The Verdict

After waiting about around an hour while snacking on the food prepared for me as I read, Cythistia came through the doors and sighed, probably worried that I'd gone off to find someone myself or something.

She came over and gave me a kiss, saying, "Grandfather would like a word with you before he comes to a final decision. I'll take you to his study as he requested."

I nodded and followed her out while Ayuri took the cart of food away.

As we made our way through the halls of the manor, Cythistia spoke about how the discussion went.

"So, I went directly to Grandfather and asked for his opinion on this situation and he said he needed some time to think, and he eventually asked me to come and get you after a lot of deliberation, so that he could ask you himself about this."

She didn't say much after that, but I could tell that she was worried about what the consequences of this meeting might hold. So, to comfort her, I grabbed her hand and smiled, cheering her up slightly and lessening her worries.

We eventually arrived and her grandfather's personal study and entered. Her grandfather was sitting at his desk while writing something on some paper.

The study itself was rather large, about twenty meters long and nearly ten meters wide but only about five meters tall, the walls adorned with filled with shelves and shelves of books.

"Hmm?" He looked up for a second and greeted us, "Ah, I see you brought Traytora over. Welcome to my study. This is where I do most of the boring paper work for various things as well as hold meetings with important officials." He said in a kind and elderly voice.

"But that's not why I asked you here, I asked you here to discuss your request. Cythistia, could you please leave the room." He said more sternly.

"Y-Yes Grandfather" She stuttered, clearly nervous as to why she was asked to leave and for my own wellbeing.

*Click*

The sound of the door closing could be heard before there was silence. Cythistia's grandfather, Tobreos, was sitting there in silence, staring at me.

"So, your request. Let's talk about that. Come sit." He said in an authoritative tone and commanded me to take a seat this side of his desk.

I did as he asked and just sat there, not knowing what to say.

"Since you don't want to talk, I will. Why do you want to devour someone in the first place?" He inquired.

'I'm a serpent, it's in my nature.' I explained, looking up at him.

"That's a poor excuse, if that were true, then all the serpentine in this forest would have conquered these lands long ago. Plus you could always just go out and hunt for wild beast-kin."

I looked down for a moment before I replied.

'I'm not from the forest, and I don't want to be too far from this place, it gives me a sense of comfort, something I don't feel outside the city.'

"Hmm, while it is true you aren't from the forest, and I can understand your reasoning as to why you don't want to go out and hunt, that still doesn't explain this craving of yours."

'It might be because of my ancestry.' I continued explaining.

"Hmm... And what is this ancestry of yours?"

'I'm not quite sure myself, I only know that it's an ancient one, anything else is beyond me.'

"I see... And you believe that this 'ancestry' of yours is the reason you have this craving?"

I confirmed by nodding.

"Well, the problem isn't you eating people, we have several prisoners whom can be fed to you on a regular basis, it's more the fact that you seem to hunger for this. All the serpentine I've ever known have always felt it natural to do such things, but never have I heard it go as far as this." He revealed.

'So does this mean that I'm allowed to eat people.' I asked nervously.

"As I said, it's not that you're not allowed, but more I don't want this, or more specifically, you, to get out of control." He said sternly.

'Don't worry, it's been a while since I've eaten someone, so I probably won't have this craving again for another several months.' I told him.

"Hmm..." He started contemplating his decision.

I don't know how long I was sat there for, probably like ten to fifteen minutes, but it felt like an hour before he came to a decision.

"I can allow you to feast upon one of the death row prisoners every three months or so."

I smiled and was about to reply when.

"But! I have a condition." He stated.

I rolled my eyes. There's always a condition. 'What's the condition?'

"It has to be done privately."

I stared at him for a bit before replying, 'Yeah, I know you said death-row prisoners, but they aren't executed in public, are they?'

"No, not that kind of private. I mean a private execution. You will be devouring these convicts in front of a private audience." He explained.

I was stunned. Why was he asking me to consume someone in front of a private audience? I was confused so I asked him why he was asking me to entertain a small batch of people each time.

"For various reasons. The first of which is that some of these heathens have disrupted other people's lives in such a way that they will never be able to return to how it was before, the second is as you might expect entertainment."

'Entertainment?'

"Yes... You see, some of the nobles are infatuated with the process, something I won't ever understand myself, but regardless, they love to see it happening and will happily pay to see it. Normally we wouldn't condone nor accept this, as that would pollute the city with invisible clouds of negativity. But if we don't accept, they're more likely to become corrupt by doing these things in secret, so we have to do this to keep the pollution to a minimum.' He calmly clarified.

I sighed. I wasn't particularly happy with these conditions, but I would still accept them regardless.

'I just have a couple of questions left. Would you mind answering them?'

"Of course, ask away." He said, gesturing for me to continue.

'First off, why me? Couldn't you just have some other serpentine do this?' This was my first question.

"Well... We could employ others to do this but... I fear it may corrupt them if they do this too often, but with you, you seem to have a natural desire to do this. It's almost as if this is the reason you exist, or at least, a big part of it."

I... I can somewhat get behind that. Now, my next question. 'Why can't you just get rid of this invisible fog?'

"That... I wish we could, but we simply don't have the techniques nor resources to do so." He sighed dejectedly. It would seem that this is something he wants to deal with but can't.

'Actually, maybe I can help with this. Hmmm...' I thought to myself while smiling.

"Well then, if that's everything, do you accept these terms?" He asked, extending his hand out for a handshake.

My smile widened as I extended my own hand and shook his. It was a deal then.

"Good, now here's some boring paperwork for you to sign, this is the documentation for this to happen." He said with a straight smile on his face.

"Ugghhh..." I groaned in annoyance but signed the papers anyways.