Dining

"We did it! We destroyed the ego of that human!" Noir cheerfully declared.

"Good job Mei! Sustaining an illusion of that caliber is a difficult task."

The maid breathed heavily as she crouched down. She lifted her mask temporarily to wipe the sweat on her face.

'Job completed!' She cheered in her mind.

'This calls for a warm bath and nice cold beer.'

'But first, I have to finish the process of enslavement first.'

She carefully examined the mask Blance held in her hands.

It had straight slits as eyes and one curved slit facing upwards as the mouth. The mask was made out of cold, white marble.

It was thin, only around 5 millimeters thick or so. 

'It is the exact replica of mine…

No, it's a little different.

It oozes a bit of mana and the material looks the same but it is different.'

Her hand unconsciously reached for her mask.

'I am not being controlled am I?

No, demons wouldn't go through the trouble of forging a contract with a person they are going to brainwash. I'm just overthinking.'

She got up and scanned the entire room.

The bedroom of the twins was vertically divided in half by color, starting from the bed and to the door.

One half of the room was decorated with black-colored furniture while the other was decorated with ivory-colored furniture.

To certain groups of people, this separation of the room might seem suspicious but there was not a hidden meaning behind it as far as Mei knew.

'A demon is known for their titles, not their names.'

It was indeed the case. Only a higher-ranked demon could say the name of demons below it.

A low-ranking demon can not utter the name of the higher-ranking demons as it is considered a great insult, equivalent to a slur unless given permission.

Due to this, demons usually have lackluster names.

An example of this is Carl, the pride demon.

As a result of recent events, however, names with earth origins were the trend. They were considered exotic.

The twins were an example of this. Balazear, offspring of the dreaded Lord of Gluttony and the father of Noire and Blance gave them this name.

A lot of humans were getting shipped to the demon continent for the past dozen years and it was a golden age to foster young demons and demonesses so all of the 13 pillars focused on expanding their family above all else.

'And you get to be a part of all that.'

Personally, Mei disliked demons but not as much as she disliked humans.

It would be an understatement to say she disliked humans, she loathed them.

In her mind, everything other than humans was an improvement.

Even a half-breed like her…

CRRK

The cup in her hands was crushed and crumbled to pieces.

'Ah! I zoned out!'

"Hey! Don't destroy the cup, it's expensive!"

The word 'expensive' touched her soul. "I- I sincerely apologize!"

"Seriously, are you that excited to have a new colleague?" Noir smirked.

The twins sat alongside each other on the front end of a long table while Mei sat at the opposite end alongside the new recruit.

The human had gotten a new outfit to wear. Instead of the bloody rags he was wearing when he came, he now wore a masterfully crafted butler suit.

With his well-built body and that suit, he would have made a perfect butler full of elegance. However, his drooping stature and the horrified expression on his face destroyed that image completely.

He looked like a corpse dressed up.

The table was adorned with an array of neatly prepared and placed culinary delights that would bring immense satisfaction to whoever had the chance to set their eyes on it. The aroma haunted the air, making  Mei's mouth water.

Truly befitting of the lineage of gluttony.

"What's the occasion?" She asked, doing a very poor job at hiding her eagerness.

Blance: "Hmm, it seems you forgot. We are celebrating you getting a boyfriend!"

"Huh!?"

'What are these brats spouting now?'

"The contract we made stated that you will become our maid for a little more than a century in return for our protection and riches.

However, there are still 116 years left in the contract and we thought you might get lonely so we searched for a friend for you!

We didn't find a suitable maid candidate but we did get him from grandfather and since he's a boy, he is going to be your boyfriend!

Hehe, aren't we kind?"

She got up and slammed her hands on the table. "HUH! THERE IS NO WAY A HUMAN IS GOING TO BE MY PARTNER!"

'Stop playing matchmaker, you are not suited for it damn it!'

Blance seemed taken aback by her words. Noir sent her twin a look of guilt before snapping back at Mei.

"Don't you dare make Blance sad! If you don't like the arrangements then just say it, no need to raise your voice like a barbarian!"

"Ugh!, eh, um, sorry." Mei awkwardly fell back on her chair.

At the end of the day, she was an employee and the twins were her employers. There was a limit on how many times she could snap before having her neck snapped.

Blance sighed. "Even if you don't like it, you are going to be stuck with him for the rest of your servitude so deal with it.

It's not like he's going to remain human forever."

"Uh, yes, that's true." Mei said while squirming in her chair.

"On that note, when are you going to initiate the ritual? And I don't see the mask on him either."

"We will do all that after you have recovered so just eat for now."

Mei found their behavior odd. This was the second time they had pardoned her. If it was any other demon, they would have had her head.

'They are awfully kind for a demon.

Maybe it is because they are still children? Demons rarely reproduce so I don't know. Do they go from being kind as an angel to the classic demon as they mature?'

Amidst their short scuffle, nobody noticed the unconscious human's hand twitch.

They ate their meal in total silence after that.

'How is it possible for food like this to exist???'

Every bite of the fried sunrooster meat and every sip of the sweet wine that seemed like the nectar of the gods elevated her happiness to an entirely different level each time.

It was almost as if she was not eating food but rather consuming happiness and fulfillment directly.

Like a ravenous pig, Mei ate everything she could get her hands on. Not the best behavior for a maid.

Meanwhile, the twins ate their fill. In contrast to Mei, they did not abandon their dining etiquette at all but they ate much much more than her.

As expected of the granddaughters of Beelzebub, the Lord of Gluttony.

The feast took hours as the twins needed to accumulate enough mana to convert Aster.

Every once in a while, other servants came to bring more food.

Once the meal was done, they started walking to the room located deep underground.

They moved from the dining chamber, which was located right next to their bedroom, walked past the dormitory of the servants, and walked into a gigantic chamber full of marvelous paintings.

They went through a secret passage hidden behind a painting of Beelzebub on the ground floor of their mansion and descended via a small spiral of stairs.

Noir and Blance always walked side by side so naturally Mei had to follow from behind while princess-carrying unconscious Aster.

'Tsk pathetic.

At this point, another ego would have taken over his damaged astral body.

Yet he is still unconscious. How pathetic is that?'

'Is he even alive?'

She listened to his heartbeats and sure enough, it was beating albeit a little bit faster than what she had expected.

'...'

She had a foreboding feeling. Something didn't feel right.

'I'm overthinking again. Let's just get it over with.'

Soon, they reached the end of the stairway.

They were in front of a bronze-colored gate, depicting a face of a monstrous demon.

'It is time.

The time for the family of gluttony to expand once more.

The world shall face the birth of a new gluttonous demon!'