Chapter 17: Honesty

Margaret POV

We made our way outside. Lily was holding tightly onto my hand. She is still worried about me finding out about her secret.

She is a genius and capable of doing almost anything. That is why I not worried about her going out to be an adventurer. But she can be so simpleminded at times. She probably thought I would reject her or hand her over to the inquisitors or something. How stupid she can be at times, though it makes her cute. Not the act she puts on most of the time, genuine emotions show up on her eyes sometimes. The panic and fear of rejection when I told her to hide her demonic parts were real, and it showed how she much she values and depends on me. I was happy.

Lily was given to me by the goddess, there was no divine revelation or any signs which would point to the goddess; but I don’t need anything like that. I know it was the goddess who gave me Lily. I just know it; I don’t know how, but I’m sure I’m not wrong.

There is now way for me to reject Lily is there?

We reached the place where people were gathered. People parted ways as they saw me coming. In the center I spotted Leena being hugged and comforted by Nicholas. From her state, I can see that she is a little scared but is calmer than I expected. This is probably not the first attempt on her life. A noble’s life really is hard. There is also the Duke and his family with hard expressions on their faces. Their guards forming a circle around them.

“Someone explain what happened here.” I commanded. All eyes turned to me, though Leena was looking at Lily and not me. As I suspected there is something going on between the two of them. Well Lily did save her life and she seems to know it judging from the gratitude and relief overflowing from her eyes. Lily also didn’t say anything; she smiled slightly at her to reassure her, nothing more. She really is not good at keeping secrets is she? Well no one except me could spot these small changes, so its okay.

“There was an attempt on Leena’s life, it seems they wanted to make it seem like she hanged herself. The suicide letter her is written in her handwriting. The list of potential suspects is not long and I can already guess who is behind this.” The Duke said, it was not the doting and guilty looking father who once stood before me; it was a noble who is used to the plots which happen in the high society, a kill or be killed part of human society. The way in which he talked promised retribution to whoever was behind this.

“The attack seemed to have failed somehow. There were three assailants, one dead, one was found unconscious and is currently in the tort- interrogation room while the third one managed to run away. They are high level assassins, so it hopeless to go after the third one now. By studying the corpse we concluded that the high explosive they placed in their pouch exploded on accident or it was a back stab by their escaped companion as result of infighting. Whichever it was, it seemed to be done by the goddess to punish the bastards assaulting her church.”

Hmm, the bomb exploded on its own eh? I struggled to suppress the smile on my face. And she chanted only the basic fire magic spell too. It took out a party of high level assassins. I’m so proud of you Lily!

“It’s better for Leena to stay with the Duke and his family today. Everyone already knows the disownment was a political move you were forced to do so it won’t change anything. The escaped assassin may return to finish the job so it better for her to stay at a secure place for today.” I stated the best course of action.

The Duke grimaced a bit, but it was obvious to him how it was the best choice now that his daughter’s life is under threat. Though I don’t think anything would happen with Lily here. Ufufufu.

“I will make a report of this to the church headquarters. Regardless of the target, it is an attack on a member in one of its branches. This will not be overlooked lest we lose the faith of believers. The church will offer its full support in finding the perpetrators and punishing them.” Everyone seemed satisfied with what I said.

“For now it’s better for everyone to retire for sleep. There is no change to Leena’s wedding tomorrow, or rather today. There is still a few hours left till sunrise; get some rest Leena. Tomorrow you need to appear your best.” I said the last part smiling gently at Leena to calm her.

“Thank you for your concern, head sister. I apologize for the commotion caused because of me.” She looked at Lily before answering me. As expected there is something going on!

“Nonsense! Girl you are already a member of our family. Family looks out for each other.” Ufufufu, she already knows Lily will protect her if anything happens again. It seems Nicholas will have a hard time in the future.

Everyone retired for sleep again; some were still worried over what happened, some were thinking about the future and two people knowing that they are safe as long as their guardian angel was looking over them.

We reached the our room and sat down on the bed.

“Lily, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. A secret will cease being a secret the moment more than one person knows about it.” I said looking at the guilty expression on her face. I don’t want to see her to be troubled like this.

“It’s alright mommy. I want you to know.” She said looking into my eyes resolutely.

I drew her in closer for a hug, patting her back gently like a mother would coax her child. I never had to do this before; Lily could take care of herself. She rarely depended on me.

“Do you know about the hero who defeated the Demon king 600 years ago?”

Hmm? The hero?

“During the final battle, the demon king cursed the hero to be born as a demon with his memories intact. He probably wanted the hero to suffer the persecution the demons would face. But an administrator, probably the god or goddess interfered and created a new body for the hero to reincarnate into. I am a greater succubus, the first of its kind. With my traits from past life along with the new Greater Charisma trait I get 10 attribute points per level.”

She was the hero? Memories of past life would explain why she never acted like a child.

“So the goddess really did give you to me. I knew it!” I said happily.

“Eh…ahm…while it is true, from when it got the ‘message’ from the administrator, it may not be Aaris nor Drakath who aided in my reincarnation. Or rather he talked like someone who couldn’t be categorized into neither good nor evil.”

“It’s hard for us to understand how gods think. They never do anything without reason. As humans, as mortal we can only have faith in them. Show me how you really look. I don’t like looking at disguises.”

She separated with a helpless expression on her face and dispelled the disguise magic placed on her. A pair of pure black bat wings appeared on her back. It seemed small and unfit for flight. Maybe because she was still young? There were horns on her head; they came down from the sides to point up at the front. They looked more like a crown than anything. The church’s representation of demons always had goat horns or simple pointy horns. Lily’s gave her the natural look of a superior being, like a ruler. There was also a tail at the back, instead of the usual spear point, it seemed to have a spade… no a heart shape at the end.

But the most drastic change of all was her eyes. It was no longer the calming and relaxing sky blue. It was now a red, somewhere between the intense blood red and bright ruby red. It seemed to glow on its own; standing out the most among her inhumanely beautiful features. There was a blood chilling coldness and indifference in them, something you see in people who had seen too much in their lives, but hidden beneath it was hot raging flames you only see in mad people. The strange combination made it quite… indescribable?

“I have the same eye color as I have in my past life. It was passed down in our family, famous too at time. The All-seeing eyes everyone liked to call it. I’m the only survivor and possessor of it now.” She said making a heart-wrenching expression.

I pulled her in for a tight hug. I never want to see that pained look on her face again. I never seen her so hurt before.

“It’s alright. I’m here for you. We will be a family forever. So don’t cry again.” I held her so tightly, tears filling up my eyes. She’s had a hard life, something I couldn’t even begin to imagine. I can only hold her tightly like this.

She seemed surprised before she returned the hug, she buried her face in my chest. I could feel the wetness from her eyes. It’s alright, I just need to be there for her to lean on, as a shade she could rest in.

As expected the real life of the fallen hero wasn’t really all sunshine and rainbows. The stories were all made up.

“My mother was one of the few allies I had in past life. You are so different from her, at the same time you resemble her too much! Why!” she hugged me tighter, I could her cries now. She’s really letting it lose now. I feel satisfied seeing her like this. She can depend on me. This is something only I can do as her mother.

“All mothers are the same their children. You will know when you come to have a child yourself.”

“Lies! I have seen mothers kill their own children for selfish reasons. Only you two are different! I’ve even seen a whore kick away the child she just gave birth to into a garbage dump! It’s you two who are different! I’m a demon you know! I manipulate people. I play with people’s feelings, this whole village is my play ground! Why aren’t you scared of me?! Why aren’t you rejecting me?!” she started beating me, letting out her frustrations.

“Shh! Not everyone is the same. It is true there are evil people out there, perhaps even more evil than the demons are proclaimed to be. But I know Lily would make a good mother when you have a child. At that time you will understand what I mean.” I pat her back gently, she relaxed a little, her crying gradually stopped. She fell asleep…

Goodness, she didn’t even put her disguise back on.

I didn’t know the Lily was hiding such a bleeding heart. There are some wounds which take far too long to heal; even if they healed it would still leave scars.

I look down at her real face again. She is shifting her real features to hide her supernatural beauty. It would cause problems if her real face is shown outside. Unlike other attributes, there is limit for the Charisma attribute, beyond which it would require the person to conduct surgery or reform their features to add more charisma points.

Lily’s face can already topple kingdoms, but she seems to know about it. So I don’t need to worry too much. She has grown so much. I rub her cheeks, so soft and smooth. I can still remember her sucking from my tits when she was still a baby.

Now it’s time for her to leave the safety of the nest.

I’m still going to miss you Lily. Visit often, I can’t survive long without seeing you.

I love you, my daughter.

…

Wait! Isn’t she a lust demon? Won’t she be doing ‘that’ a lot then?!

…How can I teach a succubus about modesty!?

This is unpleasant.

Oh Goddess Aaris, or whoever is watching us from up there, what indecent acts are you trying to have my daughter do!?

That day, for the first time in my life; I cursed the god.