I felt an overwhelming sense of relief when the alarm went off, signaling the end of the lesson. I was fighting with all my energy to not doze off in the first lesson, one that lasted an hour and a half but felt like it lasted for a couple of days.
So this is what prisoners feel like when they're getting released…
I wanted to run away, without even giving the poor old professor time to say goodbye, but before I could do so, the butler from before placed both hands on my shoulders, forcing me to stay seated on that chair until the old man had gotten up.
"Please, mind your manners," he whispered in my ear as the other maids helped the old man walk towards the exit.
I simply rolled my eyes back and waited for the man to disappear from sight before throwing the biggest sigh of relief I ever breathed in my life.
"I am dead. Can I go to bed now?" I asked.
The butler looked at me with a confused look.
Oh, right, we've got guests today, so I'll rest later. Maybe I can still sneak in a couple of minutes' worth of a nap.
As I took a second chair for myself to lay down, the butler stopped me.
"What are you doing?" He asked me in an alarmed tone as he placed his hand over the chair to stop me.
"I'm taking a moment to rest." I replied confidently.
I even yawned at his face.
"But you'll wrinkle your dress." He objected to keeping a firm hand on the chair.
Who gives a crap about a couple of wrinkles on this stupid dress? I'm about to die over here; I desperately need this.
His hand simply wasn't budging; he looked directly back at me with a serious look on his face, which I ignored as I tried to forcefully get back the chair.
Then suddenly the butler's ears began pointing upward as he caught wind of something happening. I used that moment of distraction to snatch the chair away, but before I could lie on it, I was lifted and carried away.
"What now?" I protested as I tried to break free from his arms.
"The guests are going to be here any minute now." He reminded me as he carried me towards the large front door.
"Who even are these guests?" I asked.
"I know little to nothing regarding our dear guests, but the madam assured us they were from a renowned and powerful family." He insisted, wearing his usual fake smile.
"What a load of—"
"Manners! Please." One of the maids suddenly raised her voice the moment she heard me about to swear.
Lucifer came down shortly after, completely clean; his wild hair was combed, he smelled good, and he seemed to be looking better than ever thanks to the makeup applied to him by the many maids accompanying him.
We stood in front of that door for what felt like hours before we finally heard the bell ringing. By then all the maids had finished the preparation, all the damaged furniture had been swapped with brand new ones, and the whole place was smelling like a bakery due to the sheer amount of dessert being carried around.
I was feeling a bit nervous; time was slowing down as suddenly I began to feel a bit self-conscious about my dress. A few days at school were enough to teach me that people up here were obsessive freaks obsessed with looking as perfect as possible.
Whether it was the way you sat down, got up, or even kept your back straight, they always had some remark to make; even the people doing it out of kindness couldn't tell how overbearing they were.
I shook my head to clear out any unnecessary thoughts, straightened up my back, put on the best smile I could muster and triedmuster, to look as perfect as possible.
Next to me I could hear the suppressed laugh of mockery that Lucifer sent my way; it was satisfying to hear him getting punished by the maid standing behind him that began to pull him by the ears.
"Hey! Stop that; it's embarrassing." He murmured back to his maid, but she didn't pay attention to his complaints.
From the front door, a tall man came in; he was at least over two meters tall, and he was on the chubbier side, with a round and clean-shaven face. He was dressed well, in a black uniform decorated with golden chains, with the crest of his family embroidered on his chest.
He had dark hair.
His wife didn't look anywhere near as imposing, as she was almost half his size; compared to him, she looked older, with wrinkles on her face clearly showing her age. Although her skin seemed fairly old, she managed to hide it well under layer upon layer of makeup.
She had white hair and green eyes, her hair tied in a ponytail. She exuded unmatched confidence.
Unlike most other ladies I saw, she was wearing pants and wearing a white casual shirt with "winner" stamped in bold red characters on the front.
Behind her were her son and daughter; both had inherited the silver hair from the mother. They looked to be about 12; they were clearly twins.
Before I could scrutinize them more thoroughly, I heard the rushed steps Robert was making to come down as quickly as possible to greet the guest. He seemed somewhat panicked, probably because his wife wasn't at home.
He rushed to the front, greeting them with a firm shake of the hand before guiding them inside; we quickly followed after them. One strange thing I noticed before we headed away from the main hall was that the servants had purposefully left the front door open.
When I turned my head back to face the guest, I saw the twins already approaching Lucifer; they were trying to strike a conversation with him but had a lot of trouble doing so, mostly because they seemed incredibly shy, and Lucifer wasn't even paying attention to them; he was just reveling in the attention they were giving him.
"Oi, what the fuck do you think you're doing when we have guests over?" I shouted to him.
My sudden swearing startled the two other kids. The whole room rapidly fell silent.
"Huh? It's not like I invited them? They came unannounced today." He complained.
I mustered all the courage I had to face him; I could still remember that version of him I saw in the fracture, not the scared kid looking for a safety net but the monster hidden beneath that mask.
His cold and soulless gaze that stared at me as he redirected his overflowing power in every direction, smiling at the many demons he summoned in the colorful trail left by his powers.
The twisted laugh that was echoing in the distance—it was a sight I could never truly forget.
The parents of the twins were long gone, disappeared in the endless corridors of that manor.
I took one deep breath, gathered all my strength to stop my trembling arms, and stepped forward to face him. Yet when I opened my mouth, no words came out.
His maid instead picked on and quickly punished him.
"Hey, are you really going to side with her?" He complained as he turned around frustrated.
Side with me? You're clearly in the wrong here! You're treating the guest as if they didn't exist!
"I'm not taking anyone's side, young master." She tried to reassure him as some other maid handed us a bunch of small plates containing a slice of cake.
I wanted to say something but couldn't no matter what; the closer I got, the more vivid those memories became, leaving my hands trembling.
I stopped paying attention to those two arguing in the background and slowly approached the twins silently eating; they had sneakily distanced themselves from the two of us.
As I approached the silver-haired twins, the female hid behind the brother, avoiding my gaze, both of them trembling at the mere sight.
Huh? Strange, why would they fear me?
"Hi, my name is Elena. What's your name?" I asked them. I put up my best smile and my best angelic impression as I reached out to them with my hand.
"M-m-my name is… Joel." The hesitant kind responded, hiding his sister away from me.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
I could hear the other servant gasping in shock at my bluntness; likewise, even the older twin seemed surprised by the sudden question.
"Y-you… you smell like a demon." He shouted.
The whole room froze; Lucifer even started sniffing himself to check out if he also smelled like one. I also started to smell myself, but the only thing I could detect was the faint floral perfume that the servants sprayed me all morning long.
"Oh, it's true, the smell still lingers. I thought after such a rough wash that no trace would remain, but it remains fairly strong." Lucifer suddenly mentioned.
I didn't know what they were talking about; no matter how much I tried, there wasn't anything I could smell other than the perfume.
"Is it true? Do I smell bad?" I asked the butler?" I asked the butler.
"No, young lady, you smell wonderfully." He answered with a serious face.
… Can I trust his words? Since he's part animal, I'm sure he probably smelled something… is it because I possess a demonic power? Probably… haa, how annoying.
Suddenly an idea popped into my head, a small memory of smiles and happy times that brought a hint of bitterness to my heart. I knew the perfect move to befriend those kinds, and the answer lay behind a deck of cards I inherited from my father.
So I calmly stepped forward and summoned the deck of cards in my hands.
"Hey, want to see a cool magic trick?" I asked them as I juggled the deck in front of them.