“I mean that you were sleeping right in front of that doll, even wanting to share a bed with it. And you let yourself be drawn into an impossible battle alone.” As the implication of Levi’s words dawned on Aisha, a blush crept into her cheeks. The battle was one thing, but the affair with the doll had been Aisha’s secret. Levi grinned like a true devil. “Oh, but you were such an adorable thing, weren’t you!” she said. “Worrying yourself until you were red in the face about whether or not you should invite him into the bath with you...”
“H-H-How do you...?!” Aisha stammered. Her face was quite red now.
Levi’s smile took on a sadistic edge. “Then, you would make up your mind to part ways with him and storm out of the inn, only to realize that it was still the middle of the night and go marching right back. Did you even notice the strange looks the people at the inn were giving you? You were quite careless, you know.”
“Gh! I...! You were watching?!”
“Of course I was! I was protecting you! I was watching when you asked him to pat you on the head, all embarrassed, and I was watching the whole time he was hand-feeding you sweets!”
“N-No!” Aisha cried. “I just did that because Izuna told me to! I-I wasn’t just giving in to the temptation or anything! I swear!” The devil vanished like she was fleeing from Aisha’s voice. Aisha felt so embarrassed she could practically die. Even as she went on shouting her excuses, there was no sign of Levi.
“That Aisha...” Levi said to herself, outside the reach of Aisha’s senses. “If something were to happen to her, it might just send Mistress on a rampage. I wonder if she’d destroy the world.”
~ ‡ ~
“All right, Levi,” said Nacht, her voice drained of all emotion. “This is it. Any last words?”
Levi’s carefree demeanor was gone. Her shoulders were shaking with fear as she was bound in place by a dragon made of pure light. A ball of condensed mana was floating in the air above Nacht’s hand, ready at any moment to turn to a violent attack. “W-Wait!” the devil protested. “C-Calm yourself, Mistress! You aren’t seriously going to use the Ars Draconis in a crowded city, are you?” If Nacht were to cast an Ars Draconis spell with the amount of mana she had gathered, it would reduce a city twice the size of Euto Fia to ash.
“Do you think this is a joke?” Nacht asked. “I told you, didn’t I? That I’d kill you if you laid a hand on my Aisha.”
Her body bound by her glowing restraints, Levi fervently shook her head. “Nooo! Have mercy! That was just...you know! It was just a greeting! It’s normal for us devils to greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. Didn’t you know?”
“What, like the French?” Nacht shot back. “Then how come you’ve never greeted me like that, hm?” Levi went silent. For a while, the two leered fiendishly at each other, overlooking the city from the roof of the clock tower.
“You have quite the cruel streak, don’t you, Mistress?” Levi said. “If you were watching the whole time, can’t you just be glad that I saved her life?” This time, it was Nacht who fell silent. “Aisha was perfectly safe with me around. Mine wasn’t the hand seeking her, was it?”
“Of course not,” said Nacht. “That much is obvious.”
“Oh,” Levi said. “Of course not.” Her attempt to rattle Nacht had failed.
“I’m giving you another job, Levi,” said Nacht. “As punishment for touching Aisha.”
Despite Nacht’s rough handling, Levi smiled delightedly and nodded as she received her orders. “Oh!” she said. “This job is a little more to my liking.”
And with that, the two figures vanished.
“Come on!” Aisha cried, frantically combing her surroundings. “Miss Levi! Where did you go?! I swear, it wasn’t what you think!” But no matter how hard she looked, she saw no one in the open space or the back alleys. Her humiliated voice echoed quietly through the streets, the sound swallowed up by the worn-down wood of the buildings.
Maybe it was because of the noise she was making, or maybe it was simply still beyond Aisha at her current level to sense her mistress when she had deliberately made her presence faint, but Aisha didn’t notice that Nacht was there until she was right in front of her. “Ah!” she cried, swallowing loudly as Nacht simply looked at her.
Nacht eyed her beloved servant up and down, from her hair, bright like the sun, to the big, round eyes that made her look so much like a cute little animal, wet and trembling as they blinked up at her. She looked over her slender body, dressed in her black-and-white maid outfit. She looked unreal, like some kind of illusion. A tremor ran through Nacht as she suppressed her desire to immediately reach out toward the girl.
Aisha looked up anxiously. Nacht wanted nothing more than to give her a great big hug, but after the mistake she had made, she simply couldn’t. She had sent Aisha away according to her own whim. How would Aisha feel about her showing up again just as suddenly? Her body wouldn’t move. She tried to speak, but no words came.
Finally, in a faltering, uncertain voice, she managed to say something. “H-Hey, Aisha! Long time no see!” She had lost her nerves. That was the best she could manage. Aisha was right in front of her, no more than a single stride away, but the distance might as well have been infinite. It was like they were separated by an impassable chasm.
“Mistress...” Aisha whispered under her breath, too quiet for an ordinary person to hear. Nacht, however, could make it out clearly. It was Aisha, saying her name. “Mistress Nacht!” she cried, closing the distance between them with no hesitation at all.
They had been apart for a matter of days, but now, to Nacht, it felt like the blink of an eye. All of the warmth she had lost that day came crashing back. Everything had felt wrong and uncertain, but with Aisha by her side, Nacht felt like she could at last be herself again.
“I...” Aisha said. “I...!” Her throat was quivering so much that it was a struggle for her to even speak.
“You fought well, Aisha,” Nacht said. “I should never have been so cold to you. I’m sorry.” Nacht meant those words from the bottom of her heart.
“No!” Aisha protested, her voice full of regret. “Mistress...you were right. I was acting like a child. I could tell it wasn’t real, but I was just too weak to resist...”
Nacht shook her head. “That’s not true, Aisha,” she said, a bittersweet smile on her face. “I’m the one who was weak. I was too afraid of what you might say to take even one step, but you took the time to think, and worry, and hurt, and move forward all on your own. Between the two of us, I’d say you were much stronger.”
Nacht had no intention of making excuses. She had behaved terribly—jealous of an illusion, drunk on her own foolish pride, and afraid of what Aisha might choose. Deep down, she felt absolutely pathetic.
And yet... And yet...
As long as Aisha was by her side, Nacht could do anything. That, she believed wholeheartedly.
“You belong to me, Aisha,” Nacht said. “That hasn’t changed. I should have never sent you away. I just got swept along by my emotions. It was horrible of me. Do you still want to stay by my side?”
Aisha looked up from where she had buried her face in Nacht’s chest. Her eyes were wet with tears. “Everything that I am belongs to you, Mistress,” she said. “My body and my heart. That’s what I swore to you, and I’ve never once regretted it.”
It was the most welcome sound Nacht had ever heard, finer than any orchestra. Her heart felt full to bursting with joy. She held her precious servant in a tight embrace, fighting to keep from shaking.
“Welcome home, Aisha.”
“I’m home, Mistress.”