It was easy to tell, even just by the back of her head, that the person sprawled out on the floor was a demon.
After all, her skin was beyond pale—outright blue—and a horn stuck out from the top of her head. It was impossible not to notice.
Still, maybe it was because of her surprisingly small frame and the form-fitting women’s suit she wore, but she didn’t look particularly threatening, even as a demon, a group often considered dangerous in the city.
Especially when you consider she had just taken a dramatic tumble, tray and all, in the middle of a dessert café. How could anyone view that as threatening?
Exchanging uncertain glances with Sabrina, I made my way toward her without hesitation.
Up close, I realized there was one small consolation: the tray had flown completely out of her hands, sparing her outfit from being stained with sticky desserts. Unfortunately, the desserts themselves had not been so lucky, scattered across the floor like helpless casualties.
“Ugh... Ouch...”
“....”
“Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes! I’m fine! Oh, um...”
Perhaps it was the hard tile floor she had landed on, but the demon woman groaned in discomfort, still lying prone. When she noticed us approaching, she jerked upright with a startled gasp.
Her face turned bright red the moment she seemed to register who we were. She must have felt mortified to be comforted by what she assumed were kids. Of course, I just happened to look like one.
Still flushed, the demon woman looked around nervously before her gaze landed on a Mont Blanc dessert lying far away on the floor. Her eyes trembled.
“My... My Mont Blanc... Oh no...”
She wore the expression of someone who had spent what little they had on a treat, only to see it ruined in an instant. Sabrina looked at me helplessly, silently asking what we should do as the demon woman seemed on the verge of tears.
Hmm, calming her down would probably be best.
I gestured to Sabrina to help the crying woman to our table, while I went to find a staff member to clean up the mess. After all, I wasn’t exactly strong enough to assist someone taller than me, so dividing the work based on our strengths seemed fair.
“Excuse me, is something wrong?”
“...!”
“Oh, over there?”
I managed to gesture to the employee, signaling for the fallen desserts to be cleaned up. Then, I made an additional request before heading back to our table.
When I returned, the demon woman was seated with her face buried in her hands, clearly dying of embarrassment.
“She looks like she wants to disappear,” I thought.
Honestly, it made sense. Each moment of this ordeal was the kind of stuff blacklisted from memory.
Falling while carrying a tray at a dessert café, ruining your treat, and being comforted by a child? It was the kind of incident that would haunt her under the covers that night.
Still, sitting with us was surely better than sobbing alone on the floor.
As I settled into the seat next to Sabrina, the demon woman sat across from us at the four-person table.
“....”
“....”
The atmosphere at the table was awkward. While the woman no longer looked like she would burst into tears, she was clearly too ashamed to speak. And Sabrina wasn’t exactly the type to strike up conversations easily.
Unfortunately, as the one who brought her to the table, the responsibility fell to me. But since I couldn’t speak, it was going to be tricky.
The silence dragged on until Sabrina, seated close enough for her shoulder to brush mine, leaned in and whispered, “Yuria, can’t you do something about this awkwardness?”
“...!”
I personally didn’t mind eating my dessert quietly, but since we’d invited her over, leaving her to stew in silence seemed rude.
I nodded at Sabrina, then knocked lightly on the table to get the demon woman’s attention.
When she peeked out from behind her hands, I propped my elbows on the table, rested my chin on my hands, and stared at her intently.
If I didn’t have anything to say, I’d just wait for her to break the silence. That would surely prompt a response, right?
The tactic seemed to work—though perhaps not as intimidatingly as I’d hoped. Her lips trembled, and her gaze flitted around nervously before she finally blurted out, “T-Thank you for helping me!”
Her gratitude, delivered so earnestly, felt surprisingly genuine, not something one would expect from a demon. Sabrina, meanwhile, murmured softly, “So cute... I want to be thanked like that...”
“...?”
I didn’t catch all of what she said, but it was clear she was amazed by the demon woman’s demeanor.
With the ice broken, we began exchanging introductions.
Her name, as it turned out, was Answer. Twenty-three years old and only a month into living in Nighthaven, she was clearly still finding her footing.
A fledgling in the city? How adorable.
As I nodded silently, amused by her naïveté, she suddenly let out a strange squeal and covered her mouth.
“What’s wrong now?” I asked silently.
“S-Sorry! I just... I have this thing where I laugh when I see something cute!”
“I get it,” Sabrina chimed in.
“R-Really?”
“....”
I watched Sabrina and Answer find an inexplicable point of connection, utterly baffled by what they found so relatable. Whatever it was, they seemed content to share it.
Eventually, I nudged Sabrina’s shoulder, signaling for her to ask why Answer had been so down earlier.
“....”
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“Oh, uh... What’s it been like since you arrived in Nighthaven?”
“M-Me? Well...”
As the conversation unfolded, it became clear that Answer had struggled to find work since moving to the city.
While Nighthaven was accepting of non-human beings, certain species—like ogres who didn’t grasp the concept of money or vampires with violent tendencies—were hard to integrate. Demons, infamous for deceptive contracts, were particularly distrusted.
“I just wanted to cheer myself up, so I came here for dessert...” Answer said, her voice trailing off.
“But then you fell,” Sabrina finished for her, sighing sympathetically.
Answer’s misfortune was almost comical: spending a fortune on dessert to lift her spirits, only to trip and lose it all.
And yet, despite the tears welling in her eyes, she smiled faintly.
“Well, I didn’t get to eat it, but... I feel better now. Thank you.”
“Oh, uh... It was Yuria’s idea to help, so I don’t think I deserve thanks,” Sabrina said modestly.
“Hehe, even so, thank you, Sabrina. And you too, Yuria.”
Answer’s gratitude was sincere, her demeanor entirely un-demon-like.
As I shrugged it off, an employee approached the table and placed a plate down in front of her.
“This Mont Blanc is on the house,” they said.
Answer stared at the plate in disbelief, her eyes wide.
“This... is for me?”
“....”
I slid the plate closer to her. Of course, it was hers. Why wouldn’t it be?
She hesitated before taking a bite, tears welling up once more.
“I’m sorry... It’s just... No one’s ever been this kind to me before...”
“Oh, um... I see...” Sabrina murmured, clearly flustered by the emotional display.
Meanwhile, I simply went back to enjoying my own cake, content that the awkwardness had finally been resolved.