“It’s okay, mother,” I finally managed to say, hesitantly returning her hug. “I’ll manage. And I’ll make it back. Definitely.”
I was a hero at heart. How would she react when that truth came to light?
At any rate, my trip to the Alliance had been set in stone. Honestly, I wanted to go as soon as possible. But I still had a mountain of work to deal with before I left, such as arrangements for the autonomous zone and my night elf hunters. So, I decided to start with Evaloti.
But upon my arrival, I had an unexpected visitor.
“What?! Emergias is dead?!”
“You didn’t know?!”
It was the sex-mad demon prince himself—Daiagias. On his way home after the conquest of Areina, he had stopped by Evaloti for a rest. Word of what had happened with Emergias hadn’t reached him. While we were having tea at the highest lookout in Evaloti Castle, he noticed something was off with me, and so asked about what was going on. The answer had shocked him to his core.
“On our way back, we did see Izanis messengers flying by. But we just ignored them,” he explained.
So they had missed the message. He wasn’t aware of anything regarding the incident at Fort Aurora.
“So...Emergias is gone...” he murmured into his tea. Though they hadn’t been close by any means, he had still lost a little brother. Even Daiagias would— “Anyway, that’s not important.”
Oh. Never mind. Guess we’re moving on.
“So, about Rubifya. You swear you’re telling me the truth, right? I can trust you on this?” He looked at me, eyes dead serious.
“Uh...yes, I’m telling the truth. That wasn’t my intention at all,” I replied wearily.
He had heard about the last dinner party, when I had invited Rubifya to have a chat over some tea. Daiagias had been worried I was trying to steal her heart (our sister’s heart!) while he was away on the front lines.
“I don’t mean to sound rude, but I think it’s quite strange to feel desire for our own sister, even if we only share a father. Granted, as far as demons go, I can’t deny her remarkable attractiveness.”
Daiagias’s face scrunched unhappily.
“See, Daia. I told you. Your little brother isn’t like that!” Libidine, the Devil of Lust and sole member of Daiagias’s harem present, sighed. As usual, she was wearing her Bon Dage outfit, making it hard to know where to look at her.
“True, I don’t sense even a hint of lust from you...” Daiagias nodded as he stared at me.
Oh, he’s using his authority to check me out, huh?
“But I also didn’t sense anything from you toward your pets Liliana and Layla, right? I can’t detect love without traces of lust. Guess I need to watch out.”
Is he worried about me pursuing a completely platonic relationship with Rubifya...?
“Don’t worry, Daia,” Libidine declared confidently. “It may be a tad too faint for you to catch, but he is definitely passionate for little Layla.”
I choked on my tea. What the hell is this about?!
“But when you bring up Rubifya’s name, there’s nothing. Not even a whiff. And when it comes to mortals, we all know where there’s love there’s lust.”
“Oh, really? I guess I have no reason to worry then.”
Speak for yourself!
I nervously glanced over at Layla, whose head had dropped, her cheeks flushed. Hey, come on! If you react like that, things’ll get super awkward the next time we ride! And we also gotta worry about our feelings leaking through Konectus!
Ante started laughing uproariously.
“I’m sorry for doubting you, Zilba.”
“Uh...don’t worry about it...” It was honestly whatever. We had more important things to discuss. “Anyway, Daiagias. I actually have a request,” I said, straightening in my chair.
“What is it? I’ll do whatever I can,” he promised casually, taking a sip of tea.
“While I’m gone, the autonomous zone will need a governor.”
“Anything but that. Sounds like a pain.”
“You just said you’d do whatever you could!”
Like literally two seconds ago! The words barely left your mouth! You can’t change your mind that quickly!
“You see, I’m quite the busy man. There are so many back at the castle in need of my love,” he said, starting to rise from his chair.
Oh don’t you dare run away!
“Please, at least hear me out. I’m sure you’ll find it’s a good fit for you.”
Honestly speaking, my number one pick for governor in my absence was Daiagias. Daiagias was (in a way) (for a high-level demon) quite kind toward the other races, and had no interest in politics. That meant he wouldn’t try to get to me by meddling with the autonomous zone. As long as he stuck to my plans, my officers in the autonomous zone would keep things running exactly how I liked. Besides that, he was pretty strong and had his own influence. As far as I knew, there was no one in the kingdom more fitting for the position than him. I knew full well it would be too much of a nuisance for him to accept, so I had the perfect leverage up my sleeve to make him cooperate.
I turned not to Daiagias, but to Libidine.
“How would you like to have a child with Daiagias?”
Until now, Libidine had been all smiles while listening to our conversation. Now, her face went deathly serious.
Libidine was the Devil of Lust. And it was no secret that she and Daiagias frequently indulged in that vice together. But she was still no more than a devil, a bundle of magic bound into a shape resembling a person. No matter how much they tried, it was physically impossible for her to get pregnant. But was that a fate Libidine was willing to accept?
“Zilbagias,” Daiagias spoke softly. “This isn’t something you would dare joke about, right?” The air crackling around him was more than enough of a threat of what I’d face if I tried to pass this off as anything less than sincere.
“Of course it’s not a joke. I know of a way so that anyone, even a devil, can obtain a body that would allow them to bear children.”
“And so, in exchange for that secret, you want me to take up the role of governor? The offer isn’t bad, but I’ll need some proof first.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Let me show you right now, and you can make your decision after that.”
“What...?” Daiagias gave me a suspicious look...and then I transformed into my human form. Both Daiagias and Libidine went wide-eyed—their eyes looking like pairs of saucers.
Even if we were on relatively good terms, I couldn’t leave myself in such a weakened state in front of a potential enemy for too long, so I immediately dispelled the magic.
“This magic comes from the dragons. It’s called Anthromorphy. Though it is dragon magic, we demons are capable of learning it, as are devils,” I explained, taking a sip of tea. “My Devil of Knowledge, Sophia, learned it. Once she was in human form, she drank herself into a stupor. In exchange for gaining the weaker body of a human, you also gain all of its physical capabilities.” Including, of course, reproduction.
Daiagias and Libidine stared at me in shock.
“What do you...”
I started to ask, but Daiagias cut me off, shaking his head as if to dispel a sense of vertigo. “Dragon magic? Now that you mention it, they are always walking around in humanoid form.” He groaned, glancing over at Layla. “And we can learn it? Devils too? I never thought there would be advantages to being human. Still, it makes sense. No wonder you are so calm about being exiled.”
“I would appreciate it if you kept this little secret between us,” I added.
“But why tell us this much?” Daiagias asked. “What if I were to refuse? Now that I know it’s dragon magic, I could easily figure out the rest on my own. All I would have to do is ask the dragon that brought us here about it. I don’t need your help in the least.”
“That’s true,” I said. He was absolutely correct. But... “But if you refused, then what? So you gain the magic. Where are you going to have your child? Where will Libidine hide while she’s pregnant? What about when she gives birth? Where are you going to raise the child?”
Now the two of them looked like they had been struck by lightning.
“While she’s pregnant, she won’t be able to return to her devil form. The child would disappear.”
A look of terror passed over Libidine’s face. She wasn’t even pregnant yet, and still her hands shot to cover her stomach.
“She will need to stay in human form for nine whole months. That of course means the child will be born human too.”