12.1 Home Improvement

Compared to their visit to the furniture store Ezraphel and Stanley's trip to buying new kitchen utensils was comparatively shorter and more mundane. Perhaps it was because the store they went to wasn't a sprawling warehouse of wonders but in actuality it was because Ezraphel herself wasn't very focused on deliberately stretching out their time. As such they only spent so long getting the appropriate kitchen utensils and Stanley actually did buy some this time despite not needing to.

Ezraphel could have made perfect copies of every utensil she came in contact with but her Stanley just decided to buy them because it was 'in his budget.' Ezraphel knew the truth however which was that he just wanted to buy something nice for her. Of course his gesture was appropriately compensated with the proper amount of smothering hugs and kisses because that is how she rolls.

When they arrived home Stanley locked himself in his not-so-private room while Ezraphel put the newly bought kitchen utensils away in her pocket dimension. She would go about doing the proper setup for them at a later date but for now she had more urgent business to attend to. With an unnecessary snap of her fingers she appeared in her and Stanley's shared bedroom. A bedroom that was not at all fit to be inhabited by a normal couple let alone a princess and her consort.

*Tap*

Her foot stomps the ground and from there a bright purple magic circle appears and enlarges to encompass the entire of floor, walls and lastly the ceiling. In less than a single second the entirety of the room was now under her control. Her first order of business was to separate the room from normal reality, encasing it in a permanent pocket dimension that was completely under her control. This was a simple matter for her as the entire house was effectively in her 'domain.'

Now Ezraphel had no qualms explaining the concept of her 'domain' to her Stanley but she was very glad he didn't ask her to go into the specifics of how she went about establishing said domain because it was kind of embarrassing…and may worry him unnecessarily. The truth is that the house was in effect a pseudo Mamono Realm. It shouldn't really come as a surprise considering Mamono realms (or Demon realms) happen when an area becomes saturated in Mamono mana/Demonic Energy and let's be honest the house and this room in particular has been saturated thoroughly.

Ezraphel didn't really mean for this to happen and in her defense it's not as if she ever tried to stop corruption until that moment. How was she to know that using spells fueled by her own mana to stop concentrated Demonic Energy was like using a wet rag as stopgap for a leak? The barrier managed to contain most of it but its nature cause a little 'spillage' so to speak. If she had been thorough she could have prevented this but at the time she was literally pounded into delirium so…

Normally it wouldn't have been such a big deal but her and Stanley's 'first time' ended up lasting several days and unfortunately she realized too late as in that time the wisps of Demonic Energy leaked through her barrier and spread throughout the house. It would have been hardly noticeable normally but in an environment usually devoid of mana it was easy to spot.

Worst part is she couldn't just get rid of it either.

Despite her power and mastery of spells Ezraphel was no magical scholar and did not have a repository of spell knowledge to rely upon. Also the damage was already done and the only way to really get rid of Demonic Energy was to purify it with holy magic. Obviously she wasn't going to use that even if it existed on earth so she could not get rid of it but what she could do was damage control.

She did this by using the Demonic Energy seeped into the house along with her own mana to create a domain. Now with near total control over the very fabric of reality within the house she was able to prevent further corruption by shunting excess Demonic Energy into a pocket dimension of her own creation for further use. What that use would be she didn't really know but one could never know when having enough Demonic Energy to corrupt a small town into a Demon Realm would come in handy right?

In any case, along with being able to create pocket dimensions or 'spirit realms' on the fly, Ezraphel's domain also allows her to alter inorganic matter and space without the use of spells. Case in point, after assuming control of the room's dimensional space she swept her arms out in a grandiose fashion. The result of this act saw the room expanding until it was at least three times its original size. After that all of her Stanley's personal effects were levitated, organized and teleported away safely.

"Now for the fun part."

Ezraphel was no interior decorator, however seeing the displays in the furniture store had awakened something in her. Now she wanted her and her Stanley's bedroom to be just as visually appealing. And why stop there? She could envision the entire house becoming a modern day palace of her own design but she was getting ahead of herself. Her Stanley would never allow her to do this and she could just imagine his argument against it.

"What's the point of turning this place into a palace when it's just the two of us?"

Then she would say it's not about the utility but the extravagance.

"Who would we even be trying to impress?"

Then she would concede his point and proceed to pounce on him.

"Alright enough of that" her gaze immediately turned to the bed. It sat there innocently enough in all its small, lumpy and uncomfortable glory.

This was a long time coming.

The bed immediately levitates and in a matter of moments the small, lumpy and uncomfortable thing became something entirely different. Now the mattress was 10ft long and 8ft wide and made out of a combination of 'memory foam' and added enchantments for maximum comfort and bounce because Ezraphel liked the added oomph when she rides her Stanley like a stallion.

The new mattress now sat on a sturdy obsidian bed frame that was etched with runes that had a variety of effects she was sure her Stanley would appreciate. Finally there were the sheets which were made to mimic Arachne silk because as far as she knew there isn't a material on earth that comes close to the feel of it. Ezraphel could only lament that even with all her power she could not quite get the feel of those sheets to be the same as that of the supernatural thread.

With the most important furniture in the room complete she moved on to the second most important furniture, the dresser. Ezraphel scoffed at the thing and with dismissed flick of her hand the object was ported away. There would be no need for such a paltry thing as a dresser since this would become their shared room and Ezraphel's wardrobe alone would be more than what it could handle. So instead her eyes turned to the tiny and currently empty closet with a smirk.

In a matter of moments it was enlarged, expanded and manipulated to the designs in her mind's eye. Said designs were reminiscent of the appearance of the 'walk-in closets' she looked up when creating the closet space for her wardrobe situated in her private room. The only difference is that this one had a more modern earth aesthetic than hers which was more reminiscent of her home in the Royal Makai.

There were different drawers for different articles of clothing such as casual tops, bottoms, skirts, pants, jeans, socks, bras, panties, briefs. Clothes for attending public venues were neatly pressed, folded and hung up. Shoes were cleaned and organized in a tasteful array in a little section by themselves. There were even compartments for jewelry such as chains bracelets, earrings and hairpins. The only empty spaces for Ezraphel were the areas for keeping various purses, handbags, brooches and such.

Ezraphel never found a need for one, not because she could store things in a personal dimension (since she understood that a purse would make for an inconspicuous means of accessing said dimension in public) but because she only ever bought things when she went out with her Stanley and he is in charge of the money.

In any case the overall design of the walk-in closet was more for her Stanley's sake and it was the least she could do for his sensibilities. After all he never said anything about changing the room to such an extreme extent. He only ever agreed to her changing the bed.

Was she taking advantage of this?

Yes.

Was she deliberately going overboard?

Again, yes.

Was she worried about his reaction to her basically upending the place and turning it into something wholly unfamiliar?

No…well maybe a little but that is why she had the perfect plan to smooth things over without him throwing one of tantrums. Not that his tantrums were anything more than just a means for him to air out his grievances and even then she found that compared to how he was during their earlier times together he was a lot less scathing and volatile. Still if there was one thing that hasn't changed in the times since then it was that her Stanley always found a way to get her back whenever she does something to displease him.

And not only has Ezraphel always never seen it coming but she has so far been unable to prevent this kind of retaliation.

'Hopefully I can avoid that this time' she thought as she began placing their clothes in the relevant spaces.

Ezraphel's wardrobe consisted of the catalogue of clothing her Stanley had bought for her as well as a few articles she had created for herself. Yes, Ezraphel creates some of her own clothes. It wasn't difficult as there are literally hundreds of fashion articles, guides, designs and step by step tutorials on creating one's own clothing. Combined with her magic material manipulation and she has a good number of original wears, some based on earth designs, some based on Mamono designs and a few experimental fusions of the two design elements.

What? A Lilim can't have hobbies outside of her husband? That kind of thinking isn't very progressive and if there is one thing Ezraphel has learned from her time on earth it was that of progression and being progressive/proactive. And besides, her Stanley greatly appreciates her efforts in the making custom outfits for their private activities.

And speaking of clothes, her gaze peered over to Stanley's corner of the expansive closet and she did mean corner. Compared to her side Stanley's wardrobe choices were lacking to say the least. That will have to be rectified, especially since they agreed to spend more time together outside.

Not that she though he looked bad in anything. Her Stanley looked good in everything and he looked particular great in nothing at all. But as the earth saying goes variety is the spice of life and Ezraphel preferred her Stanley extra spicy~

"That can wait for now" she still had some stuff to finish.

Once done with the closet all that was left was to create two nightstands on either side of the bed. She thought of putting a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling but found it a bit too ostentatious even for her. But now that she thought about, there was quite a bit of empty space left and most of her ideas for filling that space came from her time on Eos. She could make it work but she couldn't help but feel that she might be missing out on something more if she did.

"Hmm, in times of need, the internet is your friend" she mumbled and with a flash her laptop appeared in hand.

Sitting down on the soft and plush bed she started looking up modern luxury bedroom designs.

"I should have done this from the beginning!"

As expected there was no shortage of options for her however knowing her Stanley most of them would not be very appealing to him.

"Ooh~" her eyes lit up "that looks interesting."

But to set it up she would need to go to a few places.

"Ufufufu, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees this."

She spent another few minutes searching for the destination before disappearing in a flash, laptop and all.