Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 148

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 148
Asmo-rina scrutinized my face before muttering softly to herself.
“What? I don’t sense any magical power at all.”
Her detection abilities were apparently too dull to see through my disguise. My long habit of concealing my magical essence from the Sun Cult’s watchful eyes proved invaluable.
Lua, on the other hand, tilted her head in confusion.
“Huh? If it’s like this…”
Watching the bewildered girl, Asmo-rina spoke up.
“That’s enough. Finish eating and get up. I don’t like drawing attention from everyone around us.”
“Oh, wait a moment—you haven’t finished yours either, sister.”
Unlike Lua, who had cleanly emptied her plate, Asmo-rina’s sandwich remained untouched. She stuffed the remaining sandwich into her mouth with a dismissive gesture.
Then she swallowed hard and forcibly pulled Lua to her feet.
“Let’s go. I don’t want to sit here any longer with the Saint.”
For demons, the words “Saint” and “Hero” were taboo. The legend of a human hero and saint who had been summoned to the Demon Realm and defeated the Demon King was all too real.
“Wait.”
As Asmo-rina tried to leave, I stopped her.
Then I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to her.
“Wipe your mouth. Don’t go around with food all over your face.”
“…”
For a moment, everyone stared at me as if I’d lost my mind.
‘Oh no, there I go again with my habits.’
The memory of Asmo-rina’s wild childhood surfaced unbidden, and my tone had shifted without my realizing it.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem inclined to refuse. With a bewildered expression, Asmo-rina accepted the handkerchief and wiped her mouth.
“You… what exactly are you—no, never mind.”
Residents had begun gathering to pray or request my autograph. Clearly unwilling to remain any longer, Asmo-rina clicked her tongue sharply and left the shop.
As I watched her depart without so much as a backward glance, Jeina rose from her seat and spoke.
“Let’s go too. There doesn’t seem to be much point in continuing our patrol.”
“Ah, yes.”
Now that my identity was exposed, I couldn’t move freely through the city anymore. I followed Jeina out of the tea shop.
The Tea Shop Owner, who had only just learned of the situation, cried out “The Saint was in our shop!” but I deliberately ignored him.
As Jeina and I hurried toward the Manor, Ivan, who had been hiding nearby, fell into step directly behind me.
“Princess, I made sure not to go anywhere near the tea shop, just in case…”
“You did well. If you’d gotten close, you would have been discovered.”
Ivan’s judgment was sound. Unlike me, he was clumsy at concealing his magical power.
‘Come to think of it, it’s fortunate we didn’t bring Ruslara. The two of them even know each other.’
Asmo-rina had attacked Jeina on sight in the past. We’d barely escaped that time with Grid’s help, but there was no guarantee such an incident wouldn’t happen again.
After arriving at the Manor, Jeina immediately removed her hat and spoke to me.
“So, Deina, what’s your relationship with this Rina character?”
“Ah, well…”
“Is Asmodina perhaps… you?”
I faltered just as I was about to offer some excuse. Jeina crossed her arms and fixed me with a narrow, piercing gaze.
“Don’t deny it. You may think you hid it well, but I noticed your reaction to that name.”
“…Why do you assume it’s me? It could simply be someone I know.”
“If it were merely someone you knew, you wouldn’t have needed to hide your face. From the beginning, you’ve wanted to conceal yourself from that woman.”
Jeina tugged at the neckline of her dress, finding it suffocating.
“Moreover, the characteristics that woman described about Asmodina matched you far too closely. It was as if she were speaking of the same person.”
I considered denying it outright, but Jeina’s eyes burned with certainty. She continued without waiting for my rebuttal.
“That girl Lua beside her probably noticed as well. The real problem is the intersection between this Asmodina and you… I can’t make sense of it no matter how I think about it. I don’t believe that woman Rina is human.”
“…What makes you think she isn’t human?”
“Someone so arrogant and contemptuous of humans typically falls into one of two categories: either they possess extraordinarily high status, or they’re a non-human race. The former is me, and the latter is an otherworldly being.”
Non-human races were rare in the Empire, but they thrived abroad. Ruslara herself was known as an elf in foreign lands.
“That alone seems insufficient to conclude anything.”
“My second reason is intuition. The moment I saw her, I felt she wasn’t human. There’s no evidence, so you don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to.”
It was difficult to refute. Powerful demons could indeed send chills down one’s spine with a mere glance.
But then, she continued, crossing her arms.
“I can say with certainty that she isn’t an Imperial citizen. Because even seeing you, she didn’t think of the Princess.”
Few Imperial citizens were unaware of the rumors surrounding the “cursed Princess.” While they might confuse hair color, they would invariably react to those “golden eyes” that had supposedly fought the Sun God in the past.
Yet Asmo-rina merely listened to the rumors of a saint, showing no particular interest in my irises.
“That’s why I thought you might be Asmodina. It’s the most reasonable answer to resolve all these contradictions.”
“…But I am human. I’m your sister, Imperial Family Member Deina.”
“Right. I don’t think you’ve changed either. You said so yourself when you left the Separate Palace last time. You’re still Deina.”
She tapped her fingers in frustration at the unresolved mystery.
“Looking at the situation, you and Asmo-rina are clearly deeply entangled. Deina remains Deina, yet Asmo-rina and Deina are the same… Did you secretly perform some act? Nothing like that could have happened in the Separate Palace anyway. There are too many eyes there.”
Jeina muttered, struggling to comprehend the illogical situation, then let slip a thought.
“I’d sooner believe you underwent reincarnation like the Sun God.”
“…”
I found myself unable to speak.

* * *
‘I’m searching for a woman named Asmodina.’
Under normal circumstances, I would have dismissed such a ruffian’s words without a second thought.
But Jeina’s instincts warned her not to overlook that statement.
‘Her appearance was shabby, yet she was no ordinary person. Even my guards failed to notice her.’
Though disguised as a commoner, she had been accompanied by Knights concealing their presence. Yet they claimed to have missed Asmo-rina’s existence entirely.
She had appeared before the Tea Shop as suddenly as if materializing from thin air.
‘To conceal one’s presence to that degree… such an extraordinary individual would hardly speak nonsense. And Deina’s reaction didn’t seem like a lie either…’
Part of me wanted to press Deina for answers, but she had already withdrawn from the conversation, as if she had no intention of continuing. It seemed she feared that prolonging the exchange would expose secrets she wished to keep hidden.
Above all, Jeina was someone who could read Deina’s expressions with unusual clarity.
Since my purpose wasn’t to torment Deina, Jeina relented for now.
‘Setting aside Deina’s true identity, this feels far too suspicious to be mere coincidence. This city has countless establishments, yet how did we encounter her at that very Tea Shop?’
They say misfortunes cluster together, but even so, this was excessive.
Could it be that fate itself was working through either Asmo-rina or Deina?
Confronted with a miracle that defied rational understanding, Jeina exhaled a deep sigh.
‘Now that I think about it, ever since arriving in Monos, it’s been nothing but surprises. I haven’t even heard news of the Golden Hand’s defeat…’
In that moment, a thought flashed through her mind.
“…Could it be that the Golden Hand came to Monos for some particular reason?”
Initially, I had assumed it was simply because Deina had fallen out of the Emperor’s favor. Perhaps he sought to thwart her alliance with me, or disapproved of her establishing a sanctuary on her own terms.
But from the subsequent explanations, it seemed the Emperor’s true target wasn’t Deina at all—it was the residents.
‘At the time, everything was so chaotic that I didn’t think deeply about the reason. But what if… this person called Rina and the Golden Hand share some connection?’
Though it was mere conjecture without evidence, Jeina’s instincts continued to warn her that these two existences were somehow linked.
She found it absurd to entertain such preposterous thoughts, yet once a thread of reasoning had been grasped, it refused to let go.
“Sir Liam. Are you there?”
She called upon her escort Knight. A man who had been concealed in the darkness stepped into view.
“Yes, Princess. Your orders?”
“Investigate what the Golden Hand intended to accomplish in Monos. The Countess of Adonia is nearby, so follow her trail…”
Just then, a soft voice drifted in from beyond the window.
“There’s no need for that, Princess Jeina. I’m right here.”
“…!”
It was the voice of the Countess of Adonia.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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