Morgan remained still.
He hadn't been the one who said all those horrible things to Luzbel, and yet he couldn't shake the guilt. The strangest part was that she didn't seem to resent him at all. Her warmth was exactly the same as when he had first met her, as if the time between then and now had never existed.
Somehow, that made him feel even worse.
Naturally, his mind began circling around what Xol had done. Whether it had been the right thing. Whether there had been a less brutal way to achieve the same result. And Luzbel's reaction—that calmness, that smile completely free of resentment—only deepened his doubts.
Then, almost unwillingly, another question slipped in among the others.
"What would I have done?"
He had frozen. No words, no ideas, nothing. And that wasn't normal for him. He had never struggled to be there when someone needed him. But with Luzbel, he had simply shut down. Xol had been the one to solve everything, with that coldness of his that cut like glass. It worked. Of course it worked. But if Xol hadn't taken control of his body, if he had simply stayed silent... what would Morgan have done?
He couldn't find an answer.
And that unsettled him far more than he wanted to admit.
He was still lost in those thoughts when Luzbel gently cupped his face in her hands and lifted it so she could look him in the eyes. She smiled at him warmly, in that special way people reserve only for those who truly matter.
And yet Morgan felt something strange.
Uncomfortable.
Difficult to name.
He knew perfectly well that the smile wasn't really for him. Not entirely. Luzbel was smiling at Morgan, yes, but the reason behind that smile—the reason she was okay, the reason she could stand there without resentment or open wounds—had only one name.
And it wasn't his.
Even so, he didn't want to worry her. So he returned the smile as best he could, trying to make it look sincere.
"I'm sorry for showing you such a pathetic side of myself. I promise that from now on, I'll do everything I can to protect you, to help you fulfill that dream of yours..."
Luzbel spoke with that same gentle smile while Morgan kept forcing his own, holding her gaze, making an effort.
The moment didn't last long.
The door suddenly burst open with a loud crash, and two bodies tumbled to the floor in a rather undignified fashion. Satana and Galahad had been eavesdropping with their ears pressed against the door, and the combined weight of the two of them had proven too much for the poor lock.
"I-I told you this was a bad idea."
(Galahad said nervously, still lying on the floor.)
"But you wanted to listen too."
(Satana replied with a groan of pain, making absolutely no effort to get up.)
Luzbel looked at them.
Blinking once.
Then she turned red.
"You two. What exactly do you think you're doing? Do you even know what manners are? Has anyone ever explained to you that secretly listening to other people's conversations is rude? What am I supposed to do with you?"
(Luzbel said in a tone that left no room for argument.)
"We're sorry..."
(The two replied at the exact same time, looking like scolded children.)
"No, no, wait. If I don't punish you now, you'll never learn. On your knees. Right now."
Satana opened her mouth to say something, and Luzbel simply raised her voice.
"NOW!!"
Both of them jumped and dropped to their knees with perfect synchronization that they clearly had not practiced beforehand.
"Yes, ma'am."
While all of this was happening, Morgan wasn't really there anymore.
His mind had drifted away again. The world sounded muffled, as if someone had suddenly turned down the volume. Luzbel's scolding, Satana and Galahad's expressions—everything reached him as though it were happening from very far away.
It was Galahad's voice that partially pulled him back.
She was pointing at something near him.
"And... who is he?"
Luzbel interrupted her lecture and turned to see what Galahad was pointing at.
Then she jumped slightly.
"What the hell?!"
(Luzbel shouted, genuinely startled.)
Xol had manifested his physical form again—the dog form—and was sitting calmly beside Morgan, staring at the three women with an utterly unsettling composure, as if he had been there his entire life.
"Where did that thing come from?"
(Luzbel asked, still on guard.)
Satana sprang to her feet, completely forgetting about her punishment, and immediately rushed over to pet him.
"Him? That's Morgan's familiar. His name's Xol. He's a good boy. He came with Morgan when we found him lying unconscious in that wasteland."
Xol didn't move.
He simply kept staring at Luzbel with those calm, dark eyes, with not a single ounce of hurry in the world.
End of Chapter.
Next Chapter: Was It the Right Choice?