A world of green surrounded Gemini as he woke up from his slumber, and the Demon Sovereign looked around at the calming sight with a smile. Everything about the room was emerald-green, and the omnipresent wind sung its greetings to him as he sat up slowly.

“You better come back, or I’ll smack you.” A disturbing murmur came from his left, and Gemini smiled. Lila was sleep-talking as usual, but for the past two days, the words that rolled out of her when she was asleep had grown more and more protective, as if she was aware of an approaching storm.

The Demon Sovereign sighed, and then held her hand. Despite the fact that he had been with her ever since his consciousness returned, Lila had never gotten over the fact that he failed to return home back then.

“Sorry,” Gemini murmured, before pulling her closer. Lila mumbled something in reply, and then snuggled up to him happily.

He leaned back and closed his eyes. The sunlight was creeping into the room, but Gemini wasn’t a salaried worker, so he was more than happy to just lie back there and—

“Auh…”

Gemini glanced at Aria, who had apparently woken up when he stole her hug pillow away. Before she could wake Lila up, Gemini created a small cushiony layer of air on his chest, before bringing his baby daughter over to him, where she promptly fell asleep once more.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, the Demon Sovereign looked up at the ceiling and smiled. Spending the days like this was his ambition now; there was nothing more than that. Perhaps, as the years went by, he would look forward to Aria growing up, with all the…

Gemini paused. The innumerable thought strands that made up his cognitive processes had whirled to life for some reason, and the Demon Sovereign closed his eyes, happy to let those little things do the heavy lifting. His hands patted Lila’s sleeping form slowly, his mind both empty and full at the same time.

When he next opened his eyes, Gemini glanced down at Aria. The motivation of the Abyss Sovereign had been a mystery to the great gods. Why would someone go so far? What was his goal in doing all this? The Demigod back then didn’t seem like someone who desired power for power’s sake, and for people like them, changing one’s nature was a near-impossible task.

Clearly, his goal to reform the world had to tie into this festival of creation.

Gemini stared at his daughter, who was shifting around to seek out a more comfortable position. If the Abyss Sovereign hadn’t done anything, what would be the future of children in the Five Lands? With the peace treaty enforced, and the threat of the demons gone, where would the pent-up aggression and expansionist desires of the Five Lands go to?

The Five Lands would sink into war once more.

The Abyss Sovereign didn’t want that to happen; was it possible that he had a child, and wanted that child to live a normal, peaceful life?

It was an amusing and — oddly enough — a heart-warming thought. Chuckling silently, Gemini leaned back and patted Aria with his right hand, lulling her back to sleep once more. The past few days were like their normal, everyday life, but with the festival of creation inching forward every so often, Gemini found himself cherishing these mundane days even more.

He didn’t need adulations or public ceremonies. All he needed was Lila and Aria to be safe and sound. Holding them tight, the Demon Sovereign looked up at the green ceiling and relaxed his consciousness. Time passed by in a daze once more, the gentle warmth from his family coaxing him into a state of unprecedented relaxation.

“…sleepyhead!”

After what seemed like a minute, Lila’s voice slipped into his mind, and Gemini blinked thrice. “Oh. You’re up!”

“Auh!” Aria, who had crawled over to Lila at some point in time, made a happy little noise, before reaching out for Gemini’s nose. Her tiny hands tugged on his face for a few minutes, an incredibly deadly attack that the Demon Sovereign couldn’t defend against.

As for how Lila spent those minutes doing…

Gemini decided to put that thought aside as he rubbed his nose. “Go and wash up, Lila. Thasvia’s familiar servants should be dropping by soon with some breakfast, and—”

A little growl came from Lila’s stomach.

“See? Go, get up.” Gemini patted her head.

“Fine, fine.”

The three of them slid off the bed and washed up. Aria wasn’t very cooperative in this regard, but there was nothing the two of them couldn’t do. Before long, a pouty Aria was in Gemini’s arms and nibbling away at his shoulder in what was probably a show of her displeasure.

“They should be done,” said Gemini.

“Who? And what?”

Gemini poked his head out of the window. They were currently in Thasvia’s Divine Kingdom; the Breath-maker had offered to let them stay in her place back then. Although emerald-green was the trademark colour of Thasvia’s Divine Kingdom, he could spot a faint crimson firmament outside, a new sky that the Abyss Sovereign had somehow created. No one knew what this sky was for, but the great gods had taken it upon themselves to investigate this hidden risk.

“The investigation of this crimson sky,” Gemini replied. “The Abyss Sovereign must have created it for a reason, and none of us can relax until we find out what he intends to do with it or what this sky does.”

“Another false sky…” Lila muttered.

“False sky?” Gemini asked.

“Right, you hadn’t returned to normal back then. In the opening phases of the Great War, the Demon Sovereign fought with Hereward, and the resulting clash destroyed the sky, as well as the sun.”

“Huh?” Gemini glanced out of the window. “It’s still shining, though.”

“No, no. The false sun. The one in Orb’s creation legend. That sun you see there is actually a real sun…”

“Now I’m confused.”

“Auh!”