Chapter 11 – Father-Daughter Time

With heavy steps Morrigan slumbered towards her room, each next step on the staircase seeming more difficult than the last. After the whole fiasco with Viana, Deziara was doubly eager to teach Morrigan all the names of the nobles. She even tried using portraits, going from one image to the next, calling each of them and describing their houses a bit.

Deziara's efforts certainly had helped Morrigan memorize a lot of the names, but she was still far from remembering the whole list. By the end of the day, she could recall around 50% of larger houses and around 30% of smaller ones, and even that was done with great effort.

I never thought I would be so bad at remembering names. I never noticed such issues on Earth. But then again, I never had to remember such an extensive list of names. The sheer quantity of it is smothering.

Morrigan slowly pulled the door of her and Alphegor's shared room open, and slumped inside, sighing loudly.

"What's wrong, Morrigan?" Alphegor turned from his study desk, carefully looking over her. As the years went by, their living arrangements had also changed. The single bedroom was remade into a living room where one side looked like a study with all of the documents and books Alphegor needed and the other side looked like an art studio with shelves filled with art supplies and unfinished paintings.

On each side of this living area there was a door that led to Alphegor's bedroom and Morrigan's bedroom respectively, as well as their private bathrooms further in. All of these could only be entered through the main living room, making it almost into an apartment of sorts. An idea the King no doubt adapted from the human world.

"Father! You're already back? Usually, you come back later," Morrigan chuckled nervously and straightened, trying to hide her sour mood.

"I came back sooner to spend some time with you. I've been so busy lately, I feel like I've neglected you," the King said and got up. Morrigan hurried towards him to give him a hug, which he returned without hesitation. Over the years, she had grown incredibly attached to Alphegor and thanked her demon mother Eirwen for pulling her from Earth to Doppelta. It had truly been a blessing.

"It's alright. I know you have many things to take care of," she replied as she enjoyed the safety of his presence. Ever since their return from Earth, no, it was better to say that since Alphegor went to the battlefield, he's been busy dealing with the Fallen Kingdom. From what Morrigan understood, they remained just as pushy, despite having their forces promptly beaten by Alphegor.

In fact, they used their defeat to plead with the neighboring Duergar Country for help, and the two have formed a sort of tentative partnership. Morrigan didn't fully understand the ramifications of that – after all, her politics teacher insisted that noble names are far more important than understanding the current state of things. But one thing she did understand was that it created a lot of work for Alphegor.

"Yes. The accursed Fallen Kingdom keeps stirring up trouble. Perhaps I should just wipe them out and be done with it. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all this paperwork and could spend more time with my daughters," Alphegor growled and glared at the stack of documents on his desk. Morrigan feared they might just burst into flame from intensity alone.

"I'm sure it'll all settle down soon, Father. Why don't we just rest for the evening?" she suggested and pulled him towards the sofa. He didn't resist and just sank into the soft cushions, resting his head against the headrest. Morrigan sat down next to him, resting her head on his arm.

"I see you had a hard day as well. What troubles your mind, little one?" Alphegor said and gently caressed her hair. She leaned into his touch, letting the warmth of his hand wash away her worries.

"I just can't remember the names of all the nobles. Azrael said that he had all the big noble houses memorized in a week. I can't even recall half of them," she said. "Not to mention that Lord Weisedun keeps calling them so fast that I barely have time to register them, much less remember where they are and what their main strength is."

"Ah, yes, Weisedun has always been rather stubborn in his ways. Shall I find you a different teacher?" Alphegor asked, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

"No. Then it'll feel like I've lost. If Azrael could do it, then so can I," Morrigan sat up straight, determined to follow through on her words. Even if she had no idea how to do it.

Perhaps it is time to pull out some old cramming techniques I used in school. It'll only work short-term but then I'll at least get Weisedun off my back and be able to move onto actually important things.

"The only reason why he learned the names so quickly was because your mother taught him. She was a phenomenal teacher," Alphegor said with a bittersweet smile.

That's unfair. Azrael got to spend so much time with Mom, but I didn't even get a chance to meet her. How I wish I could have spent even a little bit of time with her.

"Mom taught a lot of things to Azrael. They seem to have been really close," she noted somewhat bitterly. "Why is that?"

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"Azrael lost his mother early to humans and your mother felt really sorry for the boy. He had great potential but nobody to teach him. So she took pity on him and decided to accept him as her pupil."

"She sounds very kind," Morrigan noted, feeling a bit of pride for her demon mother. And also a bit sorry for having to put up with him. He was a pain in the butt even as an adult demon. Imagining him as a child made Morrigan shiver.

Then again, it might be that he never grew up and remained a child mentally.

"Oh, yes. Eirwen was very kind. In fact, many demons called her weak due to this kindness, claiming that it was unbecoming for a demon," Alphegor explained, and Morrigan huddled closer to him, looking up into his eyes.

"Is it a weakness to be kind?" she asked. There were still many things she didn't understand about demons. While Morrigan was certain they were not the kind of villains fantasy stories made them out to be, they did have some cultural oddities she was still getting used to.

For example, the horns of a demon were their most precious thing. They were almost sacred and touching other demons' horns unless they were a lover or a close family member was forbidden and could even be punished. Morrigan once had touched Deziara's horns while combing her hair, intrigued by their unusual texture. Her sister was startled by it, but since they were family the incident was quickly forgiven.

"It can be your weakness and it can be your strength. Be kind where it is necessary, but do not be a fool by giving kindness to those who would spit on it," the King instructed, and she nodded dutifully. "Now then, enough of this heavy talk. I have some exciting news for you."

"Exciting news?"

"Remember about the Nachtstern Festival?" the King said, and Morrigan noticed a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Nachtstern? I do recall a lot of talk about a festival, but I didn't know you created a whole festival for our family," Morrigan chuckled, imagining Alphegor going around and ordering servants to make the grandest feast and attractions the Demon Kingdom had ever seen. Usually, it happened during her birthdays.

"No, not me. It was one of our first ancestors – Morax Nachtstern, the founder of the Demon Kingdom and the very first Demon King. He created the festival to celebrate Underworld's triumph over the Overworld," the King explained and Morrigan could see that he felt proud.

"Underworld's triumph over Overworld? But aren't they almost completely separate from one another?" she asked. "How and why would they even go to war?"

"They are separate now but it wasn't always that way. Once, hundreds of thousands of years ago, the inhabitants of the Overworld ruled over the whole of Doppelta. They looted the Underworld for its treasures, enslaved the demons and other underground races to their will and wreaked havoc on the underground ecosystem."

Morrigan felt taken aback by the sentence. Not the bit about humans wreaking havoc – that she was certain they were quite capable of in any world they lived in. No, what shocked her was the fact that Alphegor said that the Underworld had an ecosystem.

But there is literally nothing here? It's just darkness and lava and monsters.

"I see doubt in your eyes? What is it, Morrigan?" Alphegor looked at her, somewhat bemused.

"No, about the ecosystem bit. When I… when I ran away I didn't see much of an ecosystem," she mumbled, still ashamed to remember the fact that she had run back to Earth like a fool, despite Alphegor showing nothing but affection towards her.

"Well, if you're going to zoom past it in your shadow form without looking, of course, you wouldn't see much," he noted, and Morrigan blushed. But the King didn't appear mad and gently patted her head. "There is more in the darkness than you might think. But that is a topic for another time. I'd like to explain more about the Nachtstern Festival."

"Yes, please do," she nodded and smiled.

The Festival sounds like fun. When was the last time I even went on one? Sometime when I was just a small human child. I wonder what the demon festivals are like?

"As I was saying, during the Nachtstern Festival we celebrate the Underworld's victory over the Overworld. Initially, it was more like an honorary day meant to celebrate the Royal family, but over time it evolved into something that celebrated the Underworld as a whole. The length of the celebration also increased from one day to five."

"Wow, that sounds interesting. How come I haven't seen it yet?" she pondered aloud.

"Oh, it happens only once every twenty years. Having such a grand festival more often than that would be excessive," the King explained, and Morrigan began imagining all the possibilities of demonic grandeur. Her mind went back to those delicious magic sweets she tasted in Linberor Market all those years ago.

I wonder if there will be more things like that at the Festival. I would love to eat those sweets again. Never had a chance to eat anything like it since.

Morrigan had once tried bringing up the matter to Alphegor, but once he learned that Azrael had taken her out of the Castle, the King looked like he was ready to murder him. Again. She already had lost count of how many times she had to ask Alphegor to spare him.

"I'd love to attend it, but doesn't it take place outside of the castle?" she asked.

"It does. And we'll be going together. It is customary for the King and Queen to announce the beginning of the Nachtstern Festival," he ruffled her hair, and Morrigan's eyes lit up.

A chance to go outside the Castle and together with Father no less. I won't have to fear any kidnappers or monsters or anything.

"I can't wait! Can you tell me what sort of things you can see there?" Morrigan's eyes sparkled in anticipation, but Alphegor's mood seemed to drop.

"I can, but there is one issue," his expression became stern as if he loathed to voice the words aloud.

"What issue?"

"The Festival will have attendees not just from Demon Kingdom but from other Underworld countries as well."

"But that's great, isn't it? That's how we establish friendly relationships."

"Yes, but this means the Fallen Kingdom will be attending as well. And you as Crown Princess will have to meet them directly," Alphegor growled, the thought repulsive to him.

"Wait? As Crown Princess?" Morrigan felt as if she was struck by lightning.