Mariane was pying with Vinea’s white hair, while the demon was sleeping next to her. They were both naked and tucked under the cover, the clothes on the floor being proof of what they had done all night.

  ‘It’s not going as I expected. I gained quite a bit of status in the academy since I was revealed as a mage, and the princes are all over me. Even the new mage student who arrived from the human realm kisses my feet when I ask him to, since I’m a descendant of Morgane Le Fay. But it’s not as if I have real authority and power. The best I can hope for, is becoming the spouse of the heir to Hell, but I won’t be able to become queen since demons live unnecessarily long, and Bael isn’t going to die soon. It sucks so much… But at least, my spell worked. I need to meet him a few more times, and maybe I’ll finally live in that huge castle !’

  She looked again at the sleeping Vinea, but she quickly lost interest since he was asleep.

  ‘What did I expect from a nerd who spends his time pying games and reading novels ? He’s useless.’

  Mariane got up and put a shirt and a panty on, then exited the room to go knock on another bedroom door. She opened it quickly, and found a tall man with long blonde hair inside. The prince lifted his gaze from the book he was holding to examine the girl.

  “You don’t even put pants on anymore. I guess you don’t care. You are getting worse by the day, more demonish than demons themselves.”

  She smiled and walked towards him.

  “But that’s why you love me, right Paimon ? Everytime I skip csses, I don’t listen, or I fuck your brothers and then come to you, you can’t help but have that look in your eyes. You are obsessed.”

  The demon didn’t push her away when she put her lips on his, and twirled her tongue in his mouth. Putting her hand between his thighs, she tried to grab him but he stopped her by pulling her hair.

  “Is Hell corrupting you, or have you always been that terrible ?”

  Mariane smiled through the pain and slipped her hand beneath his shirt.

  “I don’t know. Wanna find out ?”

  Paimon grabbed her by the throat, strangling her while he was pushing her down on his bed and ripping her panty off. The girl was happy.

  ‘Yeah, that’s how it should be ! Even if I am the worst person on earth, they can’t push me away. Soon it will be the same with the king ! I can’t wait to have him on his knees, begging to lick my feet. It will be the best moment of my life !’

  She was enjoying the feeling of Paimon’s tongue on her chest, relishing in pleasure, when suddenly a pink square appeared in front of her eyes.

  ‘Not now, can’t you see I’m busy ?’

  She pushed on the prince’s head, guiding him to go lick between her thighs, but the game wasn’t ready to leave. The square became bigger and went closer to her face, urging her to read the window. White characters were written in bold letters.

  [Oh no, it appears that the vilin has made your influence on king Bael disappear ! That bad guy is probably scheming something to tear you apart and take control of the kingdom !

  New main quest : It’s time to rise and fight !

  Learn to control your magic, assemble your lovers, and raid the castle to free Bael and Baam from the awful Thomas’ tyranny !]

  Mariane smiled, a vicious look in her eyes.

  ‘Finally, that asshole is the objective of the main quest ! If the game is with me, there is no way I’ll lose ! It’s too bad that the spell didn’t work on the king, but I’ll have all the time to do it again when Thomas is gone. What a good day !’

  She ughed, and her sounds gradually became moans under the tongue of Paimon.

  ***

  Since Mariane had gone home, Bael and Thomas were even more stuck together than before, to the point where the king would sleep on Thomas’ bed every night. They weren’t doing anything else except holding hands, but Bael was too anxious to leave him alone. Everytime they received news that Mariane was improving in the control of her magic, they were tensing up a little more.

  Thomas was doing his best too, spending all day mastering his demonic power, and learning new spells. He was a very good student, so his improvement was huge, to the point where he could be mistaken for a demon who had lived for a few hundred years, but it was all coming from desperation. He was sure that Mariane was coming for him, and he didn’t want Bael to get hurt. Thomas wasn’t sure he was the type of person who was strong enough to protect someone, but he wished to be. And - he never said it to the king because he knew what his reaction would be - if he didn’t succeed in putting a stop to that game, at the very least he wanted to die without Bael being harmed. It was his only driving force.

  After another day of training without rest, he went to bed with Bael, as usual. The king id next to him atop the covers, holding his hand.

  “Good night, sleep well Thomas.”

  The slim man didn’t immediately reply. Today had made him even more anxious than usual, because they didn’t receive any report about Mariane. Normally, the teachers of the academy would always tell them what she was doing, how good she had gotten with her magic, but today there was nothing. It was ominous.

  Shaking a bit, Thomas whispered shyly.

  “It’s a bit cold tonight, come under the bnket.”

  He couldn’t see Bael’s face in the darkness of the drawn curtains, so he couldn’t see his reaction, but the king didn’t say anything, and silently slipped under the sheets. Now they were both lying on the mattress, and Thomas could feel Bael’s warmth next to him. It felt strange, but contrary to what he had thought, it wasn’t scary. The slim man hesitated for a bit, but his anxious heart was calling for some warmth. If he was in Bael’s arms, somehow he thought that he would feel better.

  So he slowly moved towards the king, centimeter by centimeter. He could hear Bael hold his breath, and it made him smile. They were both awkward about this. The king was the kind to always look confident and sure of himself, but somehow he always looked hesitant with Thomas.

  He finally reached Bael’s body and rested his head on his arm, pressing himself against the king. It was so warm and comforting, and a strange feeling was growing in his chest. When Bael put his other arm around him, hugging him tightly, Thomas finally understood.

  “I love you.”

  He had whispered very low, as if he was afraid of his own feelings. He wasn’t dense, he had noticed long ago the feelings Bael had towards him, but he had been unable to act on them until now, since Thomas wasn’t sure about what his heart was telling him. Were they friends ? Best friends ? Confidants ? Or more ? Only now had he found the answer, when he was working everyday to get stronger, not for him, but to protect Bael.

  Thomas waited for a bit, but the king didn’t answer. Maybe he hadn’t heard ? It was for the better. Confessing before a battle was the biggest of red fgs, so it was better if he was the only one to raise it.

  However, after a moment of silence, Bael held him tighter and kissed his forehead.

  “You took me by surprise, I didn’t expect you to confess. Woah, I think I’m going to cry…”

  Thomas reddened, and he was grateful that the king couldn’t see his face. He silently pressed himself closer, almost burying his head in Bael’s neck. The red haired stroked his back and kissed his forehead again.

  “I love you too, Thomas. Fuck, I love you so much it’s making me crazy… It was totally love at first sight, as soon as I saw you I was like ‘Woah, that guy is my man !’ and I wasn’t wrong, I mean… I don’t know, I’m not good at speaking. I love you, I love you…”

  He kept repeating the same thing, stuttering and kissing Thomas’ forehead. The slim man could feel cold tears wetting his hair, and it prompted him to also cry, holding on tighter to Bael. The feeling in his chest had grown so big that he almost couldn’t breath, but it wasn’t bad, it was exhirating.

  ‘No, how can I sacrifice myself now ? I want to stay and live forever with Bael ! It’s bad… It’s really bad…’

  They held each other tightly, incapable of calming down and sleeping, relishing in each other’s warmth to forget their anxiety.

  When an hour had passed, Bael wiped his tears away and ran his finger on Thomas’ face, as if to draw his features in the dark and memorize his appearance.

  “I won’t let them take you away from me. I’ll do everything I can to keep you by my side. I hope you are not pnning to go anywhere, because I won’t let you. You’re stuck with me, now.”

  Thomas smiled sadly. Without a sound, he kept crying.

  “Are you that happy ? You know, I mean it. You can’t go now.”

  The slim man didn’t answer, catching Bael’s finger and kissing it.

  ‘It’s not that, you big dumb man. What you just said is the king of red fgs. Saying that you won’t let anyone take me away, when you are a character in a game, is a guarantee that I will disappear from this world. But it’s a happy thing. It means you won’t be harmed.’

  He continued to hug the king all through the night, with a growing love mixing with a despairing resignation.