CHAPTER 54
After hearing everything Red had to explain, I said to her.
"Is all of this real? This isn't just some delusion of yours?"
"Do I look like the type of woman who'd come up with a delusion like this?"
No, that's definitely not your character.
And it was too specific to be a delusion, with too much consistency with reality.
If Ceres really was something like a clone that the demons created using a part of the Heavenly God's body, then everything would make sense.
Why he possessed such immense divine power, and why he was this beautiful.
Then why didn't the original novel mention any of this?! Why does this damn novel have so many hidden plot points?!
"Who else knows about this?"
Having grasped the situation, I asked about the most important thing first. If anyone else learned about a bombshell like this, my position would become extremely precarious.
Fortunately, Red shook her head.
"Nobody knows anymore. Haas was the one who told me, and she and all her subordinates were wiped out today."
"You haven't told anyone else?"
"If I was going to tell someone else, why would I be here alone with you?"
Absurdly enough, the demon who had originally tried to capture me had been considerate enough to tell only me.
"You seem to care quite a bit about this."
Red observed my anxious reaction and smiled with amusement.
"Well, I suppose that makes sense. If the secret of your birth is something like this, even I would be shocked. Honestly, even I was quite surprised when I heard your story."
"..."

"Yes, that's the expression I wanted to see."
What kind of face am I making right now that she'd say something like that?
Red wore a wicked smile and continued.
"Ceres, what are you going to do now?"
"About what?"
"Now that you know what you really are, are you just going to sit still? If the others ever find out, things will get difficult for you."
"...Nobody knows except you and me."
"True, but you never know. They're all formidable people in their own right—they might figure it out on their own."
So what do you want me to do about it?
Wondering what she was after with all this, I watched Red carefully.
Then Red touched my cheek with her finger.
"If you want, I can take you away from here. How about it—the two of us roaming the world together? If there's something we want to destroy, we destroy it. If there's something we want to kill, we kill it. Living life on our own terms."
She spoke as if trying to seduce me.
"I want a drink."
Instead of answering, I said something else entirely.
"What?"
"What I want to do right now, more than anything, is drink! There's no way I can handle this sober!"
After hearing such a shocking secret about my birth, there was no way even I could stay calm.
I stormed out of the room.
"Hey, wait!"
Then I heard Red hurriedly following after me.
"Where are you going?"
"To get a drink!"
"If you're going to drink, then why are you heading deeper into the palace?"
"Because there's a bar inside the palace!"
"Are you crazy? A bar inside the palace...?"
Red's protests trailed off. She had followed me and actually arrived at the palace bar.
"...Why is there a bar in the palace?"
"Viol had it built."
"Is that woman's head on straight?"
Red was just as dumbfounded as I had been, wearing an expression of utter disbelief as she walked into the bar.
"No, she actually made it look like a real bar."
"One bottle of anything strong, please."
Leaving Red to look around in wonder, I placed my order—but the bartender was startled and refused.
"Lord Ceres, I can't do that. Emperor Viol has forbidden us from serving you anything too strong."
"Then give me dozens of bottles of something weak."
"D-dozens of bottles?! That's not allowed either!"
"No matter how much I drink, my body won't be harmed, so just give it to me!"
After repeated back-and-forth, I finally managed to get just one bottle of regular liquor.
I didn't even bother pouring it into a glass and started chugging straight from the bottle.
"Hey now!"
This time, Red intervened. She snatched the bottle away from me and frowned.
"I understand how you feel, but drink in moderation. You'll ruin your health like that."
"What do you care? You're the one who said you'd 'violate' me."
"Violation requires a healthy partner, doesn't it?"
She answered so shamelessly that I momentarily froze. Red didn't miss that opening and, just as I had done, grabbed the bottle and drank from it, finishing the whole thing herself.
"...Palace liquor. Good stuff."

"Another bottle, please."
"Enough."
As soon as I tried to get a new bottle, Red stopped me.
"I did want to see you come undone, but this is too much. I understand how you feel, but calm down."
No, you absolutely cannot understand how I feel!
The reason I was acting like this wasn't simply because the revelation about Ceres's birth was shocking.
Ceres was born to resurrect the Demon King?
Then doesn't that mean the original Ceres—doesn't that mean it would have been better if she'd just died?
Learning that the original Ceres's miserable death was actually necessary for the world's sake left me completely confused.
If I, too, hadn't happened to recover my past life's memories, it probably would have been better for the world if I'd just died.
This was something only I could know, having read the original novel—so there was no way anyone could guess how I felt.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Unable to put any of this into words, I shut my mouth. Red was about to reach out to me.
That's when it happened.
"Take your hand off him."
A familiar voice warned Red.
It was Viol—and she looked a bit... no, very different from usual.

She was wearing a black dress like she usually did, but this one had a plunging neckline and exposed her legs, accentuating her voluptuous figure.
Why is she dressed like that? As I stared in disbelief, Viol came striding over, her bare legs on full display as if showing them off.
She glared at Red with a dangerous look.
"What are you doing here?"
"Is it a problem if I'm here?"
"This is my bar."
"Oh, right. Thanks. The drinks were great!"
Viol tried to intimidate Red, but it didn't really work.
When Red brushed it off smoothly, Viol clicked her tongue and turned her gaze to me instead.
"Why are you drinking with this thing?"
"We weren't drinking together. I was drinking and she followed me here on her own, butting in."
"Really?"
"Why would I willingly drink with that?"
When I stated the facts as they were, Viol seemed to believe me.
"Well, you're right—even putting aside the other women, there's nothing to gain from drinking with a brat like this."
"What did you say?"
Looking at Red with a smirk as she said this—Red, who had been brushing things off easily before, suddenly stiffened at those words.
"What's wrong with me?"
"As if you don't know?"
Instead of giving a straight answer, Viol flaunted her own body, which was far more voluptuous than Red's in every way.
Red did have an average female figure, but the women in this world were all bigger than me in certain areas. Red was relatively below average by comparison, and it seemed to bother her.
"...I was wondering what you were getting at. You're dressed like a dog in heat, so I guess you have nothing to show off besides that?"
"Someone's tongue suddenly got longer. Jealous?"
Red fell silent.
Even in this gender-reversed world, watching them have this kind of catfight you'd see in a rom-com was surreal. I watched their argument with great interest.
Then suddenly, Red's body changed. She grew a bit taller and... filled out in various places.
Especially in the chest area.
"Actually, this is my true form."
Nobody believed the newly voluptuous Red when she said this.
"Well? What do you think?"
She asked me for my opinion, and I was simply at a loss.
Using her transformation ability for something like this... honestly...
"Hmm, try it in person and you might change your mind."
But Red wasn't deterred by my reaction and approached me in her transformed state.
Since her body had gotten bigger but her clothes hadn't, the result was a rather provocative look—but honestly, I couldn't care less.
I said flatly.
"Sorry, you put in a lot of effort, but that's not really my taste."
"Then what is your type?"
"Slender build. A delicate frame, silver hair, fair skin, long lashes, and eyes that glow blue..."
"That's yourself!"
I was describing the original Ceres, but since they had no way of knowing that, they assumed I was joking.
"If you're going to reject me, at least come up with a proper excuse."
"I'm serious though..."
"Then are you a narcissist? Well, I suppose you've earned the right."
As Red grumbled sourly, she was suddenly shoved backward.
Viol had grabbed her by the collar and yanked her back.
"Has this thing actually lost its mind?"
She didn't like Red hovering near me and glared at her with a dead-serious expression.
"A demon brat—just because I let you into the palace, you've completely lost your sense of fear?"
"Fearlessness goes both ways. Cut the crap and let go of my clothes."

Should I stop them?
They were glaring at each other and it was looking serious.
Before, the atmosphere suggested they wouldn't cross the line, but now it felt like a powder keg.
Just as I was about to step in—
"Ceres, were you here?"
Sibylius appeared out of nowhere.
Like Viol, she was wearing a revealing black dress with a plunging neckline and exposed legs, leaning against the doorframe in a seductive pose.

She was so worked up that her demonic nature was showing—her eyes had an unusually provocative red glow, different from her usual look.
Have they all collectively gone insane? What the hell is going on?