Serris was positively over the moon. She’d met her favourite character in person, her boy was talking to her again, and Ren was still smiling at her and treating her warmly! Sure, she might not have gotten to see the old Noth in all of his raging tortured wild glory, maybe Noth wasn’t treating her exactly as warmly as he used to, and maybe Ren only still loved her because she’d had her memories wiped, but well, who cares? The ends justify the means, right? It didn’t all have to be perfect, it just had to get done, right?

Noth, although a bit more wary and vigilant against her, seemed to understand why she’d had to intervene with the children when she did, even if he didn’t agree with her means. The two would fight on occasion whenever Noth would try to pry the truth about Ren out of her lips, but in the end he’d always reluctantly let her go when she pointed out that he wasn’t giving her enough trust. It was a risky tactic and Serris knew it, but she also knew that Noth was used to her keeping secrets enough that he wasn’t willing to pry too hard if it seemed like it might be something that could have gotten her into trouble. Perhaps the incident of her getting sucked away to be punished by the God-dess for almost half a year was heavily influencing Noth enough that he was scared to lose her again from asking too much of her. However, it was evidently not traumatic enough that he wasn’t willing to still try his luck sometimes.

Serris really loved that quirky curiosity of his, even while it gently endangered her.

She knew that his love for his family wouldn’t let him completely give up on the issue anyway. Yes, he clearly looked guilty when he felt that he was pressing her too dangerously, but she could also see his resolve to ensure Ren’s safety as well. He would eventually back away each time, but it would only be a few days before he would come back, poking at her with his questions from a different angle, as if hoping for a clue or hint to appear that he simply hadn’t noticed before. Thus, their stubborn back and forth fights would continue off and on without yielding very much of anything, luckily for the angel.

The month until the noble meeting passed like a flash for the overjoyed angel. All the worries and guilt that had been weighing down on her from the things she’d done and were still yet to do seemed to fade away and be replaced by a lovely manic bliss. Sadly, though, such bliss is always only temporary, a happy distraction from the harsh truths that had been buried behind all the light. And as the time ticked ever closer to the day when she and Noth would be leaving for the meeting, Serris could feel the weight of her responsibilities growing heavier and heavier on her shoulders. She tried her best to fight against the impending bad times with the good memories she’d made, but in the end her true nature would always win. She was an angel that brought calamity, and the brief break she’d gotten to enjoy was finally coming to an end.

And yet, despite how much she wanted to feel bad about all the evil Noth was about to face, she couldn’t help the excited tickles of joy she could feel in her heart.

She could feel the madness returning again, a constant tingling thrill softly tickling its way up her spine and into her mind.

It was finally time to continue her purpose.

Her lovely Noth would struggle against his monsters for her once again, and she would eat every single second of it up.

It was so hard to wait.

***

The lovely angel cooed her words into Noth’s ear as she hung from her arms that were wrapped around his neck. The teen frowned in annoyance, doing his best not to let her get in his way as he finished his preparations.

“Why are you still so giddy? It’s been a month.”

Serris’s almost sparkling smile looked completely unfazed no matter what the teen had murmured over the past few days. Noth grumbled and rolled his eyes, deciding it was best to just ignore the clingy angel. Such a decision didn’t matter much, though, due to the fact that she was still very much in the way of him finishing putting on his topcoat. He tried to gently pull her arms away, but they refused to budge. She’d always been insistent on constant contact with him, so it was no surprise at all that she was being so touchy with him now, but for some reason she’d been extra sticky ever since she’d spoken to the previous ‘Noth’.

Perhaps he was only feeling so overly sensitive about everything she did lately because he was a bit more wary of her than he once was. After all, even if he knew that she’d always been keeping certain things from him, it felt very different to know that she’d actually done something to him and his loved ones without letting him know. He’d learned that she had to keep some things a secret for the sake of not angering the God-dess, but this… This felt like something that could have been said but simply wasn’t, and that fact really, and truly, hurt. And now, seeing her so happy instead of trying to talk to him about any of it or apologize…

Noth couldn’t stop the bitter look on his face.

Perhaps he was simply being petty, but he wasn’t willing to be the bigger person and easily forgive her this time.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Get off.”

Serris tittered at his pouty sounding words. One of her hands came up to lovingly stroke at his cheek, while her grip around his neck worryingly tightened.

Noth’s frown deepened at her happy-go-lucky response at first, but a few seconds later he hesitantly glanced back her way.

“...Your favourite…?”

With eyes that seemed to turn to stars, Serris squealed at the teen’s cute expression.

She instantly grabbed hold of his head and began to pepper kisses all over his flustered and annoyed face.

As Noth desperately struggled to play goalie to protect his face against the offending lips, a quiet knock reverberated through the door behind him, going unheard due to his frantic efforts. Soon Elillith opened the door, peering into Noth’s room with a completely unresponsive visage. She didn’t bat a single eye at Noth’s strange squirming, only looking away once before coming into the room.

“M’lord.”

Even when she called him from only a short distance away, the teen still didn’t stop the strange dance he was doing. She tried stepping a bit closer and tapping him on the shoulder, but that only made his eyes turn to her, and the odd movements still remained.

“Elillith, I-”

“Y’ll b’ late.”

“Y-yes, but I’m… kind of… busy. Stop already!”

Elillith stared for a while longer, her stare towards him growing sharper and sharper as the seconds passed. Eventually, her eyes closed, and she let out a deep sigh before her face suddenly took on an uncharacteristically determined look. She swiftly grabbed hold of Noth’s topcoat in one hand, and one of his arms in the other. With more dexterous movements than one would expect from the slothful woman, she quickly wrestled Noth into his clothes. The teen blinked in shock the entire time as it happened, especially as he watched the coat along with Elillith’s hands simply phase through his angel as if she were made of smoke.

It was so rare for Serris to ever let any other person or random objects that she didn’t want interact with her, so it wasn’t often that he experienced such a view. He’d seen plenty of times where the angel had purposefully moved something, or had even let an object smack against her as if she were solid; And most of the time she would simply move out of the way of other people’s hands. It was these unexpected moments when she didn’t bother to react to the world that always made Noth remember that he really was dealing with a spirit.

Also, Noth couldn’t help but be jealous how easily Elillith had solved his little topcoat dilemma for him.

As Noth stood there stunned, Elillith took the opportunity to gently lead him out of his room, giving him one final encouraging shove once they’d made it to the front door.

~~~

“You must really be out of it if you let Elillith do that to you.”

“But you hate whenever something turns you into smoke, though.”

Having said goodbye to his family at the entrance to the mansion, Noth was now busy making his way out of town, so that any possible future spies sent from the pope would know that he had actually been seen leaving, and no one would see him teleporting away. Sure, there was plenty of evidence that he’d somehow teleported a handful of people before, but he didn’t need to let anyone know for sure that he could teleport himself. Meanwhile his trusty angel was flitting around him constantly finding bits of clothing or hair to straighten out while a gleeful smile stayed plastered on her face.

Noth tilted his head, wondering what could have happened to cause her to get over something she’d so vehemently hated, and why her answer had sounded so vague. Serris giggled and tucked back in a loch of hair that had fallen out of place when he moved his head like that. The touch tickled Noth’s ear, causing his mouth to squirm a bit. He could feel his cheeks getting a teensy bit warm in embarrassment, and couldn’t help but snap at her to cover his reaction up.

"You're being annoying."

Despite the way he’d batted her hand away, the angel’s smile never faltered. If anything, it had somehow managed to grow even bigger, and her eyes arched up as if she were laughing at his cute antics. She brought her face uncomfortably close, and purred her words towards the softly blushing boy.

Noth thought such a response was nonsensical; Of course she was only annoying to him, he was the only one who could see her. His incredulity was obvious from his face. Serris couldn’t help but roll her eyes and give up at how thick his head was. For a moment she even pondered if maybe she should have tried to raise him to appreciate jokes more. More laughter in his life would have definitely benefited him.

The teen scoffed at such a thought. What kind of noble would possibly want to be friends with him, the outcast? But despite his obvious doubts with the idea, Serris's sparkling eyes wouldn't leave him be. In the end she left him no choice but to reluctantly agree to try to make a friend if he could find someone fitting.

Sadly, the chances of that were looking quite dismal.