“Brother… at least let one of them stay.”
The words had originally been spoken only to save one of the two children.
But when they reached Adrian Valerius, they felt like the faintest thread of hope suddenly appearing in the middle of absolute despair.
If the child born second had truly absorbed the Core Crystal left behind by Selene Veyra, then perhaps…
Selene had not completely disappeared from this world.
Perhaps something of her still remained.
Even if it was only the faintest trace of her aura.
A fragment of her power.
Or something so small that no one else would even consider it worth mentioning.
To Adrian, it was still better than having nothing left of her at all.
With that thought, he lowered his gaze toward the baby boy who had been born second.
The child had only just entered the world.
Wrapped quietly in swaddling cloth, he was so small and fragile that it seemed as though the slightest carelessness might hurt him.
Adrian remained silent for a moment.
Then, at last, he reached out and accepted the child into his arms.
The instant the baby settled against him, Adrian’s movements visibly stiffened.
The child was so light that he could barely feel his weight.
Even so, Adrian instinctively tightened his arms around him, holding the infant with unusual care.
Perhaps this child had absorbed nothing at all.
Perhaps the Core Crystal was not inside him.
But Adrian had already lost nearly everything.
And so, even if there was only the slightest possibility— he was willing to believe in it.
In the end, carrying a fragile hope that even he could not properly put into words, Adrian left the Western Realm with the newborn boy.
The firstborn child— a baby girl— was left behind.
But Lord Sterling was clearly nowhere near as optimistic as his younger brother.
He stood in place, staring coldly at the infant girl wrapped in swaddling cloth.
There was not the slightest trace of joy in his heart at becoming a father.
Every time he thought of his wife’s death, the pain buried deep within him surged up once more.
The child before him had done nothing wrong.
And yet, at that moment, even looking at her hurt.
If none of this had happened, he should have been standing beside his wife right now, watching as their son and daughter were safely born into the world.
But his wife was dead.
And all that remained was this child.
Lord Sterling was silent for a long moment before finally looking away.
“Then take good care of her.”
His voice held no warmth.
“I will not acknowledge her.”
He paused.
Then added coldly,
“Not now.”
“Not ever.”
By the time the final words left his mouth, the disgust in his eyes was no longer concealed.
“What a calamity star.”
At that very moment, Evelyn Sterling, lying quietly inside her swaddling clothes, had almost lost even the energy to roll her eyes in her mind.
What kind of mess was this?
In her previous life, she had at least been a well-known occultist in the twenty-first century.
She had spent years dealing with supernatural phenomena and all kinds of strange, inexplicable things.
What hadn’t she seen before?
And yet, the moment she opened her eyes again— she had somehow reincarnated directly into the womb of some completely unfamiliar fantasy world.
No one had asked whether she wanted to come here.
No one had bothered explaining where exactly she had ended up either.
All she could do was obediently remain inside her mother’s womb, waiting day after day until she was finally born.
And what happened the moment she arrived?
She had not even gotten the chance to see what she looked like in this life before being forced to listen to an entire ridiculous romantic tragedy.
A life-saving encounter.
Love growing over time.
A forbidden romance between a Human and a Demon.
And, just to complete the whole disaster, an obsessive Devil Overlord who couldn’t accept rejection and decided to throw a tantrum large enough to drag everyone else into it.
Wonderful.
Every dramatic ingredient was there.
Not a single one missing.
But seriously— who they loved and who they hated was their own problem, wasn’t it?
How had all of that somehow ended with her becoming the unluckiest one?
She had not said a single word from beginning to end!
When other people reincarnated, they could at least hope they had been born into a decent family.
Evelyn did not even think she was asking for much.
She didn’t need endless wealth or incredible status.
A father who cared about her.
A mother who loved her.
A peaceful childhood.
Was that really too much?
Apparently, for her— yes.
Everything had gone in the exact opposite direction.
Her mother had died immediately after giving birth.
Her father’s first reaction upon seeing her had not been to hold her.
No.
He had nearly ordered her burned alive.
Now that she had barely managed to keep her tiny life, no one even needed to waste time thinking of a nickname for her.
They already had one.
Calamity star.
Evelyn lay there silently, growing more speechless by the second.
How convenient.
It was almost as if they were afraid she might somehow fail to understand just how unwanted she was.
And as for what her uncle had said earlier—
The firstborn should not have been affected by the Core Crystal.
That line alone filled her with so many things she wanted to say that she almost wanted to laugh.
Uncle…
Wasn’t that conclusion just a little premature?
Everyone else might not know what had happened.
But she had been inside her mother’s womb from beginning to end.
How could she not know whether she had been affected?
She had originally been a perfectly normal Human.
Now, in this life, she had barely been born before somehow ending up as a half-Human, half-Demon.
And the worst part?
She was currently nothing more than a newborn baby.
Forget explaining the truth.
She couldn’t even turn herself over properly.
All the complaints filling her head had nowhere to go.
The only thing she could do was silently grumble to herself.
Evelyn truly could not understand it.
Who exactly had she offended?
Even before birth, the Devils’ relentless pursuit had made sure she could not have a peaceful day inside her mother’s womb.
Now that she had finally been born and barely had time to catch her breath, she had already been dragged into another mountain of trouble.
If this was what people meant by innocent bystanders getting caught in the disaster, then she was probably the single unluckiest fish in the entire pond.
At least the other fish could swim away.
Her?
She could barely roll over!
The more Evelyn thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
A perfectly good family had been destroyed overnight.
Her mother was dead.
Her father refused to accept her.
She had somehow become half-Demon.
And now she had been labeled with a title that could not possibly sound more ominous—
Calamity Star.
Fine.
She would remember every single one of those things.
Every last one.
Especially— the Devils.
Very well.
Just wait.
She might be small now.
So small she could not even walk, much less settle scores with anyone.
But she would grow up eventually.
And the skills she had mastered in her previous life had not been learned for nothing.
As long as she was given enough time, she would eventually understand the power of this world.
She would grow stronger.
Strong enough to protect herself.
And when that day finally came— she wanted to see whether those Devils who had made her life miserable before she had even been born could still act as arrogantly as they did now.
If she ever gained enough power— she would tear the entire Devil race apart from the roots.
Otherwise— she wouldn’t deserve the name
Evelyn Sterling.