A week had passed since the battle of Aria, and the news about the demonic kingdom's true nature had begun circulating around the empire from the emperor's lips itself. After the announcement he made, revealing the truth, all of Haruki's servants, especially his closest aides began rushing to carry out their plan to hide away in human society.
The citizens were pronounced free to do as they will, however, bound to their master they could still easily be called whenever Haruki deemed fit. In the meantime, all of them were advised to spread out and stay hidden in human societies and convert anyone to demons that they could without drawing any suspicion.
"How are the maids taking the news?" Fay asked, walking up to Rose by the garden as she was readying the carriages for everyone's departure.
Done with loading the last box into a special wagon made to resemble a traveling trader's vehicle, Rose dusted her hand and turned around to face Fay.
"Not well, but what do you expect, they're all mostly demi-humans, life without a master can be a living hell for them," being the only one with some authority, Rose had been busy with worry throughout the whole week, and the stench of sweat coming from her body was enough to attest to it.
Letting out a sigh, she faked a smile and shifted her attention to Stella being held up in Fay's hands. At first, she tried to reach for her, but then as Stella winced and buried her face over her mother's neck, Rose decided not to take the young girl in her arms before taking a proper bath.
"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that the others are ready to leave, so…" Opening one of her arms, Fay invested Rose into a hug.
"I'm not sure if I should-"
Despite the excuse, Fay wrapped her hand around Rose's waist and pulled her body into a hug.
"We'll miss you, are you sure you can't come with us?" A bit teary, Fay urged her to accompany them in their pretense of being traveling merchants.
However, given her responsibility to her family, she couldn't accompany them wherever Haruki and his companions went. Instead, she had decided to flee away from the duchy and find a quiet place to live with her children for a while.
"You know I can't, don't worry though," wrapped her hands around her as well, Rose continued with a heavy heart. "Remember that brooch Shin wears? Just hold onto it and call for me, and I'll come to your side whenever."
"How?" A bit baffled, Fay asked peering up at Rose.
"It-It's a long story, perhaps I'll see you some other time," brushing off the matter, Rose let go of Fay and took a step backward. "Anyways, I'll be going now, my kids are probably waiting by the spring already. You guys should get out of here soon too."
Spreading her wings wide, Rose gleamed at Stella timidly eyeing her. Blowing a kiss in her direction Rose made her let out a giggle.
"Take care, you two," saying that she shot up high and quickly flew off into the distance.
***
Back on the bedside stool like the first day they'd met him, Asuka watched over Haruki as he went through an enigmatic slumber. Ever so often, she would get off and try to heal him with her touch, but no matter how many times she tried he wasn't showing any signs of waking up.
"Asuka?" Breaking Asuka's gaze away from her master, Moriyana knocked on the opened door to get her attention.
Turning to the voice, Asuka gave Moriyana a lifeless stare with her sunken eyes. And it wasn't just her eyes that had grown weary, but even her skin had lost its glow after the tragedy that hit her master.
'It's heartbreaking to see her like this.' Even Moriyana couldn't help but feel bad for the blonde demi-fox.
"Do you need help changing Haruki's clothes?" Walking into the room, Moriyana used her mana to try and assess just how much of Asmodia's mana was still remaining on Haruki's body. "Margarette and I are going undercover to Lamenia, but if you need any help before that let me know, okay?"
'A few days, maybe? He should be waking up soon.' Although the news was cherry, she didn't want to give any false hope to anyone in case her assessment was wrong.
"No, I'm fine, I can change master's clothes by myself." getting off the stool, Asuka walked closer to the bed. "Wait, can you hide his horns and tail? Fay wants to leave soon, so can you hide Master's horns and tail so it's not so obvious that he's a demon?"
"Sure," holding her hand over Haruki, Moriyana made a sprinkling motion over his body. A glittering stream of dust washed over from her fingers, and soon enough Haruki's horn and tail were hidden away completely.
"There," drawing her hands away, Moriyana turned to Asuka. "Also, good luck taking care of him, we'll join you guys soon once we've created connections with the royals in Lamenia."
Giving Asuka a quick hug, Moriyana headed out the door. Left alone with Haruki, Asuka began changing his clothes to suit the attire of a commoner so he could blend in when they began pretending to be traveling merchants with Fay acting as their guide.
"Master, I sent the goblin queen and Arachne back to the minotaur dungeon. I'm sorry for not asking for your permission and hope you'd forgive me for it," talking to him as he slept had turned into her usual routine.
By the time she was done changing Haruki's clothes, Fay walked into the room after having sent off Rose. Standing by Asuka's side, she handed Stella to the wolf spirits to coddle, while the both of them got Haruki up on his feet.
"Are you sure this plan is going to work?" Asked Asuka, still dubious about their plan to turn into traveling merchants.
"Don't worry, neither I nor Moriyana have been declared to be demons, and given our reputation, if they suspected us to be one, they would've already spread that information," Fay explained as they carried Haruki out of the room.
While taking him down the hallways, and descending down the stairs, Asuka looked around at the castle walls to take it all in since she wasn't sure if this was going to be the last time she would ever get to be here.
"I've spent most of my life within these walls, I don't know if I can even survive the outside world without help," feeling her heart squeezing inward, Asuka wanted to cry her eyes out.
"That's why you have me, I've spent my life on the road…" Taking a brief pause, Fay turned to look at Stella playfully riding the wolves on their back. "Ever since my parents sold me to a traveler that is."
Vowing never to let any abandon her child as her parents did to her, Fay kept on walking towards the exit with no intention of getting caught by the emperor's minions.
'Soon enough, we'll have countless people hunting demons all over the empire.' Although she feared the possibility, she'd already taken measures to decrease the chances of them ever getting caught.
"Asuka, do you know why we set the demonic citizens free?" Fay asked right as the two got to the open castle gates.
Shifting her gaze to Fay with Haruki sagging under her arms, Asuka was caught off guard by the sudden question.
"Hmm? Why? I don't know," She replied, curious about the answer.
With a wide smile on her face, Fay let out a chuckle and took a step out through the castle door.
"To infest this world with demons, because if there are shape-shifting demons everywhere in this world, then how the hell would they find the true leader?" As the realization from her words hit Asuka, she finally understood just how brilliant the plan was.
"Nobody really knows what master looks like, and even if they did they can never be sure," finally after a week of scowling, a gentle smile crept up Asuka's face.
"That's right, as long as we don't stick our heads out, they can't hammer us down even in their wildest dreams," saying that Fay grabbed Haruki from both sides and urged Asuka to get into the wagon.
Once she stepped on board the wooden planks, Riley walked up beside her from the back of the carriage.
"Let me help," With Riley's help, the two got Haruki on board.
Laying him down on a hay bed, they were all finally ready for departure. Giving the Frost castle a final glance from inside the wagon, Asuka let her emotions wash off before asking Riley to take them away.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢