I won't fall for the queen who burned my world-Chapter 124: Not anymore

They found a quiet spot near the edge of the marketplace, where a large stone bench overlooked the bustling streets.

The noise was still present—the hum of conversation, the rhythmic clang of blacksmiths hammering metal, the occasional bursts of laughter from taverns—but it was distant enough that it felt... peaceful. A rare kind of peace.

Elysia exhaled, stretching her legs slightly as she adjusted herself on the cool stone. She hadn't realized how much she had been moving, how much she had been swept up in the energy of the village, until they finally stopped.

She stole a glance at Malvoria, who sat beside her, silent and still.

For once, they weren't arguing.

They weren't bickering, weren't exchanging snide remarks, weren't locked in some battle of stubbornness and pride.

They were just here.

Watching.

Existing.

And it felt... strange.

Elysia turned her gaze back toward the marketplace, watching as a group of children darted between the stalls, their laughter ringing through the air as they chased one another, their small hands gripping wooden toys that looked hand-carved and well-loved.

A demon merchant grinned at them as they passed, tossing them a few brightly wrapped sweets, and they shrieked in delight.

It was so normal.

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So... alive.

So far removed from the image of demons that she had grown up with.

She had spent her entire life thinking of them as monstrous, ruthless beings—terrors that lurked in the shadows, waiting to strike. The stories of their cruelty had been endless, warnings passed down from generation to generation.

But now, watching this village—watching the people live, laugh, and simply be—Elysia felt the weight of those stories shift inside her.

And then, without thinking, she looked at Malvoria again.

The Demon Queen wasn't watching the children.

She wasn't even watching the market.

She was watching her.

Elysia stiffened slightly, caught in the sharp focus of Malvoria's gray eyes. There was something unreadable in them, something heavy, something... searching.

She quickly looked away, clearing her throat. "You're staring," she muttered.

Malvoria didn't immediately respond, which made it worse.

Then, finally, she hummed. "So are you."

Elysia shot her a quick glare. "Not at you."

"Mm." Malvoria didn't sound convinced.

Elysia sighed, shifting her gaze back toward the village. She should have just ignored it, should have let it go, but something in her needed to ask.

"Do you come here often?" she asked, surprising even herself with the question.

Malvoria leaned back against the stone wall behind them, stretching her arms slightly. "Not anymore," she admitted. "Not like this."

Elysia frowned, glancing at her. "What do you mean?"

Malvoria's gaze flickered toward the marketplace again, her expression unreadable. "When I was younger, I used to slip away from the castle whenever I could. It drove my guards insane."

A small, amused smirk tugged at her lips. "I knew every hidden passage, every blind spot. I could disappear for hours before they even noticed I was gone."

Elysia blinked, trying to imagine that—a younger Malvoria, rebellious and restless, weaving through the village streets, hiding from her own security.

"And Mira?" she asked, nodding toward the food stall they had just visited.

Malvoria's smirk widened slightly. "Caught me the first time I tried to steal from her."

Elysia laughed. "So it was true."

"I told you, I paid her back."

"With what money?"

Malvoria hesitated. "That's not important."

Elysia raised a brow.

Malvoria sighed. "Fine. I may have taken some from my mother's treasury."

Elysia gasped, placing a hand over her chest in mock scandal. "You stole from your own mother?"

Malvoria shrugged. "She took my freedom. I took her coins. It felt like an even trade."

Elysia shook her head, laughing softly. It was so strange—hearing these things, seeing Malvoria not as the Demon Queen, not as the force that had once been her enemy, but as someone else.

Someone who had snuck away from her duties, stolen from her mother, gotten caught by a grumpy food vendor who still scolded her to this day.

It made her feel...

Something dangerous.

Something she couldn't afford to feel.

She needed to put space back between them. Needed to regain her footing before she slipped into whatever this was.

"So why don't you come anymore?" she asked instead.

Malvoria's smirk faded slightly. "Because I'm not that girl anymore."

Elysia frowned at the quiet weight in her voice.

Malvoria exhaled, rolling her shoulders as if shaking off something unseen. "I became Queen. I had responsibilities. It's not as easy to disappear when the entire kingdom is watching."

Elysia hesitated. "Do you ever miss it?"

Malvoria was silent for a long moment. Then, softly—

"Yes."

Elysia felt something tighten in her chest at the honesty in that single word.

She shouldn't care.

She shouldn't care.

But she did.

Because for all of Malvoria's strength, for all her confidence, for all the power she wielded—

She sounded tired.

And for some reason, Elysia hated that.

She swallowed, turning back toward the village, her gaze drifting over the people, the colors, the movement. "Maybe you should do this more," she murmured. "Come here. Walk through the village. See the people you rule."

Malvoria huffed a quiet laugh. "You think they want me here?"

Elysia looked at her. "I think they need you here."

Malvoria tilted her head slightly, considering her.

Elysia held her gaze, refusing to look away.

She wasn't sure why she had said it.

She wasn't sure why she meant it.

But she did.

And Malvoria—

Malvoria didn't argue.

Instead, after a moment, she turned back toward the village, her expression unreadable.

They sat in silence after that, watching the world move around them.

A rare moment of peace.

A moment that Elysia wasn't sure she wanted to end.

The quiet stretched between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. For once, there was no tension, no sharp words exchanged, no games played between them. Just the two of them, sitting side by side, watching as life continued around them.

Elysia found herself almost relaxing into the moment, her fingers tracing idle patterns on the stone bench.

She wasn't sure when things had shifted between them—when Malvoria had become something more than just the enemy she had been forced to marry.

And yet, here they were.

She glanced at Malvoria again, watching the way the Demon Queen's gray eyes scanned the streets.

There was something softer in her expression, something contemplative. Maybe she was remembering her past here, the younger version of herself who had slipped through the cracks of her own kingdom, looking for a taste of freedom.

Elysia wasn't sure why, but she suddenly wanted to know more.

Before she could say anything, Malvoria sighed and stood, brushing off the dust from her dark coat.

"Let's go to the orphanage now."

Elysia blinked, startled by the sudden shift, but then nodded.

She stood as well, straightening her dress, before falling into step beside Malvoria.

Back to reality.