I opened my eyes only to find a familiar ceiling; no matter how many days passed, I couldn't get used to it. I couldn't get rid of that strange feeling that made everything feel and sound alien.
My eyes were a bit watery; I could feel an alien sensation in my chest. I was clearly crying about something in my sleep, but for some reason I couldn't remember why.
It must've been that ability going rogue again. Fuck, I am losing control too quickly.
When I turned my head to my right, I saw the butler sleeping whilst sitting in the chair placed right beside the nightstand; his fluffy ears were twitching at irregular intervals.
As soon as I got up from the bed, he woke up. His eyes suddenly opened wide. In the blink of an eye he was back standing tall with a serious expression on his face, his eyes red from exhaustion from the constant sleepless nights.
"Is everything alright?" He asked me as he reached out to me as he silently handed me a handkerchief he took out from under his sleeves.
"Yes, everything is alright." I answered as I wiped the tears away.
But that didn't wash away the look of concern in the eyes of the butler, who was staring a hole into my right arm.
Currently it was a mess; it was barely holding its usual shape as it was slowly dividing into a myriad of flesh tendrils covered in blisters, intertwined to resemble the shape of a human arm.
It took a lot of effort to expel all the excessive energy in order to undo the transformation; unlike Lucifer, who could already control his transformation with extreme precision and efficiency, I was a hopeless case.
I didn't have full control over the transformation; I could barely keep the tentacles together, as it takes a lot of mental energy to control more than a hundred different tentacles to stay in the shape of a human arm.
Whenever I tried to suppress the demon, he would reignite my worst emotions: the sadness of losing my father, the fear I felt that day when confronted by those terrorists, and the grudge I had against Lucifer for involving us in his messy situation.
It was a problem that was getting worse every day.
It was probably the cause I couldn't remember my dreams… The demon was no longer listening to my commands.
"Master, your nose…" The butler quickly took a napkin from his pocket to help me clean my nose.
"Why are you calling me master? I liked Young Lady better; it was better than Miss… better than…" That's when I realized blood was leaking from my nose.
My voice was pathetically weak; I tried to get up to show that I was fine but quickly had to sit down as I felt about to faint.
What?
My vision was blurry, and the sense of lightheadedness was starting to hurt. As usual, the butler was quick to force-feed me the medication before the situation could escalate further.
Damn it…
I lay down on my bed and waited for the symptoms to fade while a swarm of maids came in to check my well-being.
By the time I felt well enough to stand up, I realized the maid had already changed my clothes; I was barely holding on to my consciousness, so I didn't have the time to notice.
I struggled a lot to get to the living room where breakfast was being served; there I found both Robert and Elena. No matter how many times I saw them, I could never properly feel at ease around them.
I quickly noticed Lucifer's seat was empty.
"The young master has gone to visit Lord Kiriam." The butler whispered in my ear when he noticed me staring at the empty seat.
Ah, good riddance; at least I don't have to…
Suddenly I felt an intense pressure all over my body; something foreign and invisible was pressing me down, but then I realized it wasn't just me; everything within the room was being subjected to the same force.
These were the Scarlet Devil's emotions.
Her demonic powers allowed for her emotions to physically manifest in the environment around her; it wasn't the first time.
Emotions were leaking out of her body, and I couldn't help but puke at the mere sensation; there was rage, sadness, and hatred. Those emotions felt like a weight pressing down on my body trying to crush me to death.
I wasn't the only one affected by this; the whole table was trembling. At some point one of the apples lying on the table exploded. The furniture all around us was slowly cracking, and the metal silverware was bending.
"Honey…" Lucifer's father suddenly let out a helpless whimper.
Suddenly that force vanished. The voice of her husband was more than enough to bring her back to her usual mood.
I almost let out a sigh of relief when I sensed the pressure being lifted.
I'm safe—
"That piece of shit!" She suddenly yelled.
With a single punch she split the large table in two.
The emotions hadn't subsided at all.
I realized it then, when I felt it, as if a large snake were slowly coiling its body around me, strangling my neck and limbs.
"All he knows is to use his underhanded methods to get under my skin." She screamed as she threw the chair she was sitting on at the nearest window.
She was about to flip the remaining pieces of the table but stopped herself as soon as she noticed my presence.
"Go pick him up." She suddenly ordered her husband.
The pressure around my neck was finally released, and I collapsed onto the chair. The butler was quick to grab a fan and try to keep me ventilated.
Thank…you.
I felt too weak to even open my mouth.
"Honey..." He tried to object, but words couldn't come out of his mouth.
"Go pick him up now! Because if I get him, I'll do unspeakable things to that brother of yours." She threatened him.
She got even louder than before.
Her eyes glowing in a chilling glare.
In between those two, I felt so insignificantly small and weak I feared I might have died just by standing next to them.
I desperately wanted to escape, but I was trapped; the snake coiled around my body was blocking me from leaving my spot.
"You think picking him back by force will make him love you?" He tried to reason with her, but she simply couldn't listen to him.
"I said—" She further raised her voice, making it echo throughout the whole house.
"If you act that way, you'll push him further to his side!" He suddenly yelled back with similar power.
"If my son grows to be a degenerate like that fucking thug, I'll hold you responsible." Her anger wasn't subsiding; it was only growing more bitter, more venomous, more vicious.
I could hear that snake coiled all around me hiss in my ears.
"El—" He tried going in for a hug while affectionally calling her name.
"Don't you dare."
She kicked him away and stormed outside; all that was left was pure chaos in her wake.
I was finally released by whatever that invisible force was, and so were the rest of the serfs.
It felt as if a hurricane had just passed through; the paintings hanging on the wall had fallen on the floor, and many of the pieces of furniture had cracked under the pressure of her emotions.
"Are you okay?" The young butler asked me as he picked me up.
In his arms I burst out crying; I felt so close to dying for such a pathetic reason. Just the fact she got angry almost killed me.
I wanted to ask the butler to carry me back to my room but couldn't properly formulate my words. Instead, I ugly cried until I passed out in his arms.