Morrigan helplessly looked around the village, wondering what to do for the night. There wouldn't be enough space for everyone to sleep within this small village. Desperate for a solution, Morrigan looked to Viana for help.

"Viana, you had to pass through this village too when you were on your tour, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. This is the only settlement in the area," she replied.

"So what did you do?"

"The only logical thing one can do. I stayed to sleep in the village elder's house while everyone else slept outside," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course, I'd be happy to house you… But I'm afraid I only have enough space for one guest," the lizard demon who was dressed slightly better than the rest said, and Morrigan realized that he must be the village elder. He didn't appear very old, but then again nobody in the Underworld did.

"Wonderful. Get my bags inside," Viana snapped her fingers and was about to go to the largest house in the area.

"Wait, wait, wait. Morri is the Crown Princess, so she'll sleep with the village elder. We'll have to go with other demons," Deziara protested.

"I'll be happy to host you, Princess Viana," one of the female lizard demons spoke up and pointed towards her house. It was small and unimpressive, but one could tell that it was well-kept with a simple garden of Underworld plants in the back.

"Wonderful. I shall grant you this honor," Viana replied without missing a beat, her servants already grabbing her luggage from the carriage.

She's acting as if she's doing that lizard demon a favor. I doubt they're happy about suddenly having to host a bunch of royals in their house. Although maybe they are. Their expressions are a bit difficult to read.

"Princess Deziara, I would love to host you in my home," another lizard demon volunteer pointed to his house. It was the second largest house in the village after the village elder's house, and Deziara took him up on the offer without any hesitation.

"With that settled, Princess Morrigan, if you were so kind to follow me," the village elder said.

"Wait," she lifted her hand and turned towards the servants and the guards. "Where will all of you sleep?"

"Do not worry about us, Your Highness," one of the guards spoke up. "We'll be sleeping in the carriages and tents."

"Is that so? Are you alright with that?" she wondered.

"It's the only option we have. Please do not worry," the guards assured her. Morrigan reluctantly nodded her head and followed the village elder to his house. In reality, calling it a house was rather generous. There were no windows, only holes in the walls to let the air flow through it. The entrance door barely held in its hinges and the furniture inside seemed to be made by hand rather than by a professional carpenter.

"Dear, you would please make a special meal for tonight. We have Princess Morrigan as our guest," the village elder called, no rather yelled, to his wife. A shuffling of steps could be heard from somewhere and a rather annoyed looking lizard demon stomped out from one of the rooms, huffing and puffing.

"What are you yelling about? How many times have I told you to talk to me only if we're in the same room," she grumbled angrily but then froze when she saw Morrigan with her two demon servants by her side. Her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets from shock.

"Dear, this is Her Royal Highness, Princess Morrigan. We'll be hosting her here for tonight," he said with a smile, but Morrigan noticed how his eye was twitching in annoyance. The woman stared for a few more moments and then adopted a friendly smile.

"Of course! Of course! I'll begin working on dinner straight away," she said and scrambled away. Likely to the kitchen. A shiver ran through Morrigan's spine. She had this bad feeling about the food that the lizard demoness was about to prepare.

"Princess Morrigan, if the food is not to your liking, we can always prepare something from the food we have brought along," one of the maids whispered in her ear.

"Just save a portion for me just in case," Morrigan whispered, and the maid nodded decisively.

***

It turned out to be a good thing that Morrigan asked the maid to account for her portion as well. What the lizard demon served up turned out to be not much better than what she had received from the mole demons all those years ago. Sure, it wasn't mud with bugs in it. It was raw meat covered in bugs instead. The village elder ate it with such gusto that Morrigan instantly lost whatever appetite she had left.

She couldn't flat out reject the food they had so graciously prepared for her so instead she teleported it away to Haku while they weren't looking. Morrigan had no doubt that her dragon friend disposed of it without any issues. Bugs and all.

The bed the village elder gave Morrigan wasn't much better than the meal. It looked like a simple wooden frame was nailed together and then a piece of a makeshift mattress was thrown on top of it. The demon maids were quick to remove any improper bedding and replace it with the one they had packed along, but that didn't make it anymore comfortable. Just less dirty.

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Once she had said goodnight to her host, Morrigan slipped outside the room and went to the campsite the guards and servants had made just outside the village.

"Princess Morrigan, have you come for your meal? I'm afraid it's nothing fancy but it should be better than… the meal the village elder served," the demon maid said awkwardly and offered Morrigan a bowl of stew. Viana and Deziara were already sitting by a makeshift table, eating their own stew. Deziara didn't seem to mind it, while Viana was clearly in a very bad mood.

"I had already forgotten how horrid this place is," Viana grumbled, slowly eating the stew. It was certainly an odd sight to see the prim and proper Viana sit at a makeshift table and eat a simple stew. Sure, Morrigan and Deziara were princesses too, but they had always been more adventurous and outgoing. More accepting of simpler things.

"Do they really eat raw meat every day?" Deziara shuddered in horror. Haku brought his head up at the mention of the word meat, his tongue sticking out. "No, Haku we don't have any more meat. You already ate it all."

The dragon's enthusiasm waned and he lowered his head back to the ground.

"No. Raw meat is a big delicacy for lizard demons. On normal days they mostly eat grubs and vegetables they manage to grow on their own," one of the demon servants explained, and all three princesses shuddered.

"Please, tell me we won't have to visit many of these villages," Deziara said, looking at Viana hopeful.

"Oh, don't worry. Most of the time, we'll have to camp outside," Viana's face paled.

"That actually sounds better," Morrigan said thoughtfully.

"Oh really. We'll see what you say about that in a few days, little sister," Viana smiled, but her smile seemed cold and sinister so Morrigan couldn't help but shudder.

***

The night had been horrible. The bed was hard and uncomfortable, and Morrigan could hear the village elder and his wife whisper something to each other for a long time. At least several hours. It wasn't a loud noise, but the fact that they weren't asleep yet made Morrigan nervous for some reason. Also for her safety, her two guards were stationed inside her room, instead of outside. So their constant vigilant gazes made falling asleep even more difficult. At least she didn't have to worry about anyone sneaking up on her during the night.

By the time morning arrived, she had slept maybe a few hours at best. Her back and shoulders ached from sleeping on the hard, uncomfortable mattress and her eyelids were constantly trying to force themselves shut. But they had to continue on their way.

Deziara and Viana didn't look any better than Morrigan and for the first half of the day, the three sisters didn't talk as they rode in the same carriage. Instead, they half-dozed as they watched the dark scenery pass by. Only after lunch did they begin moving around – Viana and Morrigan taking their shadow forms to make the journey more manageable. Deziara rode on Haku's back. Apparently sitting in the saddle for a long time didn't bother her as much as did Morrigan.

The whole day was spent on the road once again and by the time it was evening, Morrigan was completely exhausted. Two nights of bad sleep made her feel that even sleeping on the hard ground would be good. Unfortunately, it appeared that she might get her wish as there was no village to stop by that night.

"Wait, are we going to stay here for the night?" Morrigan asked Seon, who was pitching up what looked like a tent in a dark clearing.

"I'm afraid so, Your Highness. There are no villages on the way to the Glittering Cave. The magic concentration in the air here is already high enough to be uncomfortable for those who remain here for longer periods of time," he explained.

"So I'll be sleeping in there?" she asked, pointing at the tent.

"Yes. But do not worry, the maids have brought plenty of bedding to put over the hard ground," Seon assured her with a smile. Morrigan paled. When she had just moved into her apartment, she didn't have a bed right away and was forced to sleep on the hardwood floor with nothing but a thin mattress topper as a cushion. It was hard. Extremely so.

And this place had nothing but stone underneath. No grass or moss or anything that could make sleeping more comfortable.

This is supposed to be a magical world. Couldn't traveling be somehow made more comfortable? Where are my magic cushions and pillows and sleeping bags? Or a tent whose inside is bigger than the outside.

An idea popped into her head.

"Somebody bring me my painting supplies!" she called out.

"You're going to paint now?" Viana asked incredulously.

"You can thank me later," Morrigan said with a mischievous smirk, then called out to Galandir. "Give me some stronger light."

"Of course," he said and conjured up a light ball right above her. She nodded in satisfaction and then got to work as soon as the maids brought her all the necessary supplies. Morrigan was working fast because these objects didn't require much precision. The most basic kind would do. As she worked she could feel her magic draining away. She pushed it to the point where she would have enough energy to go into her shadow form and then stopped.

"Ta-da!" Morrigan announced as she pointed at the mountain of neatly folded bundles. The demons blinked in confusion, not understanding what she had just created.

"What is that, Morri?" Deziara asked curiously.

"Sleeping bags!" She announced and took one of the bags from the pile. She opened it and pulled out the neatly compressed sleeping bag. It instantly unfurled itself and revealed its true form. "These should be much more comfortable to sleep in than just regular blankets. I made sure to think of them as being filled with the softest material."

Viana and Deziara each took a sleeping bag and unpacked it. They touched the soft fabric, clearly surprised by its thickness.

"Where have you seen such a thing?" Viana asked, looking at Morrigan suspiciously.

Crap. This is why Father told me not to make anything from the human world.

"I just thought of it myself. I wanted to make a small bed that we could sleep anywhere, so I figured I could combine the bed with the blanket and pillow and then stuff it into the tiny bag," she said.

"Our Princess certainly is ingenious," Azrael laughed and grabbed one of the sleeping bags. Then he walked up to Morrigan and put his hand on her shoulder. "Everyone, grab one bag for yourself. There should be enough for everybody."

While he was saying that he also simultaneously spoke into her mind.

Princess, please be careful with what you create. These kinds of objects do not exist in Doppelta.

Yeah, I'll be careful. But you can't deny that we needed this.

Hey, don't you know I love these human things? I just don't think other demons will appreciate them as much as I do.