A Human Cushion

Asmodeus looked up at the sky when he felt a portal opening up right above his head.

Raising his hand, he caught the little white bird who came crashing down on him.

"Learn to control your fear then you might control your powers better." After giving out this snarky remark, the master flung his disciple to the other side of the room.

Theo's body collided with the soft pillows which were scattered all over the floor and he shook his little head to stop the ringing he heard in his ears.

Picking himself up, the little white bird chanted a few lines in an ancient language while closing his eyes.

The moment he was done, his entire body was surrounded by a bright white light and he was transformed back to his original and true form.

Sitting there on the floor was a little boy about the same size as Howard while holding his head in his hands.

When he looked up, Asmodeus got a clear view of his brilliant and beautiful face.

Hair as white as snow with bright red eyes made him look like a rabbit rather than the little white bird that he used as his disguise.

Theo rubbed his butt a couple of times to soothe the pain and then glanced up at his cruel master.

"Master, that hurt!" He grumbled as he stared at Asmodeus with teary eyes.

"The report about your mission?" The blue-haired man asked with a lazy voice and was not in the least bit bothered to comfort him.

In fact, he even rolled his eyes at the young child and popped another juicy grape into his mouth.

Theo was not disheartened by the lack of concern he received from his master because he knew that deep down the man really cared for him.

Asmodeus had just finished watching what the male lead of this world, Fritzen Rosenhyde was doing today when he felt Theo's presence entering their realm.

So he snapped his fingers and the bowl of water vanished from his sight before Theo could emerge through the portal.

He was surprised that his disciple had returned so quickly but this definitely was a pleasant surprise because he needed to quell the curiosity in his mind.

Though Asmodeus may be the creator of this small world, there was no way he could know everything that was happening in it unless he spied on them personally as he did a few minutes earlier.

Being a lazy slacker, he would rather not bother himself with such worthless things and only concentrate on the important people who were Fritzen and Hilda.

Every time something major happened in this world, he would be alerted about it on his glowing crystal.

Just like a pop-up notification from Yvonne's original world.

The crystal would remind him of crucial events that needed to occur and he would just sit back and witness his great handiwork unfold.

But ever since he brought Yvonne to this world, he had added her to the list of people whose activities would be reported to him.

This was how he was the first one to know whenever she was in trouble and he would appear to rescue her.

Although it was a tedious job, he still needed to make sure that she would stay safe and alive to witness the beauty of his creation that she had deemed worthless.

His thoughts about the brat were interrupted when he heard his disciple clearing his throat to get his attention.

Looking at the child with snow-white hair, Asmodeus gave a brief nod to indicate that he could begin now.

"Master, I may have discovered where things deviated from the original plotline." The boy jumped to his feet and stood before Asmodeus who still laid lazily on the couch.

Those words brought the god's complete attention to this seemingly timid boy who had a big mouth.

Noticing the look of impatience that flashed in Asmodeus's eyes, Theo did not delay any further and relayed what he had discovered in the Tanner estate.

"Master, the reason why they arrived in the capital ahead of their scheduled time was that... " Theo moved closer and retold the entire incident in detail.

According to the information he obtained during his secret mission, the reason why the Tanner's had arrived at the tea party today going against what was written in the script was none other than Prince Fritzen.

Duke Obinn Tanner and his elder son, Topher Tanner had been assigned the same task as Prince Fritzen and Grand Duke Draco Roschester.

This mission personally given by King Ophire was to survey the large territories of Rosenhyde in disguise and to write a detailed report on how they managed their fiefs.

He had partially given that order to let his little brother and son have a fun vacation instead of staying inside the palace every single day.

However, when he received news from the Black Shadow guards that Fritzen had almost drowned, he immediately sent word asking them to return.

In the original story, the same incident had occurred but Draco Roschester had sent Fritzen back with the guards while he and the Tanners carried on with the mission.

"Seems to me that this time the boy took a different decision which led him away from his predestined future and this was how he joined the Prince on his journey back home." Theo shook his head in dismay.

He sighed after he successfully recounted what he had understood from the discussions between Duke Tanner and his butler.

Asmodeus tried to think of why the story had changed and this was when he realized where things must have gone awry.

He frowned as he thought back to the time when he felt the foul-mouthed child cursing him back when she was at her summer estate.

He had pulled a few strings when he saw how determined she had been about not meeting the main character of the story.

'If she doesn't save him then who will?' Asmodeus sneered as he lured her towards the back garden by using the beautiful trees and flowers.

Just as he had thought, she followed his script and saved the drowning boy but by some stroke of fortune or rather a misfortune, the prince did not recognize Hilda as his savior.

Asmodeus gnashed his teeth when he thought of how Yvonne had caused his plot to go astray there.

The Prince was supposed to fall for the silent and brave girl who struggled to save him and later on he would project that image onto the heroine, Hilda.

However, Yvonne big mouth had left a deep and painful mark 

on the Prince's mind which made him reject the thought of Hilda being his savior.

"That child has thwarted my plan before but now she has done it again!" He roared in anger causing Theo to step back and cower in fear.

Theo understood what his master meant by those words.

Yvonne had not only caused the 'love at first sight' scene to dissipate but also made another major change in his story.

Theo was sure of this matter because he knew why Draco's return to the capital had gone against the usual plot.

This was all thanks to the injury he sustained when he was working as a stable boy with Fritzen in the St. Claire estate.

In the original story, Draco was never injured so he moved to the next fiefs after he was done investigating the St. Claire's but that seemed like an impossible feat this time.

In the beginning, King Ophire had asked Draco to return due to his injury but was firmly refused by using Fritzen's summer vacation as an excuse.

But Draco's plan came back to bite him in the ass.

When the King heard that his son was also hurt, he shamelessly used Fritzen as an excuse and summoned them back to the palace without giving them a chance to plead otherwise.

Not wanting to disobey his brother's command a second time, Draco did not try to go against his wishes and returned to Amarthea along with Fritzen.

The news of the Prince and Grand Duke's return made the other group consisting of the Tanner father-son duo also return from their mission in haste.

"Stupid child! Causing problems without even realizing it!" Asmodeus cursed at the child he had dropped in this world against her wishes.

He was blaming Yvonne for this unexpected change in his plans because she was the one who had injured Draco Roschester.

The moment he had put Yvonne's soul into the child's body, she lost consciousness and fell down.

The person nearest to her was none other than Draco disguised as a stable boy who served as a human cushion to break her fall and in this process, he had injured his back.

'You were the one who brought her soul there at that moment so the fault lies with you as well.' Theo thought in his mind as he was too timid to speak up against his master.

However, Asmodeus could read all his inner thoughts and then growled at his disciple.

Before he could scold him any further, they heard mocking laughter coming from the sky.

Theo and Asmodeus looked up and found a man in yellow robes descending from the clouds and landing on the couch opposite the god of thunder.

The master and disciple's faces changed when they saw this intruder who had just waltz in without permission.

"What are you doing here, Neo!?" Asmodeus snarled as he sat up and glared at this man who was his mortal enemy.