In the same evening, in the Vanara-occupied Anastasia kingdom, Lortell lay on a plush sofa in her palace. The living room felt too big, too quiet without Esdeath, and she was definitely feeling very lonely.
To cure her loneliness, she was doing what she had been doing for a while now, laying back on the sofa, her hand disappearing beneath the soft fabric of her clothes, her fingers moving just where she wanted them to.
She gasps Esdeath's name every time she curls or rounds her fingers, her toes curling and her feet stretching wildly against the velvet cushions.
She had been planning to go for the next three to four hours of continuous sessions, but after half an hour, she starts to get seriously disturbed by something or, more accurately—someone.
She pulls back her fingers, the sudden intrusion irritating her. Sitting up on the sofa, she turns to look at the entrance to her chamber. "Do you have a thing for watching others masturbate?" she exclaims, not a bit embarrassed that someone was actually watching her.
The dark nun, Meldia, was standing at the entrance, a stark figure against the evening warm light of the room. Her serene expression was completely unchanged. "You were busy, so I decided to wait till you get it done," she says, her voice as calm as ever.
"But it seems, you didn't get it done even once," she adds, and somehow that expressionless way of speaking felt like she was mocking her.
"I don't need any sexual guidance from a virgin," Lortell shouts in frustration, the conversation more between two bickering friends than a superior and her junior subordinate.
Lortell sighs and slumps back against the sofa, the moment ruined. "I wanna fuck Esdeath so badly. When is she gonna come back?" she sighs, her voice laced with longing.
She then looks back at Meldia, her patience worn thin. "Speak, why did you come?" she asks, her tone sharp.
Meldia nods immediately, stepping into the room. She places the documents she's carrying on the ornate table in front of the sofa.
"I was using third squadron members to do background checks on everyone, just like you told me to, but two people are quite unique and shocking," Meldia says.
Lortell nods lightly, leaning forward to grab the documents and reading them one by one.
"Corin will be appointed three teachers, Verdes will train Brenna and Ravenna. I'll continue to train Selene. Everything's same though?" Lortell says, putting those papers down with a flick of her wrist.
Meldia shakes her head. "No, it is about their background," she says.
"Background?" Lortell repeats, her interest piqued. She takes another batch of papers from the stack and begins reading them.
It was written about Ravenna Thorne.
Lortell's eyes slightly widened. "So Ravenna is actually a bastard daughter? No wonder that bitch don't have any dignity or pride of a royal," she says, a cruel smirk forming on her lips.
"Yes, it would've been quite impossible to track this information, but after the powershift, many people got to know about it, It seems king had relationship with his beautiful head maid and ended up having a child with her" Meldia says.
"Heh! It would've been quite good to piss off the king if I had known this before. What a pity," she sighs with a small chuckle, taking a look at the second person's background.
"That gloomy girl, huh," she murmurs, thinking about Alice as she reads it.
As she reads, she gets more and more confused by it. "Princess of Eclipse Dynasty? What's this? Even I don't know about it?" she asks, her brow furrowed in genuine confusion.
****
In the demon kingdom, the crescent moon was here, shining brightly in the sky alongside with thousands of stars, casting a silvery light over the city.
Esdeath had led Maruti to a secret black market. Well... it wasn't that much of a secret. She could even see some of the city guards and other officials there, mixing with the crowd as if they were any other customer.
Even slavery of humans was here. Whether it was elves, humans, or even mermaids, the captured ones often turns into slaves, their chains rattling softly as they were paraded past the stalls.
"Hmm... I'll take 30% cut," the giant demon says, standing behind the counter of his shop. He was almost two and a half meters tall and with width befitting his stature, his head actually touching the ceiling of his shop, forcing him to hunch slightly.
"It's too much, big guy," Maruti protests, her voice tight with annoyance.
But Esdeath interrupts her. "We are in hurry, so we'll take it," she says, her tone leaving no room for argument. She places several heavy gold biscuits on the wooden counter, the sound dull and final.
Maruti just sneers, crossing her arms and looking away, her jaw set in a firm line.
The giant demon nods, and takes all the gold biscuits from his two fingers like he was grabbing salt to put it on his dish, his movements surprisingly delicate for his size.
He turns around, putting the gold in his case and then picks up a pouch of gold coins and drops it on the counter with a heavy thud.
Esdeath takes the pouch of gold coins which can be used here. "You know of any transport personnel for long distance?" she asks, her gaze steady.
"King's palace. There are a lot of carriage drivers and caravans there. It is basically a travel hub for adventures to go around the kingdom or even deeper outside. Of course, it'll cost you more if you do," the giant demon replies, his voice a low rumble.
"Okay, cool," Esdeath says, turning around to leave the black market.
Maruti follows her from behind, her footsteps a little heavier than before.
They had money now, so they could take a carriage or other transportation to go to the other side of the demon Kingdom and finally enter Terra Divina.
"So like... are we going to demon king's palace?" Maruti asks, breaking the silence between them.
"Yes," Esdeath nods, not slowing her pace.
"Inside as well?" Maruti asks again, a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"Not now. It's not like just anyone can go inside. I could pull something off in few days but we don't have that much time," Esdeath answers, her voice practical and to the point.
Maruti didn't ask anything further and continues to follow her, her eyes now scanning their surroundings with renewed interest.
The demon king's palace was in this same city, and they already made it to more than halfway. As they walk for the next half an hour, the sky darkens more, the stars seeming to multiply.
They could see multiple demons and succubus flying in the sky, their wings silhouetted against the moon as they go one place to another. And then there it was, the grand majestic palace, made from black cobblestones that seemed to drink the light.
The design was very similar to the grand church in the kingdom of the church. Actually, in reality, that church's design was inspired by the demon king's palace.
Esdeath wasn't surprised by it. She already knew why they made the church look like the demon king's palace. It was succubi who made them after all, a secret irony hidden in plain sight.
"Whoa, it's even bigger than Maddie's palace," Maruti says, her head stretching up fully yet the tip of the palace was still more high up.
"How much people live in there? A whole city?" she jokes, but the size of it could surely contain thousand of people.
Not to forget, a huge garden surrounds it, with a gate so big that it might take at least dozens of people to just open it, the iron bars looking more like the entrance to a fortress than a palace.
"Dang, will there be demon lords there as well?" Maruti questions, her voice a little quieter now.
"Most likely yes, but one at best. Demon lords have duty of governing different territories. So we don't have to worry about bumping into one," Esdeath answers, her eyes scanning the massive structure.
"What can they even do if we bump into one?" Maruti casually replies, walking in her usual confident pace.
Esdeath didn't reply to it but it sure made her thinking. "My face is very similar to Jeanne's. Will they mistake me for Jeanne if they ever saw me?" Esdeath thought, but no possible answer came to her mind.
It has already been more than two hundred years, and Jeanne just stayed at the demon realm for sixteen years at best. She had no idea if they remember her face till now perfectly.
Esdeath and Maruti walk around the grand palace, their footsteps echoing on the polished stone walkway. There were luxury shops and hotels all around it, their windows glowing with warm light, displaying everything from enchanted weapons to silks.
It didn't take them long to find the carriage stops and caravans, a busy hub of activity just a short distance from the palace gates.
Carriages here were not run by individuals. It was more like an association running multiple carriages, hiring carriage drivers, specially awakened demons for long travels outside of the demon Kingdom.
Compare to that, caravans were much cheaper. Most of the time, it was a slave caravan or merchants that sold essence stones and other goods while traveling, their wagons piled high with goods and covered in dust from the road.
People can even find jobs here, or be a companion who helps them throughout the journey and can sell their own products, but they should share some part of their profits with the caravan leader.
Still, a caravan would take too much time, maybe even a month to just get to the other side of the demon Kingdom.
Thus, a carriage was the best option.
Instead of just finding a carriage driver, they directly went to a big office building behind it.
They met the receptionist there.
And surprisingly, the receptionist also turned out to be a female bull demon, with brown hair tied back in a tight bun, the same horns as Maruti, and a silver ring piercing her nostril.
She immediately smiles the moment she sees Maruti, a wide, friendly grin that shows off her slightly pointed teeth.
"Oho... A fellow comrade," she says, leaning in from the counter towards Maruti, her elbows resting on the polished wood. "Hmm... Too beautiful to be inbred," she says, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Maruti feels confused and weird. Was it supposed to be a praise or an insult? She just stands there, a confused frown on her face, not sure how to respond.
"We want a carriage to Solaris," Esdeath interrupts her, her voice sharp and to the point, cutting through the friendly chatter.
"Umm... okay, dear guests. My name is Cersei, welcome to Diamond Travelling Ltd., the region's widest and most trusted travelling organization," she repeats the same introduction dialogue she been doing for past years, her smile never faltering.
"As you request, there's three rankings of carriages based on price and efficiency. First is—", she was going to explain it, her hands already gesturing towards a chart on the wall, but Esdeath cuts her off again.
"I don't have time for this nonsense. The fastest one... I want the fastest one," Esdeath says flatly, her eyes locked on Cersei's.
"Ohh, okay, dear customer. One gold and three silver coins for booking, but you'll have to wait till 5 AM," she replies, her professional tone returning.
"Here," Esdeath says, placing two gold coins on the counter.
In return, Cersei gives back seven silver coins in exchange, the coins clinking softly as she counts them out into Esdeath's waiting hand.
Esdeath takes it and turns around. "Let's go, we should explore more while we are at it," she says.