NOVEL FROG Chapter 4 – Demon Sister
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'll 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 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 now 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 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 was 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 thought that she 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 her bratty sister, 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.
But thanks to Gunna and the brat Deziara, Rosa knew that she definitely had at least one older sister. Quite honestly, this knowledge still left a foul taste in her mouth. Once she got older she would no doubt have to brat more often, and it without a doubt would be a huge headache.
"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 if I have an older sister, why isn't she the heir? What reason would Demon Man have to choose a baby over an older child?
