Chapter 29

Zanac rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine incoming. The new set of orders had just come from Renner to prepare for a full-blown demonic invasion right in the middle of the capital, and it would be coming soon. What's worse, he was the poor sap that was appointed to convince Barbro that calling upon the Research Guild, which his older brother hated with a passion, was the only option to save them all.

Same as most days, he was sitting in his office and working on administrative affairs that became more inconsequential every day as more and more of the administrative secretaries would be replaced the moment Nazarick took over, but there was no helping it. His succubus handler was sitting on the window sill and looking outside, her tail dragging along the sill as she occasionally stared at him.

The fact that Zalatra had been silently fuming for a while and plotting who knows what didn't help with the current situation. The demoness had taken his mistrust very personally and was now barely cordial, his only protection being his usefulness to the monster Gods. And if that favor ever ran out… He shivered while imagining what horrors awaited him if he wasn't needed anymore. He knew he needed to do something about Zalatra, and he needed to do it fast.

There were precious few hours until all hell broke loose in the capital and a hostile handler who could sabotage his efforts was the last thing he needed during such an event. The question remained of what he could actually do to extend an olive branch to her. After all, his efforts needed to be genuine, and even then there was no guarantee she would accept it.

He leaned back in his office chair, doing his best to hide his contemplations from his handler. He was but a thrall to the Gods no matter what he did, ready to be dragged to whatever hell awaited him should they find him unsuited to his current task. There was no conceivable way for him, or any mortal, for that matter, to escape the grasp of the Gods that now walked the material world. And they weren't only Gods in name. Some subtle changes had happened within his heart as well, both mental and physical. He knew them to be true Gods by now.

'Should I just give in? With all this worrying, I'll likely drop dead before forty anyway.' It came as a sudden simple realization. His fate wasn't his own, and since it wasn't, why even bother? His life would be much easier if he trusted and genuinely befriended his demonic handler, letting her schemes win. And in the rather large chance that it was one-sided and the demoness was just pretending to have human emotions, he simply would return to square one, her still holding his leash and reporting his every move. He had nothing to lose by fully giving in, the Gods still valued his independent mind so she couldn't go too far.

An immense sense of relief washed over him. Zanac let out a chuckle and smiled, dropping his quill. All he could ever do was to keep following whatever orders were given to him and be useful enough that he wouldn't be discarded right after Nazarick took over Re-Estize. He was already doing that and didn't plan to stop serving the new Gods, it was now just personal business.

"You seem different," Zalatra commented as she appeared beside him.

"You know, you're right. I really do not know anything about demons. I must apologize for being so standoffish. I still harbored the illusion that I might have some control over the situation if I tried to hide my feelings and mistrust you. In truth, I should have accepted that we are in the same team even if our roles are different." He explained his new worldview, leaning forward in his chair.

"Took you long enough." She huffed.

"Yes, yes, I know you are upset and I will do my best to remedy my previous actions. How can I start making up for my mistake?" He asked earnestly, hoping to learn more about his handler.

"Do not resist!" She pushed his chair back and forcefully sat in his lap, facing him as she seized his head.

Her dull nails slightly dug into his skin, but the demoness was surprisingly light for her size. He decided to follow her order and just endure whatever she planned to do to him. Yet he was caught unprepared, wholly so. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead as her tail slid under his shirt, breaking off buttons in the process and stopping right over his heart.

A flood of emotions entered his mind. He felt her frustrations, her wounded ego, her sense of being a failure as the young succubus was solely unprepared that he would not fall for her charms. It wasn't love or affection she felt toward him, but it was close enough. It was a sort of possessive desire to claim him as her own, as succubi didn't need to fall in love to form relationships that could last millennia, they just needed a partner of some sort. Not that she was incapable of those feelings, she simply was still young and saw partnership more like an adventure than a commitment.

What she didn't expect was his frankly inhuman human resistance. In her relatively short lifespan, she had seen countless men and women fall helplessly for her peers, practically worshiping them, yet she failed miserably against a lone human prince who, by all known metrics, should have jumped to have a woman like her in an instant.

Her initial goal was to make him loyal and control him through sex, rewarding him for good behavior and denying herself if he acted out in any manner against their common masters, the most common and reliable tactic among succubi for quick results. If she achieved this, her status in the eyes of her mistress would rise forever as she saw human lifespan as but a moment in eternity that would leave her with more benefits than temporary consequences, but that goal had failed.

It was true that he had resisted her. He had refused to see her as a woman, instead seeing only a monster. And for that, she saw herself as a failure. Zanac recalled an interesting phrase he read in a book about courtship written by an author who had died over a century ago. 'No force compares to the fury of a scorned woman.'

Although he had seen the dramas play out between the young lesser nobles and the servants of the castle, he would have never imagined to ever be on the receiving end of it. But that was because he failed to understand how a demon like Zalatra saw the world. She didn't see a short, chubby man, she saw his true spirit, a spirit that could defy the charms of a succubus, and such a will both attracted and infuriated her to her limits.

And that wasn't all he saw as it seemed the demoness didn't want to hide anything anymore. He saw her true more serpentine form, usually only presented before the Gods or her kin. Though still humanoid and shaped somewhat like a woman, her skin was clad in dark black scales, her mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth in the dozens, and her nose had but two small holes instead of a protrusion. Her head was covered in crooked spikes and horns instead of hair and she had seven pupil-less eyes spread in a half circle through her narrow face. Her legs and arms bent at odd places by mortal standards. By all means, she was grotesque, but he couldn't help but find a strange charm and even allure in this form.

Finally, Zalatra let go of him and stood up, her expression unreadable. The demoness subtly moved her tail, seeming ready to pierce his throat should he say something not to her liking as her muscles tensed.

"Why did you show me all this?" Zanac asked the only question he could at the moment. He had no reason to believe that she deceived him somehow, as the emotions she showed felt too raw and too real to be faked.

"You wanted to know. Now you do. Tell me, Prince, am I a monster in your eyes?" She crossed her arms as her tail danced dangerously close to his face, images of her true form flashing through his mind.

"Why would my opinion matter? The line between human and monster has blurred. You are less of a monster than my sister, that's for sure." He paused. There was no point being afraid anymore and he never would again. The world has changed and so would he. It had just taken him a bit longer compared to his sibling to understand just how much it was changing. "Honestly, I don't care what you are. I had no intention to hurt you, but I have no obligation to become your pet either. Do what you must and let's be done with it. If you need to know it was very hard to resist you, I almost failed numerous times, especially at night."

Zanac slowly raised his hand, pushing her tail aside and taking a step forward towards the succubus, showing not a slither of fear or hesitation. He was of a royal line and would finally act the role that life had dealt to him.

It seemed that his change had stunned or perhaps even frightened the succubus as she took a small step back despite being strong enough to kill him in an instant if she wanted to.

He didn't stop, instead taking another step closer and grasping her hand as the succubus stared down at him, wide-eyed. Zanac brought her hand to his lips and planted a kiss, his voice smooth as silk. "If you'll act like a lady, I will treat you as one. Simple as that."

Her mind went blank. She knew that the prince had resolve, but she couldn't have imagined that she would completely lose control over the situation as her very being acted on some sort of autopilot. Instead of trying to salvage the situation and push him away, she slightly blushed and replied with a giggle, "I will try, my Prince."

Only when reality set back in did she realize the gravity of the situation. 'If Zanac does something against the will of Lord Ulbert, I'm so screwed. How the hell did he make me melt like this?'

As much as she tried to resist it, she was falling helplessly for a human, and one she was supposed to control at that. 'Mistress Flornohe will kill me for this. Great Mother, what should I do?'

Of course, she didn't expect a direct answer, but there was some sort of response that encouraged her to trust her heart.

'Zanac is too smart to do something foolish. I should trust he will remain loyal and, with my help, be competent as well.'

"Time is of the essence. We should probably return back to the task at hand," Zanac spoke up as she had just stood there.

"Yes!" She squeaked and then quickly corrected herself. "Yes, I should inform Barbro's handler to activate the ideas planted in his mind when you talk to him."

"That would help tremendously." Zanac nodded.

'This is too much. I need to regain at least some control.' She decided. Acting like a human girl who was going through maturation was something she simply couldn't permit herself, no matter the situation.

While Zanac still stood close, she grabbed his face again and pushed his face into hers for a passionate kiss. The element of surprise helped tremendously as the prince failed to resist her, conceding the momentum. To continue her victory streak she broke the kiss and leaned even closer, pressing her body against his, and purred, "Once the invasion blows over, I plan to have some very unladylike actions with you."

"Looking forward to it," Zanac replied casually as he retreated back to his seat, once again crashing her momentum, but at this point, there was no helping it anymore.

Zalatra let out an annoyed sigh and prepared to be his dutiful assistant. The work came first and botching such a massive operation due to negligence was unthinkable. Personal feelings could be sorted out later.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by fvvck, aidan_lo, Sluethen, Mfkzrocker, x4x, and clagan

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