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The snow swirled around outside as the wind howled. Diavolo pulled the sweater around him tighter despite being inside. “Young Master, are you cold?” Barbatos asked, bringing over a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Diavolo gratefully took the drink from the other demon. “A bit,” Diavolo admitted, another chill going down his spine at his words. “I’ll light the fireplace.” Barbatos walked over to the grand fireplace and crouched down. After a few minutes of nothing happening the frown of Barbatos' face became evident. “Is something wrong?” Diavolo asked. “...The fireplace won’t start…” “Oh?” Diavolo crouched beside Barbatos, “Is it broken?” “No… Everything is fine, but it won’t even catch magically.” “There’s something in the ashes!” Diavolo pushed some soot aside and pulled out a burnt piece of paper. He squinted at the bit of writing on it, “ If you need warmth look no further than my arms … It kind of smells like oranges and spice.” Barbatos gave it a sniff. “It certainly does. It seems someone has put a spell on our fireplace.” “But who,” Diavolo mused. “It worked fine yesterday so it must have been someone who visited today.”
An hour later, everyone who had visited the palace that day was lined up in front of the fireplace; MC, Mammon, Asmo, and Lucifer. Diavolo couldn’t see any of them intentionally casting a spell on the fireplace which made this most perplexing. “Oi, why are we here?” Mammon questioned, “I got places to be!” “This won’t take long,” Barbatos insisted, gesturing for the prince to take the floor. Diavolo stepped forward holding up the scrap of paper. He scanned the gathered faces to see if anyone reacted. Mammon looked bored. Asmo and MC looked interested and Lucifer looked… nervous. Lucifer did it?? His interest was peaked. However, he couldn’t jump to conclusions. It was highly possible Lucifer was just worried one of his brothers had done something wrong and he would have to clean up after them again.
Diavolo clapped his hands together. “Okay, now if everyone could hold out their wrists.” Confused, everyone did so. One by one Diavolo smelled everyone’s wrist. When he reached Lucifer the demon visibly flinched. The smell of oranges and spice could not be hidden. “You can all go. Barbatos you as well,” Diavolo said, “Lucifer could you stay behind for a moment.” “As you wish, Young Master.” Once everyone was gone Diavolo leaned against one of the tables in the room settling his eyes on Lucifer. “So Lucifer, why did you curse my fireplace?” “I-I had no idea it would do that,” Lucifer stammered, “I’ll make sure to-” “Oh, I don’t care about the fireplace.” “You don’t?” “I’m much more interested in what’s on this paper,” Diavolo waved it around, “Can you explain it to me?”
Lucifer’s face turned bright red, making Diavolo smile. “Was it for me,” he pressed. Lucifer looked away from him and was silent for a long beat before replying. “...Yes…” “Why didn’t you give it to me?” Diavolo pouted. He would have liked to get to read the rest of it. Lucifer shifted uncomfortably, “... It was just nonsense.” So, he had gotten cold feet and chucked it in the fire. “Regardless it doesn't fix my fireplace,” Diavolo said, “Till Barbatos can decipher the spell I might need to take you up on this letter's offer.”