Perspective: Sylaphine - Queen of Fairies
Date: February 5, 2018
Time: Morning
Location: Aeralune, The Cloud Terrace
The white light between our hands died out.
Wait. I'm still holding her hand.
Ewww. Why is her palm so cold? Does this old prune even have blood?
I pulled my hand back and wiped it on my emerald skirt. Asora snatched hers back at the exact same second, grabbed her empty teacup, and tried to take a sip of air just to look busy.
Smooth, Asora. Real smooth. Nobody noticed you drinking oxygen.
...Okay, focus, Syla. 330,000,000 dead people. 2 dead goddesses. 1 big fat lie.
My crown blossoms flashed yellow, then white, then yellow again. Even my flowers had no idea how to feel about what we just watched.
"Wait a minute," I said. "Your elves seriously wrote down that he loved Celestara?"
"That's what the Hour-Books say," Asora said, setting her empty cup down. "Our scouts on the ridge heard him tell Lillieth he chose Celestara's light. We taught that for 12,000 years."
"Hahaha! Oh, that's rich."
"What's funny?"
"My fairies were hiding in the willow trees in Evensong Garden!" I kicked the table leg with my slipper. "They heard him tell Celestara he was sick of her light and wanted Lillieth!"
Asora blinked. Her mouth opened slightly, then shut.
Ooh, look at her face. 12,000 years of superior elven history, straight down the toilet.
"He played both of our ancestors," Asora muttered, rubbing her forehead.
"Because our ancestors were idiots!" I threw my hands up. "Your scouts were gullible, and my fairies were nosy little bugs! Neither of our races had half a brain back then. We didn't see what happened inside those cells at the end. We just grabbed whatever gossip fell off the garden wall and turned it into holy scripture!"
"We didn't have the full picture," she admitted, resting her elbows on the table. "Nobody did."
"Forget the breakup for a second. Look at the guy himself." I held up a finger. "12,000 years ago, magic was basically a baby. Half the kingdoms barely knew how to melt iron, and the best spellbooks were just beginner primers."
"Basic stuff," Asora agreed. "Simple circles. Nothing complicated."
"Right! And this 'Fool' walks in acting like he wrote the textbook!" My wings twitched behind my ears. "He slips letters through 14 cosmic barriers without breaking a sweat. And he writes to them every single month for 100 years! Who does that?! Do you know how psychotic you have to be to write pen-pal letters for a whole century?!"
"Someone who really wanted something from them," Asora said. "And did you notice his face?"
"What face?! It was a smudge!"
"Mine too."
Wait. Hers too?
I thought my Leaf-Records were just water-damaged!
"When my fairies looked at him, they saw 6 different races mashed together," I said. "What did your elves see?"
"White fog." Asora tapped her saucer. "Our archives aren't broken, Syla. He did that on purpose."
"He blocked their memories 12,000 years ago?!"
"No, he blocked our spies while they were watching him," she said, leaning in. "Anyone hiding in the bushes only saw a blur. The only people allowed to see his real face were the ones he wanted to see it."
A shiver went right down my back.
Okay, creepy. Really creepy.
He knew my fairies were in the trees the whole time. He let them eavesdrop so they'd run home and start the war for him.
"What about the rest of Nemesis's kids?" I asked, wrapping 2 wings around my shoulders. "Nemesis had 14 children scattered across the world."
"And our archives in Celestine only show 2," Asora said, her voice dropping. "Celestara and Lillieth."
"And the Fool walked both of them straight to the gallows."
"Both of them," she repeated.
"What if he didn't stop here? What if he went across the other continents and got all 14 of them killed?"
All 14?
Why would a servant hunt down every single demigod on earth?
"And then 3,000 years later, Nemesis vanishes into thin air," I said slowly. "And the Fool disappears right with him."
"No body. No record. And nobody knows what deal they made." Asora shook her head. "All we got left was the fake story Nemesis forced the demon, dwarf, and dragon scholars to write."
"Ugh, the Arion story." I rolled my eyes so hard my neck popped. "Don't even remind me. Half the humans in Celestine still pray to Celestara today thinking she's alive in the sky! They don't even know she got hanged! And the ones who do know think some random lamp-boy named Arion cheated on her!"
"Nemesis couldn't admit his own errand boy outsmarted him," Asora scoffed.
"So he pinned the whole scandal on Arion, erased the Fool from every book, and killed Arion anyway."
Typical man. Gets outplayed, throws a tantrum, and rewrites the history books.
Speaking of men...
I thought about the blue sweater. Then the flower crown. Then that shameless bastard kissing Celestara in her cell and walking straight outside to make out with Lillieth on the glass.
My nose wrinkled. My crown blossoms flared a bright, disgusted yellow.
"Okay, pause," I said, slapping the table.
"Forget Nemesis. Can we talk about what a massive pervert the Fool was?!"
Asora blinked. "...What?"
"He's a filthy two-timer!" I pointed at the table where the memory blossom sat. "A walking red flag! Did you hear him?! 'I'm yours, Celestara, I was never hers.' And 10 minutes later he's telling Lillieth, 'Her light gives me a headache, I'm yours, Lilli'!"
"He was trying to stop them from fighting—"
"By kissing both of them on the mouth?!" I leaned across the table. "Twice! Lillieth bit his lip, Asora! You don't let a girl bite your lip for 'strategy'! And he didn't even have any skills! He couldn't fight, he complained about his back, and he made a literal goddess carry him on a box of oats!"
Asora's prim little mouth twitched. "Okay, the oats box was ridiculous."
"Right?! How did the 2 strongest goddesses in history fall for a lazy bum who draws stick figures?!"
"They were locked in gardens for 1,500 years," Asora said, resting her cheek on her palm.
"Their standards were in hell. If a man handed me a bruised apple out of his pocket and told me to haul grain, I'd blast him off the terrace."
"I'd feed him to my insects!" I giggled, kicking my feet under the chair.
"Imagine falling for a guy who juggles 2 girls at once with the exact same sad smile. Total trash."
"Absolute garbage," Asora agreed, picking up a frosted biscuit.
"Any woman with half a brain would see right through a man like that."
"Seriously! Couldn't be us!" I reached over and snatched a biscuit too.
"Wait."
I stopped chewing.
Asora's biscuit stopped an inch from her lips.
Her pale blue eyes slid over to mine. A bright pink flush crept up her neck, right through all that white face powder.
...Uh oh.
Nobody say the name. Do NOT say the name.
"...Revenhart doesn't count," Asora said.
"Obviously he doesn't count!" I blurted out, my wings popping wide open.
"That was totally different!"
"He was saving humanity," she said fast, sitting up super straight.
"He had millions of innocent lives on his shoulders. He was busyyy."
"So busy!" I nodded hard.
"Goal-driven! Selfless! Everything he did was for the greater good! The Fool was just messing around for selfish reasons nobody even knows!"
"And Revenhart actually had skills," Asora added, tapping the table like she was proving a math problem.
"Science. Satellites. Medicine. The Fool just had a big mouth."
"Plus Revenhart was scary when he got mad!" I stuffed the rest of the biscuit in my mouth.
"The Fool isn't a threat to anybody. Even if Revenhart was a little bad, he was still 1,000 times better than that guy."
"Way better."
"Not even close."
"Ehehehe," Asora giggled, high and squeaky.
"Ahahaha!" I laughed back, way too loud.
We stared at our teacups for 5 seconds in dead silence.
We are such pathetic hypocrites.
Shut up, Syla. Kizo was handsome. It's okay when he does it.
"Anyway!" I coughed into my fist. "Back to the real problem!"
"Right." Asora cleared her throat and smoothed her skirt twice.
"Elfina Lunaris."
The funny mood died instantly.
"Elfie was Celestara reincarnated," Asora said quietly.
"Which means the Fool's trick on the gallows worked. Dying as a mortal let her soul slip back in 12,000 years later."
My stomach twisted.
2 girls died that week.
Not 1.
"Asora," I said, my voice dropping low. "Lillieth burned in the sun 7 days after Celestara. Same mortal body. Same trick."
Asora went still. Her fingers tightened on her saucer.
"I fought a girl not long ago," I told her. "She hangs around Kaiser Everhart. White hair, red eyes, nasty attitude. Calls herself the Queen of Curses."
"...Celia."
"You know her too?!"
Seriously, does Asora stalk everybody in the continent?!
"She's currently in Sylvaris doing some business with demons." Asora said, her face turning paler than her hair.
"We thought the Queen of Curses title just jumped to random girls every few centuries..."
"It didn't jump," I said. "That's Lillieth."
Neither of us breathed for a second.
"Celestara and Lillieth were equal in power," Asora whispered.
"Opposite halves of the same scale. When Elfina woke up as Celestara in 2013, all 6 of our races had to surrender in a week."
"And we only killed Elfie because we jumped her during her 3-month awakening window while she was nerfed," I said, my hands curling into fists in my lap.
"What happens if Celia does the same awakening ritual? If she wakes up as Lillieth..."
"She won't ask for a surrender," Asora said flatly.
"Lillieth hated elves and fairies. She'll burn both our kingdoms to the ground."
I looked across the crystal table at her.
I really don't like Asora.
She's bossy, she wears too much powder, and looking at her reminds me of the worst day of my life.
But I like dying even less.
"Elfina is dead," I said. "Celia is still walking around."
"Then let's work together," Asora said. "For real this time, Syla. An alliance between the Elves and the Fairies. We put the past aside until this is over."
"Fine by me." I crossed my legs and leaned back.
"What am I getting out of it? Because my fairies aren't working for free."
"We split the jobs by what we're good at," she said. "What do you offer?"
"Shelter and escape routes." I held up 1 finger. "My Labyrinths belong to Myriacron. Outsiders can't find the doors, and even a god gets lost in the living wood without my key. If things go bad in Aeralune, I open the Silverwood gates and hide your elves underground."
Asora blinked, actually looking impressed for once. "Alright. In return, my elves handle tracking and intelligence across Celestine. You never leave your garden, Syla. My people run the churches, the trade roads, and the watchtowers. If Celia moves or curse mana spikes anywhere on the continent, we'll know in an hour."
"I'll put my illusions over your scouts so her shadow demons don't spot them," I added. "And my roots can smell curse rot in the dirt way faster than your priests can."
"And I'll send light cores from the palace to keep her curses from eating through your labyrinth walls," Asora said.
"Deal?"
"Deal."
Look at us being mature adults. Kizo would pass out from shock.
Then Asora frowned, staring down at the dead white flower in the middle of the table.
"There's still 1 thing missing," she said softly.
"The Eclipse girl."
"She wasn't in the memory," Asora said. "We just watched 3,000 years of secret history. Nemesis, the sisters, the Fool, Arion. That thing with the eclipse eyes wasn't there."
My wings pulled in tight against my spine.
October 22. Black sky. 342,100 of my fairies dead in 45 minutes.
"I fought her in my Red Elm courtyard that day," Asora said, her voice tight. "Actually—not 'her.' When I looked at that thing up close, it didn't even have a gender. Just black robes and those awful eclipse eyes."
"It walked right through 6 of my best illusions," I muttered, digging my nails into my skirt.
"Didn't even slow down."
"Because it doesn't fight with raw power," Asora said. Her hand was shaking again, so she pressed it flat against the table. "I threw calamity-level elvian magic at it, Syla. Spells strong enough to wipe a mountain off the map. And it didn't block me with a bigger spell. It shut my magic off using beginner spells."
"...Beginner spells?"
"Basic ones," she said, sounding genuinely creeped out. "Every magic circle has a tiny flaw in the math. That thing looked at my spell, found the weak spot in half a second, and poked it with a weak little counter. Every single move I made, it already knew how to break it."
Wait a second.
That sounds painfully familiar.
"That's what happened in my Labyrinth!" I sat forward. "When I ripped Kaiser's soul out, that thing took over his body and built the Ninth Depth! It used pure theory to turn off my nature magic! What is it, some kind of parasite trying to protect its host?"
"A parasite dies when the host dies," Asora countered, shaking her head.
"Think about 2013, Syla. On October 22, the Specter was already a corpse. Christiana shot him through the heart a week earlier and crushed his soul. That's the whole reason Elfina went crazy."
My blood went cold.
Hold on.
If the host was already dead and buried...
"It stayed alive after he died," I whispered. "It attacked us, the dragons, and you at the exact same time just to help Elfina bring its host back to life."
"And think about how Elfina even knew what to do," Asora said, leaning in until her blue eyes filled my vision.
"Elfina was a teenage schoolgirl. How did a human kid know that killing 4,382,911 people—1 for every single day since Celestara was hanged 12,000 years ago—would wake up her godhood?"
She couldn't.
Even I didn't know that number until Asora told me 20 minutes ago!
"The Eclipse thing told her," I breathed.
"It had to," Asora said, her voice dropping to a chill whisper.
"It knows Celestara's secret gallows count from 12,000 years ago. It knows how Revenhart talked and acted 7,000 years ago, even after we burned every book with his name in it. And it knows the flaw in every spell on earth."
What the hell is living inside that boy?
It's not a ghost. It's not a curse.
It knows literally everything.
Outside the dome, the morning sun climbed over the silver roofs, shining right onto our table.
I wrapped all 4 wings around myself. I was freezing.
"So we have Celia walking around ready to turn into Lillieth," I muttered,
"and an all-knowing monster living inside Kaiser Everhart."
"Yes," Asora said, standing up from her chair.
"Which is why we don't have time to fight each other anymore."
I stood up too, brushing a daisy petal off my lap.
Asora reached across the table and held out her hand.
"Allies?" she asked.
I stared at her hand, then smirked up at her powdered face.
"Allies," I said, grabbing her hand and shaking it.
"That means we actually have to trust each other now, right?"
Asora gave me a dry little look.
"Don't push your luck."
"Hey, I'm super trustworthy!" I grinned, swinging her hand once before letting go.
"Let's just try not to stab each other in the back like we did in the old days, yeah?"
"Bring my 60 guards back from the beach first, Syla."
"Ugh, fine! You're no fun at all!!"
*
> Perspective: Eve
> Date: February 5, 2018 — 10:42 PM
> Location: Varethiel Manor Estate — 3rd Floor Private Archive
O-Okay, Eve, deep breath, in and out, in and out! You are officially a bad girl sneaking around now!
I crouched behind Elder Master Naelor's gigantic mahogany desk, hugging my knees to my maid apron while holding a tiny silver starlight bead between 2 trembling fingers so only the paper right in front of my nose lit up.
Wait—i-is it actually breaking and entering if I technically work here?! Well... I mean, I clocked out of my maid shift 4 hours ago, waved goodbye to the guards at the front gate, and then snuck back through the rosebushes and hopped over the back garden wall after dark, so... y-yeah, okay, I am totally a criminal right now!
Eek!
Head Maid Elise literally yelled at us yesterday that anyone who even breathes on the 3rd-floor archive door handle gets thrown straight into the city dungeon!
Actually, speaking of this morning—why did she make us scrub the entire 1st-floor reception hall 3 times in a row anyway?! My poor wrists are still sore! The older maids in the laundry room were gossiping that Master Naelor wanted the whole manor sparkling clean so he could relax tonight, because apparently tomorrow morning he's taking a carriage all the way to the Demon Continent border for some big, secret meeting about their new food changes!
Ooh, and the kitchen girls also said the Demon Continent has been having super scary political issues lately—something so huge that all of their royal heirs and noble children had to drop whatever business they were doing abroad and rush straight back home!
Not that demon politics really matter to me right now, buuut still! Why would an Elven grain merchant suddenly care about feeding the Demon Continent?!
And wait a second—why was that big scary runic lock on Naelor's door so easy to open anyway?! I was shaking like a leaf, and then I just poked 2 of my cute little hairpins into the keyhole, wiggled my wrist on the 3rd click, and—pop!—the whole iron latch swung open without a single peep! Like, hello?!
Since when do I know how to pick high-tier Elven security wards in 8 seconds?! Did I accidentally read a thief book in my sleep or something?! W-Whatever, don't question a miracle when you're trying not to get arrested, Eve!
I blew a stray lock of hair out of my eyes and flipped open the giant leather accounting ledger sitting on top of Naelor's desk.
Okay, let's see what kind of mean, shady business this grumpy old grandpa has with my Kai! Did he trick him?! Is he blackmailing him?! Because if this wrinkly old radish is bullying Kai, I swear I'll—I'll put salt in his morning tea every single day for a year!
My eyes dropped to the 1st stamped contract page.
Then I squinted at the neat little botanical drawings and weird science tables clipped underneath it.
...Eh?
I blinked twice, pressing my nose right up against the parchment.
W-Wait a minute. Hold on, hold on, what am I looking at here?
I flipped the page. Then another page. Then 3 more pages!
Iron Stalk wheat... Eternal Tide rice... Stone Root potatoes? Plus barley, rye, oats, turnips, carrots, cabbage, lentils, beans, and chickpeas?!
Why does this look like a grocery list for a giant?!
My fingertips brushed over the tiny, super neat handwriting in the margins.
Wait... I know those little loops on the letters! That's Kai's handwriting!
H-Huh?! Wait a second—Kai didn't just buy these seeds?! He MADE them?!
No way! No way, no way, no way!!
Look at all these crazy science words! He turned off the winter sleep-thingy inside the potato roots, rewrote the protein markers, and changed how the wheat breathes sunlight so it holds 40% more water and grows twice as fast in dead gravel?!
I sat right down on the carpet, my jaw dropping open in the dark.
U-Um, excuse me?! Do you know how many university degrees a person would need just to write 1 single page of this notebook?!
You'd need a master-level degree in cellular genetics, a doctorate in Elven plant alchemy, a master's in Dwarven dirt science, AND a grandmaster degree in continental merchant math just to write those farm tables at the back! Old professors with white beards spend 80 years in the Royal Academy just trying to pass 1 of those classes! How in the world did 1 boy write all 12 seed formulas by himself without a single messy smudge?!
My heart started going thump-thump-thump against my ribs as I scrambled to flip to the money pages at the back of the folder.
O-Okay, wait! If Kai actually invented magical super-seeds that never rot, the Varethiel family must be paying him mountains and mountains of gold, right?! Let's see, let's see—
I traced my finger down the big revenue numbers.
2.5 million gold coins a year in Sylvaris alone... a 30% creator share is 1.5 million gold coins every year... and across all 15 Celestine regions, his cut is... 45 MILLION GOLD COINS A YEAR?!
I nearly choked on my own spit.
45 million?! You could buy a whole castle made of cake with 45 million gold coins!
Then my eyes dropped to the big red wax stamp at the bottom of the page.
Waived.
He waived 99% of his money. And out of the tiny 1% left over, he only asked for 1 single month.
1,250 gold coins.
I froze completely still on the rug, rubbing my eyes with both fists and reading that tiny number 3 times in a row.
...H-Huh? He gave away 45 million gold coins a year... for 1,250 coins?! Why?! Did he forget how to count after doing all that plant math?!
My hands started shaking as I slid the next sheet over—titled The 7 Mandatory Demands.
Demand 1: 10% of all harvested grain has to be given away for free to homeless and starving families.
Demand 2: 5% of all new farm and mill jobs must hire poor, unemployed people from the slums.
Demand 3: 15% of profits must build public roads, clean water wells, and free schools.
Demand 4: 0 children under 16 in any Varethiel district are allowed to go to bed hungry. Free hot meals every single day.
Demand 5: Any worker who sees a begging child on the street has to feed them and give them warm clothes right away.
Demand 6: Open public accounting books every month—and if the family cheats by even 1 copper coin, a secret spell inside the seeds makes every crop on the continent turn dead after 1 harvest.
Demand 7: Fire Jonathan Varethiel immediately for kicking a starving little demon kid in the ribs.
All the silly excitement in my chest vanished at once, and my throat went super tight.
...Why?
I stared down at the black ink, my eyes stinging with hot tears as I squeezed the front of my maid apron over my heart.
W-Why would you do something like this, Kai?
With 45 million gold coins, you could have lived in a warm, sunny palace for the rest of your life! You could have slept on the fluffiest feather beds, hired 100 royal chefs to make you dinner, and never gotten a single bruise on your hands ever again!
The last time I saw you, you looked so thin! You barely eat a few bites a day, you barely sleep 3 hours a night, you wear the same plain clothes until they fray, and you never, ever take care of yourself! You walk around acting like your own life doesn't even matter!
So why?! Why do you care so much about strangers and starving kids who don't even know your name that you'd give up everything just to keep them warm?!
Clack.
A quiet leather boot heel tapped against the marble stairs way down at the end of the 2nd-floor hallway.
I gasped softly, my head snapping toward the heavy oak door before the echo even finished.
E-Eek! Who is that?! Wait—why can I hear footsteps from 40 paces down the hall?!
Ever since I got that weird, dizzy headache while scrubbing the stairs this morning, my ears have been acting super weird! I can literally hear the bottom of Master Naelor's silk robe swishing against the hallway rug!
Wait—that's Master Naelor! Why is he coming up to his archive at 10:45 at night?!
Didn't the maids say he was supposed to be resting before his big trip to the Demon Continent tomorrow?!
Before I could even freak out, my hands started moving all by themselves—closing the heavy leather book, lining the corners up with the exact little square of dust on the mahogany desk, and tucking my starlight bead away.
The brass doorknob jiggled as Naelor unlocked the outside wards.
I tiptoed backward into the tight little gap between the big world globe and the velvet window curtains, lifting my right pointer finger in the dark.
Shh, Eve, don't breathe, don't let your heart go thump-thump!
My wrist flicked twice in the dark—almost like my fingers had done this 10,000 times before—drawing a glowing silver Celestial Sigil of a 6-pointed star in the air and hooking the symbol λ right into the middle.
1st Form: Starlight Refraction.
A super thin veil of bent starlight wrapped around my maid dress, curving the light in the corner right around my body so anyone looking at me would only see empty velvet curtains.
Creak.
The heavy oak door swung open.
Elder Master Naelor walked in holding a brass oil lamp, his bushy silver eyebrows pulled together. Halfway to his desk, he stopped dead in his boots.
"Hmm?" Naelor grumbled, squinting right toward my corner.
A wave of green detection mana shot out from under his shoes, washing across the carpet, the bookshelves, and the curtains.
A-Wah! A Search skill!
I clapped both hands over my mouth behind the veil, keeping my Clarity completely flat and still as glass while my λ Accord bent the green mana wave right around my shoes without making a single ripple.
The green light washed past my ankles and melted into the wall.
Naelor frowned at the closed window latch, then let out a tired sigh.
"Must be the draft from the east gallery," he mumbled to himself.
He walked over to the mahogany desk, set his lamp down, pulled out his big leather chair, and opened the exact ledger I had just been reading.
While he was busy adjusting his reading glasses and checking the top row of numbers for his trip tomorrow, I sidestepped along the wall like a little ghost.
Okay, slide the brass window lock by 1 tiny millimeter... lift the glass right when the wind blows outside so it doesn't squeak...
I wiggled backward out the 3rd-floor window, caught the freezing stone rain-gutter with my fingertips, and eased the glass shut right as Naelor turned a page inside.
Drop down to the 2nd-floor balcony railing—oof, cold iron!—grab the ivy vines, hop onto the carriage roof, and jump right over the garden wall!
Plip.
My shoes landed on the mossy cobblestones outside the manor walls without a single sound, leaving the 4 big estate guards standing around their lantern 20 yards behind me without a clue.
"Phew...!" I breathed out a giant cloud of white fog into the freezing night air, hugging my knitted shawl tight around my shoulders as I hurried down the dark country road toward the city gates.
Aw, mannn, my heart is beating so fast! And I had to run away before I could even peek into that 2nd file cabinet in the back!
If Master Naelor is going all the way to the Demon Continent tomorrow for that big food meeting while all the demon heirs are being called home, how much of that did Kai plan?! Why did he make Naelor sign a secret oath on top of the seed contract?!
O-Okay! Tomorrow while Naelor is away on his trip—and over the next few days during my maid shifts—I'm gonna sneak back into that archive and read every single folder until I figure out what Kai is up to!
I looked up at the snowy, dark rooftops of Sylvaris glowing under the moon, and my boots slowed down to a tiny shuffle.
Wait a second... it's almost 11:00 at night.
Did Kaiser even eat dinner tonight?
I stopped right in the middle of the road, pouting as I tapped my mittens together.
What if he forgot to eat again?! What if he's sitting all by himself in a freezing cold room right now, staring at a wall with an empty tummy after giving away 45 million gold coins?!
Ooh, maybe I should go check up on him right now! Just a tiny little peek!
W-Wait—no, no, no! Wouldn't he hate it if I randomly popped up at his bedroom window at 11:00 at night?! He looked me right in the eyes and told me to stay away from him! If I bother him, he might get mad at me for real!
B-But what if I use my Celestial refraction spell to turn super-duper invisible, tiptoe into his room so he doesn't notice me, leave a warm basket of honey bread and soup on his desk, and tiptoe right back out?!
Aaaah, no, are you a total dummy, Eve?!
That's Kai you're talking about! He's way too smart! He'll hear my tummy rumbling or my shoes squeaking from 3 streets away and catch me in 2 seconds flat! And then he'll look down at me with those super cold, dark eyes and say, "What are you doing here, Eve?" and I'll start stuttering and turn into a tomato and die on the spot!
I smacked both of my cheeks with my mittens.
Eve, focus! Pull yourself together! You can't just go barging into his house without a super good excuse 1st!
For now, let's just believe in him, okay? Even if he said mean things to push me away, the person who wrote Demand 4, so 0 children ever starve could never actually be a bad person! There HAS to be a secret reason he's acting like a lone wolf!
If I want to find out what happened to him while we were separated, I just need to ask the other people who were close to him at Asura Academy!
Ooh, like Lucas! Lucas was his bestest friend, right?! Or—or what about Sophia?! She was super close to Elfina, and Kaiser literally almost died saving her life!
Even though... the last time I asked Sophia about him, she looked right at me with a cold face and called him a monster...
My boots stopped dead on the frost-covered road.
The cute little pout vanished from my lips.
In the dark reflection of a frozen puddle beside my shoes, the soft pink in my eyes suddenly flickered—and bled into a sharp, glowing, bottomless blue.
Here my Kai is, starving himself to bone, bleeding in the dark, and throwing away 45 million gold coins to keep pathetic strangers alive while carrying this rotten world on his back... and that ungrateful, 2-faced little parasite had the nerve to call him a monster?
I fucking hate disgusting, filthy, worthless whores like Sophia who beg and latch onto a man when they need him to bleed for them, and then throw him away like ungrateful cumslut bitches the 2nd they're safe. Someone ought to rip that sanctimonious little tongue right out of her throat and make her choke on the dirt under his feet until she remembers who owns her pathetic breath.
...
...Eh?
...E-EH?!
The glowing blue vanished from my eyes in a heartbeat, snapping back to wide, terrified baby pink as my whole body locked up like a frozen statue.
"W-W-Wait—WHAT?!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs to the empty country road.
I clapped both mittens over my mouth so hard I almost knocked my own teeth out, my eyes bugging out of my head as a thermo-nuclear blush exploded from my collarbone all the way to the tips of my ears.
W-W-What did I just think?! What WAS that?! Who said that in my head?!
Since when do I even KNOW filthy, horrible, super-bad words like that?! I don't even say the word "butt" out loud! I have never cursed in my entire life! Why did I just talk about ripping someone's tongue out like some terrifying, psycho murder-queen?!
"Aaaah! No, no, no, bad brain! Bad Eve!" I whimpered, burying my burning-hot tomato face into both hands and shaking my head 10 times in a row while the freezing night wind blew my hair everywhere.
"Eve, focus, focus, focus! You are a sweet, innocent, polite girl! You bake cookies and sweep floors! Stop thinking scary things and go straight to bed right now!!"
Up against my scorching-hot cheeks, on the ring finger of my left hand, the silver band of the Sea of the Heart glinted under the moonlight.
Inside the split gemstone, the swirling pastel-pink half throbbed like a living heartbeat—glowing a deeper, brighter, hungrier shade of pink than it ever had before.
Right beside it, the deep cobalt-blue half didn't even twitch, sitting completely dark, flat, and motionless like a dead sea.
*
> Perspective: Lucifer
> Date: February 5, 2018 — 10:30 PM
> Location: The Demon Continent — Royal Palace of Pandemonium
A 9:00 PM meeting pushed all the way back to 11:00 PM.
Even for my insane family, tonight is a total circus.
I leaned against the black stone railing of the palace balcony, staring up at the starry sky above the capital.
Inside Father's 200-mile dome, the night sky actually looks nice and peaceful.
Right outside the glass edge of that dome, a red Blood Moon blizzard is raging.
`[HADES: Hey, look on the bright side, boss. At least you got 2 hours to chill out here instead of listening to your brothers scream at each other in the lobby.]`
Yeah, I'd rather jump off this balcony than sit in a waiting room with those idiots.
`[HADES: Hah, fair enough! Oh, heads up—your old man's Root System just tried to peek through our eyes again. I fed him a fake video loop of an empty hallway.]`
Nice work, buddy. Keep him locked out.
Out of all 13 of us, I'm the only 1 who figured out Father uses the systems he gave us like a nanny-cam inside our minds.
Every baby born to Demon Lord Malphas without his glowing blood-red eyes got killed right in the crib for taking too much of their mom's blood.
The 13 of us who made the cut got his red eyes, his black horns, 1 of the 13 Deadly Sins, and a custom piece of his system—with free parental spyware included.
I pushed off the railing and strolled down the massive black corridor toward the Sovereign wing.
Hey, HADES, catch me up on the family drama.
What have Satan and Lilith been up to since Father called everybody home?
`[HADES: Oh, you know, just the usual sibling stuff. Your oldest brother Satan—the 1st Prince of Wrath—and your oldest sister Lilith, the 1st Princess of Pride, have been starting border fights around Celestine and cutting shady backroom weapon deals with nobles in the Asura Empire.]`
Classic. They're trying to rig a world war before tomorrow's vote even starts.
`[HADES: Don't let those 2 corner you tomorrow, boss. Out of all 13 kids, Satan and Lilith are still the biggest monsters on the board.]`
Up ahead by the grand staircase, a dozen stressed-out ministers were jogging to keep up with a tall, broad-shouldered prince in dark gold robes who was reading a stack of farm reports.
My half-brother, Beelzebub. The Prince of Gluttony.
`[HADES: Man, look at the "Lord of the Harvest." Bro looks like he's running on 0 sleep and 12 cups of black coffee.]`
Give him a break, he never sleeps during a Blood Moon winter.
Outsiders think we call Beelzebub the Lord of the Harvest because it sounds cool.
They don't realize 1 demon eats 3 times more food than an elf and 2 times more than a human just so we don't starve to death.
For the last 10 years, Beelzebub is the only reason half this continent still has food on the table—which is why half the nobles will vote however he tells them to tomorrow.
Beelzebub glanced up from his papers as we passed, giving me a quick, tired nod before heading downstairs with his crew.
Thank god at least 1 of my brothers has a working brain cell.
I checked my watch as I stopped in front of the giant black doors of my father's study.
11:00 PM on the dot.
`[HADES: Alright, boss, I'm muting myself to a whisper now. Within 20 feet of your dad's Root System, if I talk too loud, he'll catch me and wipe my whole personality clean. Try not to get us grounded in there.]`
The heavy doors swung open on their own, and I walked inside, bowing my head respectfully.
"You called for me, Your Majesty."
At the back of the dark room, right in front of a 40-foot glass wall where a red Blood Moon storm raged against the outer barrier, Demon Lord Malphas sat lounging in a leather armchair with a glass of dark red wine in his hand.
His curved black horns caught the red lightning outside, and his living shadow slid across the rug on its own to shut the doors behind me.
"You're 2 hours late, Lucifer," Malphas said casually, swirling his wine.
"Though your brothers and sisters have been giving me a headache since noon, so I'll let it slide."
"My apologies, Father. Traffic at the palace gates was a nightmare."
"Save the cute excuses for the court," Malphas said, his red eyes locking onto me.
"The outer towns are starving, the succession vote is tomorrow morning, and you've been hanging out in Celestine playing merchant as an Invictus guild leader."
"..."
"Worse than that," Malphas added bluntly, leaning forward slightly, "I hear my son is letting himself get bossed around by foreign women in Sylvaris. That's embarrassing for someone carrying my blood, Lucifer."
Okay, so his spyware definitely caught a few clips of Sylvia and Celia before HADES cut the cord.
Good thing he only got the trailer and not the full movie.
"I wasn't wasting my time in Sylvaris, Father," I said smoothly,
"I stayed because I found an anomaly—the girl I'm working with is the reincarnation of Lillieth."
Malphas let out a dry laugh, setting his wine glass down on the table.
"Lillieth's reincarnation?" Malphas scoffed, looking at me with amusement.
"Use your head, boy. Lillieth was a demon in her 1st life, and her time is due. When Lillieth wakes up in this era, she'll be 1 of your 6 sisters—not some random girl you picked up in a human city."
Yep, he has 0 clue who Celia actually is.
HADES blocked enough of the feed that he thinks I'm just making up excuses for chasing girls.
"If things here are so dire, Your Majesty, we have bigger problems than my dating life," I said smoothly.
"With the Blood Moon storms hitting early, our northern food reserves won't last 3 weeks."
"The food reserves will be fine," Malphas said, waving a hand like it was nothing.
"That old Elven grain director—Naelor Varethiel—asked for an emergency meeting with me tomorrow morning. He says he's bringing special seeds that can cure our famine and grow straight through our ash dirt."
Wait—seriously?
A crop that grows in Demon Continent permafrost under a Blood Moon without dying? No way that's real!
`[HADES: Actually, boss... hold the phone. I'm running the math right now, and it IS possible. If some genius used high-level science and magic together to rewrite the seed's DNA from scratch, you really could build a crop that grows in dead dirt with 0 magic needed.]`
Who the hell in Celestine is smart enough to pull that off?
"My brothers aren't going to like that," I said, smirking a little.
"Half of them want a war tomorrow. 1 of them might just murder Naelor on the road tomorrow morning before he ever reaches your door."
Malphas's red eyes turned ice-cold.
"That won't happen," Malphas said flatly.
"Naelor answers to me, not to them. If 1 of my kids is stupid enough to touch my guest tomorrow, they'll pay for it with their life."
He leaned his chin on his knuckles, looking me dead in the eye.
"As for this girl of yours in Sylvaris—bring her to the next royal banquet. I'll see for myself if she's really Lillieth, or if you're just wasting your time chasing women again."
I put a gloved hand over my heart and gave him my best charming grin.
"What can I say, Father? I learned it from the best."
Malphas's jaw twitched, his red eyes narrowing into thin slits.
With 26 official wives in the history books—plus hundreds of side-chicks he's already forgotten—he really hates it when I bring up his track record.
Knock-knock.
Before Malphas could roast me back, the heavy doors didn't wait for permission—they flew wide open.
"Hey, Papa! I wanted to see you!"
A girl in a fancy blood-red and black lace dress strolled right into the room like she owned the place, long bright red hair swaying under her curved black horns, a dry smudge of blood still sitting on her cheek.
Oh, great. Look who decided to crash the party.
`[HADES: Yikes, it's Mariabell—the 2nd Princess of Cruelty. Keep your hand near your sword, boss. In a straight 1-on-1 brawl, your crazy sister hits way harder than we do.]`
"Mariabell," Malphas said, his voice dropping low. "I'm busy right now."
Mariabell completely ignored him, turning her glowing red eyes on me with a wide, mocking grin.
"Oh, Lucifer! Quite the shock seeing you here," she purred, propping her chin in her palm.
"I thought you were still out chasing women across the continent. What brings our little playboy back home?"
Malphas didn't even get out of his chair.
He lifted 2 fingers an inch off the leather armrest.
RIP!
A freezing wave of black aura shot across the room, grabbed Mariabell by her left ear, and ripped her ear clean off the side of her head.
Hot red blood splattered across her pale neck and dripped onto the black stone floor.
"Did you not hear me?" Malphas asked, his voice cold enough to freeze the room solid.
"I said I was busy. Wait your turn."
Man, he could have taken her head off in half a second if he felt like it.
And the creepiest part is—she's actually smiling.
Mariabell didn't scream or flinch once.
As fresh blood poured down her jaw while her missing ear slowly started growing back, her smile stretched from ear to ear. She reached up with 1 red-painted fingernail, scraped a drop of blood off the scar on her cheek, and licked it right off her finger.
"Oh, I couldn't wait, Papa!" Mariabell giggled, her cheeks flushing pink as she shivered like he just gave her a present.
"You know I'm a daddy's girl! Besides, thank you for hurting me—it always makes me feel so much stronger."
Yep. Totally unhinged.
`[HADES: Look at her red hair and eyes lighting up, boss. That's why everyone calls her "The Mad Princess." Her C.A.R.N.A.G.E. system eats pain and turns it straight into raw power. Hurting this girl is literally a buff.]`
Mariabell's ear finished snapping back into place, her glowing red eyes burning bright as she spun back toward our father.
"Listen, Papa, we don't even need that boring vote tomorrow morning!" Mariabell laughed, throwing her arms wide.
"Why waste time talking? Just let me march across the border tonight! I can slaughter all 5 of Celestine's Sword Saints all by myself! We saw the Grotesque War—their pathetic guilds almost got wiped out by a giant bug! Against Invictus and my faction, they stand 0 chance!"
"5 Sword Saints, plus the Elves, the Fairies, and the Human kingdoms," I said dryly.
"Try learning basic math before you start a world war, Mariabell."
"Oh, shut up, Lucifer!" Mariabell barked, shooting me a psychotic grin.
"You're just scared to get your pretty white coat dirty! Once I burn Celestine to the ground and take enough power to awaken as the next Demon Lord, I'll hunt down the bastards from the Eclipse myself!"
"And while we're talking about the throne, Papa," Mariabell added, tilting her chin up proudly in front of our father, "you think Lillieth will be reborn as 1 of your daughters, right? Well, look at me! Who else could Lillieth's reincarnation possibly be except me?!"
Malphas didn't even deny it. He just leaned back in his chair, staring at her glowing red eyes like he was seriously thinking about it.
Because the timing lines up.
Everyone in this family knows Lillieth was a demon in her 1st life, and she's due to wake up as a demon again any day now.
Suddenly, Mariabell stepped right up against my chest, reaching up with her bloody fingers to grab my chin as she smiled up into my face.
"Come on, Lucifer," she whispered sweetly, her red eyes locking straight into mine from 3 inches away.
"Look at you, exhausting yourself out there when you could be having so much more fun. Don't wait until tomorrow to clash with me. Surrender to my side tonight, and I'll make sure you never leave my side... my sweetest, most devoted little pet."
A heavy, warm buzz suddenly slammed into the back of my skull—pushing my mouth to open and say Yes.
`[HADES: WOAH, HOLD UP! Mind-control detected from her C.A.R.N.A.G.E. system! She's messing with your brain to make you say yes—zapping it out of your head right now!]`
Seriously? Trying to brainwash me right in front of Dad?
This girl has 0 shame.
I let out an annoyed sigh, grabbed her wrist, and shoved her back 2 steps.
"Keep your hands and your cheap mind tricks off me, Mariabell," I said flatly.
"I have 0 interest in being your pet. Instead of worrying about me, maybe you should go worry about your little sister—before you end up just as broken and traumatized as Christiana."
The smile vanished off Mariabell's face in a split second.
The air in the room went dead silent as a massive wave of boiling red blood-aura exploded out of her dress.
`[HADES: OH SHIT—BOSS, YOU REALLY PISSED HER OFF! THROWING UP BLACK CROWN DOMAIN AND ALL 4 DEFENSE SKILLS RIGHT NOW!]`
"Keep my sister's name out of your fucking mouth, Lucifer," Mariabell whispered, dozens of razor-sharp blood blades spinning around her shoulders, "or I'll paint the walls with your guts right here."
I dropped my hand onto the hilt of Nocturne, dark lightning sparking across my knuckles.
`[H.A.D.E.S. ROOT SYSTEM — ALERT TO ALL UNITS: LORD MALPHAS PATIENCE LIMIT REACHED. STAND DOWN NOW.]`
The freezing, soulless voice of Father's original Root H.A.D.E.S. System rang straight inside both of our heads, locking our bodies stiff.
Before either of us could blink, Malphas was already standing right between us, his heavy hands clamping down hard on both of our shoulders. Behind him, outside the 40-foot glass wall, red lightning tore across the howling Blood Moon storm.
"Both of you, shut your mouths," Malphas said quietly, the weight of his grip cracking the black stone floor under our boots.
"Save that garbage for tomorrow—and do not embarrass me by fighting in front of Rose Valentine."
Both Mariabell and I froze at the exact same time.
"Wait—what?" I blinked, staring at him.
"Rose Valentine? The Empress of the Asura Empire is coming here tomorrow?!"
"Why the hell is the Empress of Asura coming to our conference, Papa?!" Mariabell demanded, her eyes wide.
"We're voting to invade Celestine, not the Asura Empire! Why would she even show up?!"
"Because I invited her," Malphas replied coldly.
"Every other foreign ruler was too scared to step foot in Pandemonium and rejected my invitation—only Rose Valentine had the guts to accept. If you fools actually vote 'Yes' to invading Celestine tomorrow, I want the Empress of Asura sitting right at my table so I can make sure Asura stays out of the war and doesn't lift a finger to protect Celestine."
Holy shit. He actually got the Empress of Asura to come to the Demon Continent in person?
`[HADES: Okay, not gonna lie, boss, tomorrow's conference is gonna be absolute fireworks.]`
Mariabell let out a wild, bloodthirsty laugh, tossing her red hair back.
"Haha! Fine, let the Empress watch! Even if Asura tries to bring back the Specter, I'll rip the Specter apart with my own Carnage—"
CRACK!
Malphas's hand snapped from Mariabell's shoulder straight around her throat, lifting her off her heels as a suffocating wall of black death-aura crushed the air out of the room—1 twitch away from ripping her head clean off her neck.
"Say that name in my palace 1 more time, Mariabell," Malphas whispered, his red eyes blazing with lethal fury,
"and I won't stop at your ear. That name is forbidden here."
The Specter.
The 1 name that every single race on this planet still fears after the Asura War—the man who butchered 300 million souls with his weapons.
Mariabell choked, her boots dangling an inch off the cracked floor before she tapped his wrist and forced out a breathless, shameless smile.
"O-Okay, Papa... I got it, I won't say it..."
Malphas dropped her back onto her feet and let go of my shoulder, wiping his hand on his robe.
"Behave yourselves tomorrow in front of the Empress," Malphas ordered.
"If you want your war so badly, Mariabell, win the vote in the hall. Now get out, both of you."
Mariabell rubbed her bruised neck, instantly beaming again as she curtsied.
"Yes, Papa! I'll make you proud tomorrow!"
We walked out into the hallway together, the heavy doors slamming shut behind us.
As Mariabell spun on her heel and marched down the east wing without looking back, I let out a long breath and fixed my collar.
Yeah, she's completely nuts. Honestly, every single 1 of my brothers and sisters in this palace belongs in a mental asylum.
I don't care about their throne games—Wait no, the best-case scenario tomorrow is the vote coming back "No."
Starting a war with Celestine right now means fighting the Elves, the Fairies, the Humans, and all 5 Sword Saints at the same time. It's total suicide.
`[HADES: Tell me about it, boss. Let your crazy family argue with the Empress of Asura tomorrow. Our #1 priority is locking down an alliance with Celia—because I've checked the soul-data 100 times, and I'm telling you, Celia is the real reincarnation of Lillieth, not your sister.]`
I know, HADES. Let's survive tomorrow's circus 1st.
*
> Perspective: Mariabell
> Date: February 5, 2018 — 11:24 PM
> Location: The Demon Continent — East Royal Wing of Pandemonium
Lucifer really thinks he's the smartest guy in the room.
He actually believes tomorrow's vote can still go his way.
I clicked down the red-lit hallway of the East Wing, wiping the last smudge of dried blood off my chin with the back of my lace glove.
`[CARNAGE: Aww, sweetheart, your pulse is still racing~ Want me to turn around so we can rip Lucifer's pretty little tongue out? You know we can beat him 1-on-1 anytime!]`
Leave him for later, Carnage.
And make sure you don't use my mind-control on anyone during the meeting tomorrow morning.
If I try brainwashing the nobles while Papa is sitting right there watching us, his Root System will catch me in 2 seconds.
`[CARNAGE: Hehe, good thing we already did all the dirty work ahead of time, right, darling?]`
Damn right we did.
I didn't come home just to hope for a lucky vote.
Over the last 3 months, I already bought off half the border lords, blackmailed the court ministers, and scared the rest of the council half to death. Tomorrow's vote is already locked in—we're invading Celestine whether Lucifer cries about it or not.
"P-Princess Mariabell! Princess Mariabell!!"
A young maid came running down the hall from the bedroom wing, tripping over her skirt as she fell to her knees in front of me.
"P-Please come quick, Your Highness! It's Princess Christiana—she's having terrible seizures again!!"
My heart stopped cold.
Chris.
"Move!"
`[CARNAGE: Dumping 400% blood-boost into your legs, darling—RUN!]`
Red light burst under my boots, cracking the floor tiles as I shot down the corridor like a cannonball, clearing the entire hall in 2 seconds flat.
I threw open the heavy iron door to Christiana's windowless bedroom, ran inside, and locked the deadbolt behind me.
Inside, 100 candles were burning on every table—except an air vent near the ceiling had blown the thick blackout curtain open by 2 inches, letting a tiny strip of red Blood Moon light hit the bed.
On the mattress, my little sister Christiana was shaking violently, her small hands scratching at her own neck, tears and spit running down her chin as a full seizure tore through her body.
"N-No—n-no—s-stop, p-please—!" Christiana choked out, her red eyes rolled back in terror.
"Chris!!"
I jumped onto the bed and pulled her freezing, shaking body straight into my arms, pressing her face into my chest so she couldn't see the window curtain.
`[CARNAGE: Oh, poor sweetheart... Darling, her seizures are getting worse and her blood pressure is dropping way too low! Her L.O.N.G.I.N.U.S. system is glitching at 38% and shocking her nerves!]`
With a snap of my left wrist, I whipped a rope of red blood across the room, slamming the blackout curtains shut and gluing them to the wall so not 1 tiny spark of moonlight or starlight could get in.
"I'm here, Chris! I've got you, it's Maria!" I whispered, hugging her tight as I used my magic to float a warm glass cup of sweet honey-blood medicine from the nightstand into my hand.
"M-M-Maria?! S-S-She's—she's t-throwing me b-back u-up t-there!" Christiana sobbed, her nails digging so hard into my arms that she drew blood. "T-The s-stars—the b-black h-hole! I-I c-can't b-breathe, M-Maria, t-there's n-no a-air, m-my chest i-is f-freezing, p-please don't let the m-moon t-take m-me!!"
"There's no moon in here, baby sister, look at me—just look right at me!" I said softly, holding the warm cup to her shaking lips so she could swallow the medicine down.
"Drink this for me, Chris. That's it, swallow it down. Your feet are on the bed, the walls are solid stone, and I'm holding you."
"I-I-I s-saw h-her e-eyes, M-Maria..." Christiana cried, her whole body trembling against my dress as the medicine started slowing her seizure down. "E-Every t-time I-I c-close m-my e-eyes, I-I'm f-floating i-in space a-again... all a-alone in t-the d-dark... I-I'm s-so s-scared o-of t-the s-sky, s-sis..."
"I know, baby, I know, shh..." I kissed the top of her head, wiping the cold sweat and tears off her face with my thumb.
"I sealed the curtains shut. None of the candles are going out tonight. I'm staying right here until morning."
"D-D-Don't l-leave m-me, M-Maria... p-please..." she gasped, clutching the front of my dress with both hands. "I-If t-the l-lights g-go o-out, I-I'll f-fall b-back i-into t-the black h-hole..."
"I'm not going anywhere, Chris. Hold onto my hand as tight as you want."
"I-I-I'm s-sorry... p-please f-forgive m-me, C-Celestara..." Christiana whimpered into my chest, her voice breaking on every single word as the sleeping medicine finally made her eyelids droop.
"I-I'm s-so s-sorry I-I s-shot h-him... I-I w-will n-never g-go n-near h-him a-again... p-please f-forgive m-me... d-don't t-throw m-me b-back..."
"Shh... stop saying sorry to that bitch, Chris," I whispered, gently rubbing her back and stroking her dark red hair until her shaking finally stopped and she fell fast asleep in my arms.
"Go to sleep, little sister. Nobody is ever touching you again."
I carefully laid her head down on the soft pillows and tucked the warm blankets around her shoulders.
Sitting there on the edge of the bed under the 100 burning candles, I stared down at my little sister's tear-stained face, and a cold, murderous fire filled my chest from head to toe.
5 years ago, Chris was the brightest, happiest girl in this whole palace.
And just because she followed orders and shot the Specter, that monster Elfina—Celestara—tortured her and threw her across the freezing galaxy until she was too scared to even close her eyes.
My sweet smile vanished.
Inside my head, `[CARNAGE]` lit up with a bright, blood-red glow, making my long red hair float around my horns as my red eyes burned in the candlelight.
What she did to my little sister was wrong.
Tomorrow morning, I'm winning that vote and wiping Celestine off the map.
I'm going to slaughter their 5 Sword Saints, drown their whole continent in blood, and awaken as a True Demon Lord.
And I don't care how long my immortal life takes—the next time Celestara is reborn in this world, I'm going to hunt her down and kill her myself.
Nobody hurts my sister and escapes the wrath of Carnage.
*
> Perspective: Kaiser Everhart
> Date: February 6, 2018 — 8:15 AM
> Location: Sylvaris — Kaiser's Apartment
...5 more minutes.
Actually, make that 5 more hours.
I rolled over on the mattress, pulling the thin blanket straight over my head to block out the morning sunlight leaking through the window blinds.
Wait. Why the hell am I still asleep at 8:15 in the morning?
I usually wake up at 5:00 AM, stare at the ceiling for 10 minutes, and get straight to work.
Did someone drug my water last night? Whatever, my bed feels way too comfortable right now. I'm just gonna skip breakfast and sleep until noon.
Get your lazy ass out of bed right now. You haven't eaten a real meal in 28 hours.
I blinked under the blanket.
...Nah, brain, cooking is way too much work. Washing the pan takes 3 minutes, chewing takes 10 minutes—skipping breakfast saves me 13 whole minutes AND saves groceries.
You gave away 45 million gold and now you're pinching pennies over 2 eggs? You're so dirt-cheap poor that even the homeless beggars on 4th Street live richer than you, bro.
I slowly poked my head out from under the blanket, staring at the blank wall.
Did my own brain just call me bro and roast my living standards?
Okay, yeah, I am definitely hallucinating from dehydration. I need to drink some water and brush my teeth before I start hearing a whole stand-up comedy routine in my mind.
I dragged myself out of bed, shuffled into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and downed a full glass of cold tap water at the sink.
Phew. Much better.
Still, I really don't feel like turning the stove on. Maybe I'll just throw a coat on, walk down to the street stalls, and grab a cheap bread roll on the way.
Put that coat down. You're not eating dry street-stall garbage made with 3-day-old oil when we have fresh butter and eggs right in the icebox.
My right hand—which was halfway to the coat hook—suddenly dropped to my side and walked me straight toward the kitchen counter instead.
Wait a second. Why am I arguing with myself over street bread—and losing?!
On the edge of the counter sat the small wooden box of cold recovery pills and soothing tea packets Celia had forced into my hands the other day.
I picked up 1 of the green capsules, a genuine, quiet smile tugging at the corner of my mouth as I washed it down with water.
She really went out of her way to pack all of this for me.
Celia is such a kind girl underneath that sharp tongue of hers. I really hope real happiness reaches her soon so she can finally move on from the past and live a bright life. She deserves it more than anyone.
Throb!
A sudden, sharp headache pinched right behind my right temple, and my left hand slammed the wooden pill box shut way harder than I meant to.
Kind girl? That white-haired bitch is nothing but an obsessive controlling freak. You deserve 100 times better than cheap-quality women who scream in your ear all day.
...
???
I stood frozen in front of the kitchen counter, blinking 3 times at the empty air.
Hold on.
What the hell was that?!
1 second I'm wishing Celia happiness, and the very next second my own head is calling her a cheap controlling freak?! And why did my inner voice just sound so petty and feminine?!
Yeah, okay, I am officially losing my mind. Lack of food is rotting my brain cells—I'm even getting headaches now. I definitely need to eat something before I end up in the nearest asylum.
I opened the icebox, pulled out 2 eggs and a loaf of bread, and turned the stove burner on.
Let's just fry the eggs plain with a pinch of salt. I don't need any extra flavor or fancy seasoning—it all goes to the same stomach anyway.
Plain salt is for slaves. Put the smoked paprika, garlic butter, and sweet honey glaze in the pan right now—extra flavor is tasty, and you're going to enjoy your food for once.
Wait, no, garlic butter takes longer to melt—
Shut up and drop the butter in the pan before I give you another headache.
Alright, alright! Damn, I didn't know my own stomach was such a spoiled princess!
For the next 15 minutes, my hands moved around the stove way faster and smoother than I usually cook—flipping golden brioche French toast, whisking fluffy herb-butter scrambled eggs, slicing fresh strawberries and peaches on the side, searing 2 strips of honey-glazed turkey bacon, and steaming a mug of sweet vanilla-caramel milk coffee.
Hmm... Sometimes I really get this weird feeling that my mind is being watched—or bossed around—by someone else living rent-free in my head.
Nah, who am I kidding? I'm just so sleep-deprived and underfed I've probably invented a nagging mom inside my own skull to make me eat vegetables.
I carried the loaded plate—a full Golden Brioche & Honey-Herb Sunrise Platter—over to my small wooden table and set the steaming mug of sweet coffee down beside it.
Then I looked down into the coffee mug and stopped.
Right on top of the steamed milk foam, my hand had poured a neat, symmetrical little white heart.
...Huh?
When did I pour latte art?!
I stared at the little foam heart floating in my mug, and a dumb laugh slipped out of my throat.
"Wow, I'm even making cute hearts for myself now," I chuckled, shaking my head. "That's actually adorable."
I love you.
I grinned, picking up the warm mug by the handle.
"Yeah, yeah, I love myself too, Kaiser. Good job, me."
...You really are the densest idiot on the planet. Drink your coffee while it's hot.
I took a big sip of the sweet vanilla coffee—wiping a tiny dab of milk foam off my lip with my thumb—and dug my fork into the warm honey toast with a smile.
Man, I really am a weird guy, sitting here having a full-blown conversation with myself over breakfast.
Still... I have to admit, the food tastes pretty damn good today.