Unrivaled Demon's Odyssey

Asteria stood in front of Emilia's room and gulped down.

She was preparing herself to wake Emilia up, but she was too afraid to go into her room.

She had conjured a new pair of clothes after bathing in the sea after making breakfast.

'It's okay, Asteria. She won't do anything to you," she reassured herself.

After taking a deep breath, she opened the door and entered Emilia's room.

Emilia was sleeping naked with only a blanket over her body. 

Her room was the best room on the ship, and it had a window from where the cold breeze of the sea and astonishing view of the starry sky at night.

Emilia was sleeping while curling and hugging a pillow.

'That's the pillow from Zeus' cabin. When did she bring it here?' Asteria wondered.

After staring at Emilia for a while, Asteria shook her slightly, but she didn't wake up.

"Lady Emilia," Asteria called her name as she shook her a little harder.

"Umm."

Emilia shrugged Asteria's Hand and turned to the other side of the bed.

'She is just like Zeus when it comes to waking up,' Asteria giggle.

She shook Emilia again by shaking her leg and uttered, "The breakfast is ready, and Zeus is waiting for you."

"Mmm?" Emilia slowly opened her eyes and groaned: "Hmm?!"

She sat up and stared at Asteria.

"What did you say?" She asked.

"Breakfast is ready, and Zeus is waiting for you," Asteria repeated.

Emilia squinted her eyes and sniffed Asteria, then sniffed her more.

Asteria gulped down and wondered, 'Did she figure it out? Or am I still safe?'

SIGH!

Emilia sighed and conjured her clothes as she got up.

"What's for breakfast?" She asked.

"I made your favorite soup," Asteria replied.

"Yay!" Emilia quickly rushed to the kitchen like a little kid.

After eating breakfast, Nero called Asteria to have a talk with her about reincarnation.

He was nervous, but he had no other option.

"What I am going to say might disturb you. But I want you to listen to me properly first, before jumping to any weird conclusions, okay?"

Asteria nodded and prepared herself for the worst.

"You see, eons ago, before I was sealed, I had a friend who was a king, and his name was Ajax."

Asteria's eyes widened as she opened her mouth to say: "He was… my ancestor."

"Indeed. And he had a wife named Helene." Nero glanced at Asteria's face and continued, "And a daughter named Astrea."

'She seems to be taking it easily; Let's continue.'

"You see, Asteria, you look exactly like her; a complete resemblance, not even mirror copy."

Nero placed his hand on Asteria's shoulder and uttered, "There is a high chance, although I am most certain, that you are the reincarnation of Princess Astrea."

"Because I look like her and our names are similar?" Asteria muttered.

"No. I am claiming this on the basis of your dreams. At first, I thought it was just a defendant having dreams of her ancestor's life, but I was wrong."

"No wonder I fell in love with you the moment I laid my eyes on you. Something inside me wanted to hug you and yell 'welcome back'. But…"

Asteria looked into Nero's eyes and asserted, "It wasn't me."

"What… do you…"

"What you are saying might be true. Maybe I truly am the reincarnation of Princess Astrea. And to be honest, my dreams are also getting much clearer and frequent."

"What do you see in the dreams?"

"They are inconsistent, and they always come in fragments. But I recently had a dream about seeing you in a big hall that looked like a throne hall. You were talking with a blonde-haired man about something."

".....!" Nero raised his brows and thought, 'Is this what I think it is?'

"I entered the hall and saw you. I don't remember what you were saying, but I remember the feeling. I was happy and excited."

Nero smiled gently and hugged Asteria: "Yeah."

Asteria hugged Nero back tightly and muttered something.

"Hmm?"

Nero looked at Asteria's face, but she looked sad.

"What's wrong? You are not happy?"

Asteria shook her head and asserted, "I don't know if I should be happy or not."

"Why not?"

Asteria looked into Nero's eyes and forced a smile before saying, "If I truly am Princess Astrea reincarnation, then that means once I get all the memories, I will disappear, and Princess Astrea will live as Asteria, right? Princess Astrea will have my memories, and she will live as me, right?"

Nero's eyes widened after hearing that. He grabbed her chin and kissed her on the lips.

"No." Nero glanced at Emilia and Sophia, who were piloting the wheel, then looked at Asteria: "You won't disappear. You won't go anywhere."

"But I will live as—"

"Shhh." Nero placed his finger on Asteria's lips and continued, "Once you get all your memories back, you will stay as you. You will have an option to either live as princess Astrea or Asteria. And what you choose doesn't matter, because you will stay as you are. Whether you chose to live as princess Astrea or Asteria, you will still stay the same."

He shrugged and sighed: "I may not sound convincing, but I do know how reincarnation works. There are two types of reincarnation. One is Soul reincarnation, which is commonly known as transmigration. And the other one is memories reincarnation, where you regain the memories of your past life."

"What is the difference between them?"

"To be honest, they both are the same, but still different. Both will have memories of their past lives, but the difference would be, one would live in a new body, while the other would be born with a new body."

"So, in my case, it's a memory reincarnation?" Asteria asked with a curious look on her face.

"Yeah. Although I am not sure why you were born with all the memories intact," he tittered. 

*But at least, you are getting them back," he added.

"Umm… which one would you prefer after I get all my memories back? Should I live as princess Astrea? Or keep living as Asteria?"

"I won't answer that… because I can't answer that."

Asteria puffed her cheeks and murmured, "I knew you would say that."

Nero poked Asteria's puffed cheeks and said with a grin on his face: "I'd you keep pouting all the time, then you will get wrinkles all over your face."

"I am not going to fall for your tricks like that," Asteria declared proudly.

Asteria furrowed her brows and asked, "I have one question."

"Go ahead."

*It's not like I am doubting me being the reincarnation of Princess Astrea. But… Why now of all times?"

She knitted her brows and continued, "I could have reincarnated just after I died, or maybe in the nearby time. Or perhaps, in the future. So why did I reincarnate at this time; To meet you again?"

"If I wasn't unsealed, then I wouldn't have met you, and you would still be in that…" Nero couldn't dare to finish that sentence.

"Maybe it's fate trying to get us together?" Asteria asserted with a grin.

"Or maybe it was your love."