Chapter • 12

•⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅•

I didn't expect it to be so easy to be with Asmodeus, but when he sat down in front of me and tea was served, it all seemed too ordinary.

Not something creepy like being in casual conversation with one of the scariest and most powerful demons in all of Hell and the novel universe I've read, but like being with a friend from a long, long time.

Was that part of the result of being in Asra's body? A part of her responding to the presence of her best friend?

Well...whatever it was, it was helpful, since in the end I didn't feel pressured as he slumped in his chair like a careless teenager.

"This prince life is so tiring" he grumbled as he stuffed his own mouth with buttery cookies.

Those cookies that the maid always left on the dresser and that somehow the body seemed to hate (even though I considered them partially tasty).

Unlike me, Asmodeus devoured them like a gluttonous child.

"Tiring?" I Asked with a raised eyebrow. It was very brazen of him to say something like that, since the most he did during all the years of war and suffering of the main characters - was to humiliate Elaine and trample on Callisto's pride.

Was that so tiresome? It didn't seem so. To any reader viewing the story from that point of view, I would say that Asmodeus had fun making them hell, but now I wondered if part of what he did wasn't revenge.

Asmodeus' eyes locked on mine.

"It takes work to sign so many papers" he said as if it was a real sacrifice.

I huffed.

He really couldn't be serious.

"You hate bureaucracy that much?"

"Yeah" he said showing his tongue, "I need to sit around, waiting until that fallen fucker gives me the fucking papers and explains what the fuck is written on them."

I stared at him incredulously.

"Can't you just... read? You know, by yourself?"

It seemed obvious, but in the end - we were talking about Asmodeus.

He was known for his eccentricities.

The blond demon in front of me stared at me as if I had just spoken some kind of nonsense and one of his hands touched his chest, partially uncovered by his... well, eye-catching garments.

"You think I'm going to waste my time with this? I'm already forced to sign, imagine having to pay attention!"

He had to be kidding.

Good.

He wasn't kidding.

"Asmodeus!"

"What?"

"How the fuck can you be so irresponsible?"

He shrugged and bluntly picked up the poor cup of tea and turned it over like a shot.

"I am the prince of lust, my dear. Not the emperor" he said simply "what is expected of me, is a harem and fucking random people occasionally."

He wasn't wrong, but still... he was all I had left and all I had to help Lucifer.

But how the FUCK should I use Asmodeus? He couldn't solve everything by signing some papers.

I brought both hands to my face and somehow, seeing me almost in despair, he sighed.

"Stop making such a sour face! What? Calisto hasn't come to see you in a long time? I already told you... lack of orgasms can destroy someone's life."

Holy shit...

"No!"

"Then what is it?"

"It's something too serious for you."

The blond demon looked offended and, with a slight beak forming on his face, he stood up.

"Nothing is too serious for me!"

I raised one of my eyebrows.

"Whoa, didn't they just expect a harem from you?"

"Listen here! You can't use good arguments against me!" I said indignantly.

I smiled.

Whether for a silly reason or not, I finally had Asmodeus' attention.

"So can I count on you?"

He looked at me curiously.

"Depends..." he mumbled returning to his seat, "do I need to sign more papers or leave that fallen one alive?"

I denied with my head as I tried to hold back my laughter. If it were in my lifetime (before I got into the novel) I would scream and curse Asmodeus for the absurd idea of wanting to kill my little darling. After all, I loved Azrael and the way he was not prejudiced against Elaine, even though she was a quasi-angel. But now? Well, the thought of seeing that asshole dead was not so unpleasant.

I was trying to change things around here, and Azrael was an asshole who was only busy getting in my way.

"You don't need to sign anything" I stated and when I saw Asmodeus' shoulders relax I let go, "but you do need to kill some... inconvenient beings."

He knit his eyebrows together.

"By the nine hells, don't tell me you're having another one of those paranoid rants about future concubines! I can't take it anymore!" I hastened to deny it.

"No! I just..." I looked around to make sure no servants were around and then leaned across the table toward him, whispering the last part so that only Asmodeus could hear, "I hear that someone is trying to frame Lucifer and get more of his territory within the current situations. They are forcing tributes in the name of Callisto and say it is the princess who is asking for them."

Asmodeus stared at me with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief.

"Who could be that dumb?"

I smiled.

"You really don't know?"

He snorted, his fingers interlaced as he looked up at the sky.

"Angels! Of course... it had to be."

"They're not over it yet, that's a fact" I spoke, shrugging and finally sipping my tea.

Bitter.

Too bitter for my taste, or maybe I just really hated tea.

"Well..." Asmodeus muttered, "at least I'll have something to hunt."

I smiled.

"Then thank me later."

He held out one of his hands.

"Sure, as long as you promise me something in return."

I shuddered.

He wanted a contract. That was not a good idea. Everyone knew that contracts with Asmodeus could not be broken - because besides the prince of lust, he was also the lord of all contracts. The retainer of the threads and the heir to the funeral memories.

In the end, there was a reason Asmodeus was so powerful.