are nowhere near as strong as the angels.

“Since you are not from this world and have no family here. How about you stay with me?” Linda asked with a smile. She seemed to have taken a liking to Ning.

“If you are okay with that…. I can live on my own if you want… I ummm… I have been alone for a few thousand years anyway…” Ning did not know why, but her eyes started to tear up. When was it that she had been treated so kindly?

- - -

In a large mansion, a young girl of twelve years of age ran through the halls with a man a few years older running behind her. “Young Miss, you shouldn’t run! It’s unladylike!”

“Then why are you running!?” The young girl turned and grinned at the maid while holding her dress up and back peddling. But even though her light blue dress was pulled up from the ground, she still ended up stumbling as her feet got tangled together. “Ah!”

“Young Miss!” The maid cried out, but the scene of the young girl falling to the ground was not shone. Instead, there was a thumping sound as the young girl’s head bumped into the chest of a man around thirty years of age. 

    “Nell… why are you running in the halls? Didn’t Riley tell you not to run?” The man asked in a stern voice. 

The girl was not scared at all when she looked up and saw the man’s narrowed eyes that were pretending to be angry. “Father!” Instead, she spun around on her heel and jumped up and hugged the man’s neck. “Father, I thought you were leaving today!” 

“I was heading down now. Were you running to come see me?” The man asked as he picked the young girl up.

“Of course!” Nell lied through her teeth. In fact, she heard there were snacks down in the kitchen, so she was trying to make it there before the servants ate them all. Nell was different from other noble-class princesses. She got along well with the commoners and even went to town to play with the street kids. 

“Haha, I knew my daughter liked me more than the snacks in the kitchen!” Nell’s father seemed quite happy while Nell wondered if she should tell the truth.

“Young Miss, you will be going to see your grandmother today as well, so get ready.” Riley, her maid, walked over and said.

    “That’s right, you are also leaving. How about this? Travel with Father until we reach the crossway. Then you can head to your grandmother’s. This way, we can be together for a week.” Nell’s father was quite happy. He did not get much chance to spend time with his daughter. So, having a week where they could ride together and talk was a good thing.