Listmati watched as her chained-up sister was dragged away screaming after they had gotten her to confess everything. She sighed in relief that it was finally all over. “Cael…”
“Are you alright?” He asked her from her shadow where he was hiding.
She warmly smiled. “Thank you. I’ll be fine.” Listamati turned to the royal family and bowed.
“Miss Listamati.” The Emperor spoke. “We thank you for your assistance with rooting out the cancer in our kingdom. How might I reward you? Of course, we will return your household to you and raise you to Marquess.”
Listamati smiled and bowed her head once more. “I thank you for the offer, your majesty, but I am currently married to a baron of Galgalake.”
“I see. Surely you can bring him here.”
She giggled. “He was newly appointed to his barony and has greatly improved his town of Hallibrush.”
“Oh? You are married to Baron Delormond?” The Emperor mused.
“Yes. You know of him?” She asked.
He nodded. “I have heard of the capable demon. I was a bit sad that Queen Meryl poached him so quickly, but that is the fault of my own making.” The Emperor chuckled.
“Cael would be happy to hear you say such a thing.”
“I was surprised that the Demon-Lord coordinated all this. Are you sure you are not associated with him?” The empress asked.
Listamati giggled. “I swear by Nanduun that I have no connection to a dreaded Demon-Lord.”
They watched the haze of light roll over her.
“How did you do that!?” Caeldaemos was surprised she didn’t get any backlash.
“I wasn’t lying. How could I dread my gentle and benevolent husband?” Listamati replied.
“I still wish to reward you. Since I cannot reward the Demon-Lord for freeing my beloved empress and children, I will pass it on to you.” The Emperor stated.
“Then perhaps some assistance with us growing and developing our domain?” Listamati asked.
The Emperor thought for a moment before a smile came across his face. “I think I have an idea. Very well. We shall assist you.”
Listamati bowed her head. “Thank you, your majesty.”
“Now, what would you like done about your household?”
She turned to the crowd. “Viscount Polawarta, please come forward.”
The viscount slithered forward and bowed to the rulers.
“I wish to pass on my household and domain to the viscount. He is a good man, and his father was a loyal retainer to my father.” She giggled. “He is also married to my closest friend.”
“Lissy!” Jaalorda exclaimed in surprise.
Listamati smiled warmly. “Sorry to surprise you with this, Jaal, but I no longer want the house. I do have a request of you, though.”
“Anything.” The viscount stated.
“Please take care of my parent’s graves. I will come by to visit them when I have time.”
The viscount bowed before her. “Of course!”
“Thank you.”
The Emperor wrapped up the remaining bit of the audience by proclaiming that the household of Succubus was to be absorbed by the viscount, and his family was to be raised to that of a county. As a bonus, he awarded plenty of Tress to Listamati.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caeldaemos and Listamati stood before the grave of her parents. They had to take some time to clean and restore the unkempt graves that Aqualaria ignored. He stood behind her while wrapping her in his arms.
“Hello, Mother, Father. I am happy to finally be able to speak to you once more. A lot has happened since the last time I visited.” She teared up and began to tremble. “It was so hard…” She cried, and Caeldaemos hugged her tightly. “I cannot understand why Aqualaria did all this to us. I treated her with all the love and care that the two of you had shown me, but I guess it was not enough for her.”
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Listamati paused while taking comfort in Caeldaemos’ loving hold and smiled. “But I am well now. I have Caeldaemos. Though you two will be shocked to know that he is actually the Demon-Lord, he is a big pushover.” She giggled.
“Hey…” He playfully complained.
“He is a sweet and kind man.” Her heart warmed. “I wish you two could have met him like in the dream I had when he cleared my heart.”
“What? You never told me about that.”
She giggled. “I’ll tell you later.” She turned back to the graves. “I am happy. I have Cael, Liara, Rana, Lily, Mari, Jaalorda, Sophia, and I guess Orelia, but she can get a bit preachy.”
Caeldaemos laughed.
“I could not ask for a better life. I just hope the world can accept Cael for who he really is. I hope…” She teared up once more. “I hope I was able to make you proud.”
Caeldaemos kissed the top of her head. “I am sure they are.”
She looked up at him. “Do you want to say anything?”
“Sure.” He turned his attention to the graves. “I’m not as eloquent as Lista, but I am learning. I am Caeldaemos Delormond, a baron of Galgalake. Lista and I were initially rocky, but we finally got here. She is a big part of my heart, and I would crush anyone who hurts her. Sorry, that was the Demon-Lord talking.” He joked. “I want to live a peaceful and happy life with Lista and the others. I don’t know if you two would approve of me, but I promise to do everything I can to make her happy.”
“Well said,” Listamati stated. She turned to the graves. “Goodbye, Mother, Father. I will be sure to visit soon with a grandchild.”
“Huh?” Caeldaemos was shocked. “But…” He knew he was using Pregnancy Control properly!
Listamati giggled. “That is for later, silly.”
“O-oh…” He blushed.
“Come. I want to retrieve the few heirlooms I had hidden away in the household. Hopefully, Aqualaria never found them.” Listamati led them toward the manor.
“Um, Lista.” He shyly asked.
“Yes?”
“Do you want children?”
She turned to him and gave a smile so dazzling he felt she had Entranced him completely. “Of course. Nothing would make me happier to bear our children.”
They gathered were heirlooms they could find and headed back to Hallibrush for a much-desired break before tackling Liara’s father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sylvia was making good time on her Magic Cycle. The two-month trip to Galgalake was looking to be cut down by a few weeks. However, she faced more of her failings during the journey. Brigands, who were her followers, attacked her twice, and she cut down both groups. She was now sure she had to return to the divine realm to fix her mistakes. But first, she had to fix the worst of them. All the time and seeing her failures allowed her to reflect on how horrible she was. She needed to make what she had done to Michael right.
She was wiping herself down with a bucket of water filled with a tool from OWP, a hot-water flask. It had embedded water and fire stones, so the water from it was hot enough to clean up. Sylvia had used light magic to surround herself in an optical barrier that did not allow anyone outside to see her or her campsite.
Eating some jerky and fruit for breakfast, she collapsed her camp and checked her Crys-Link for updates on the Demon-Lord. “Huh?”
There were two articles on him.
The first was from a couple of days ago about how the Demon-Lord had helped the demon nation by exposing a noblewoman abusing the ability to Entrance others. She attempted to control the imperial family but was summarily executed after being exposed. There was no mention of the royal family forming any connection with the Demon-Lord, but she would have to keep the location in mind.
The second article made her goal to go to Galgalake more pressing. The queen of Galagalake was planning to request an in-person meeting with the Demon-Lord. It stated that preparations were still in progress, but it was scheduled around when she should arrive in the city.
It might be difficult for her to meet with Michael during the meeting, but she hoped she could finally find him. She no longer cared how much begging she must do. Even if she had to pledge herself to him, she would spend the rest of her life or divinity making it up to him.
It should take a little while for her to reach the town of Venture. If she continued to ride as fast as possible, she should make it there in about a week.
Though, she would need to stop at the subsequent settlement to stock up on food. Damn mortal needs…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liara and Rana were in shock over what Listamati had stated.
“Sorry, could you say that again?” Liara asked.
A smile as bright as the noon sun shone on Listamati’s face. “I’m pregnant!”
“I didn’t even use pregnancy control for a 100% guarantee… All it took was one time?” Even Caeldaemos was surprised. He usually kept the ability on, but he turned it off at Listamati’s request, and after a single night a week ago, they confirmed she was pregnant.
“Sophia, are you sure?” Rana asked.
Sophia smiled. “Yes. I may have used my blessed power to check, but we also checked on the Blessed Tablet, which Cael, thank you for returning it in one piece.”
“You’re welcome. I didn’t want you or Io to be mad at me.”
Rana and Liara turned to Caeldaemos in unison, determination in their eyes.
He sighed. “Okay… I’ll use Pregnancy Control to make it 100%.”
“Nope.” The two ladies hung onto him. “Until we know for sure.”
He chuckled. “Once a day. That is the limit I am instituting.”
The two ladies pouted but accepted.
“Am I to be included?” Sophia teased.
“I think you would make a good mother.” He replied.
Sophia blushed. “You’re learning….”
“When one is teased enough, you pick up a thing or two.” He laughed.
The impatient wives dragged Caeldaemos off, leaving the priestess alone with Listamati.
“So, public announcement?” Sophia asked.
Listamati giggled. “I’m sure the people of Hallibrush will be excited.”
It didn’t take more than a few days for all three wives to announce their pregnancies to Hallibrush. The people threw a celebration that lasted a couple of days. To the amusement of the Demon-Lord, many still blacked out as they challenged him to drinking contests.
During the celebration, Lily stuck close to her mother, happy as could be, knowing she would have more little siblings. She, in turn, decided to take on helping various mothers with their children to learn as much as possible about caring for babies. Caeldaemos, seeing the benefit of doing it, joined his daughter in learning.
It would be another week before Caeldaemos and Listamati returned to Forteria to investigate Liara’s father.