During the night, when everything was silent.

Orion awakened suddenly.

"..."

He looked at the two women sleeping with him.

Slowly and carefully, he managed to get out of bed without bothering the two sleeping beauties.

He looked at himself. The brand new clothes he received from Kamala were completely tattered and ripped here and there.

Without telling anyone, he returned to Horizon to change his clothes.

Five minutes later, he was back with a set of casual clothes.

Grey jeans and black shirt. Simple, yet it's doing the job.

Quietly, he opened the door and followed the directions Olivia told earlier, which leaded to her.

He walked into the corridor on his right until stairs entered his sight. Without hesitation, he walked downstairs and opened the very first door, but not without knocking.

"Yes?"

Orion opened the door and stared at the young woman sat at the desk with her aid waiting next to her with a plate full of pastries.

Olivia, the young blonde girl with green eyes, smiled at Orion the moment she saw him.

Her aid was a maid, while being the master of all other maids.

She was around her late twenties, but still looking rather young. With a perfect and tidied haircut, she was the definition of perfection.

Her long hair was tied into a thin string that stopped at her waist, with a black ribbon at her nape holding everything together.

"Marie."

"Yes."

The maid placed the plate next to Olivia's massive pile of paperwork, and walked out of the room without even batting an eye at Orion.

Before closing the door, she bowed toward her mistress, and left.

"That was my maid. Pretty aloof right?"

"Sure."

"She might not look like it, but she's very caring. Give her time to open up and she will treat you well."

Orion walked in front of the desk and sat down on one of the chairs.

"Not much of a talker, are you? Wait, are you still cautious around me?"

"Less than I usually am. I still owe you for saving us from crashing into the sea."

Olivia smiled. Knowing that he wasn't completely on guard was already a good start. She had to push a little further, but she knew she could make it.

The moment she saw Amelia and Karteira throw themselves into his arms, jealousy formed in her mind. She wanted to be one of them.

And she would do anything at this point.

"So, what was that important matter you asked me to hear?"

Going straight to the point was Orion's way of life. He was also very impatient to return in bed, as his body was still recovering.

While it was a good excuse in his head, he just wanted to return to Amelia and Karteira's side.

"Well."

Taking a small cream puff from the plate, she walked to the window behind her. To Orion, she looked really childish, nothing like Kamala. There was a very subtle charm to her that he saw in no one else, which peaked is interest.

'Why? What am I feeling? I don't understand why the beauty aspect is going crazy over a teenager.'

The symbol in his eye pulsed regularly, as if it tried to see past something.

*lick*

Licking her finger clean after eating the pastry, she turned to Orion and walked toward him.

She placed both hands on the chair's arms, forced her knee between his legs, and stared at him, waiting for a reaction.

"What are you... trying to do?"

For some reason, he couldn't look away. He stared into her eyes similar to an emerald, and watched as strands of her golden hair fell on his face.

They both locked eyes for a long moment in dead silence. Orion was unable to look away.

Normally, he would have pushed her away gently, but she didn't look pushy at all currently. It was as if she was waiting for something.

Until Orion noticed it.

"!"

He looked at the accessory hanging from her neck, and went to touch it. Olivia remained silent, and watched as Orion removed the clasp of her necklace.

"Where did you get this?"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The moment the necklace was removed from her neck, the shape of her body changed. It was similar to Orion's when he released his factions' traits.

Two very small but sharp yellow horns were revealed above her ears, arching backward behind her head. A devilish yellow tail popped from under her frilly maid skirt, waving left and right, while her canine teeth pocked out of her mouth.

"..."

The Beauty aspect finally settled down, but not without leaving a slight blush on Orion's face.

"So. Do you understand why I called you here?"

Olivia removed herself from Orion, and sat on her desk, crossing her legs.

"I would be pretty simple-minded if I was unable to understand. But I have a lot of question. Answer the first one."

"Where I've obtained this ring?"

She pointed at the ring attached to a simple silver chain.

"Yes. Depending on your answer, this could either make me angry."

While grasping a ring with a beautiful red jewel set on a golden ring, there was no mistake for him. This was his mother's ring.

His expression tightened, waiting for her answer.

"..."

Olivia searched for the right way to answer him.

"Hmm~ I can't explain well without telling you the whole things. That will answer most of your questions anyways, so let me tell you. It's not a very interesting story like Lord Elliott or anything like that."

Placing her elbows on her knees, she cupped her head with her hands.

"As you can see, I'm a demon. In fact, I'm the last pure bred demon."

Orion nodded. It wasn't hard to see.

"My ancestors were strange people. They felt the conflict brewing somehow, and left Eogis before the battle your parents and thousands of angels and demons died in just to seal Lord Elliott."

"They couldn't go very far, as humans were obviously on the oppressing side. But as they walk on the beach of the Carmel Sea in search of a place to stay, from the massive pillar of light that erupted in Eogis, a single light came crashing near them."

"Intrigued, they went to its crashing spot, and recovered that ring during that time. They knew it was their leader's wedding ring. This was Lady Orianne's ring."

Hearing that, Orion thought.

'This feels similar to what happened with dad's ring. Did the rings fly toward something both of them wanted to protect?'

'The fairies for dad, and the last members of her faction for mom.'

"The strange thing about this ring is its power to hide your magic. With it, my family has been able to hide the truth about them being demons."

For Orion, there was a question very important he had to ask.

"How did you end up being an Apostle? What happened to you parents?"

"I'm getting to it, just wait a little."

She giggled and continued her story. Feeling Orion's interest and piercing gaze on her made her demon blood boil.

"Our family has been living in Noctelagia since we've found the ring. The problems began when a certain child, me in that case, came to see the light."

"I am an... irregularity. I can't control my faction traits. See, I'm not using magic."

She opened her arms wide on both sides to show Orion.

"That's true. It certainly is peculiar. So you've used my mother's ring to hide your true form?"

Olivia shook her head from left to right slowly.

"Not entirely. The ring is used to hide your magic, and avoid detection. I had to create a new magic just to stay alive."

Snapping her finger, water enveloped her body and reverted it back to the human Olivia.

"Though, it's difficult to maintain it without the ring's backup."

The water splashed everywhere without actually wetting anything and revealed her demon form again.

"Concerning my parents, they died when I was younger. From a variety of reasons, but the main culprit was an infectious plague coming from the sea. Algae or whatever, I'm not knowledgeable enough on that matter to answer you clearly."

'Probably an airborne carried type of algae bloom. I do remember something about a plague striking Noctelagia a few years ago, taking the lives of twenty people. Her parents were part of it then.'

"Before they died, they gave me the ring. They told me to use it and find a way to live with pride, even though I was a demon."

"So..."

Her green eyes darkened and her gaze became lost.

"I've decided to remove everything that made my life difficult."

"What did you do?"

Curious, Orion listened intently.

"I've manipulated the previous Lord of Noctelagia, and made him believe I was his long lost daughter."

"The reason so many people died was because of poor decision making, and horrible treatments toward others, even humans. That man was a real piece of work."

"It took me two months to be accepted as his daughter. But the moment I came in the castle... I sent him and all of his followers on an isolated island. Oh, that island sunk to the bottom of the sea recently. No one survived."

There was not a single trace of remorse in her words. Not that Orion cared either. She did a great job removing a man that abused his power.

"I've been slowly gaining the trust of the people while keeping my true identity hidden, but I think it's time for me to stop."

Orion watched the woman smile. Even though it looked like a twisted smile, he found that rather attracting, against his better judgment.

"Now that I've found another person like me, you in that case, I won't have to bother with all of this anymore."

"I've done more than enough. Life as been improved, the citizens lost their prejudices against other factions, and the economy is stable."

"Marie will take over for me, with the help of the maid squad I've nurtured until now."

Olivia jumped from the desk and sat sideways on Orion's lap, hugging his neck.

"I'm sorry, but you are stuck with me forever. I'm not letting the demon blood perish with me."

"You'll have to deal with Amelia first. I believe Amelia will not relinquish her spot as number one easily."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm fine being number three at this point. Though, I've noticed that you've attracted quite a number of interesting women."

She was a little too proactive for Orion. This girl, who was currently nineteen, was worse than Amelia. She show her affection way too much.

And she was probably a little crazy too.

"And? Do you expect me to say yes? I don't know you that well yet. I've met you only a few minutes ago, and you're already pushing yourself on me."

"Say what you want, it was love at first sight. The moment you've killed that man during the Ceremony, I've been longing to see you again."

"This took a longer time than I expected, but seeing you tougher than back then is my reward."

She traced her finger on his chest and abs.

"You sure hide your true self pretty well."

Orion smiled sarcastically. He now had to deal with a third woman, which his heart refused to push away.

Though, he would still have to speak about this to the girls later on.

"I do~"

Olivia brought her face closer to him and kissed him while he was thinking.

"!"

Opening his eyes wide from the sudden kiss, he tried to push her away.

"Hng!"

But she was resisting.

"Pfaa! What are you doing?!"

While holding her shoulders, he finally managed to break free.

"Ah~ I can feel it."

Her body glowed a dark hue, until her human form returned as if her demon form was but a dream.

"Kh!"

Orion gritted his teeth as he understood. Just like Amelia and Karteira, Olivia received a part of him. She received the dark element, which gave her properties related to visual changes. Perfect when used in tandem with her water magic.

"You've even given me a way to hide my true form! I'm just so happy I could go for more!"

Going for another kiss, this time, Orion turned everything around. He grabbed her waist, stood up, turned around and dropped her on the chair, where he was previously sitting.

"Tch!"

"Don't click your tongue. This was already bad to begin with, now I have to deal with Amelia and Karteira bashing me for infidelity... great."

'Just when I decided to be serious too.'

"Let's stop at that then. You can keep the ring, it was yours to begin with. I planned to give it back anyways, but thanks to you, I might be able to continue living as a human for a bit longer."

She touched her chest, feeling the remaining feeling of the heat coming from the kiss and the appearance of the dark element in her soul.

*sigh*

Orion was tired. There he was, with a third girlfriend out of nowhere.

His problem would keep piling up if this continued, so he decided to leave the room.

But he recovered the rings of his parents. He stared at his mother's ring while walking back to his room.

Maybe the price to pay for it wasn't that bad?