To Grandmother's House

"I'll do it."

Eve, who was half-asleep at her desk, was jolted back to the land of the living when Follia approached her early that morning.

"You will!"

She was just rejected yesterday but was thrilled to see that Follia had changed her mind so quickly. She was ready to provoke her until she submitted. Now such drastic measures weren't necessary.

"But why did you change your mind?"

"No reason..."

"Oh. Okay!"

Not wanting to push her luck, she stopped her investigation.

It's not like she needed to know the exact reason she just needed her to come.

Obviously, Eve had her hidden motives for suddenly inviting her estranged schoolmate to her home, of course, one was to show her housekeeper that she did too had friends and wasn't a complete loner, the second reason was a bit more complicated.

She would've felt better about the whole situation if she knew that Follia also had ulterior motives.

After sleeping that night, Follia realized that something was incongruous with the one in her house.

More than ever, she felt the need to know the contents of this contract.

Who better to ask than her classmate's magical Granny?

'Don't go. It'll be useless.'

'That's rich coming from a mistake.'

'Tch.'

The two continued to exchange insults within each other's heads. Normally, the ability to know what was in one's head was extremely useful, but he was quick to realize that this girl was much slower than she let on.

If he knew of her sinister plan beforehand, he would've stopped her by any means, but, wistfully enough, she thought of this 'brilliant' idea right after she left the house. Right outside his domain, he cursed that this idiot thought of such an idea so late in the morning.

The worst part was that the woman she was going to see did not obtain her magic by obscene means, but was 'blessed.' Meaning, even if he could get out of this hell-hole, he wouldn't be able to retrieve that girl until she left the priestess's presence.

His mood did not lighten at this fact. He needed to figure a way out and get her back in his grasp.

But how?

***

Follia stood in the front courtyard of the school waiting for Eve to make an appearance.

the girl suddenly had some "super important" thing to attend to and would be back in "like five seconds" and told Follia to "wait one sec!"

During that free time, Follia, once again 'rebrief' her seamless plan.

Step 1: follow this random girl to her magical Granny's house.

Step 2: act as if she's super curious about her 'blessings'.

Step 3: After getting an 'in' subtly sneak in the hypothetical question about making a pact with Satan

- the plan was practically flawless!

Follia nodded to herself approvingly, trying to dispel the dubiety in her bones.

"I'm back!"

Follia turned towards the familiar voice, raising an eyebrow at what she saw.

The girl speedwalking towards her was the exact opposite of the 'Eve' that Follia saw earlier that day.

Her hair was now in two homely braids, her trademark hair-clips, scrunchies, earrings, and nail-accessories were nowhere in sight. The only thing that made Follia sure that this was the same girl was the fact that Botan still rested on her shoulder.

Which spoke volumes- about Eve's grandmother or her observation skills, Follia wasn't sure, but her uneasiness grew even more.

"Let's get goin' !"

'At least her personality didn't suddenly change too... '

Or else Follia wouldn't have been able to hide her surprise.

"Sure. Let's go."

***

Follia didn't realize before, but this girl comes from such a deep-pocketed family!

She was now standing outside the gates of a villa she didn't even know the city could afford to build. Thinking about it now, Follia thought she picked a pretty paltry city to reside. She didn't even know this opulent side existed.

"We're here! I can't wait to see the look on Granny's face!"

Eve punched in a prolix code, and the gate beeped in acceptance.

"Let's go in."

Eve gave a childish grin and skipped inside.

Deep lush green was the first thing that reached Follia's eyes. The path that led to the villa was in between two rows of bamboo. It would've made Follia feel as if she went back in time if the minimalistic lanterns lighting up the walk weren't present.

Upon reaching the second entrance, a woman opened the door.

"Welcome home, Miss."

"Hello Ruth, where's Granny?"

"She's in the caligraphy room."

"Okay!"

A strange pressure came over Follia as she entered the home. She ignored it at first, but the deeper the hall led her in, the more it was harder to neglect.

"Granny, I'm home!"

Follia was taken aback at the sudden greeting. Why did she stop in the middle of the hallway?

Follia peered over and made eye-contact with a petite elderly woman.

'Okay. Don't forget the plan, just smile and-'

"Satan's spawn..."

Before Follia could even finish her thought and plaster her perfect smile, the woman in the hallway shocked Follia with two words.

"Huh? Granny, this is the girl I was talking about."

The woman immediately pushed Eve behind her, glaring at Follia.

"Why are you here? You will not corrupt this household!"

"W-what?"

Eve wore a confused expression.

"Granny, she's won't-"

"Be silent, Eve. You're too young to understand!"

The Granny pulled out a red satchel and proceeded to throw what felt like salt.

"Granny, Botan likes her!"

Follia finally realized why this girl was the way she was. Her Granny was quite protective of her.

"He fell asleep beside her yesterday."

With the mention of the little imp, the Granny stopped in her tracks.

"Your guardian is attached to...that?"

Follia held back her retort in fear of another salt shower.

"Hello, I'm called Follia Loralie. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"If you're not corrupt, why not say so earlier? You made me waste so much for nothing."

Follia's eye twitched.

'You didn't exactly give me an option.'

"Granny, let's go to the sitting room and talk peacefully."

"Hmph!"

She spared Follia one more glower before turning away and leaving towards the sitting room.

'Maybe coming here wasn't such a brilliant idea after all.'