The Prince of Demons

Nil and I enjoyed each other's company in our tearoom; he held me close, humming happy little tunes as he enveloped us in his <Mana>. His hand was gently running up and down my back while he nestled his head on mine. My dorky prince. Nil called me world occasionally, making me blush; I wanted to stay here all afternoon with him. He was such a sweet and sincere dork. Unfortunately, we were both doing some weekend training that shouldn't be put off. My <Soul Magic> improved immensely after the lesson from Utol while Nautilus helped me integrate it into fighting more properly with it. Nil was training hard with his Papa, who seemed a bit tense. Krahinn suddenly disappearing is a bit odd. Whatever preceded Krahinn vanishing, Emperor Father Nil kept his mouth tightly shut about it. Our time together was eventually interrupted by a knock on the door which Nil did a fast probe with <Mana> before using his <Magic> to open it.

Nautilus and Helga walked in, seeing Nil and I snuggling together. Nautilus had a knowing smile as Helga gave me a complicated stare; Helga took a deep breath as she was clearly struggling with what she was seeing. I guess this might be a bit of a massive step for her knowing our actual ages now. Nil didn't even flinch, or act bothered when the two of them walked in. Nil, this is a bit too much public affection to hit Helga with. Granted, we were here doing this first, so were we in the clear? Maybe as a nice gesture to Helga we could not be snuggling so much. What would the right thing to do here be? Nil was holding me close as he was unbothered by our company.

"Lass, we gotta t'ain a bit mo'e." Nautilus informed me as she was clearly fighting the urge to laugh.

"Crown Prince Nil, I have been informed by Emperor Father Nil to make sure you train." Helga told Nil. He let out a long, exaggerated, depressed sigh; I poked his cheek.

You shouldn't sigh like that. I lectured Nil. He looked at me with a bit of a pouting face.

I do not want to move. Nil grumbled as he wrapped his arms around me a bit tighter.

We can do this more after we do our training. I offered him. Nil smiled wide.

Okay. Nil agreed, shifting so we could both stand. Helga looked at Nautilus, who gave her a quick kiss and an assuring nod.

"Now, Crown Prince Nil, why did you tell me that you did absolutely nothing to deserve some ire to immediately backpedal?" Helga inquired. Wait, he never claimed what he wanted for telling Helga that he did nothing wrong. I felt myself blush a bit as Nil was smiling victoriously.

"Naval Admiral Nautlilus, am I correct in assuming that you will be backing up your girlfriend's inquiry?" Nil checked with a shiza eating grin.

"Royal grublin, we bot' know ya owe Helga an answe'." Nautilus shot back as the two of them looked at each other.

"Crown Prince Nil, why are you trying to avoid answering me?" Helga pressed, her annoyance seeping into her voice.

"Because someone made sure she had backup first rather than just ask me." Nil answered her bluntly.

"Someone has a habit of dodging questions they do not feel like answering, especially when they act in unbecoming ways." Helga retorted. Nil was still smiling at me.

"Someone told me, 'I'll do anything you want if, to paraphrase, tell Helga that I did nothing wrong to her face' before we informed you of our mental ages." Nil explained. I felt absolutely crimson now.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it!" I hissed at him feeling quite embarrassed. Helga looked at both of us with a complicated expression.

"You challenged Crown Prince Nil, knowing how dense he is, for a blank favor?" Helga inquired with a sigh.

"I'm sorry!" I quipped, trying to avoid all eye contact at the moment.

"What do you mean dense?" Nil challenged before the rest of us just stared at him.

"Nil, reading people and social situations is not something you excel at." I told him gently.

"Grublin, ya ain' gonna fin' a sin'le pe'son on ya side he'e." Nautilus added on. Nil made a grimacing face but didn't press it.

"That explains that comment; I wondered what possessed you to say something like that." Helga sighed while shaking her head a bit.

"I am truly sorry!" I apologized again. Dense dork being so oblivious. I looked at Nil who was cracking a smile now.

"It's fine, Lady Luna." Helga assured me.

"Lass, we gotta t'ain." Nautilus barked at me.

"Fine." I sighed as I knew I needed to.

Nil poked my cheek with a shiza eating grin as he made a sighing motion. He banks on being an adorable dork too much. I hugged Nil as I smiled at him conceding defeat before following Nautilus and Helga to one of the outer courtyards as Nil waved goodbye. I wanted to spend more time with Nil, but I knew training was more important currently. I wish we had a bit more free time in general but I get why we need to train so much. Ryker was waiting for us in the courtyard for some reason; Magus Supreme Praecan was nowhere to be seen. What is he doing here? Ryker was shifting impatiently, looking intensely at me as we walked closer. Ryker was grimacing when he saw Nautilus and Helga walking hand and hand with me following behind. His gaze was oddly intense as we walked. Something in my brain was signaling at me that I was missing something yet again. Why? What was my brain trying to tell me?

"What ya wan' ya run'?" Nautilus snapped at Ryker. She clearly was not a fan of his current facial expression. She does not like being glared at by anyone.

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"I was hoping to duel Lady Luna." Ryker stated politely. If I recall, he dueled Nil and lost. I know he despises nobles and royalty, so the chances of us currently getting along are slim.

"Was losing to Nil not enough?" I taunted. Nautilus and Helga both immediately noted my response.

"He did not win." Ryker snapped back at me.

"From my understanding you were forced to use your sword and shield while Nil was yet to try." I added on. Ryker's glare got more intense.

"Yet again you are on his side." Ryker grumbled. Why would that be so surprising?

"We are friends though?" I challenged, not grasping what he was getting at.

"It is nothing, just an observation." Ryker replied while shaking his head.

"Observing what?" I pressed as I was struggling to understand what Ryker could have meant.

"I poorly phrased my thought. I should have said, 'you seem to take his side to a large degree' rather than what I said." Ryker clarified. That was oddly good phrasing, but Ryker always was kind of well-articulated.

"I see. I am still not going to duel you." I informed him. Ryker grimaced a bit more.

"Unfortunate." Ryker quipped as he dropped it and walked away.

"He's an odd child." I stated once he was out of ear shot.

"Somet'in' wron' wit' that kid." Nautilus agreed. Ryker was always a bit peculiar from what I recalled. He also always held immense contempt for Nil from what I remember.

"Did you check something?" I inquired wondering if she used <Astral Scale> or something.

"No, he jus' a grublin; he ain' as wei'd as ya and royal grublin. O' mo'e of ya and royal grublin were mo'e diffe'ent in a way I liked. He give the vibe o' someone on a wa' pat'." Nautilus clarified. That was not surprising.

"His gaze was oddly intense for a child, but you seemed to instantly go on the offense with him. Why is that, Lady Luna?" Helga checked. How should I explain this?

"Ryker from what I recall has always disliked royalty and nobility; he always had immense contempt for Nil which seems to be in full swing. I do not think trying to befriend the him of now would end well nor would it be appropriate. Ryker also was good at phrasing what he was thinking or knew what to say." I explained. Something about Ryker's gaze was giving me chills as my brain had this odd ick to it. Why though? It was bugging me.

"What is bugging you, Lady Luna?" Helga probed as she realized something was bugging me.

"Something about Ryker is unsettling to me. I do not get why or what about him has my brain having this odd ick to it." I informed her.

Was I just paranoid because of the mess he made last time? Modinar was almost completely exterminated by the Void King this time around. I assumed that would greatly alter events, but Ryker still seemed on the path to die at the hands of Nil still. I remember Krahinn vaguely saying Ryker is a speedbump Nil just must kill each time. Now that I thought about it, why did Ryker seem to always oppose Nil? If events got altered each time, why was that so consistent? Ekard being friends later on with Nil was also quite consistent from my understanding. I wonder why some events almost seem predetermined. Was it just the personalities at play? Was I just protective of Nil? That wasn't it. Ryker's gaze was just, different. Something about it was not that it was threatening towards Nil, it was something else; it felt oddly sinister.

"He had dat war gaze." Nautilus interjected as she was doing some warmup stretches.

"War gaze?" Helga and I asked in unison.

"He lookin' rea'y t' fight da worl' one way o' anothe'." Nautilus clarified. That was probably it. Unfortunately, I imagine <Remembrance of Memory> is going to have other opinions tonight.

Nautilus then began giving me more fighting lessons, making me practice my <Soul Magic> in actual combat using the insights from Utol. Manipulating and controlling souls, even my own, as I sparred Nautilus was quite taxing. It was also possible to directly assault Nautilus's mind and soul directly with what Utol showed me, but that <Magic> was taxing beyond belief as I was inexperienced with it which was why we were practicing and sparring because learning to more effectively use the <Magic>. Even if I was still learning the <Magic>, Nautilus didn't hold back whatsoever. Nautilus was such a draconian teacher; the force behind her attacks made nearly every bone in my body creak from the force whenever she connected. Would it kill her to relax a bit on these strikes? It was fifteen minutes of surviving for my life and five minutes of me panting on the ground trying to recover enough for the next bout. I know why she's so strict, but it does suck as I'm learning.

"Do you have to swing so hard?" I whined on the ground as Nautilus was being all flirty with Helga. She doesn't even pretend to be winded during these breaks.

"Ya." Nautilus taunted as she nuzzled Helga.

"Nautilus, it's our time." Helga whined, wrapping her arms around Nautilus's head.

"Yes love." Nautilus replied, giving Helga a deep kiss. This is so insulting. I wanted to reach the point I could make it where Nautilus had to recover rather than flirt during our breaks.

"Just you wait." I muttered under my breath.

"Imma wai' awhile." Nautilus taunted after several moments with Helga.

"Do you two have to be so affectionate in front of me?" I sighed, knowing Nautilus tended to be quite affectionate with her lovers.

"I suppose we can tone it down a bit during your training sessions." Helga conceded. Nautilus made a pouting face in response.

"Bu' why?" Nautilus grumbled giving Helga her begging eyes.

"So, I can make it up to you later." Helga informed Nautilus who lit up.

"Oh? I see." Nautilus cooed. I want to complain, but I know if I want to act similarly with Nil, I should stomach this.

"Remember this moment, Helga." I teased. Helga gave me a bit of side eye before smirking.

"Nautilus, the Regressor over there is hurting my feelings after I tried compromising on her behalf. She even tried blackmailing me for when she wants to act in a way that's unbecoming." Helga whined to Nautilus. Helga, you don't fight fair. Nautilus gave me a dirty glare.

"She is exaggerating." I protested, knowing it was falling on deaf ears.

"Oi, grublin, ya bes' be rea'y for th' nex' round." Nautilus snarled at me as she protectively held Helga who looked elated. You are defending her against a physical child.

"Helga, please. This isn't fair." I pleaded, knowing how irrational Nautilus was going to be.

"Someone interfered heavily in my life, so I am not one for fair." Helga taunted right back.

"It worked out for you!" I pointed out. Nautilus was happily nuzzling Helga while glaring daggers at me. Oh come on, please. Not Nautilus being annoyed on behalf of her lover.

"I know it worked out quite well for me, but it does not mean I am not annoyed about some of the finer details, which I have been able to forgive you for even in light of recent revelations. You then tried to blatantly blackmail me so you could act in a similar manner with Crown Prince Nil." Helga shot back, looking so smug as she sat on Nautilus's lap.

"It wasn't blackmail! It was wanting some leeway! You misunderstood!" I groveled. Helga pretended to think it over for a few moments.

"I think you are trying to change the narrative." Helga taunted. I had maybe sixty seconds before Nautilus resumed our training session. Not with her in protect lover mode; I value my ribs.

"I am not! I just wanted to be able to have what you have with your partner!" I blurted out. Nautilus and Helga both looked at me with shiza eating grins. My face felt so crimson. Nil, you dorky prince; it's so unfair you dork.

"Sheesh, if you are going to be so mushy about it." Helga teased as Nautilus motioned it was time for us to start training again.

"Lass i' so crim'on." Nautilus chuckled as well. Nil, you owe me, you dork!