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Iori never thought to see the Hell Realm but here she’s.
She received the order from her Ruler and Father to go and participate to a sort of ball in honor of Lucifer’s granddaughter in order to keep their Realms’ peace.
She expect to see a Realm full of violence and immoralities but, when she reaches the castle, she’s surprised to see the perfect harmony in the place, not to mention see the infamous princesses acting like they don’t have the fame of being some sadistic killers.
She finds and ‘meets’ the youngest princess while she’s having a walk in the gardens, holding a small kid in her arms, and Iori can recognizes all of love that a mother can hold for her own child.
“My love.” Iori hears and she sees a man in Knight’s armor running, like a loyal dog to its owner, with a small grin on his face towards the princess.
“My my, Touma, walk with calm.” She scolds him playful while smiling back. “And don’t touch Hikari with your dirty hands.”
The mysterious man slightly pout but he smiles while looking at the kid in the princess’ arms. “Your mother is so protective of you, be proud of it Hikari.” He smiles while lowering a little to look at him.
Iori curses her luck when she hears a ‘crack’ under her shoe, she looks down to see a wood branch broken under her shoe, and she steps back a little more, ready to turn and runs away.
“Who’s there?!” The knight is on alert while turning with his sword draw.
Iori slowly steps out from her place and keeps the hands on the sight. “I’m harmless, I swear, I don’t mean harm or be a sort of spy, I swear.” She says while looking at them.
“Who are you?” The princess speaks while looking at her and holding her kid close.
“I’m Iori,” She bows. “I’m here under my Father’s wishes.”
“Ah!” The princess demon goes around her Knight and goes closer to her.
“Are you… Haru-chan’s friend?” She asks while smiling.
“’Haru-chan?’” She tilts her head confused while looking at the girl.
“Haruka, she has fern hair and gold eyes.”
She looks at her before nodding a little unsure. “We are friends.”
Riku smiles brightly and turns towards Touma. “Go to call Haruka.” She says and the man bow before turning and walking away. “Don’t worry,” She smirks and Iori almost shiver into see a strange glee and glow in her eyes. “I can protect myself and kid just fine so don’t have any funny ideas.” She whispers towards her.
“I really don’t mean any harm.” Riku turns when she hears some hurry steps and smiles more brightly. “Haru-chan, look who I have here.”
“My lady…” She whispers before looking at Iori. “Iori!” She smiles brightly and runs towards her, taking her hands.
Riku looks at them before the baby in her arms whines. “I should leave you alone.”
Both of them bow to her and she walks away, talking to Hikari with a soft tone and smile, before looking towards each other and smiles.
“What are you doing here?” Haruka asks while looking at her. “I didn’t know that you were on the guest list.”
“My father asked for me to be here, to keep peace and represent him while he’s busy in our Realm.” She smiles shyly. “Nee-san? Is she doing good? And does Lady Riku treats you right?”
“The princess does treat us right, she’s truly kind and amazing, while I work with a person called Tamaki and…” She laughs sheepishly. “She’s like a hurricane… my Highness Riku is really trying to keep her at ease while being a mother too…”
Iori laughs a little sheepishly too but looks at her friend. “You don’t have someone in your hear, didn’t you?”
“No, I’m too busy with being my Highness’ ears and eyes but I don’t really care to search for love.”
“What about your… hunger?” She blushes a little.
Haruka does too but slighter than her. “Well… her Highness sometimes ask for me to… join their intercourse but my Highness Riku let me drink her blood, together with her Highness Tenn.” Iori nods while looking at her. “What about you?”
“I still have to meet my right one…” She whispers. “Since my sister fallen, I have to be careful about who I’ll fall in love with or marry.”
Haruka remains in silence but she sighs before looking to her side. “I have to go now, I hope your stay here will be pleasure.”
“Thank you Haruka.”
Iori looks at her right when she sees the princesses while they’re talking about whatever they want and Iori sees a kind and sweet side of the oldest princess towards her niece and sister, not easily to see from an outsiders’ view but Iori can see it: in the way that Tenn holds her sister’s arm and she interacts with her niece, sweet and fondly.
“Iori…” A familiar voice makes her turn towards the source and all the air in her lungs disappear and her heart beats very quickly.Before her there’s her sister wearing a stunning dress, matching unconsciously her own one, and her long and orange hair braided into a braid that goes across her head.
“Nee-san…” She whispers while looking at her.She doesn’t see her since she fallen because of her love with a demon and she had to choose: her family or her. She never chose them, she chose her current girlfriend.
Iori hate and is so mad to her for that, for abandoning her family to run away for some demon and leave forever their Realm.
She doesn’t notice that her sister is close until she hugs her and cries in her neck.
“Iori…” She whispers while hugging her and Iori stills completely.She wants to scream at her, all of her pain and anger, pushes her away like she did to her and their father years ago, but she doesn’t do it. She let her sister hugs her and hold her close like nothing happened between them.
She still smells like jasmine and orange and Iori’s eyes stings with the upcoming tears but Mitsuki is crying openly in her neck, silently though, and holding her so close.
“Iori… I missed you so much…” That breaks her and Iori holds her back and cries too on her shoulder.
They holds her each other like this while the party goes on and they hide behind some demons so that they don’t stand out too much.When they calm down, they separate and dries their tears while talking about the time lost.
“When I got here for the first time, our princesses were truly small, about maybe five and half years, but our Ruler and his sister, together with her Majesty Lilith, were truly nice and let me get familiar without rushing or getting mad when I’d make a mistake.” She says slowly and calmly while Iori looks at her.
“Father took some time before he could leave me alone, I had to step in as your ‘substitute’…” She looks down while biting her lip. “It was so hard sometimes…” She whispers while looking at him.
“Is Father still an asshole?” She asks and Iori looks at her surprise and shocked. “What? He made me choose between you and Nagi, I don’t give a fuck if I’m disrespectful.” She shrugs her shoulders while looking ahead, like truly no caring about the fact that she just cursed their father. “He’s… severe but it’s because of the fact that he’s protective and has expectations towards me… since I’m the heir now…”
“You don’t need to.”
The sisters towards each other and Mitsuki takes her hands in her own with a strong glare and looking straight into Iori’s silver blue eyes and she almost flatters under the glare of these orange fierce eyes.
“Iori, you don’t have to step in for me because our father order you to do but you because you wanna to.” She says while looking straight into Iori’s. “I went away ‘cause of these bullshit too.”
“But left me behind…” She whispers bitter. “You left me alone with that man and came here to live happily with your wife, partner or whoever that woman is for you.”
“Iori… I never forget you, not even once.” She reaches to caress her cheek. “I always… always regret that I didn’t take you with me that day.”
“Leave Eden’s garden for the Hell is a grave and unforgiving sin.”
Mitsuki takes her hand and takes her outside since she notices that they were attracting attentions to them.
“Look ahead, see all these happy people? They’re happy, not because they have a sort of brainwash about being superior or anything, but because Lucifer keeps the peace and it’s very open to listen to every of their complains.” She says while pointing to people who talks, laughs and dance so freely and happily. “The nobles aren’t superiors to a farmer or commoner, they have a higher status but they’re humbles and allow to the commoner to take rice, wheat, flour and much more from their barns when there’s difficult times or have a shortage of some kind and the commoner would pay them back with labor and their acknowledges.”
“It’s the same as in our own…”
“No, in our own, if you aren’t pure enough, you can be thrown out or even isolated from society and it’s worse when you try to reach some kind of acknowledges too. Here isn’t forbidden or even punished, His Majesty Lucifer encourage the learning and thirsty for the knowledge.”
“So now our father is bad and this ruler a good person?”
“No but our father would have punish me if he’d know about my treatments and medicines. We’d use precious herbal remedies and nature based medicine, never the Holy water or shit like that.”
Iori feels conflicted while listening to what her sister says and thinks about how severe their father truly can be.
“You can’t say that what he does it truly with everyone’s well being in mind, you can’t because he says to just believe in only Him and all shit like that while Lucifer asks just for your loyalty.”
“But Lucifer’s ancestors betrayed our Father…”
“They noticed how sad and unfair that life is so they rebelled against it.” Iori stays silent while Mitsuki looks at her so strong and confident in what she says.
“You still left me… I can’t forget so easily.”
“I know but I want you to know about how much I love you and missed you… I wanna restart over.”
Iori stays silent while looking at her. “Give some time to think about.”
Mitsuki nods while smiling fondly. “All the time you need.” She whispers softly while looking at her.
Iori isn’t one to shy away from someone but, when she sees a lady-in-waiting with light blue hair beside the princess and her little one, she can feel like her heart is going to burst right there.
The girl is wearing a formal dress with a blindfold across her eyes and the spear behind her suggest to Iori that she isn’t a normal guest. She always stand silent beside or behind the red haired princess and care for the baby when she asks for a break or just wants to talk with someone and without the kid presence.
Iori feels like someone is pulling and tugging on an invisible string that’s taking her to that mysterious woman’s side.
“Excuse me?” She asks while looking at her.
“Hm?” The woman turns and looks at her, Iori feels like the world stopped to turn and that there’s just them in that crowded ballroom and everything is just a white noise in the background.
“May I… have this dance?” She asks while looking at her. “I’m looking after Her Highness Hikari.” The woman replies while continuing to rocking the kid in the small crib.
“I see… sorry.” She’s about to turn when a hand stops her and she looks up to see the mysterious woman stops her.
“I don’t mean that you can leave, I can smell when someone is dangerous or can be a danger for my Lady and her baby.” Iori knows that’s most unlikely that the woman is looking at her but she continues to ‘hold’ her gaze and nods, looking down towards the sleeping baby.
Hikari is truly a beautiful baby with her pale skin tone, small horns with a soft orchid shade and her lilac hair truly are beautiful tones for a baby so small like her.
“Her Highness Hikari is almost one year old now, she’s gonna to grown strong and beautiful as her parents.”
“Can she walk or talk already?”
The woman nods. “She’s already ahead of her peers and she’s just gonna to continue to be as such.”
“Such high expectations for a little kid…”
“We don’t have expectations for her, she’s gonna do whatever she likes and don’t worry about her future or even about the throne.” She smiles softly. “His majesty is gonna to make sure of it, that his granddaughter is take care of and happy.”
“Is he whipped for her?”
“Truly so.” She turns towards Iori. “I shouldn’t talk about this but his majesty is truly whipped for his niece, never leaving her alone or unattended, even if she’s always around her parents.”
Iori nods while smiling and she turns to look at Hikari that’s, now awake and Iori can see the beautiful ruby shades of her eyes, playing around her crib, taking and tugging the blanket in her hands.
Iori learns that the woman’s name is Tamaki, the one that Haruka said was a hurricane, and she’s truly, other than truly be the hurricane, Riku’s lady-in-waiting and one of her many ones who protect the youngest princess and her daughter.
She notices even the way that princesses are truly different: Tenn, the oldest and most difficult to ‘deal’ with, is very attached to her sister but very much rigid to her duty while Riku, the youngest one and Hikari’s mother, is more open to fights and duels but rigid to her duty too.
Iori, she was walking towards the kitchen to have a glass of water, she saw the princesses talking, holding on each other and holding hands, while smiling. She never thought to see something more precious or pure like that, less from the princesses of Hell.
When they notice of her presence, Tenn immediately turned on the defensive and protective, hiding her sister behind her and summons her whip in hand, but Iori immediately shows that she isn’t a threat and doesn’t mean to be one.
Tenn slowly calm down and continues to look at her until she turns the angle and disappear.
“Are you going away?” Iori hears and she turns to see Tamaki, still wearing her blindfold and the spear on her back, while she keeps her regal and confident stance.
“Yes, I’m going back to my Realm.” She replies while looking at her and smiling slightly.
Tamaki nods and goes closer to her. “May I ask you to take and wear this?” She asks while showing a necklace in her hand.
Iori looks at it and nods while smiling. “Sure, may I ask you to put it on me?”
Tamaki looks surprise but she goes around and put it on Iori’s neck sweetly and with care before smiling.
Iori looks at her and rethinks about what her sister said when she asked why she fallen in love with a demon than an angel.
“When I saw her, I feel like my world was getting full of colors again after was drained of it, I felt like I was whole again after years I was split and incomplete… it’s a beautiful sensation and I can’t explain how beautiful is…” She said. “Iori, when you’ll find your destined one, you’ll understand why and how it is.”
Iori pulls on her hand and kisses her on the lips, feeling like she can touch the sky and complete again while kissing Tamaki.
Maybe she can fall in love with the sweetest of sins and isn’t afraid of the consequences for it.