On the very same day as she'd seen the ghost child, Asuka confined herself to the kitchen to prepare a grand feast as an apology. The guilt from losing sight of Stella, and making everyone worry so much made her heart feel heavy as her conscience bled hurt.
'Why are you doing this?' She thought, trying to fight the selfish instincts of a demon. 'She's not your kid, is she? Why do you care so much if she-'
"Shut up!" Letting go of the knife she'd been using to cut all the vegetables, Asuka exclaimed out loud as she fought the voice in her head.
Much like the others, her demonic side was getting more and more prevalent. Which in turn, urged them all to give in to their instinct of self-satisfying hedonism. Even her loyalty to her master was brought into question, after all, he was sharing his bed with Fay while she was worried sick about what she'd done.
"Are you okay?" From right outside the kitchen door, Riley's voice startled the guilt-ridden Fox.
Jumping up in surprise, Asuka hit her head on an open cabinet door right above where she'd taken the knife out of. Squeaking in pain, she clamped onto the wound. Rubbing it furiously she tried to make the hurt go away quickly.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Quickly approaching her master, Riley tried to check on Asuka but got stopped by her hand held up between them.
"Wait…" Using her healing touch, Asuka soothed the wound in an instant before finally turning to look at Riley.
"Don't surprise me like that again, especially not after we found a ghost in this place," still rubbing the wound, Asuka scowled at her in rage.
"I…Won't," putting up an awkward smile, Riley nodded.
Letting her hand off of her head, Asuka stared at her for a while, but then huffing a sigh she turned around to cut the vegetables again. Riley, however, didn't seem to be able to take a hint and moved beside Asuka to check up on her further.
"Is something wrong? What are you even preparing so late at night?" Riley asked, glancing at the messy state of the kitchen.
The flour on the counter paired with the multiple containers filled with vegetables and meat had taken hold of her curiosity and she even wanted to help Asuka prepare whatever she was trying to make.
"Riley please don't disturb me, I haven't been feeling too forgiving as of the last few days…" Closing her eyes, Asuka shut her lips before continuing further. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what's happening, but feel like I'm being forced to change by something."
"You too?" Riley's response surprised Asuka.
Shifting her gaze to her, she had no clue what Riley meant by it and yet it terrified her deeply.
"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyes gawking at Riley like a Hawk.
Turning her head towards the cutting board, Riley slid it towards herself and started chopping up the rest of the vegetables before replying.
"Everyone's feeling more and more tense lately, and I personally believe that it's because of our transformation into demons," raising the knife, she playfully flailed it around in the air. "After all, we're supposed to be more vicious, more self-serving, and most of all, indulgent for every whim and desire."
Taking a moment to process everything Riley had just said, Asuka couldn't agree more with her claims. As a succubus, wasn't it her nature to be self-serving? And when she thought of it that way, she instantly figured out what was wrong with her head.
'Is this slow transcendence into hedonism how you end up like Moriyana or even Asmodia?' Given that the mistress was considered the mother of all lust demons, that assessment made a lot of sense to her.
"We need to be careful," She told Riley.
"Yeah…" Riley nodded in response. "But for now, let me help you prepare whatever you're preparing."
With a smile on her face, Riley seemed ready to do whatever was asked of her. Having just been helped to untangle her feelings, Asuka couldn't deny her request to help her prepare the feast. Thus, as the night phased into morning, the two busied themselves in the kitchen, preparing all kinds of dishes to have Fay forgive Asuka.
Being demons, they were easily able to overcome their need to sleep and set up the dishes at the dinner table before anyone had even woken up. But by the time they finally got to sit down and take some rest, their eyes grew weary and both of them fell asleep on each other's shoulders.
One after the other as everyone came down the stairs after waking up to the hint of fresh food laid on the table. They noticed the two hurdled up on a couch with their clothes covered with all kinds of stains from sauces, gravies, as well as crumbled pieces of bread.
"I suppose, she was really bothered by what happened last night," standing before the two, Haruki kept looking at their dozing heads.
"I…I know it wasn't her fault, but," walking up beside him with Stella still sleeping in her arms, Fay huffed up an exalted sigh. "I just got a little too worried."
"It's okay," Haruki assured, resting his hand on her shoulder.
"Do you guys wanna get started? I'm feeling really hungry just from the smell of all the meat," asking from the other end of the dinner table, Athena asked, drooling from her mouth to taste the delicious-looking meat.
Alice, Margarette, and Moriyana were no different, the whiff of toasted bread, butter, soups, and stewed lamb as well as skewered meat was inducing a hunger they never knew their stomach was capable of.
"Should I wake them up?" Fay asked, looking at the two sleeping soundly.
"How about you leave Stella with them while we eat instead? I think she'd appreciate that more," nodding at Haruki's suggestion, Fay leaned forward and booped Asuka on the nose.
Feeling a tickle on her skin, Asuka opened her eyes and saw Fay standing really close to her face. Flustered, she looked away, but as she noticed her holding Stella towards her, she turned back to Fay and took the sleeping slime girl from her hands.
"Take care of her, okay? We're gonna go and find something to complain about in the food that you made now," with a sarcastic smile, Fay propped herself back up.
Shifting her gaze between Stella and Fay, Asuka felt her heart warm up from the inside and a silent smile crept up on her face.
"Thank you…" She whispered, her eyes tearing up lightly.
Nodding at Asuka, Fay left her daughter in her arms and went straight for the dinner table. Being trusted with the angel, Asuka knew she'd been forgiven for her mishap, and now that her guilt was gone, she felt even more attached to Fay and her daughter.
'I love you.' She thought, watching the little girl in her arms.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on fre(e)webnov(l).com