Sincir is stirred from his brief, restless nap by Eleanor’s return.

  “I’ve brought you a bucket.”

  He nods thankfully. “Put it on this side of the bed... I’ll sleep next to it, just in case. How was Adrienne?”

  “I’m not sure. She said she is supposed to return those clothes, but since she was fired, she doesn’t feel like doing it... Will she be fine?”

  “She is a strong woman... I’m sure she’ll manage... Right, would you be mad if I invited her on a date? Hypothetically speaking?”

  Eleanor pauses as she was about to pce the bucket down, throwing him an exasperated look.

  Then, seeing his impression of a hurt puppy, she sighs. “What was it this time?”

  “Her dry personality reminded me a bit of you, actually...”

  “And that made you feel like sticking your dick in her?”

  “I almost undressed her right there and then, after she accepted it...”

  Eleanor clenches her teeth, gring at him. “I thought we were speaking hypothetically?”

  Sincir clicks his tongue. “You should know me better at this point, love; Esme would know I had already done it. Minor girlfriend points for you.”

  “...I so want to punch you.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  Eleanor sighs. “Stop speaking and rest; The sooner you recover, the sooner I’ll be able to punch you.”

  “Yes, Ma’am... Though I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep properly with this damn headache...”

  Not to mention Leon’s memories haunting his thoughts, and the boy’s screams still echoing in his ears...

  Sincir swallows; Good thing he asked for that bucket, because he’ll be using it soon.

  “Creator, you look sick... Tell me what happened.”

  Sincir meets Eleanor’s gaze as she sits next to him, brushing a lock of hair away from his forehead.

  “Nothing much...”

  “Don’t lie.”

  “...Torture.”

  Eleanor frowns. “You tortured Leon to get him to become Collin’s servant?”

  Sincir smiles sadly. “Do you remember what killed Father?”

  Eleanor pulls her hand away from him, as if burned.

  “...Yeah, I feel the same, except I can’t really run away from my own skin.”

  Eleanor swallows. “Leon... What happened to him?”

  “He is Collin’s servant, now.”

  “Did you... Did you force him to do it? By breaking... By controlling his mind?”

  Sincir shakes his head. “That’s not really how it works. I dove through his memories and inspected them, forcing him to relive the experience... Breaking his mind would be the same as killing him, and it’d only have happened if I had made a mistake.”

  “Then... Why did he agree to it? If making he relive his own memories is all you did?”

  “Well, imagine you had to go through that night at the chapel a dozen times... And I was telling you it was your fault it all happened, as I forced you to relive it...”

  Eleanor pales. “You weren’t wrong to call it torture... I’d want you to kill me instead. What did you show him?”

  “Morbid curiosity?”

  “Something of the sort.”

  Well, why not?

  “...His dad used to hit him. His brothers did their best to make his life miserable... And the women in his life watched it happen, doing nothing to stop it. Eventually, he snapped... You know, there is a big difference in doing something in the spur of the moment, versos having it shown back to you by a judgmental third party. Most people aren’t conscious of their own actions, or of how those actions affect the people around them; They see things through their own distorted lessens, ignoring their own fault in them, or refusing to notice certain things altogether. Sometimes, facing reality can be worse than any nightmare.”

  “...So, you made him face his own reality?”

  “I made Lion realize that his actions have made him just as bad as his father and brothers, and that those women couldn’t have stood up to the duke even if they wanted to... He knew those things already, but he was forcing himself to ignore them. In the end, he had no choice but to admit he wanted a different life than the one he was given, even if that meant becoming a vampire’s servant; He didn’t even question what would become of him once it happened.”

  Eleanor sighs. “Having met Collin, I don’t think he’ll be a cruel master...”

  Sincir smiles sadly. “Being a sve is still terrible, even if you have a kind master. Having someone’s priorities supersede yours makes you feel like a lesser being... It is not a good life to live.”

  Eleanor averts her gaze. “...What do you want to do now?”

  “After we deal with those cultist, I’ll need to start researching... I’ll look into how many demons they were able to summon to this side, and how easily. I do know a good deal about demon summoning and contracts, but it is not enough for what I’m hoping to accomplish...”

  “...And what if you can’t find a way to summon your friends from the other side without sacrificing entire towns?”

  Sincir sighs. “One of my subjects on the other side - his name is Sonog - is capable of a whole more than me when it comes to the complicated stuff. He is the one who managed to send my Soul over to this side... I’m hoping that, by coordinating with him, we’ll be able to come up with something, since this was his pn to begin with.”

  “And if in the end, you still can’t do it without sacrificing a town or two?” Eleanor pushes, blue eyes gleaming coldly as she once more shifts them to rest against him.

  Sincir sighs again. “If it could guarantee the safety of my people for the rest of eternity... Then yes, I’d destroy a city or two.”

  She rises. “I think I’ll sleep by myself tonight.”

  “Oh, c’mon...”

  “There are some things I need to think about... And I can’t think when I’m in the same room as you.”

  She leaves without waiting for his answer, nearly bumping into Esme once she opens the door.

  “Wow...” Esme murmurs as she quickly steps aside and watches the angry nephilim go, “Did you tell her she is getting fat or something?”

  Sincir rolls his eyes, only to immediately regret it once it causes him to nearly throw up. “She has abs, Esme... Anyway, is Adrienne out of the bath yet?”

  “She just left. Ena is preparing your st free room for her... You do know there are no more of them, right?”

  Sincir snorts. “Yes, I do know how many rooms my own house has, thank you. Like I said, Adrienne isn’t going to stay... It’d have been ill-mannered, and also dangerous, to send her home by herself when she came all the way here to make sure I arrived safe.”

  Esme nods. “Okay then. I came to say Ena made something for you... I could bring it up, if you want.”

  “I’ll eat after a bath... Help me stand.”

  Esme grabs his hand, biting her lower lip as helps him to his feet. “Is it that bad...?”

  “Worse... But don’t worry, I’ll be fine after a day of rest... Though maybe its best if I lean on you to go down those stairs.”

  Sincir is too exhausted to bother wearing anything other than his underwear as Esme helps him walk toward the bathhouse.

  Ena throws him a reproaching look once they walk by the kitchen, but once she sees he is quite literally having to lean on Esme to walk, her gaze softens.

  “Take it easy for a while, okay? I’ll keep the food warm for you.”

  Adrienne is already eating at their kitchen table, and he nods at her while they walk past.

  “What did you and Victoria talk about?” Sincir asks once they finally reach the bath house, and Esme closes the door after herself.

  “Nothing much... She offered to paint our nails with that weird stuff she brought with her... And once Rez showed up, Victoria kept fawning over her, for some reason...”

  Esme begins to wipe his skin without being asked to, and Sincir releases a sigh of relief over the feeling of becoming clean once more... He is used to being sweaty from training, or sex, but tonight’s sweat makes him think of Leon’s screams, and when they are already echoing in his ears, he’d rather not have the extra reminder.

  “What about No? How was she?”

  “She was...” Esme blushes, as she kneels in front of him to start with his lowers half. “I’m not sure I should be telling you this without her permission, but I did bath with her again... As an apology for earlier.”

  Sincir smiles. “Did you do her?”

  “We did each other, actually...”

  He chuckles. “And? Did she accept my apology?”

  Esme grimaces. “Excuse me? Could you at least pretend you’re not pimping me out?”

  “I’ll take that as a yes... I’ll ask her ter what she thought of working as a maid. There is no reason to have her keep doing it if it didn’t help her take her mind of things, after all.”

  Rising once she is done scrubbing his skin, Esme sighs. “There. I already took my bath, so I’ll leave you to it... Unless you want me to join?”

  Sincir kisses her, then shakes his head. “I could use some time alone... I’m still welcome in our room, right?”

  Esme throws him a weird look. “Of course... Why wouldn’t you be?”

  “Nothing. See you soon, okay?”

  “Should I come back to help you up?”

  “Naw, I’ll manage on my own.”

  “...If you say so. Be careful, okay?”

  After one st kiss, Esme leaves the bathhouse, closing the door on her way out.

  Now on his own, at st, Sincir tries the water, breathing a sigh of relief once he confirms it is still warm... In his current state, even casting a single heating spell would’ve been a challenge.

  “Stupid dog...” he murmurs as he slowly submerges up to his neck in warm water, “Stupid girlfriends... Now I remember why I swore off retionships... Sorry, Esme. You don’t deserve such a shitty boyfriend...”

  Sincir sighs. Today, more than any other day since he has reincarnated as a human, he feels like Varzath, the Demon Lord, rather than Sincir, the human.

  The girls aren’t to bme for it, of course... But still, the knowledge weights heavily on his mind.

  They don’t understand what they are dealing with... None of them do.

  And whose fault is that? Who sweet talked his way into their lives, making promises and speaking of love as if he knew something other than how to charm and fuck his prey into submission...?

  Stupid idiot! And what if turns out he does need to sacrifice heaps of humans to bring his people over?!

  Sincir punches the water, only to immediately regret it once it spshes against his face.

  ...Sinking himself up to eye level, he groans.

  He misses... What? Hell?

  If he is being honest with himself, he doesn’t really miss it; There is a reason he was so eager to leave, after all.

  But he does miss his people... Or, more precisely, he is worried about them.

  Stupid headache... He should’ve threatened to cut Leon’s cock and been done with it...

  But then nothing about him would’ve changed, and Collin would’ve been stuck with a knife aimed at his back for Lords know how long...

  Damn soft, bleeding hearth...

  Sincir sighs. Deciding he is too tired to think anymore, he allows his muscles to rex, soaking in the water until Ena knocks against the bathhouse’s door, several minutes ter, to ask if he is okay.

  ...He really worried them this time, didn’t he?

  “I’m fine! I’ll be out in a minute!”

  Once he is out of his bath, Sincir realizes one of the girls brought him a towel and a new change of clothes, having left them outside the door.

  He must’ve been really out of it to forget about grabbing anything...

  Ena is waiting for him in the kitchen, leaning against the table next to a steaming pte of food, with her arms crossed.

  Sincir gnces at the food, and his stomach churns.

  “Don’t even think about it, Sin... I’m under strict orders to make sure you eat before going up; You might’ve been a badass demon in the past, but your body is that of human now.”

  Sincir sighs. “Look, Ena, I know I’m the one who asked you for food...”

  “Do you remember the st time you caught a cold? Because I still do.”

  He grimaces. He knows what colds are, of course, and that humans have them, but demons don’t get sick, so he had never experienced one himself... It’s embarrassing, but for a while back then, he really thought he was going to die. And since Eleanor’s healing magic wasn’t strong enough to heal him, he was stuck in bed for two days before finally being able to do it himself.

  Needless to mention, but he has little desire to repeat the experience.

  “...Fine, I’ll eat. Thanks for the food.”

  “No problem.”

  Sitting down, Sincir forces himself to begin eating in spite of his headache... Considering he is actually hungry, it isn’t all that hard, so long as he ignores the fact he’ll probably be throwing it all up at some point tonight.

  “...Are you really just going to stand there and stare at me the whole time?”

  “I’m also responsible for helping you up the stairs.”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “Who put you up to this, anyway?”

  “Eleanor.”

  “...Of course she did. How did your duo goblin hunt go?”

  “Nothing much... Just another small group, barely enough for a sweat.”

  “Good job... I’m sorry, but you’ll probably have to go by yourselves again tomorrow.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m getting used to it now... Though you might not upgrade your badge if you continue skipping work days.”

  Sincir grimaces. “Can’t you just write my name on the contract?”

  “Mary would know you didn’t show up with us in the morning...”

  Sincir sighs. “I’m not skipping because I want to, you know... But I’ll do my best to show up from now on.”

  Ena nods. “Good.”

  Having eaten about half of his food, Sincir pces his spoon down and shakes his head. “I don’t think it’d be good if I ate any more than this... Hopefully, I’ll be able to hold this much in my stomach.”

  Ena offers him a hand, and Sincir grimaces.

  “I’m not an invalid... Just accompany me up. I’ll walk by myself.”

  Retracting her hand, Ena rolls her eyes. “You were leaning on Esme earlier...”

  “That’s different.”

  “How?”

  “Leaning on a girlfriend is one thing, but you’re like a little sister...”

  “Is that how it works?”

  “Yes.”

  “You know I’ll still taller than you, right? And that I’m strong enough to easily princess-carry you up these stairs...?”

  “You’re missing the point...”

  “No, I get that this is about some worthless part of your male pride; I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”

  Sincir groans. “Sometimes, I wonder where I did wrong with you.”

  “Maybe I took after my dear older brother.”

  Having arrived in front of his room’s door, Sincir throws Ena a look of doubt. “If you had, you’d have a boyfriend by now.”

  She grimaces. “Keep rubbing it in, why don’t you?”

  He chuckles, smiling at her. “See? This is how I felt when you keep calling me a pyboy.”

  She sighs. “Night, Sin. And a friendly heads up? I heard Eleanor telling Esme she is forbidden from touching you until you recover...”

  His smile disappears.

  Ena snorts. “I guess you really pissed her off this time, huh? See you tomorrow.”

  Ena waves at him, and as he watches her walking back to the first floor, Sincir groans, softly hitting the back of his head against the door behind him.

  Maybe, if he asked nicely, Ena would take him in for the night...?

  Or maybe Adrienne would be up to sharing a bed...?

  Sincir’s thoughts are interrupted once the door at his back opens, and his head hits something soft instead.

  “...Oh! Sin! Don’t scare me like this!”

  He looks up, throwing Esme his best hurt-puppy stare.

  After a moment, understanding gleams in her soft brown eyes, and she smiles apologetically. “Sorry... It’ll be only for tonight, okay? I’ll do whatever you want tomorrow...”

  Sincir sighs. “You lit the firepce...? Let’s sit by it for a while. Can I lie my head on your p?”

  She freezes, then smiles, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside.

  A few moments ter, Esme has several pillows around her, sitting by the crackling firepce as she taps her p invitingly.

  Though he groans in virtue of his throbbing headache, Sincir lies down obediently.

  “Aren’t you going to grab a book or something...?” he asks once she simply continues to stare at him with a smiles on her face, “Somebody else might’ve been creeped out, you know?”

  Esme’s smile wavers somewhat, and she presses her lips together. “Sorry... But actually, I was hoping we could talk for a bit.”

  “...As long as you keep your voice low,” Sincir murmurs, closing his eyes as he does so.

  “Fuck... It feels like I’m ambushing you now, but look, Sin... We can’t keep going like this.”

  “...Are your legs hurting already?”

  Esme curses under her breath. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

  Sincir sighs. “Did Ena tell you I gave Eleanor veto privileges?”

  “She did, but that’s not what this is about... Well, it’s kinda of a part of it...”

  Sincir groans, opening his eyes to gre at her as he does so.

  Esme cringes. “O-okay, okay, your head is killing you, I get it... Sorry, I’ll get to it.”

  “Thank you.”

  Esme takes a deep breath. “It’s about my work... I want to get back to it.”

  Sincir closes his eyes again, turning away from her. “Sure; Find a non vampire filled library, in a non cultist infested town, and I’ll let you work as much as you want... I’m gd we had this talk.”

  Esme groans. “Sin... Look, I loved living with you and the girls these past couple of days, I really did, but if I wanted to become a housewife, I’d have stayed in my family’s farm! I miss the library, and I miss having a purpose other than helping with housework! I know I’m being slightly selfish, and that I’m usually a pushover, but... I’m an adult woman, and I refuse to be locked in my boyfriend’s home forever... No matter how cute and good at sex he may be. Sin, please say something? Are you mad at me?”

  “...Why now?” Sincir murmurs at st, “You were happy enough this afternoon.”

  “It’s... When you left, and Victoria arrived, I started thinking about how dangerous your life is... And I realized I might be always waiting for you to come back from some dangerous mission... I was worried sick, but I had nothing to occupy myself with other than having my stupid nails painted! I... I realized I couldn’t bear to live like this, no matter how much I love you... S-sorry, this really sounds selfish, doesn’t it? You’re the one out there risking your life, and I-I...”

  Sighing, Sincir opens his eyes once more to stare at Esme, before carefully brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek in order to wipe a lonely tear. “Esme... How am I supposed to argue with you if you’re like this?” he murmurs, “It’s a bit unfair to cry before I have said anything, don’t you think?”

  Esme bites her lower lip. “Sorry...”

  “Stop apologizing... I’m not mad at you. I’ve always known you care a lot about your work, and I never intended to take you away from it forever... But I don’t know. Things are dangerous right now... Can’t you wait for a couple more weeks? At least until we deal with those cultists?”

  Esme shakes her head, determined looking in spite of her teary eyes. “There will always be something dangerous out there... And I can’t wait for you to build a whole kingdom around me to start working again, Sin. No offence, but I might be an old dy by then.”

  Sincir grimaces. “It’s not going to take that long... More importantly, I’m not letting you go back there when you could be kidnapped on your way back from work, and that’s final.”

  Esme takes a deep breath. “I didn’t want to bring this up, but...”

  Sincir groans. “Esme-”

  “...Veto rights.”

  He sighs. “Look-”

  “All of them,” Esme says, “For as long as I’m stuck here.”

  Sincir feels his mouth opening as he gapes at Esme; Then, after a moment, he tightens his jaw. “I’m so going to kill her...”

  Esme makes a face. “I’d have found out eventually, Sin... And you should’ve told me about it to begin with. You know I’m not good with these things.”

  “Esme... Would you really break up with me over this?”

  Esme hesitates for a second, then averts her face, tightening her jaw as she does so. “If it comes to that, then you didn’t love me to begin with.”

  Sincir blinks. “I... You’re right, that was shitty of me. Sorry.”

  After a moment, Esme sighs. “In all fairness, I’m ambushing you with this when you’re exhausted and hurt, so I don’t bme you for being cranky. I just... I fear a couple of weeks will turn into a couple of months, and before I realize, I’ll be raising your babies... Not that I’d mind that part, I guess... But I want more from life than being someone’s wife, Sin. I want to leave my mark in the world, no matter how small...”

  Sincir snorts. “You really don’t pull your punches, do you? First you ambush me when I’m hurt and vulnerable, then you cry and make me out to be the bad guy, and then you mention having my kids... With such a perfect succubus act, you’re making me miss home, love.”

  Esme blushes. “I’m sorry... I really should’ve waited until tomorrow to talk about this, shouldn’t I?”

  He sighs. “Fine... You’ve made your point well enough. If you really want it this much, then I won’t force you to stay locked in here.”

  Esme’s eyes widen. “Really?!”

  Seeing her looking so happy, Sincir grimaces. “But there are conditions...”

  Esme smiles. “Oh, my veto right thingy? You can take it away, I don’t care. Eleanor promised me she would vouch for me in case you didn’t let me have it...”

  Seeing his stormy expression, Esme quickly presses her lips together.

  “That... Can you pretend you didn’t hear that?” she murmurs.

  “I wasn’t going to take away your veto rights... I gave them to Eleanor, so it is only fair I also give them to you. That being said, if you abuse them to get your way again, I will not be happy. That is not how they are meant to be used... Same goes for Eleanor.”

  Her expression now meek-looking, Esme quickly nods.

  “That being said... If you sleep until mid-day, then return home te at night, when are we supposed to see each other? You work way too much... I’ll talk to Collin, and you’ll quit your normal librarian work. Restoring books is what you really care about anyway, right?”

  “Well... I’ll miss talking to our regurs, and recommending books, but I can accept this much as a compromise... Go on, I can tell you’re not done making my life miserable.”

  Sincir gres at her.

  “...You’re right, that was uncalled for. Sorry.”

  “...I don’t care at what time you start work in the morning, but Collin will escort you home at sundown; No, don’t even bother, I’ll lock you in the basement with Rez, Esme, I’m not kidding.”

  She raises her palms. “Fine... But if Collin is going to escort me anyway, can’t I stay a little longer than sundown?”

  Sincir raises an eyebrow. “And for how many hours are you going to make him wait for you, exactly? Though I supposed he probably wouldn’t mind waiting, if you were the one asking...”

  Esme grimaces. “Fine, point for you... I guess I can live with having a curfew, and a bodyguard to make sure I obey said curfew, if it means I can work again. Happy?”

  Sincir smiles humorlessly. “Immensely.”

  Esme sighs. “Sin, you’re a bit of a control freak, did you know that?”

  Sincir freezes, then turns away from her, staring at the fire as he grimaces. “...No, I’m not.”

  “Are you sulking because we won’t spend as much time together?”

  “...No, I’m not.”

  “Then what do you call this?”

  Sincir clenches his teeth. “Having a killer headache while my girlfriends pesters me with unending questions?”

  “...Fuck. I... Totally forgot, didn’t I?”