Ending her words, he fell silent, with slightly lowered eyesight. Wondering about the matter however, he asked swiftly.
“Are they demon lords because they all have two horns?”
“Hmm? Ah, no, not really,” she blurted out titteringly while shaking her head and building on. “They still have to possess other qualities, but I won’t bore you with that. I just wanted you to understand what the ball may hold.”
“Yes?”
“Most of the guests will have a horn on their heads, so it’s important for you to know how to interact with them, even if they already know you’re handicapped.”
“I see,” Lutiel spoke with a calm tone, however, his eyes didn’t hover around hers. “Can I somehow offend them if I use my body inappropriately?”
At his words, Raeyine smiled, confirming a breath later. “Just like humans, demons have their way about awaiting respect when their status is higher. You have gotten good at hiding your disgruntled expression already, so never forget yourself. If a hornless, not to mention crippled, slave were to offend some high-standing guest, I believe even your connection to the lady might not do you so well.”
“That’s not all, yes?” The man asked, nodding his head vaguely after seeing her shake away at the question. However, the more her tongue rolled, the further his eyebrows creased.
“It’s very complicated, you see. Even just standing next to some demons can leave them agitated, and on the other hand, some can get annoyed if you don’t follow their gestures. But, the worst thing you can do is speak for whatever reason.”
“Why is that?”
Raeyine sighed faintly while crossing her arms. “Because they will be able to tell you apart from the demon kind.”
“How?” He asked, curiosity along with puzzlement entwined within his eyes, despite already answering inside his head. ‘Magic.’
“Magic,” their voices overlapped, even if he spoke inwardly. “It’s just something very apparent in those who aren’t able to use it. If you are found out to be human, it will deeply affect your life for the worse, as well as all of the servants living here, even Lady Zyponia.”
“I understand, but can’t Lady just force me to shut my mouth through the brand?”
Suddenly, something lit up inside Raeyine’s eyes as she pointed at him with the stick. “I forgot about that option, but she probably already had that in her mind.”
While the head maid looked at him somewhat impressed, he instead glanced at the face of a demon ingrained in the wall. Of course, noticing the gaze, she also looked behind.
“What else are you thinking of? I will try to do my best and answer,” she said with a meek beam around her mouth.
“What if I end up offending a demon anyway?” With a solemn face, he asked, only for a murky silence to settle across the room, the face of the maid waning away into blankness.
“You will have to be prepared to die,” she said with cold eyes staring deeply into him. Not breaking their locked gaze, she added on. “You will be fighting against one of their slaves to death, with a weapon of your choosing.”
“And If I win?” Although he asked, his face soured slightly, the maid unable not to catch it.
“Then, don’t worry. If you kill the slave, you can go back to your own master and the demon can’t do anything.”
With steady eyes, he listened to the girl, only one thought permeating in his head.
“Why? Can’t the demons just talk it out?”
“It stems from an old tradition. You can’t just kill off someone’s possession, so you request for the battle of the slaves instead with a good reason, and it is shamed upon not to accept it. But, don’t think about it too hard. You won’t get targeted by some boor that wants drama in such a place.”
“Alright, we talked about the guests enough for today. Let’s move on to something else instead,” she quickly added, soon turning towards the wall behind.
Nodding his head lightly, silence once again began soothing his ears, only interrupted by the pieces of the wall falling off to the floor. Looking at something new being engraved in the wall, the man focused on it intently.
…
Standing close to the finely carved window frames, Lutiel looked beyond the clear pane, only to witness himself under the befallen sun. Glancing at the same, still image for a few breathless moments, he saw no other soul than the white-haired himself roaming about the bedroom.
Once again, she had invited him over, for reasons he had yet to hear. Nonetheless, sooner rather than later, Lutiel turned around when the doors of the room started to give way. With a steady, dainty gait, Zyponia’s dress flowed to fit her movement.
Matching in with her rightful shades, the gown didn’t extend far beyond the outline of her legs. Glancing ahead at the already stood man, her pink eyes stiffened up, the body following once she reached the room’s center.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“I’m sorry for the wait. I would have been here quicker if Raeyine hadn’t distracted me,” she apologized, slightly shaking the man off. But, with a still face, he remained clear of showing any surprise. Clearing his head, Lutiel hid his arms behind his back, ready for her orders with an erect posture.
“It’s nothing, my lady. I didn’t wait long,” he said lightly, lowering his head ever so vaguely before moving back immediately, some intangible strength compelling him.
“There is no need for you to bow down,” she said with a mellow crease on her mouth. “You’ve been doing your work diligently ever since you got here. Compared to some of the girls, your workflow isn’t fading, so stop doubting your position so much.”
Flinching down and back to their place, his eyebrows wriggled at the words, his breath staggering for a faint piece of time. “I will make sure to remember, my lady,” with an increasingly quieter tone, he voiced out.
Staring with a secretive gaze at his reactions, her lips wanted to spread further, but Zyponia contained the giggle. “Good, let’s start our session, then,” she said, beginning to position herself around the middle of the carpet.
“What should I do, my lady?” Lutiel’s voice surfaced along her ears, to which she had already stopped moving, nesting herself while sitting on the floor.
“Do you know how to write?” She asked all of a sudden, glancing up at him.
“I can, I think,” he replied half-assuredly, both because of his own doubts, as well as for his supposed memory loss.
“Try it. There is a pen and paper on my desk,” she said, already beginning to close her eyes while crossing her legs. Placing the hands on her thighs, the demon lord eased the breath, letting Lutiel go about without no supervision. However, after a few long breaths left her lungs, she opened her mouth anew. “And?”
“I can,” with a curt reply, the man started moving back to the lady, having written down three random, but moderately difficult words. “What should I do, my lady?”
“Alright. All you have to do is watch me and write down whenever you notice me losing focus. I’m supposed to stay still, so catch any movement and pour it onto the page.”
“I understand, but what about the time a move has happened, my lady?” He asked, to which she hesitated with a somewhat perplexed expression, only shaking the head faintly in the end.
“Don’t worry about that,” she said before the man nodded. “Also, don’t stand too close. Now, let’s begin.”
As her words befell upon his ears, the air around the room changed in a spry motion. His hairs moved all of a sudden, swaying along ever so slightly. At the same time, her own hairs started to lift up before going down in an undulating manner. Finally, they fell clearly, flowing down her face and stopping there for the reminder of the time.
Needing a second breath for his staggered heart, he still kept up the duty, glancing closely at her full body and taking in all that happened around it.
With a rhythmic respire, Zyponia didn’t budge in the slightest, keeping her body in the same position, in an eerily perfect way. However, his left hand firmly holding the paper while his right held the pen, Lutiel seemed to have lost his ability to blink.
He as well, not moving from the place, started to soon move his arm when a muscle around her right index finger twitched. The sound of ink being placed upon the paper lingered in the air, though that seemed to be the least of Zyponia’s concerns.
With a keen eye, he noticed a flinching crease along her brows, promptly writing it down as well. And, a few moments later, her special breathing broke apart slightly, Lutiel’s hand moving without looking at the pale paper.
‘This takes me back,’ he mused suddenly, constantly keeping his eyes at the girl. Yet, he himself didn’t heed the vaguest smile curving on his face. As mundane as the task seemed, remembering memories of the past made it even more enjoyable.
Nonetheless, breaking the thoughts apart quickly, he focused back on the demon lord. However, no longer standing frozen in place, he began moving.
Getting closer to the lady ever so slightly, he sat down near her in a similar position while gazing right at her. And, in doing so, her eyelids peeked out to see the commotion.
Enlarging somewhat as she looked at his enthralled expression, Zyponia quickly closed them back after seeing his right hand moving through the page. She kept to herself as the wind began flowing even harsher than before.
Her hairs once again moving up and falling down into place, staying there, she resumed her rapt image for the second time, all recorded by the purple eyes.
Countless breaths flowed under the unchanging skies, all while Lutiel’s assiduousness showed on the page as tens of scribbles appeared onto it, going further once turned around. Gradually, the demon lord’s session started to come to an end.
Already half-way through, beads of sweat trickled down her face, continuing in a repeated manner before spreading over to most of her body. Dampened by it, the blue dress glistened as it clung onto her back and torso, as well as at the base of her long, purple hairs.
With a somewhat ragged breath, she let out a heavy sigh at the very end before breathing even faster, inhaling more air than ever.
At that time, Lutiel finally stopped moving his pen. Standing up from the carpet, he promptly came over to his master, lending her his dominant arm. “Here, my lady,” he said, making the lord quickly glance up from the absent stare directed at him.
“Thank you, ah!” She uttered a mild yelp from the sudden force Lutiel pulled her with. Raising her eyebrow, her legs wobbled slightly as she stood next to her butler, who swiftly supported the demon lord weakened by the long period of not doing anything.
A few moments had passed as she stood while grabbing onto him before finally regaining proper strength. “I’m fine now, you can let go,” she said, walking off on her own as the slave stepped away.
“Yes, my lady.”
She moved steadily towards her wardrobe, as wide as one wall of Lutiel’s room. Quickly opening one of the four doors inside, Zyponia took what appeared to be a pink dress, however, with sleeves eased off compared to the one she wore.
‘Skimpy,’ he thought discreetly and momentarily, especially after taking a better glance at the almost limpid material of the nightgown. However, just as quickly as it appeared, it meddled into confusion and disorientation.
“Raeyine, chod nud kiz tis’e piko,” she spoke into thin air, yet directed it towards the head maid. With furrowed brows, Lutiel heard her confer with seemingly nobody.
“Kozs bie ges mae?” She asked, but the answer didn’t appear to suffice the demon. “Kozs’i digle tane arn taca?”
“Junt li elie, Tis li rihelie,” she said calmly before releasing a sudden sigh of exasperation, lowering her head down faintly. Yet, as though something came into her head, she briskly turned around towards the male servant standing there while clueless of the words spoken moments prior.