Chapter 10 - Volume 1 Finale
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Standing naked in my bedroom with my back pressed against the wall, lacking even a towel to hide behind, I fought to maintain my composure as I took in the sight before me.
Sylvanna stood in the center of the room. Combining the best traits of slime and girl, she actually cut a rather striking figure, with a delicate little nose, soft-looking lips, and bright pink eyes, all carved in perfect detail from the same pink gelatinous slime. Her body mimicked that of a human above the waist, including her currently uncovered tits which displayed a size and perkiness to rival my own. The illusion dropped below the waist however, as what would be legs had instead formed into a single amorphous base. A tentacle, protruding from the base of her body, was currently wrapped tightly around Bailey's snout.
Abigail, standing behind Sylvanna, was mouthing "sorry," but I ignored her. My focus was locked on Bailey, who was lying on the ground, pawing desperately at the tendril that constrained her. Every time her claws cut through the slime it simply reconstructed itself before it could snap, yet Bailey refused to stop seemingly desperate to escape. It took all my willpower not to freeze the tentacle solid and break it off by force. As it was, I could feel my blood begin to boil.
"Wow, Queen Devilla…" Sylvanna smirked. "I guess the rumors were true! You really are showing everyone a whole new side of yourself. And it seems we're getting quite a view…"
"Let her go," I commanded, ignoring the barb and snarling at the slime while pointing to Bailey.
"The monster?" Sylvanna arched a translucent eyebrow. "That's what we're starting with? No throwing a fit at me for walking into your room? No screaming at your maid for daring to let me in, even though she couldn't stop me if she tried?"
"I said to let her go, Sylvanna. Last warning."
"Fine, fine," Sylvanna conceded, waving her hand dismissively. "No need to snap, it was just a little security measure. Your stupid monster kept trying to eat me." The tentacle around Bailey's snout receded, disappearing entirely into Sylvanna's body. "Now can we talk?"
"In a moment," I told Sylvanna through gritted teeth, before moving to kneel down next to Bailey. I stroked the wolf's snout, traveling from her nose all the way up to her horn.
"You did good," I whispered, even knowing that she couldn't understand me. I wanted to reach out to her telepathically, but I still hadn't tested whether I could pull that off without ingesting one of her hairs. Experimenting on myself was one thing, but I wouldn't risk anyone else.
Even though Bailey couldn't understand me, she seemed to take comfort in my tone and touch. She stopped whining, and instead licked my hand and wagged her tail.
Once I was certain Bailey was fine, I rose to my feet and turned back to Sylvanna, narrowing my eyes at the slime girl. "That 'monster' you attacked happens to be a demon, and a friend. She was simply trying to protect me from an unwelcome intruder."
"Oooh, unwelcome! Do you see how harsh she is with me, Abby?" Sylvanna turned her head to pout at my maid, ignoring my glare. "And she's such a bad liar, too. I've memorized the census report for the entire tower, and we don't have a single horned wolf girl in it. I've never even heard of the species!"
"I'm not lying," I snapped before Abigail could respond. "She's a new resident, and a new species. She was born to an actual horned wolf, as it happens. I trust you know what that means?"
"That you're a really bad liar?" Sylvanna shrugged. "You expect me to believe you just happened to prove the origin of monster girls while you were out on your little vacation?"
"Vacation? I was collecting salt!"
"For three days?" Sylvanna countered, hands perched on her gelatinous hips. "Sounds like a vacation to me. Though, wait..." She mused, placing a hand against her chin, and stroking the tip with her thumb. "Do you still call it a vacation if you weren't working to begin with? I mean, you don't really do anything, do you?"
"That's…" Not fair. That was what I wanted to say. But it actually was, wasn't it? I was supposed to be the queen, the ruler of my people, and yet I did so little to actually lead them.
I wasn't alone in that, mind you. One of the few lessons I'd actually taken to heart was how demon queens throughout the ages had delegated the work of ruling. Some said it was a tradition set by Luci herself, who felt that divine beings had no business governing the minutiae of mortal lives. We still wielded absolute authority of course, but we rarely used it.
In my case, I'd given the power of rule to my generals. The exact nature of their duties varied - for example I had Yara on the bottom floors, managing our food supply, just as Mifa and her harpies were theoretically in charge of scouting. Regardless of what else they handled, however, by and large each of the demon generals acted akin to human nobles, running ten floors apiece.
None of that was an issue, at least for the moment. While part of me thought I should try for a constitutional monarchy, I knew better than to uproot our current system while we were still on the verge of extinction. The problem was that no matter how much a queen delegated, someone still had to oversee everything. Whether it was warding off corruption, mediating disputes between generals, or simply signing things into law, someone still had to wield the actual power of a queen.
That was where Sylvanna came in. Since there was no distinction between a slime girl's body and brain, Sylvanna was able to turn her entire being towards figuring out complex problems. On top of that, she could split herself into copies and merge again, allowing her to do the job of an entire team by herself. It made her a near ideal administrator for the tower. Absolutely perfect, except for one tiny, little detail.
Sylvanna, the only slime in the tower, absolutely loathed work. She was a hedonistic slut by nature, desiring nothing but sex, food, and drink. She indulged constantly. Even as half of her body was devoted to working, and another third to sleeping, the remainder was split in four to ensure she could participate in some form of debauchery at all times. As such, Sylvanna was working, eating, sleeping, fucking, and drinking all at the same time, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
I couldn't even imagine how exhausting that had to be. That was why she took every opportunity to belittle me. And how was I supposed to protest? How was I supposed to call her words unfair, when her hard work was the only reason I had so much free time?
"That's not fair!"
My head snapped up as the words I chose not to speak echoed through the room. Abigail, visible through Sylvanna, had one hand on her hip and a scowl on her lips.
"That's not fair," she repeated when Sylvanna turned around to face her. "Devilla is trying. She got salt for the whole tower, and a new vegetable called 'potatoes,' which is actually pretty damn delicious fried. And okay, there were definitely better uses of her time, but she's trying, and you don't get to just come in here and tear her down like that!"
"Feisty," Sylvanna jabbed, crossing her arms beneath her voluptuous chest. "But you should try defending literally anyone else. Maybe check the dungeons? You'll find murderers with more empathy for their fellow demons than that girl."
"That's-"
"Enough!" I interrupted, stepping forward and slashing my hand through the air to mark an end to the conversation. "It's appreciated, Abigail. Honestly. But you aren't going to convince Sylvanna of anything like this."
"Did you two practice this?" Sylvanna accused, looking back and forth between Abigail and me. "Let me guess - she's tired of me calling her out as a selfish, self-centered brat, so she's making you pretend she actually has a good heart or some such malarky. Probably made you memorize a whole script, right? Oooh, did she complain about not having enough lines, even though she wrote it?"
"Is there a purpose behind your being here?" I asked, trying and failing to keep the frustration from my voice. "It must be important if I'm meeting with all ten feet of you." Saying it was rare for all of Sylvanna to gather in one place would be a drastic understatement. I hadn't seen her whole in years, not since she'd first taken the job of administrator.
"Really?" Sylvanna asked, stretching out her malleable torso so that she could peer down at me from up high. "You can't even guess? Not even a vague hunch? I mean, whatever could the tower administrator want with the queen? It's not like she was promised anything!" She was shouting by the end, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"Promised…? Ah!" My eyes widened with sudden understanding. A promise made between me and Sylvanna? There was only one that came to mind. It was the reason she'd agreed to become my administrator in the first place, despite her hatred of work. It was also part of why I'd been avoiding her.
"You promised me you'd free my people, Devilla! You went through the Rite of Insight. You learned holy magic! And I've done everything you've asked. So why are my people still under the Heroine's spell?" She leaned further forward with each word till her back was craned forward at a truly ridiculous angle, taking up much of the room.
"You know I hate it when you loom over me," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest, and pointedly looking away. I'm sure I looked like a petulant child to everyone in the room. My words certainly suited that image, but the sad truth was that I was simply trying to buy time to think.
Sylvanna's people, the Slime Girls. A long-lived race that rarely propagated, despite being quite good at it. From what I'd been told, they used to celebrate a species-wide holiday. Once every fifty years, all the slimes on the continent would gather together and merge, sharing their thoughts and experiences with the entirety of their population. For one glorious day, the many became one.
It was on that day of union, twenty-one years ago, that the previous Heroine made her move. According to the single eyewitness report, she'd snuck her way into the festivities, strode up to the merged slimes, and with a few whispered words turned the entire great being to stone.
Sylvanna, too young to participate in the merge, was granted a temporary reprieve so that she could spread word of what had been done to her people. Frightened, she came straight to the tower to tell my mother what had happened. And my mother, who had just barely finished giving birth to me, immediately flew off to fight the Heroine and save those poor, petrified slimes.
And that was how she died.
For a long time, some part of me blamed Sylvanna for that. It wasn't her fault, obviously. My mother knew what she was stepping into from the start, I'm sure. But I think that anger was what led me to do what I did - as poor an excuse as it was.
I had dangled the freedom of Sylvanna's people before her. I told her that I would only turn them back if she helped me maintain my rule. I abused her, in a way that I'm not sure can ever be forgiven. And now here I was trying to ignore the problem simply because I couldn't fix it. Sylvanna was completely right about my selfishness.
I wanted to set things right, of course. I needed to set things right. But reversing petrification was holy magic; I couldn't cast it without knowing the right words.
"I thought you'd be used to getting loomed over," Sylvanna remarked, interrupting my thoughts. "You know, considering how short you are." She twisted about without moving her base, easily shifting her upper half a hundred and eighty degrees to look at Abigail, before pointing a finger back in my direction. "Did you know she's only five foot three? It took me a while to notice because she's almost never out of heels."
"I am five foot four and you know it!" I snapped.
"And there you have it," Sylvanna declared, pressing one arm into her waist and taking an impossibly deep bow even as she turned back toward me. "The spoiled princess. The real Devilla Satanne. Good to see you drop the act! Now, tell me why you still haven't freed my people. Unless you'd prefer me taking an extended break from running this damn tower?"
For a long moment, I stood silent, quietly turning the problem before me over and over in my mind. Sylvanna was the force that single-handedly kept the tower running. She was threatening to quit if I didn't do what she wanted. I couldn't tell her no, for both moral and practical reasons, yet if I said yes she'd find out my impotence immediately.
"I… can't," I confessed, seeing no alternative. "I messed up the Rite of Insight. I don't know the spell."
Lying would be pointless. Sylvanna would see straight through any fib I told, and I didn't want to tell one besides. The only way out of this situation, the only way to make up for my past actions, was to be honest with Sylvanna. Then maybe, just maybe, we could work toward a solution together.
"...You don't know the spell?" Sylvanna repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are you telling me that after a lifetime of 'I'll learn everything I need to know from the Rite,' you messed it up?"
"That's right," I confirmed, nodding solemnly. "But I think we can still save your people. We just need to work together a little while longer."
"Right. By which you mean I should work for you a little bit longer, and you should… what? Goof off? Fuck around? Find some 'potatoes'?"
"I told you, that's not fair," Abigail protested before I could respond. "I don't know your full history, but whatever Devilla did to you in the past she's changed. I know what she used to be like, but she's honestly trying her best to do better."
"Still defending our Queen?" Sylvanna challenged. "Don't tell me you actually believe that crap? People like Devilla don't change. They don't get better. That would require them admitting something was wrong to begin with."
"Holy hell, you're almost as stubborn about this as she is," Abigail groaned, before jabbing at Sylvanna with her finger. "Devilla realized something was wrong with her behavior and started making an effort to change it, which is more than I can say for you!"
"That's-"
"Enough!" I interrupted, raising my voice to cut through their argument. Both figures turned to me. Abigail seemed surprised by my outburst; Sylvanna merely looked smug.
"Can't stand being left out of the conversation, can you?" she sniped, smirking triumphantly. "Even when it's all about you to begin with. Same Devilla as always - eternally trying to be the center of attention."
"Believe that if you wish. I deserve whatever you have to say about me, and worse. What I did was wrong, and I am sorry. Deeply and terribly so. But arguing isn't going to bring your people back."
"And neither are you," Sylvanna snapped. "You already said you don't know the spell."
"No, I don't, but I can get it." I noticed Abigail's eyes widening in surprise, but I chose to ignore it. I knew I was taking a gamble here, but if there was another choice I wasn't smart enough to find it.
Besides, Sylvanna deserved to hear the truth.
"You can get it?" she demanded, suddenly jerking forward so her eyes (or what passed for them) were even with mine. "How? The only one allowed to speak the holy tongue is the demon queen, and you just told me you don't know it!"
"That's not exactly true, though. The Heroine knows it as well." And the church, I assumed, since someone had to teach her. The humans probably didn't have a law against writing down the holy tongue. I wasn't entirely sure why we demons did. Another detail that would have been explained by the Rite of Insight, no doubt.
"...You're joking." The look in Sylvanna's gelatinous eyes was one of pure disdain, as if she were looking at a particularly ugly bug. "You want to make a deal with one of those genocidal maniacs? She'd give you a spell, alright! One to turn them into mush!"
"The current heroine isn't like that!" I objected, stepping closer to Sylvanna, until our noses were almost touching.
I expected the slime girl to move backwards. Instead, she morphed her hand into a tentacle to wrap around my neck, lifted my unfortunately light body up before I had a chance to react, and slammed me against my bedroom wall. I found myself suddenly at eye level with Sylvanna, whose malleable face was twisted with rage. Even Bailey, crouched on the floor, seemed momentarily stunned by the suddenness of it.
"What do you know about it?" Sylvanna demanded. "You've never met one of them before. The pure contempt in that human's eyes when she looked at me - the way she talked about petrifying my people like it was just something to check off her to-do list. Those monsters have no respect for demon lives!"
Bailey, recovering from her shock, got to her feet and released a low growl, her lips pulling back to reveal her fangs. It looked like she was about to attack Sylvanna, despite knowing it would be futile, but Abigail stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the wolf. That, combined with a stern look from me, was enough to stop her.
"You're wrong," I told Sylvanna, my feet dangling beneath me as I glared back at her. "Maybe the last Heroine was like that. In fact, I'm sure most of them were. But I've met the current Heroine, and I can tell you now that she is different. I can convince her to help. I just need time."
"You've met her?" Sylvanna asked. Her eyes, like Abigail's, had no pupils. They were merely shallow copies, created from Sylvanna's slime. Yet despite that, perhaps because of my experience with Abigail, I felt certain that Sylvanna's eyes were boring into mine, fury flickering behind them. "You've met her!? What are you planning? Are you going to betray us? Hoping you can live a cushy life if you just turn the rest of us over?"
"Do you truly think so little of me?" I hissed, appalled. I might have been lazy, selfish, and even cruel, but even at my worst I had never taken my subjects' lives that lightly. I'd never ordered an execution, or a public whipping. Even my threat about Sylvanna's people had been nothing more than a bluff.
But that didn't make a difference to Sylvanna, did it? She believed that bluff. Of course she'd believe that I was capable of this too. What had she ever seen that would convince her otherwise?
"Sylvanna," I breathed, laying my hand upon the tendril that was wrapped about my neck. "I did something terrible. I'm sure I betrayed whatever trust you had in your ruler that day. And I know I have no right to your forgiveness. But even though I have no right to ask it, I'm begging you to trust me. Please - help me save your people."
"She means it!" Abigail called out, rising to her feet and stepping between me and Sylvanna. She placed a hand against my thigh, and squeezed it faintly in what I took to be a sign of support. "I know you don't believe it, but she really has changed. She's trying to broker peace with the Heroine, to end the war and save our people."
For a long moment, Sylvanna didn't speak. She didn't even move, her gelatinous form frozen in place. She simply held me in place against the wall, staring into my eyes. Then, without warning, she dropped me to the floor, her tendril receding into the shape of a hand.
"Help you save my people, huh…?" Sylvanna murmured, staring down at me. "Those are the same exact words you used when you made me your administrator. But for some insane reason, it almost sounds like you mean it this time. There must be something seriously wrong with me for even asking this, but can you give me a single reason to trust you?"
"Not a one," I confessed. "There's nothing I can say that can possibly counter my actions so far. But I will save your people, Sylvanna. Even if you don't help me, I'll still find a way. But it will be a lot easier with your help than without."
"...Either you're a better liar than I gave you credit for, or you actually mean it. Alright. I'll work as your administrator for one more month. But you'd better have some slimes ready to replace me, after - or I'll find a way to make you regret it."
"One month," I agreed, looking up at her from my position on the floor. It was a tight deadline. I wasn't sure I could get Lucy to trust me in such a short time, but if all I needed was a depetrification spell, then I thought I might be able to make do.
"I'm going to want progress reports, too," Sylvanna warned. "I'll assign four percent of myself to be your liaison."
"Four percent?" I asked. "That's it?" A slime's body and brain were one and the same. When fully assembled, Sylvanna could handle equations with the speed of a supercomputer, and could recall information she'd heard once several months ago. At four percent of her capacity, she could almost manage basic arithmetic, and could just barely remember her own name.
Sylvanna snorted. "You're lucky I can spare anything. Most of my selves have better things to do."
I opened my mouth to protest, then forced myself to close it. She had more than four percent to spare, I knew. There were at least four clones of that size eating, fucking, and drinking at nearly all times, but Sylvanna likely wasn't willing to sacrifice what stress relief she had just to keep an eye on me. It would be a pain to deal with only four percent of her, but I'd have to make do.
"Very well," I conceded. "You can send her over whenever you need a progress report. But if we're going to pull this off, I'll need your help normalizing my occasional absences from the tower. Tell everyone I'm out searching for resources, or some such. I'll make an attempt to visit back whenever possible, but I don't want anyone run ragged covering for me." I glanced at Abigail with those last words, and she returned an appreciative smile..
"Do you really think you should be asking me for anything right now?"
"No," I admitted. "But I don't think I have much choice. You're the only one with enough influence to convince everyone there's nothing wrong with my absences. And I'll need to be absent quite frequently if I'm to pull this off within a month."
Sylvanna glowered at me for a long moment, gelatinous lips pressed into a thin line. Then, slowly, she nodded. "Fine. If you really want to make it work though, you should learn teleportation magic and at least spend your nights here." She paused, squinting at me. "Assuming that isn't too much work?"
"I'm sure I'll manage. Thank you for the suggestion." I kept my voice polite, if a little flat, choosing not to rise to Sylvanna's taunt. "Now, if you don't mind, Abigail and I have some matters to attend to."
"Uh-huh. I'll leave you to the 'hard work' of being queen," Sylvanna jabbed, turning toward the door. "Do try not to strain yourself!"
I waited until the door clicked closed, then let out a sigh of relief. "I honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen, for a little bit there… if she chose to pull her support from the tower without giving me time to find a replacement, it would have been utter chaos."
"Did you really use her people against her?" Abigail asked, judgement in her eyes.
"Yes," I confessed, staring at the ground as my face burned hot. "I suppose that makes me even worse than you thought I was."
"A little bit," Abigail shrugged. "But you're not who you used to be."
"I told you that recovering my past life memories didn't change who I was, deep down. I might have learned some empathy, but I'm still the same woman who did that, and more."
"No, you're not," Abigail insisted. "I'm not the same succubus I was a week ago, and I didn't get a lifetime of memories shoved into my head. People change, Devilla, whatever Sylvanna says. You just did it a lot quicker than most."
"...Do you really think I deserve forgiveness?" I asked, a waver in my voice as I turned back to meet Abigail's gaze.
"I don't know." Her response was immediate and uncomfortably blunt. "I forgave you. And I think if you let others get to know you, they might forgive you too. But it's all pretty worthless if you never get around to forgiving yourself."
"...Perhaps after I've saved our people, then," I told her, doing my best to smile. The result was flimsy, at best. "Speaking of - I suppose I'll need to find a teacher to help me learn the teleportation spell… and I'll need to get some supplies together for the road… and a large bag I can pretend to be pulling it out of since I can't let people find out about the Empty Bag… Perhaps I should start with finding a piece of paper, and making a to-do list."
"There's paper in your desk. I'll work on finding you a magic teacher, you make... the... " Abigail paused, swaying and then stumbling toward the bedroom wall, thrusting out an arm just in time to catch herself.
"Are you alright?" I asked, pulling myself to my feet and rushing to her side.
Abigail lifted a hand to stop me. "I'm fine," she promised, despite not looking it. Even her tail was drooping.
"What's wrong?" I demanded, side-stepping her upheld hand and reaching out to feel her forehead.
"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to bat aside my hand, but only managing to thump weakly upon my forearm.
"Checking you for a fever." She wasn't hot, to my relief, though her cheeks looked a bit warm.
"For a what?" The confused frown on Abigail's face bewildered me in turn.
"...Right. We're demons." There were fairy tales about magical plagues afflicting our people, but that was about it. We didn't suffer from mundane things like stuffy noses or fevers. It was a good thing too, considering the entirety of demonkind was living in a single tower. If humans tried it, they'd likely be wiped out by a plague.
"Look, I'm fine," Abigail promised, ducking down to escape my hand. "I'm just a little hungry."
"Hungry?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in confusion. "Did you not eat enough fries?"
"Not that kinda hungry," Abigail corrected me, with a terse smile. "I just haven't had time to stop by the brothel for a few days."
"...Because you were covering for me?" I asked, realization beginning to dawn. Abigail told me when she started the job that she needed to feed on sexual energy to survive. I wanted to scold the succubus for prioritizing work over eating, but it was my carelessness that put her in such a position to begin with. If not for her hard work, I might have come back to a tower awash in panic.
"I'll be fine," Abigail insisted. "I'll just head down to my mom's place now and grab a snack. Assuming that's okay with you?"
"It is not."
"Thanks. I- Wait, what?" Abigail stared at me in confusion, then scowled. "Devilla, this isn't a great time for jokes. I really need to eat."
"Indeed, you do," I agreed. "Which is why you aren't going anywhere until you've fed. You're in no condition to fly down to your floor, and I certainly have no intention of letting you walk the distance when you're too weak to even stay upright."
"You can't be serious," Abigail protested, trying to move past me to get to the door.
"As the grave," I informed her, deliberately blocking her. "If you have someone in mind, give me a name and I'll bring them to you. Or if anyone will do, I'll ask among the maids. But if you insist on going down to the brothel, then know that I intend to carry you the whole way."
"I'm fine, Devilla," Abigail maintained, glowering. However, the angry expression broke apart before I could even respond, and she let out a loud sigh. "You're ridiculous to deal with, Devilla. You know that? But if you're that concerned, you should really see to my health personally, don't you think?"
"This isn't the time to tease!" I complained, scowling at Abigail. "I'm worried about your health!"
"Who's teasing?" She was still smiling, but it now came off as smug to me. "Didn't you promise we could have sex whenever I got hungry, back when I took this job?"
"...You're serious?"
Instead of responding, Abigail bent forward, a gleam in her eye. For a moment I thought she intended it as a bow, but then suddenly her lips were brushing against my nipple. The pink peak stiffened instantly at the contact, and a smirk flitted across Abigail's face. That was all the warning I had before her lips closed around the tip of my breast and began to suck.
It felt divine. The feeling of her wet mouth on my nipple, pulling at my perky tit, was enough to make me moan. I had to bite my lip when she parted to prevent myself from whimpering at the loss. At the last moment, just before her lips left me, she pinched my nipple between her teeth and tugged, drawing out a sharp cry.
"I'm always serious about sex," Abigail smirked, before shoving me away. . "Now go lay on the bed."
"And why are you ordering me around?" I demanded, crossing my arms defensively in front of my chest. "I'm your queen, you know."
"What? Do I need to beat you in battle if I want to top?" Abigail laughed. "I'm a domme in the brothel. If you want to feed me, you're going to have to do a little role reversal."
"...Fine. For your health," I grumbled, before marching over to my closet and opening the door. "Bailey, inside. There are some things you do not need to witness." Thankfully my closet was as large as most people's bedrooms. The sheer amount of clothes I had made it feel a little cramped, but it was only an illusion.
Despite that, the sad look Bailey shot me still made me feel like the biggest monster on Solla for suggesting it. For a moment, I wavered. Would it really be that bad letting the wolf watch?
Of course it would be! She wasn't even really a wolf.
But still….
"In, Bailey!" Abigail ordered, interrupting my thoughts with a snap of her fingers.
Bailey reacted instantly, to the tone if not the words. She all but ran into the closet, disappearing into a thicket of skirts. I closed the door behind her with a sigh.
"Don't act like your job is done," Abigail growled at me. "I told you to lay on the bed, not put the dog out."
"You couldn't have seriously expected me to do anything while Bailey was in the room?" I protested. Never mind that I had wavered on that very point only a moment prior.
"I expect you to follow instructions and to let me handle things." Abigail stepped closer as she spoke, stopping a few inches in front of me. She reached out a slender hand and ran it through my white hair. It felt pleasant, until, without warning, she grabbed hold of my tresses and tugged my head back, sending my gaze to the ceiling. Closing the distance between us, she whispered in my ear, "Right now, I'm in charge."
A shiver ran through me at those words. It was the first time anyone had ever spoken to me like that. To be honest, it was making me a little wet.
"Very well," I consented. "Release me, and I'll walk to the bed."
Abigail yanked on my hair again in response. It dealt no actual damage to me, but my scalp was still sensitive enough for it to hurt.
"No walking," she ordered. "Autonomy is for good girls who do what they're told. You obviously can't be trusted."
"Then what do you propose?" I asked, bemused. "Sex on the floor?"
Abigail slid her hand down the length of my hair, stopping around my mid back. At the same time, she moved her other hand down beneath my ass. Then, without so much as a by-your-leave, she picked me up in a casual bridal carry and began to walk toward the bed.
"O-Oh!" I squeaked, blushing faintly. "You're much stronger than you seem…"
"You're just light," Abigail remarked. "Must be because you're so short."
"I am not short!" I whined, pouting up at my maid. "I'm simply… compact."
"Devilla. That's just another way of saying short," Abigail teased, placing me gently atop the pink covers that adorned my bed. "Why do you care so much anyway?"
"Because demon queens are meant to be imposing," I answered, honestly. "Or at least all the portraits I've seen of my ancestors make it seem that way…"
"Is that all it is?" Abigail laughed. "You're never going to be imposing. Ever! It's just not happening. I mean, you're probably the most adorable demon queen to ever live."
"Is that seriously all you have to say on the matter?" I balked. "No words of encouragement? I thought this was where you'd tell me I don't need to measure up physically to match them in spirit."
"Hmmmm…" Abigail mused, tapping a finger against her chin. "Nope. Can't think of any motivational speeches. But I will say this." She climbed into the bed, pressing her thighs into the space between mine, and then leaned down to kiss my nipple once more. My breath caught in my throat as her tongue darted out against my teat, before moving about the nipple in a slow, teasing circle. When she parted from me, she left my peak wet and stiff with need. "You are very fun to tease."
A deep blush colored my cheeks, kindled by the kiss and words alike. The smirk on Abigail's lips said she knew just what she had done to me, and that she wasn't done yet. She was already lowering herself down to cup my breast in one of her hands, and was soon peppering my cleavage with kisses.
I arched my back, thrusting my chest out against her mouth, and gave myself over to the pleasurable assault. But the kisses to my breasts were only a distraction. While I was laying back on the bed, my eyes closed and my breath coming in heavy gasps from her attack on my chest, I failed to notice the hand that was working its way between our bodies. Before I realized it, Abigail already had a hand on my inner thigh, and a thumb edging ever closer to my outer folds.
"If you want to back out, this is your last chance," she said, pressing her short trimmed nails against my upper thigh, hard enough to leave faint imprints on my skin. "In another second, I don't think you'll be able to think straight enough to make me stop."
"I have no intention of backing down," I informed her, shaking my head defiantly. "I set out to get you fed, and I intend to see it through to the end."
"...Alright, drama queen," Abigail agreed, leaning down to press her lips against my breast again. Her lips felt hot against my skin. Her tongue, which darted against my exposed nipple, was firm but gentle. Her humid breath cascaded across my skin. And as I focused on this minutiae, two of her fingers entered my sex.
My body stiffened at the intrusion, even as my wet mound eagerly accepted the digits. I could feel her fingers on my inner walls, feel her nails lightly digging against my flesh. The sensation was so clear that I had to wonder, once again, whether I had some extra nerves in there.
Slowly, Abigail's fingers pressed inward, moving deeper into my body and then slowly withdrawing, her short trimmed nails in constant contact with my channel. Her thumb brushed against the faint stubble above my pussy, and then traveled down again, settling over my clitoris. She teased at it, gently working it away from its hood so that she could run the pad of her thumb across it, again and again.
Each touch to my clit felt like she was sending a bolt of lightning arcing through my body. Her fingers inside my wet slit might as well have been pumping fire through my veins as they worked their way in and out. It felt like an inferno had joined forces with a storm to rampage through my being. My back arched. My lips opened to release a loud moan.
Her fingers continued to work at me, her lips sucking at my tit, her teeth nipping at my flesh. Her kisses plastered my cleavage. Even her tongue made the occasional appearance, licking at the skin that stretched between my breasts. The heat within me kept building all the while, until it felt like I could no longer contain it.
Yet before the heat could overspill, Abigail's finger suddenly stopped moving. The heat that had been washing over me in waves began to recede, and the climax I was so close to fell away. What was going on? Was this some sort of terrible trick? What had I done to deserve this? I wanted to ask, but all that emerged from my throat was a high pitched whine of need.
Abigail chuckled in response, running her thumb lightly across my clit before slamming her fingers back into me, and starting to pump again. With Abigail fanning the flames, it wasn't long before I stood once more at the brink of orgasm. And yet, once more, Abigail's fingers began to slowly withdraw from my sex.
"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, gathering all my willpower to force the words out.
"Just a little fun, your Majesty," Abigail teased, holding up the two fingers that had been stuffed inside me. "This time, anyway. Next time we do this, I intend to make you beg."
"Beg!?" I demanded - or tried to, anyway. The only thing that came out was a strangled squeak as I felt something enter my pussy. Looking down, I could see Abigail's tail inside me, the spade teasing against the interior of my being. Slowly but surely it worked its way in, the tip of the spade teasing at my internal nerves. My walls squeezed down tight on the tail, but still it made its way deeper inside, until at last I felt the spade brush against something deep within my core.
A single touch had me crying out. Abigail grinned, twisting the cord-like tail about within me so that the protruding part could brush against my clit even as her spade worked my g-spot. The heat within me, which had begun to recede once more, was suddenly back with a vengeance. I could feel fire coursing through my veins. It was more than I could handle, more than I knew what to do with. I came, slamming my head back against the bed as I screamed out my lover's name.
"That was a good meal," Abigail commented, parting from my tits and pulling out her tail. She sat upright, straddling my waist.
"Then you're fully recovered?" I inquired, once I had regained control of my body.
Abigail nodded.
"And you promise not to go without food again? Even for my sake?" I pressed.
"I promise, I promise. Honestly, Devilla, you're being a worrywart. I would have been fine even if you hadn't done anything."
"...It seems you still don't understand how much you concerned me," I remarked, casually reaching up to grab Abigail's arms. Then, before she could register what I was doing, I pushed myself up off the bed and pressed her down into the mattress, rearranging myself so that I could straddle her this time.
"Hey! Turnabout's against the rules!" Abigail protested, glowering up at me. Her lips were pulled into a pout, but I thought I could see amusement behind the fake anger.
I wasn't playing, though. "Abigail, I was sincerely worried about you. I don't want you pushing yourself past your limits for my sake."
"Alright," she agreed, readily enough. "I'll try not to push myself too hard. But only if you do the same."
"That's different," I argued, looking away. "The fate of our people rests on my shoulders. I'm supposed to push myself a little."
"Devilla, if you're feeling pushed, then you're probably doing enough to kill a normal person three hundred times over. I'm not saying you shouldn't try your best, but I got really scared when you disappeared for three days. I don't want you overextending yourself like that again."
"...Very well," I conceded, shaking my snow-white hair. "I'll try not to press myself too hard. Thankfully, the Heroine already seems to like me. A month is pushing it, but with a little luck I should be able to bring her around…" Lucy joined forces with the demons all on her own, in the game. Surely she'd be receptive, when the time came, to words from their queen.
The graveyard gate let out a familiar squeal as it opened, just as it always did. Once again, I considered whether I should bring oil on my next visit. It wasn't really my responsibility, but I'm sure that's what everyone else thought as well! Besides, the gate was the entrance to the graveyard - it set the tone for the entire visit. It was worth fixing, and I did have the money...
Actually, I made a lot of money as an adventurer, doing jobs that were too dangerous for most, though I often ended up giving a lot of it back. Really, while I needed enough to support myself, I didn't adventure for the gold! I did it to help people. That's what a Heroine was supposed to do, after all! And fixing the gate would be another way of doing that.
That settled it. Next time I was definitely going to remember to bring oil! Decision made.
I continued to hum to myself as I wound my way down the graveyard path. There were a couple of other mourners in the area, but none of them were close to the route I took. That was fine, though! Everyone was here to talk to someone important to them, after all. It was best to assume people wanted privacy during times like that.
It didn't take me long to spot the proper grave. Despite the squeaky gate, the church graveyard was actually a pretty fancy place! Almost every tombstone had some form of ornate design. Even my mom's grave marker couldn't escape that. It was a stone statue, carved to look like a tree.
I had actually wanted them to plant a real tree on her grave, but they said it was impossible. As it was, letting a commoner like my mom into the church's attached graveyard was a big deal. There were only so many plots within actual city limits, after all!
Or that's what they told me, anyway. Actually, I really wanted to bury my mother next to the cottage where we'd lived together, but Father Tuffel told me that wouldn't do. The Heroine's mother had to be buried properly, on sanctified land. So she was here, instead.
I stared morosely at the grave for a moment, then shook my head fiercely to try and cast off any negativity.
"Sorry mom," I apologized, putting on my brightest smile. "I came to update you on my life, and all I'm thinking about is death! That's not right."
My mom didn't answer, of course. There was no way she could! But I didn't need a verbal response to know that she was listening to me, just like Father Tuffel always said. She was always watching over me from heaven.
"Let's see… Where do I start?" I muttered, mostly to myself. "I've been beating up monsters a lot, so I'm way stronger than I was eight months ago! Father Tuffel says I won't see real growth until I go on the battlefield, but I think the fighting skills I'm picking up as an adventurer will help more than anything! Though I still have a long way to go…"
I paused and turned about in a circle to ensure there was absolutely no one near me. Then I crouched down next to the grave, cupped my hand to my mouth, and began to loudly whisper. "By the way, mom, I totally had sex! And I know, I know, the church says I'm not supposed to have sex without procreation, but everyone does it anyway! I just have to pay the proper fees at the church, and everything's okay, right? And it was totally worth it!"
I reached into my purse and pulled out a tin ingot. Taking hold of it in both hands, I poured magic into the metal and began to twist its shape. The speed of my sculpting caused the tin to get hot in my hands, but it wasn't enough to burn me. I could even stick my hand into a campfire without any issues, so this wasn't going to be a problem! Within moments, I had the perfect miniature sculpture of Eena.
"This is her," I told my mom. "Her name's Eena. And…" Again, I looked all around me, this time going so far as to suffuse some of my magic through the air. Once I was absolutely certain no one was listening, I again cupped my hand to my mouth and began to whisper, much softer than before. "I'm not sure she's human. I've never met anyone who can wield magic like she does. And she's even physically stronger than I am! It's super suspicious, but… I remember what you taught me. Demons are people, too. And I know Eena has a good heart! So, whatever she's doing in human lands, I want to help her."
I hesitated for a moment, and then added the words that had been weighing on my mind. "I really hope she isn't serving the Demon Queen, though… I know demons are just people, the same as us, but… She's the only one I can't forgive. I'm sure she's evil. In fact, she's probably the one who turned the demons against humans to begin with!"
Mom always told me that hatred was like poison for the soul. She believed that there was good in everyone, and I was sure she would say the same about the Demon Queen. But...I wasn't as strong as my mom had been.
I never wanted to fight. If the Demon Queen hadn't sent her assassins, I probably wouldn't be interested in going to war at all. But the Demon Queen already made the first move… I didn't like the rage that flowed through me when I thought of her, but I knew that I had to channel it into a force for justice.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll make sure no one else has to go through what we did, ever again. I'll definitely take out the Demon Queen - no matter what!"
Sylvanna stood in the center of the room. Combining the best traits of slime and girl, she actually cut a rather striking figure, with a delicate little nose, soft-looking lips, and bright pink eyes, all carved in perfect detail from the same pink gelatinous slime. Her body mimicked that of a human above the waist, including her currently uncovered tits which displayed a size and perkiness to rival my own. The illusion dropped below the waist however, as what would be legs had instead formed into a single amorphous base. A tentacle, protruding from the base of her body, was currently wrapped tightly around Bailey's snout.
Abigail, standing behind Sylvanna, was mouthing "sorry," but I ignored her. My focus was locked on Bailey, who was lying on the ground, pawing desperately at the tendril that constrained her. Every time her claws cut through the slime it simply reconstructed itself before it could snap, yet Bailey refused to stop seemingly desperate to escape. It took all my willpower not to freeze the tentacle solid and break it off by force. As it was, I could feel my blood begin to boil.
"Wow, Queen Devilla…" Sylvanna smirked. "I guess the rumors were true! You really are showing everyone a whole new side of yourself. And it seems we're getting quite a view…"
"Let her go," I commanded, ignoring the barb and snarling at the slime while pointing to Bailey.
"The monster?" Sylvanna arched a translucent eyebrow. "That's what we're starting with? No throwing a fit at me for walking into your room? No screaming at your maid for daring to let me in, even though she couldn't stop me if she tried?"
"I said to let her go, Sylvanna. Last warning."
"Fine, fine," Sylvanna conceded, waving her hand dismissively. "No need to snap, it was just a little security measure. Your stupid monster kept trying to eat me." The tentacle around Bailey's snout receded, disappearing entirely into Sylvanna's body. "Now can we talk?"
"In a moment," I told Sylvanna through gritted teeth, before moving to kneel down next to Bailey. I stroked the wolf's snout, traveling from her nose all the way up to her horn.
"You did good," I whispered, even knowing that she couldn't understand me. I wanted to reach out to her telepathically, but I still hadn't tested whether I could pull that off without ingesting one of her hairs. Experimenting on myself was one thing, but I wouldn't risk anyone else.
Even though Bailey couldn't understand me, she seemed to take comfort in my tone and touch. She stopped whining, and instead licked my hand and wagged her tail.
Once I was certain Bailey was fine, I rose to my feet and turned back to Sylvanna, narrowing my eyes at the slime girl. "That 'monster' you attacked happens to be a demon, and a friend. She was simply trying to protect me from an unwelcome intruder."
"Oooh, unwelcome! Do you see how harsh she is with me, Abby?" Sylvanna turned her head to pout at my maid, ignoring my glare. "And she's such a bad liar, too. I've memorized the census report for the entire tower, and we don't have a single horned wolf girl in it. I've never even heard of the species!"
"I'm not lying," I snapped before Abigail could respond. "She's a new resident, and a new species. She was born to an actual horned wolf, as it happens. I trust you know what that means?"
"That you're a really bad liar?" Sylvanna shrugged. "You expect me to believe you just happened to prove the origin of monster girls while you were out on your little vacation?"
"Vacation? I was collecting salt!"
"For three days?" Sylvanna countered, hands perched on her gelatinous hips. "Sounds like a vacation to me. Though, wait..." She mused, placing a hand against her chin, and stroking the tip with her thumb. "Do you still call it a vacation if you weren't working to begin with? I mean, you don't really do anything, do you?"
"That's…" Not fair. That was what I wanted to say. But it actually was, wasn't it? I was supposed to be the queen, the ruler of my people, and yet I did so little to actually lead them.
I wasn't alone in that, mind you. One of the few lessons I'd actually taken to heart was how demon queens throughout the ages had delegated the work of ruling. Some said it was a tradition set by Luci herself, who felt that divine beings had no business governing the minutiae of mortal lives. We still wielded absolute authority of course, but we rarely used it.
In my case, I'd given the power of rule to my generals. The exact nature of their duties varied - for example I had Yara on the bottom floors, managing our food supply, just as Mifa and her harpies were theoretically in charge of scouting. Regardless of what else they handled, however, by and large each of the demon generals acted akin to human nobles, running ten floors apiece.
None of that was an issue, at least for the moment. While part of me thought I should try for a constitutional monarchy, I knew better than to uproot our current system while we were still on the verge of extinction. The problem was that no matter how much a queen delegated, someone still had to oversee everything. Whether it was warding off corruption, mediating disputes between generals, or simply signing things into law, someone still had to wield the actual power of a queen.
That was where Sylvanna came in. Since there was no distinction between a slime girl's body and brain, Sylvanna was able to turn her entire being towards figuring out complex problems. On top of that, she could split herself into copies and merge again, allowing her to do the job of an entire team by herself. It made her a near ideal administrator for the tower. Absolutely perfect, except for one tiny, little detail.
Sylvanna, the only slime in the tower, absolutely loathed work. She was a hedonistic slut by nature, desiring nothing but sex, food, and drink. She indulged constantly. Even as half of her body was devoted to working, and another third to sleeping, the remainder was split in four to ensure she could participate in some form of debauchery at all times. As such, Sylvanna was working, eating, sleeping, fucking, and drinking all at the same time, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
I couldn't even imagine how exhausting that had to be. That was why she took every opportunity to belittle me. And how was I supposed to protest? How was I supposed to call her words unfair, when her hard work was the only reason I had so much free time?
"That's not fair!"
My head snapped up as the words I chose not to speak echoed through the room. Abigail, visible through Sylvanna, had one hand on her hip and a scowl on her lips.
"That's not fair," she repeated when Sylvanna turned around to face her. "Devilla is trying. She got salt for the whole tower, and a new vegetable called 'potatoes,' which is actually pretty damn delicious fried. And okay, there were definitely better uses of her time, but she's trying, and you don't get to just come in here and tear her down like that!"
"Feisty," Sylvanna jabbed, crossing her arms beneath her voluptuous chest. "But you should try defending literally anyone else. Maybe check the dungeons? You'll find murderers with more empathy for their fellow demons than that girl."
"That's-"
"Enough!" I interrupted, stepping forward and slashing my hand through the air to mark an end to the conversation. "It's appreciated, Abigail. Honestly. But you aren't going to convince Sylvanna of anything like this."
"Did you two practice this?" Sylvanna accused, looking back and forth between Abigail and me. "Let me guess - she's tired of me calling her out as a selfish, self-centered brat, so she's making you pretend she actually has a good heart or some such malarky. Probably made you memorize a whole script, right? Oooh, did she complain about not having enough lines, even though she wrote it?"
"Is there a purpose behind your being here?" I asked, trying and failing to keep the frustration from my voice. "It must be important if I'm meeting with all ten feet of you." Saying it was rare for all of Sylvanna to gather in one place would be a drastic understatement. I hadn't seen her whole in years, not since she'd first taken the job of administrator.
"Really?" Sylvanna asked, stretching out her malleable torso so that she could peer down at me from up high. "You can't even guess? Not even a vague hunch? I mean, whatever could the tower administrator want with the queen? It's not like she was promised anything!" She was shouting by the end, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"Promised…? Ah!" My eyes widened with sudden understanding. A promise made between me and Sylvanna? There was only one that came to mind. It was the reason she'd agreed to become my administrator in the first place, despite her hatred of work. It was also part of why I'd been avoiding her.
"You promised me you'd free my people, Devilla! You went through the Rite of Insight. You learned holy magic! And I've done everything you've asked. So why are my people still under the Heroine's spell?" She leaned further forward with each word till her back was craned forward at a truly ridiculous angle, taking up much of the room.
"You know I hate it when you loom over me," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest, and pointedly looking away. I'm sure I looked like a petulant child to everyone in the room. My words certainly suited that image, but the sad truth was that I was simply trying to buy time to think.
Sylvanna's people, the Slime Girls. A long-lived race that rarely propagated, despite being quite good at it. From what I'd been told, they used to celebrate a species-wide holiday. Once every fifty years, all the slimes on the continent would gather together and merge, sharing their thoughts and experiences with the entirety of their population. For one glorious day, the many became one.
It was on that day of union, twenty-one years ago, that the previous Heroine made her move. According to the single eyewitness report, she'd snuck her way into the festivities, strode up to the merged slimes, and with a few whispered words turned the entire great being to stone.
Sylvanna, too young to participate in the merge, was granted a temporary reprieve so that she could spread word of what had been done to her people. Frightened, she came straight to the tower to tell my mother what had happened. And my mother, who had just barely finished giving birth to me, immediately flew off to fight the Heroine and save those poor, petrified slimes.
And that was how she died.
For a long time, some part of me blamed Sylvanna for that. It wasn't her fault, obviously. My mother knew what she was stepping into from the start, I'm sure. But I think that anger was what led me to do what I did - as poor an excuse as it was.
I had dangled the freedom of Sylvanna's people before her. I told her that I would only turn them back if she helped me maintain my rule. I abused her, in a way that I'm not sure can ever be forgiven. And now here I was trying to ignore the problem simply because I couldn't fix it. Sylvanna was completely right about my selfishness.
I wanted to set things right, of course. I needed to set things right. But reversing petrification was holy magic; I couldn't cast it without knowing the right words.
"I thought you'd be used to getting loomed over," Sylvanna remarked, interrupting my thoughts. "You know, considering how short you are." She twisted about without moving her base, easily shifting her upper half a hundred and eighty degrees to look at Abigail, before pointing a finger back in my direction. "Did you know she's only five foot three? It took me a while to notice because she's almost never out of heels."
"I am five foot four and you know it!" I snapped.
"And there you have it," Sylvanna declared, pressing one arm into her waist and taking an impossibly deep bow even as she turned back toward me. "The spoiled princess. The real Devilla Satanne. Good to see you drop the act! Now, tell me why you still haven't freed my people. Unless you'd prefer me taking an extended break from running this damn tower?"
For a long moment, I stood silent, quietly turning the problem before me over and over in my mind. Sylvanna was the force that single-handedly kept the tower running. She was threatening to quit if I didn't do what she wanted. I couldn't tell her no, for both moral and practical reasons, yet if I said yes she'd find out my impotence immediately.
"I… can't," I confessed, seeing no alternative. "I messed up the Rite of Insight. I don't know the spell."
Lying would be pointless. Sylvanna would see straight through any fib I told, and I didn't want to tell one besides. The only way out of this situation, the only way to make up for my past actions, was to be honest with Sylvanna. Then maybe, just maybe, we could work toward a solution together.
"...You don't know the spell?" Sylvanna repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are you telling me that after a lifetime of 'I'll learn everything I need to know from the Rite,' you messed it up?"
"That's right," I confirmed, nodding solemnly. "But I think we can still save your people. We just need to work together a little while longer."
"Right. By which you mean I should work for you a little bit longer, and you should… what? Goof off? Fuck around? Find some 'potatoes'?"
"I told you, that's not fair," Abigail protested before I could respond. "I don't know your full history, but whatever Devilla did to you in the past she's changed. I know what she used to be like, but she's honestly trying her best to do better."
"Still defending our Queen?" Sylvanna challenged. "Don't tell me you actually believe that crap? People like Devilla don't change. They don't get better. That would require them admitting something was wrong to begin with."
"Holy hell, you're almost as stubborn about this as she is," Abigail groaned, before jabbing at Sylvanna with her finger. "Devilla realized something was wrong with her behavior and started making an effort to change it, which is more than I can say for you!"
"That's-"
"Enough!" I interrupted, raising my voice to cut through their argument. Both figures turned to me. Abigail seemed surprised by my outburst; Sylvanna merely looked smug.
"Can't stand being left out of the conversation, can you?" she sniped, smirking triumphantly. "Even when it's all about you to begin with. Same Devilla as always - eternally trying to be the center of attention."
"Believe that if you wish. I deserve whatever you have to say about me, and worse. What I did was wrong, and I am sorry. Deeply and terribly so. But arguing isn't going to bring your people back."
"And neither are you," Sylvanna snapped. "You already said you don't know the spell."
"No, I don't, but I can get it." I noticed Abigail's eyes widening in surprise, but I chose to ignore it. I knew I was taking a gamble here, but if there was another choice I wasn't smart enough to find it.
Besides, Sylvanna deserved to hear the truth.
"You can get it?" she demanded, suddenly jerking forward so her eyes (or what passed for them) were even with mine. "How? The only one allowed to speak the holy tongue is the demon queen, and you just told me you don't know it!"
"That's not exactly true, though. The Heroine knows it as well." And the church, I assumed, since someone had to teach her. The humans probably didn't have a law against writing down the holy tongue. I wasn't entirely sure why we demons did. Another detail that would have been explained by the Rite of Insight, no doubt.
"...You're joking." The look in Sylvanna's gelatinous eyes was one of pure disdain, as if she were looking at a particularly ugly bug. "You want to make a deal with one of those genocidal maniacs? She'd give you a spell, alright! One to turn them into mush!"
"The current heroine isn't like that!" I objected, stepping closer to Sylvanna, until our noses were almost touching.
I expected the slime girl to move backwards. Instead, she morphed her hand into a tentacle to wrap around my neck, lifted my unfortunately light body up before I had a chance to react, and slammed me against my bedroom wall. I found myself suddenly at eye level with Sylvanna, whose malleable face was twisted with rage. Even Bailey, crouched on the floor, seemed momentarily stunned by the suddenness of it.
"What do you know about it?" Sylvanna demanded. "You've never met one of them before. The pure contempt in that human's eyes when she looked at me - the way she talked about petrifying my people like it was just something to check off her to-do list. Those monsters have no respect for demon lives!"
Bailey, recovering from her shock, got to her feet and released a low growl, her lips pulling back to reveal her fangs. It looked like she was about to attack Sylvanna, despite knowing it would be futile, but Abigail stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the wolf. That, combined with a stern look from me, was enough to stop her.
"You're wrong," I told Sylvanna, my feet dangling beneath me as I glared back at her. "Maybe the last Heroine was like that. In fact, I'm sure most of them were. But I've met the current Heroine, and I can tell you now that she is different. I can convince her to help. I just need time."
"You've met her?" Sylvanna asked. Her eyes, like Abigail's, had no pupils. They were merely shallow copies, created from Sylvanna's slime. Yet despite that, perhaps because of my experience with Abigail, I felt certain that Sylvanna's eyes were boring into mine, fury flickering behind them. "You've met her!? What are you planning? Are you going to betray us? Hoping you can live a cushy life if you just turn the rest of us over?"
"Do you truly think so little of me?" I hissed, appalled. I might have been lazy, selfish, and even cruel, but even at my worst I had never taken my subjects' lives that lightly. I'd never ordered an execution, or a public whipping. Even my threat about Sylvanna's people had been nothing more than a bluff.
But that didn't make a difference to Sylvanna, did it? She believed that bluff. Of course she'd believe that I was capable of this too. What had she ever seen that would convince her otherwise?
"Sylvanna," I breathed, laying my hand upon the tendril that was wrapped about my neck. "I did something terrible. I'm sure I betrayed whatever trust you had in your ruler that day. And I know I have no right to your forgiveness. But even though I have no right to ask it, I'm begging you to trust me. Please - help me save your people."
"She means it!" Abigail called out, rising to her feet and stepping between me and Sylvanna. She placed a hand against my thigh, and squeezed it faintly in what I took to be a sign of support. "I know you don't believe it, but she really has changed. She's trying to broker peace with the Heroine, to end the war and save our people."
For a long moment, Sylvanna didn't speak. She didn't even move, her gelatinous form frozen in place. She simply held me in place against the wall, staring into my eyes. Then, without warning, she dropped me to the floor, her tendril receding into the shape of a hand.
"Help you save my people, huh…?" Sylvanna murmured, staring down at me. "Those are the same exact words you used when you made me your administrator. But for some insane reason, it almost sounds like you mean it this time. There must be something seriously wrong with me for even asking this, but can you give me a single reason to trust you?"
"Not a one," I confessed. "There's nothing I can say that can possibly counter my actions so far. But I will save your people, Sylvanna. Even if you don't help me, I'll still find a way. But it will be a lot easier with your help than without."
"...Either you're a better liar than I gave you credit for, or you actually mean it. Alright. I'll work as your administrator for one more month. But you'd better have some slimes ready to replace me, after - or I'll find a way to make you regret it."
"One month," I agreed, looking up at her from my position on the floor. It was a tight deadline. I wasn't sure I could get Lucy to trust me in such a short time, but if all I needed was a depetrification spell, then I thought I might be able to make do.
"I'm going to want progress reports, too," Sylvanna warned. "I'll assign four percent of myself to be your liaison."
"Four percent?" I asked. "That's it?" A slime's body and brain were one and the same. When fully assembled, Sylvanna could handle equations with the speed of a supercomputer, and could recall information she'd heard once several months ago. At four percent of her capacity, she could almost manage basic arithmetic, and could just barely remember her own name.
Sylvanna snorted. "You're lucky I can spare anything. Most of my selves have better things to do."
I opened my mouth to protest, then forced myself to close it. She had more than four percent to spare, I knew. There were at least four clones of that size eating, fucking, and drinking at nearly all times, but Sylvanna likely wasn't willing to sacrifice what stress relief she had just to keep an eye on me. It would be a pain to deal with only four percent of her, but I'd have to make do.
"Very well," I conceded. "You can send her over whenever you need a progress report. But if we're going to pull this off, I'll need your help normalizing my occasional absences from the tower. Tell everyone I'm out searching for resources, or some such. I'll make an attempt to visit back whenever possible, but I don't want anyone run ragged covering for me." I glanced at Abigail with those last words, and she returned an appreciative smile..
"Do you really think you should be asking me for anything right now?"
"No," I admitted. "But I don't think I have much choice. You're the only one with enough influence to convince everyone there's nothing wrong with my absences. And I'll need to be absent quite frequently if I'm to pull this off within a month."
Sylvanna glowered at me for a long moment, gelatinous lips pressed into a thin line. Then, slowly, she nodded. "Fine. If you really want to make it work though, you should learn teleportation magic and at least spend your nights here." She paused, squinting at me. "Assuming that isn't too much work?"
"I'm sure I'll manage. Thank you for the suggestion." I kept my voice polite, if a little flat, choosing not to rise to Sylvanna's taunt. "Now, if you don't mind, Abigail and I have some matters to attend to."
"Uh-huh. I'll leave you to the 'hard work' of being queen," Sylvanna jabbed, turning toward the door. "Do try not to strain yourself!"
I waited until the door clicked closed, then let out a sigh of relief. "I honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen, for a little bit there… if she chose to pull her support from the tower without giving me time to find a replacement, it would have been utter chaos."
"Did you really use her people against her?" Abigail asked, judgement in her eyes.
"Yes," I confessed, staring at the ground as my face burned hot. "I suppose that makes me even worse than you thought I was."
"A little bit," Abigail shrugged. "But you're not who you used to be."
"I told you that recovering my past life memories didn't change who I was, deep down. I might have learned some empathy, but I'm still the same woman who did that, and more."
"No, you're not," Abigail insisted. "I'm not the same succubus I was a week ago, and I didn't get a lifetime of memories shoved into my head. People change, Devilla, whatever Sylvanna says. You just did it a lot quicker than most."
"...Do you really think I deserve forgiveness?" I asked, a waver in my voice as I turned back to meet Abigail's gaze.
"I don't know." Her response was immediate and uncomfortably blunt. "I forgave you. And I think if you let others get to know you, they might forgive you too. But it's all pretty worthless if you never get around to forgiving yourself."
"...Perhaps after I've saved our people, then," I told her, doing my best to smile. The result was flimsy, at best. "Speaking of - I suppose I'll need to find a teacher to help me learn the teleportation spell… and I'll need to get some supplies together for the road… and a large bag I can pretend to be pulling it out of since I can't let people find out about the Empty Bag… Perhaps I should start with finding a piece of paper, and making a to-do list."
"There's paper in your desk. I'll work on finding you a magic teacher, you make... the... " Abigail paused, swaying and then stumbling toward the bedroom wall, thrusting out an arm just in time to catch herself.
"Are you alright?" I asked, pulling myself to my feet and rushing to her side.
Abigail lifted a hand to stop me. "I'm fine," she promised, despite not looking it. Even her tail was drooping.
"What's wrong?" I demanded, side-stepping her upheld hand and reaching out to feel her forehead.
"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to bat aside my hand, but only managing to thump weakly upon my forearm.
"Checking you for a fever." She wasn't hot, to my relief, though her cheeks looked a bit warm.
"For a what?" The confused frown on Abigail's face bewildered me in turn.
"...Right. We're demons." There were fairy tales about magical plagues afflicting our people, but that was about it. We didn't suffer from mundane things like stuffy noses or fevers. It was a good thing too, considering the entirety of demonkind was living in a single tower. If humans tried it, they'd likely be wiped out by a plague.
"Look, I'm fine," Abigail promised, ducking down to escape my hand. "I'm just a little hungry."
"Hungry?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in confusion. "Did you not eat enough fries?"
"Not that kinda hungry," Abigail corrected me, with a terse smile. "I just haven't had time to stop by the brothel for a few days."
"...Because you were covering for me?" I asked, realization beginning to dawn. Abigail told me when she started the job that she needed to feed on sexual energy to survive. I wanted to scold the succubus for prioritizing work over eating, but it was my carelessness that put her in such a position to begin with. If not for her hard work, I might have come back to a tower awash in panic.
"I'll be fine," Abigail insisted. "I'll just head down to my mom's place now and grab a snack. Assuming that's okay with you?"
"It is not."
"Thanks. I- Wait, what?" Abigail stared at me in confusion, then scowled. "Devilla, this isn't a great time for jokes. I really need to eat."
"Indeed, you do," I agreed. "Which is why you aren't going anywhere until you've fed. You're in no condition to fly down to your floor, and I certainly have no intention of letting you walk the distance when you're too weak to even stay upright."
"You can't be serious," Abigail protested, trying to move past me to get to the door.
"As the grave," I informed her, deliberately blocking her. "If you have someone in mind, give me a name and I'll bring them to you. Or if anyone will do, I'll ask among the maids. But if you insist on going down to the brothel, then know that I intend to carry you the whole way."
"I'm fine, Devilla," Abigail maintained, glowering. However, the angry expression broke apart before I could even respond, and she let out a loud sigh. "You're ridiculous to deal with, Devilla. You know that? But if you're that concerned, you should really see to my health personally, don't you think?"
"This isn't the time to tease!" I complained, scowling at Abigail. "I'm worried about your health!"
"Who's teasing?" She was still smiling, but it now came off as smug to me. "Didn't you promise we could have sex whenever I got hungry, back when I took this job?"
"...You're serious?"
Instead of responding, Abigail bent forward, a gleam in her eye. For a moment I thought she intended it as a bow, but then suddenly her lips were brushing against my nipple. The pink peak stiffened instantly at the contact, and a smirk flitted across Abigail's face. That was all the warning I had before her lips closed around the tip of my breast and began to suck.
It felt divine. The feeling of her wet mouth on my nipple, pulling at my perky tit, was enough to make me moan. I had to bite my lip when she parted to prevent myself from whimpering at the loss. At the last moment, just before her lips left me, she pinched my nipple between her teeth and tugged, drawing out a sharp cry.
"I'm always serious about sex," Abigail smirked, before shoving me away. . "Now go lay on the bed."
"And why are you ordering me around?" I demanded, crossing my arms defensively in front of my chest. "I'm your queen, you know."
"What? Do I need to beat you in battle if I want to top?" Abigail laughed. "I'm a domme in the brothel. If you want to feed me, you're going to have to do a little role reversal."
"...Fine. For your health," I grumbled, before marching over to my closet and opening the door. "Bailey, inside. There are some things you do not need to witness." Thankfully my closet was as large as most people's bedrooms. The sheer amount of clothes I had made it feel a little cramped, but it was only an illusion.
Despite that, the sad look Bailey shot me still made me feel like the biggest monster on Solla for suggesting it. For a moment, I wavered. Would it really be that bad letting the wolf watch?
Of course it would be! She wasn't even really a wolf.
But still….
"In, Bailey!" Abigail ordered, interrupting my thoughts with a snap of her fingers.
Bailey reacted instantly, to the tone if not the words. She all but ran into the closet, disappearing into a thicket of skirts. I closed the door behind her with a sigh.
"Don't act like your job is done," Abigail growled at me. "I told you to lay on the bed, not put the dog out."
"You couldn't have seriously expected me to do anything while Bailey was in the room?" I protested. Never mind that I had wavered on that very point only a moment prior.
"I expect you to follow instructions and to let me handle things." Abigail stepped closer as she spoke, stopping a few inches in front of me. She reached out a slender hand and ran it through my white hair. It felt pleasant, until, without warning, she grabbed hold of my tresses and tugged my head back, sending my gaze to the ceiling. Closing the distance between us, she whispered in my ear, "Right now, I'm in charge."
A shiver ran through me at those words. It was the first time anyone had ever spoken to me like that. To be honest, it was making me a little wet.
"Very well," I consented. "Release me, and I'll walk to the bed."
Abigail yanked on my hair again in response. It dealt no actual damage to me, but my scalp was still sensitive enough for it to hurt.
"No walking," she ordered. "Autonomy is for good girls who do what they're told. You obviously can't be trusted."
"Then what do you propose?" I asked, bemused. "Sex on the floor?"
Abigail slid her hand down the length of my hair, stopping around my mid back. At the same time, she moved her other hand down beneath my ass. Then, without so much as a by-your-leave, she picked me up in a casual bridal carry and began to walk toward the bed.
"O-Oh!" I squeaked, blushing faintly. "You're much stronger than you seem…"
"You're just light," Abigail remarked. "Must be because you're so short."
"I am not short!" I whined, pouting up at my maid. "I'm simply… compact."
"Devilla. That's just another way of saying short," Abigail teased, placing me gently atop the pink covers that adorned my bed. "Why do you care so much anyway?"
"Because demon queens are meant to be imposing," I answered, honestly. "Or at least all the portraits I've seen of my ancestors make it seem that way…"
"Is that all it is?" Abigail laughed. "You're never going to be imposing. Ever! It's just not happening. I mean, you're probably the most adorable demon queen to ever live."
"Is that seriously all you have to say on the matter?" I balked. "No words of encouragement? I thought this was where you'd tell me I don't need to measure up physically to match them in spirit."
"Hmmmm…" Abigail mused, tapping a finger against her chin. "Nope. Can't think of any motivational speeches. But I will say this." She climbed into the bed, pressing her thighs into the space between mine, and then leaned down to kiss my nipple once more. My breath caught in my throat as her tongue darted out against my teat, before moving about the nipple in a slow, teasing circle. When she parted from me, she left my peak wet and stiff with need. "You are very fun to tease."
A deep blush colored my cheeks, kindled by the kiss and words alike. The smirk on Abigail's lips said she knew just what she had done to me, and that she wasn't done yet. She was already lowering herself down to cup my breast in one of her hands, and was soon peppering my cleavage with kisses.
I arched my back, thrusting my chest out against her mouth, and gave myself over to the pleasurable assault. But the kisses to my breasts were only a distraction. While I was laying back on the bed, my eyes closed and my breath coming in heavy gasps from her attack on my chest, I failed to notice the hand that was working its way between our bodies. Before I realized it, Abigail already had a hand on my inner thigh, and a thumb edging ever closer to my outer folds.
"If you want to back out, this is your last chance," she said, pressing her short trimmed nails against my upper thigh, hard enough to leave faint imprints on my skin. "In another second, I don't think you'll be able to think straight enough to make me stop."
"I have no intention of backing down," I informed her, shaking my head defiantly. "I set out to get you fed, and I intend to see it through to the end."
"...Alright, drama queen," Abigail agreed, leaning down to press her lips against my breast again. Her lips felt hot against my skin. Her tongue, which darted against my exposed nipple, was firm but gentle. Her humid breath cascaded across my skin. And as I focused on this minutiae, two of her fingers entered my sex.
My body stiffened at the intrusion, even as my wet mound eagerly accepted the digits. I could feel her fingers on my inner walls, feel her nails lightly digging against my flesh. The sensation was so clear that I had to wonder, once again, whether I had some extra nerves in there.
Slowly, Abigail's fingers pressed inward, moving deeper into my body and then slowly withdrawing, her short trimmed nails in constant contact with my channel. Her thumb brushed against the faint stubble above my pussy, and then traveled down again, settling over my clitoris. She teased at it, gently working it away from its hood so that she could run the pad of her thumb across it, again and again.
Each touch to my clit felt like she was sending a bolt of lightning arcing through my body. Her fingers inside my wet slit might as well have been pumping fire through my veins as they worked their way in and out. It felt like an inferno had joined forces with a storm to rampage through my being. My back arched. My lips opened to release a loud moan.
Her fingers continued to work at me, her lips sucking at my tit, her teeth nipping at my flesh. Her kisses plastered my cleavage. Even her tongue made the occasional appearance, licking at the skin that stretched between my breasts. The heat within me kept building all the while, until it felt like I could no longer contain it.
Yet before the heat could overspill, Abigail's finger suddenly stopped moving. The heat that had been washing over me in waves began to recede, and the climax I was so close to fell away. What was going on? Was this some sort of terrible trick? What had I done to deserve this? I wanted to ask, but all that emerged from my throat was a high pitched whine of need.
Abigail chuckled in response, running her thumb lightly across my clit before slamming her fingers back into me, and starting to pump again. With Abigail fanning the flames, it wasn't long before I stood once more at the brink of orgasm. And yet, once more, Abigail's fingers began to slowly withdraw from my sex.
"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, gathering all my willpower to force the words out.
"Just a little fun, your Majesty," Abigail teased, holding up the two fingers that had been stuffed inside me. "This time, anyway. Next time we do this, I intend to make you beg."
"Beg!?" I demanded - or tried to, anyway. The only thing that came out was a strangled squeak as I felt something enter my pussy. Looking down, I could see Abigail's tail inside me, the spade teasing against the interior of my being. Slowly but surely it worked its way in, the tip of the spade teasing at my internal nerves. My walls squeezed down tight on the tail, but still it made its way deeper inside, until at last I felt the spade brush against something deep within my core.
A single touch had me crying out. Abigail grinned, twisting the cord-like tail about within me so that the protruding part could brush against my clit even as her spade worked my g-spot. The heat within me, which had begun to recede once more, was suddenly back with a vengeance. I could feel fire coursing through my veins. It was more than I could handle, more than I knew what to do with. I came, slamming my head back against the bed as I screamed out my lover's name.
"That was a good meal," Abigail commented, parting from my tits and pulling out her tail. She sat upright, straddling my waist.
"Then you're fully recovered?" I inquired, once I had regained control of my body.
Abigail nodded.
"And you promise not to go without food again? Even for my sake?" I pressed.
"I promise, I promise. Honestly, Devilla, you're being a worrywart. I would have been fine even if you hadn't done anything."
"...It seems you still don't understand how much you concerned me," I remarked, casually reaching up to grab Abigail's arms. Then, before she could register what I was doing, I pushed myself up off the bed and pressed her down into the mattress, rearranging myself so that I could straddle her this time.
"Hey! Turnabout's against the rules!" Abigail protested, glowering up at me. Her lips were pulled into a pout, but I thought I could see amusement behind the fake anger.
I wasn't playing, though. "Abigail, I was sincerely worried about you. I don't want you pushing yourself past your limits for my sake."
"Alright," she agreed, readily enough. "I'll try not to push myself too hard. But only if you do the same."
"That's different," I argued, looking away. "The fate of our people rests on my shoulders. I'm supposed to push myself a little."
"Devilla, if you're feeling pushed, then you're probably doing enough to kill a normal person three hundred times over. I'm not saying you shouldn't try your best, but I got really scared when you disappeared for three days. I don't want you overextending yourself like that again."
"...Very well," I conceded, shaking my snow-white hair. "I'll try not to press myself too hard. Thankfully, the Heroine already seems to like me. A month is pushing it, but with a little luck I should be able to bring her around…" Lucy joined forces with the demons all on her own, in the game. Surely she'd be receptive, when the time came, to words from their queen.
The graveyard gate let out a familiar squeal as it opened, just as it always did. Once again, I considered whether I should bring oil on my next visit. It wasn't really my responsibility, but I'm sure that's what everyone else thought as well! Besides, the gate was the entrance to the graveyard - it set the tone for the entire visit. It was worth fixing, and I did have the money...
Actually, I made a lot of money as an adventurer, doing jobs that were too dangerous for most, though I often ended up giving a lot of it back. Really, while I needed enough to support myself, I didn't adventure for the gold! I did it to help people. That's what a Heroine was supposed to do, after all! And fixing the gate would be another way of doing that.
That settled it. Next time I was definitely going to remember to bring oil! Decision made.
I continued to hum to myself as I wound my way down the graveyard path. There were a couple of other mourners in the area, but none of them were close to the route I took. That was fine, though! Everyone was here to talk to someone important to them, after all. It was best to assume people wanted privacy during times like that.
It didn't take me long to spot the proper grave. Despite the squeaky gate, the church graveyard was actually a pretty fancy place! Almost every tombstone had some form of ornate design. Even my mom's grave marker couldn't escape that. It was a stone statue, carved to look like a tree.
I had actually wanted them to plant a real tree on her grave, but they said it was impossible. As it was, letting a commoner like my mom into the church's attached graveyard was a big deal. There were only so many plots within actual city limits, after all!
Or that's what they told me, anyway. Actually, I really wanted to bury my mother next to the cottage where we'd lived together, but Father Tuffel told me that wouldn't do. The Heroine's mother had to be buried properly, on sanctified land. So she was here, instead.
I stared morosely at the grave for a moment, then shook my head fiercely to try and cast off any negativity.
"Sorry mom," I apologized, putting on my brightest smile. "I came to update you on my life, and all I'm thinking about is death! That's not right."
My mom didn't answer, of course. There was no way she could! But I didn't need a verbal response to know that she was listening to me, just like Father Tuffel always said. She was always watching over me from heaven.
"Let's see… Where do I start?" I muttered, mostly to myself. "I've been beating up monsters a lot, so I'm way stronger than I was eight months ago! Father Tuffel says I won't see real growth until I go on the battlefield, but I think the fighting skills I'm picking up as an adventurer will help more than anything! Though I still have a long way to go…"
I paused and turned about in a circle to ensure there was absolutely no one near me. Then I crouched down next to the grave, cupped my hand to my mouth, and began to loudly whisper. "By the way, mom, I totally had sex! And I know, I know, the church says I'm not supposed to have sex without procreation, but everyone does it anyway! I just have to pay the proper fees at the church, and everything's okay, right? And it was totally worth it!"
I reached into my purse and pulled out a tin ingot. Taking hold of it in both hands, I poured magic into the metal and began to twist its shape. The speed of my sculpting caused the tin to get hot in my hands, but it wasn't enough to burn me. I could even stick my hand into a campfire without any issues, so this wasn't going to be a problem! Within moments, I had the perfect miniature sculpture of Eena.
"This is her," I told my mom. "Her name's Eena. And…" Again, I looked all around me, this time going so far as to suffuse some of my magic through the air. Once I was absolutely certain no one was listening, I again cupped my hand to my mouth and began to whisper, much softer than before. "I'm not sure she's human. I've never met anyone who can wield magic like she does. And she's even physically stronger than I am! It's super suspicious, but… I remember what you taught me. Demons are people, too. And I know Eena has a good heart! So, whatever she's doing in human lands, I want to help her."
I hesitated for a moment, and then added the words that had been weighing on my mind. "I really hope she isn't serving the Demon Queen, though… I know demons are just people, the same as us, but… She's the only one I can't forgive. I'm sure she's evil. In fact, she's probably the one who turned the demons against humans to begin with!"
Mom always told me that hatred was like poison for the soul. She believed that there was good in everyone, and I was sure she would say the same about the Demon Queen. But...I wasn't as strong as my mom had been.
I never wanted to fight. If the Demon Queen hadn't sent her assassins, I probably wouldn't be interested in going to war at all. But the Demon Queen already made the first move… I didn't like the rage that flowed through me when I thought of her, but I knew that I had to channel it into a force for justice.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll make sure no one else has to go through what we did, ever again. I'll definitely take out the Demon Queen - no matter what!"
First off, acknowledgements: This chapter was edited by paradoxicalWitchling, and proofread by FallingLeaf.
Second, actual notes! Starting with the fact that when I originally thought up Sylvanna, I was actually planning to have quite a bit of fun with her, and her abilities, in the bedroom. Instead, I ended up with... Well, this! I can't say for certain, but I suspect she's the least popular character in the series. Maybe that'll change one day, but for now, all I can say is "OOF."
And then there's Lucy! This was my first time writing from her perspective, and I gotta say - it was fun. I especially enjoyed writing that last line. Definitely not because I'm evil, or anything~! ...Well, not beyond what's expected of a writer, anyway. c:
Anyway, I'll post the start of volume 2 tomorrow. I'm only a few chapters into it - 3 plus an interlude - but it's shaping up well, in my opinion. The volume will be focused partly on the human kingdom Devilla visited in volume 1, but there will still be chapters - and interludes with Abigail - devoted to the tower. It's also devoted in part to Devilla's childhood, so look forward to learning about that~!
As always, I hope you had fun reading! If you're interested in supporting me, please consider joining my Patreon! I'll be releasing everything up to chapter 13 over the next couple weeks, but generally new chapters stay on Patreon for two weeks before being released to the public - though admittedly most of that time is generally spent getting it edited and proofread. The lowest tier you can get access with is $1, while the higher tiers - $5+ - get you access to my one-shots a month before I post them anywhere else. (I generally try to get those edited during that one month time span, as well.)
Second, actual notes! Starting with the fact that when I originally thought up Sylvanna, I was actually planning to have quite a bit of fun with her, and her abilities, in the bedroom. Instead, I ended up with... Well, this! I can't say for certain, but I suspect she's the least popular character in the series. Maybe that'll change one day, but for now, all I can say is "OOF."
And then there's Lucy! This was my first time writing from her perspective, and I gotta say - it was fun. I especially enjoyed writing that last line. Definitely not because I'm evil, or anything~! ...Well, not beyond what's expected of a writer, anyway. c:
Anyway, I'll post the start of volume 2 tomorrow. I'm only a few chapters into it - 3 plus an interlude - but it's shaping up well, in my opinion. The volume will be focused partly on the human kingdom Devilla visited in volume 1, but there will still be chapters - and interludes with Abigail - devoted to the tower. It's also devoted in part to Devilla's childhood, so look forward to learning about that~!
As always, I hope you had fun reading! If you're interested in supporting me, please consider joining my Patreon! I'll be releasing everything up to chapter 13 over the next couple weeks, but generally new chapters stay on Patreon for two weeks before being released to the public - though admittedly most of that time is generally spent getting it edited and proofread. The lowest tier you can get access with is $1, while the higher tiers - $5+ - get you access to my one-shots a month before I post them anywhere else. (I generally try to get those edited during that one month time span, as well.)
