[Words: 2128]

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Chapter 1:

Outside Perspective

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Elizabeth Liones was a precocious child.

It had become strikingly apparent when other babies would still be learning to walk. Where a baby's first words might have been monosyllables like no or a call for a parent, for Elizabeth, it had been a name—nay, a nickname.

Melly.

Not that it was any real surprise to those who were closest to the youngest Princess. If anything, it was expected in one way or another.

The owner of the nickname, Meliodas, was not a member of the immediate family. Not even family at all. But he had been a persistent presence in her life, despite how short it had been, all the same.

Her father, having sworn an oath to the man for her happiness and health the day she was gifted to him, is, while startled in the moment, overcome with shock from the suddenness despite how Elizabeth's Governess and maids had tittered softly about her progress, is not at all surprised when the nickname escapes his youngest daughter's mouth.

The man in question was also wholly unsurprised, and if anything he was most amused.

This was only the beginning.

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Meliodas wasn't stupid, despite how often he could come off as it because of his antics (and admittedly, he liked to do stupid stuff sometimes, even if it was just to get someone to misinterpret their opinion of him). He knew babies were criers; it was just who they were, but Elizabeth was a quiet baby, and her eyes seemed far clearer and more aware than any babies should be.

In all hundred and seven lives since their cursing, Meliodas had seen a handful of very young Elizabeths. In those handful, no matter how he tried to stay away, Meliodas always ended up becoming a staple in her childhood. But never before had Elizabeth been such a strange baby.

Her eyes were far too focused for one her age. The way her brows furrowed at seemingly nothing but, had it been on someone older, might signify deeper thinking. She was so much more awake of the world around her than she should be.

Like the fact when she got her tiny hands on books and started to read—not started learning to read.

There were so many signs to prove his Elizabeth just wasn't a normal baby and it made him so damn curious because he had no idea what was going on and didn't have any idea where to start; he wanted to know if everything he was seeing was true and not just something he's been imagining but if he was, then it was a shared hallucination.

However, he had never seen anything like this in his three thousand plus years of life. Did his Elizabeth… have some sort of recognition? It was wishful thinking really, he knew that, and the thought made his chest hurt with that stupid feeling called hope.

"Melly?" The child that had been the subject of his thoughts tugged at his red shirt and his gaze dropped down to her. Silver-white brows furrowed with confusion and curiosity.

This incarnation was the closest Elizabeth had ever looked to her former Goddess self.

It had another certain type of possible hope bubbling in his chest, but he did his best to squish that too.

"Beth?" He returned, and she grinned.

"Melly!" she chirped.

Meliodas chuckled. She was quite adorable despite the things he had noticed. If anything, the oddities revealed an intelligence that others her age had yet to develop and wouldn't for a while. She seemed to have an advanced vocabulary, yes it was true she couldn't say most words properly yet, but it didn't stop her from trying to say the damn words.

He also found it just a bit funny because she didn't seem to realise she used them when she did, acting seemingly older then she was from the use of them.

Most curious.

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He and his teammates, his… could he call them his friends? He liked to think so, even only knowing them for such a short time, they had bonded on their similarities and differences. They were a rag-tag bunch of criminals that had been employed by the king after all.

Either way, he and his friends had finally returned from a month-long mission of tracking down a group of former Holy Knights that had gone rogue and now that had been sorted, Meliodas was eager to see his Elizabeth.

It wasn't any secret that Elizabeth was the most taken by him, as funny as it was to witness the King cry over the 'betrayal' of his youngest daughter. It hadn't surprised him, however.

They passed the gate to enter the knights' training ground, having to report to the Grand Master Zaratras upon their return. However, before they could get far—

"Melly!"

Meliodas abruptly stopped at Elizabeth's voice. Ban yelped as he nearly crashed into him.

"What the fuck, Captain?" Ban questioned as the others all stopped to glance at their leader.

"Melly!"

He twisted his head around to find the owner of the voice. From an archway to his right, out came a running Elizabeth, a wide smile gracing her lips in excitement.

The blond returned the smile. "Beth."

She squealed and rushed faster towards him then—

she tripped.

For a moment nothing happened, silence buzzed in his ears before he regained control of his body and rushed forward to the fallen Princess. "Elizabeth!"

She lifted her head, blinking with a startled expression but no tears. He knelt before her, offering a hand which she took to pull herself up.

"Are you alright?" He asked but all Elizabeth did was give him a sheepish expression.

"You din't see tat."

Meliodas' lips curled upwards. "Oh? You mean the fact that you tripped?"

Elizabeth glared, or rather perhaps the more appropriate word would be she pouted. Meliodas chuckled and she glared more, whacking his arm. "Hush! Shhhh!"

"Okay, okay!" Meliodas conceded, raising both hands in surrender. Elizabeth grinned in success.

The awing of Diana brought Meliodas back to the present, glancing over his shoulder to see his friends' curious expressions.

"Who's this little one, Captain?" Diana questioned as she crouched.

Elizabeth's eyes widened in awe and her embarrassment was long forgotten, she moved forward. "Hello! You very bootiful!"

Diana giggled, twirling a piece of her hair. "Thank you, sweetie, and you're adorable!"

Meliodas watched with a soft expression as Beth looked over them all with curiosity.

"So what's your name?" Ban questioned, leaning forward to peer down at her curiously.

"E-liz-a-beth!" she chirped, grinning.

"Oh?" Merlin smiled, setting her feet firmly on the ground. Her amber eyes twinkled knowingly. "You wouldn't happen to be the third Princess Elizabeth by any chance, would you?"

Elizabeth laughed, nodding her head. "T'at's me!"

"Perhaps some introductions are needed, then," Merlin continued. "I'm Merlin." She pointed to Ban. "The lanky one over here is Ban. The short and chubby one is King. The one carrying the axe is Escanor and the large armoured one is Gowther. And of course, you already know Diane's name."

"It's nice ta meet you all!" She grinned.

Meliodas watched on, quite fondly, as Elizabeth animatedly chatted with them excitedly. She didn't get to meet many new people, often kept within a certain wing of the palace for her safety because it could be a crowded place during the day.

"So how old are you, sweetie?" Diane asked.

"T'ree!" Beth puffed her chest out proudly.

"Big girl then?" Ban teased, smirking.

She pouted up at him.

"Young miss." Meliodas recognised the voice belonging to Elizabeth's governess, Alice. He turned to see as the woman quickly made her way over, a look of relief on her features. "What have I told you about wondering off?

Elizabeth turned to her as well with a sheepish expression. "But ah saw Melly!"

Her reasoning made him smirk, but Alice placed her hands on her hips. A stern expression on her face. "That may be the case, but you are young, and could accidentally get yourself lost and hurt. You understand?"

Elizabeth pouted but nodded. "I concede."

There she goes again, Meliodas mused, using words she shouldn't know.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that both Merlin and Escanor noticed the use of 'concede' instead of 'understand'.

"But now ah'm here, stay with Melly?" she questioned, moving closer to him.

He chuckled in response, reaching out to pat her head. She batted at his hand. "I've got something I need to do, Beth, but I'll come find you once I finish. Is that okay?"

Her pout grew but nodded. "Ah understand!"

She reached for Alice's outstretched hand and the woman began leading her away. Elizabeth, of course, glanced back at them and waved enthusiastically—to his unending amusement.

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The report to Zaratras took a lot longer than he'd expected. So, by the time he was making his way through the hallways, after having made a pit stop at his house to change out of his armour, it had been over two hours.

Two hours too long in his opinion.

But he shook those thoughts off because what had happened, had happened and he can't change the past—no matter how much he wished he could.

He hummed and rid himself of those thoughts—it wouldn't lead anywhere good after all.

As he reached Elizabeth's door, Meliodas knocked. "Beth~?"

He heard a squeal, and it brought a smile to his face. He opened the door and peered inside to see Beth sitting by her sketchbook, her pencils all scattered about as she abandoned them to come rushing up to him.

Alice, folding clothes, chuckled.

He returned the hug, lifting her up and setting Beth on his hip. Beth wrapped her arms around his neck. "You gone for too long! F'ought you weren't comin'!"

"Sorry, Beth," Meliodas hummed and tapped her on the nose, she giggled in response. "There was more work than I thought. But I thought of nothing but you during my time away."

She giggled again and nuzzled into his neck. Had she been a cat, Meliodas was sure she would be purring. Beth was quite the snuggler, it was adorable. "How about we go for a walk? I've missed our walks."

She squealed again and bounced in his grip. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Meliodas laughed heartily as he set her down. She latched onto his hand as they left her room. It consisted of Beth telling him everything she'd done while he was away.

"—Alice was really impressed by my re'ding!" She jumped up and down. "Said I could s'art a big book!"

"You enjoy reading then?" Meliodas asked, smiling.

"Uh, huh!" She nodded enthusiastically. "Reading is one of mah favourite things! After drawing dat is!"

"Oh?" Meliodas raised his brows. "May I see some of these drawings later?"

Her cheeks flushed. "I dunno if they any good, but Alice says if I work hard, I could be 'mazing!"

"I'm sure they're beautiful if you drew them, Beth," He complimented, watching her cheeks darken in colour further. She stared up at him with this adoring gaze and it hurt Meliodas inside because there was this innocence. An innocence that she deserved to keep for her entire life without having to keep getting caught in the web they had tangled themselves into.

"Melly?" Meliodas blinked and realised he'd allowed his mask to slip. Beth peered up at him in concern. "Hurt?" She reached forward, seemingly searching for injuries. "Melly in pain?"

He bit back to whine that threatened to escape at her concern. He shook his head. "I'm not hurt, Beth… just, something came to mind, yeah?"

Beth frowned—like she didn't believe him, her eyes clearly portraying she knew better and for a moment Meliodas felt breathless. "It's okay, Melly." She stared him in the eye. "You hurt inside? Put on smile for me? It okay not too."

She was going to be a death of him—Meliodas was sure of it. Whether through her adorableness, or some other way. He just knew it deep in his bones and yet, he couldn't bring himself to care, no matter the consequences of that.

Meliodas swallowed thickly and knelt, brushing her fringe from her eyes. "Thank you for your words, Beth, but you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

Beth continued to peer at him, brows furrowing, like she wanted to argue but instead, just threw herself at him. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. She buried her face into his shoulder, and he sighed heavily, lifting her as he stood.