"You’re back on top," Sapphire comnted, pouting slightly as she stared at Viviane. The demon queen didn’t hide her discomfort—and it wasn’t just jealousy. It was frustration.
After all, she was the one who turned Viviane into a demon. And unlike Viola and Novah, over whom she maintained almost absolute control, Viviane had always been an exception. She always escaped her control.
This irritated her more than she would like to admit.
"I’m fine, thank you for asking," replied Viviane with a sweet and provocative smile, firmly embracing Vergil’s arm, who seed more relaxed than usual.
Sapphire pursed her lips slightly, visibly uncomfortable with the scene.
Yes, she was jealous.
"However," interrupted Rapaheline, who was lazily watching TV from the corner of the room, "it’s good to see that his hair and eyes are back to normal." She smiled slyly. "Black and purple had their charm, but... I prefer white and blue. More classic. More ’Vergil’." She winked mischievously.
"I agree," said Ada, leaning on the counter, twirling a spoon between her fingers. "Black and purple gave him a Madara vibe."
"Mada-who?" asked Roxanne, her mouth slightly sared with cream as she savored a strawberry cookie pie.
"Madara Uchiha," replied Katharina, coming down the stairs with an amused smile. "The one who asks ’with or without Susanoo?’. An icon."
"Ahh... now I know who he is," said Roxanne, masterfully intoning irony. Sarcasm dripped from her voice like strawberry syrup from the pie.
"Look, considering the last few days," comnted Stella, sitting next to Roxanne, sharing sweets and laughter, "everything is pretty calm... for now." She took a bite of pie, thoughtfully. "But I still think Walpurgis could have been more... enjoyable."
Katharina threw herself on the couch with a dramatic sigh.
" too! Finally sothing exciting happens in the demon world, and then... KABOOM, two dragons appear and disappear as if they were never there!" She grumbled, throwing a pillow into the air. "Zero climax. Zero drama."
Vergil just let out a low laugh, that restrained, almost silent laugh, but one that everyone there knew ant that he was, in fact, enjoying himself. He sat down at the table with Stella and Roxanne, watching the scene like a king before his eccentric and noisy court.
Viviane glided into the kitchen with the grace of soone who knew she was being watched, while Sapphire slumped on the edge of the sofa, still mulling over conflicting thoughts and emotions.
The room was full—of voices, veiled tension, jokes, and too many sweets—but deep in every gaze there was a shadow. A slight fear.
Because even with all the laughter, everyone knew:
The silence after chaos is always the prelude to sothing even greater.
"Kat, where’s Kaguya?" asked Vergil, without looking up from the piece of pie he was cutting with almost ceremonial care.
"Oh, right," replied Katharina, distracted as she flipped through the TV channels as if it were a digital throne. "She’s in Turkey. She’s trying to recruit so vampires to reinforce our wings." She changed the channel without even blinking.
"Hey!" exclaid Ada and Raphaeline in unison, indignant.
"They were watching the docuntary about demonic supercars on Discovery Infernal," Ada explained indignantly. "It was the part about engines with solar propulsion magic!"
"That’s enough for today. Let’s watch sothing less... noisy. Sothing that doesn’t involve combustion and infernal explosions," Katharina retorted, crossing her legs authoritatively. "Besides, this TV is mine. I’m in charge here."
Sapphire, who was watching all the commotion from her armchair with a glass of red wine in her hand, raised an eyebrow. Her voice was sharp but sweet:
"The whole house is mine, dear."
There was a dramatic pause. Everyone knew that when Sapphire played the property card, she was feeling slightly attacked.
"Even though this place has turned into a hotel for all of you..." She smiled with poisonous charm. Her eyes narrowed in Vergil’s direction. "Right, Vergil?"
He looked up, serene as ever, took another piece of pie, and replied with that insolent smile that only he could pull off without getting beaten up:
"Does it matter? You’re mine, so the house is mine."
The silence was instantaneous.
Sapphire froze. The blush rose to her cheeks like fire running through paper. She quickly looked away, raising her glass to hide her face.
"Damn fall... I hate it!!" she thought, sinking into the upholstery as if she could escape her own racing heart.
Before anyone could make another snide remark or laugh, a female voice—soft, but with that provocative touch—sounded from the balcony door:
"You guys look... too good."
Vergil looked up and a sincere, almost rare smile appeared on his face.
"Morgana," he said with a nod. "Actually, I was just about to co looking for you. How’s Alice?"
The woman who had just entered wore tight, ripped jeans and only a tiny black bikini top — which seed more stubbornly holding her breasts than actually covering them. She leaned against the doorfra with an air of feigned hurt.
"She’s great," she replied, then pouted. "But I’m here too, you know? Not even to ask how I am." She stamped her foot dramatically.
Vergil looked at her for a mont, genuinely confused. "I can see that. You look beautifully fine. Why would I ask the obvious?"
Morgana froze. His words took half a second to sink in. When they did, a blush rose like a burst of heat to her face and the tops of her ears.
"F-f-fine?!" She turned her face away abruptly. "D-don’t talk like that! Idiot!"
On the sofa, Raphaeline and Ada exchanged a knowing glance.
"Tsundere," they whispered at the sa ti, holding back laughter.
Roxanne, across the room, raised an eyebrow with a mischievous smile. "I knew soone was going to say that."
Stella, who was calmly sipping her tea nearby, simply comnted, "The most amazing thing about all this is that she didn’t deny it."
Katharina was laughing loudly now, throwing a pillow into the air with satisfaction. "Oh, oh... This house has really turned into a soap opera."
Vergil, for his part, just took another sip of coffee and watched Morgana hide her face behind her hair. It was a strange day... but for the first ti in a long ti, a day with laughter — and that said more than any alliance or battle.
Viviane calmly appeared at the kitchen door, a plate of perfectly golden toast in her hands. The sll of lted butter with a hint of garlic filled the room like a culinary charm. She walked with the tranquility of soone who owed nothing more to the world — shiny silver hair, blue eyes like heavenly sapphires. Her power was no longer a promise. It was presence.
Upon seeing her, Morgana froze. Literally. The foot that was about to take a step froze in the air like a statue in shock.
"...W-w-w-w-WHAT????!!!!" she scread, almost choking on her own indignation, her neckline rising along with her tone of voice.
Viviane blinked calmly, placing the plate on the coffee table with almost regal elegance. Her smile was kind but indifferent, as if she were already far beyond all this drama.
"Ah, you’re here," she said, as if comnting on the weather. "Would you like so toast?"
Morgana blinked several tis, trying to process the scene. She approached as if approaching a specter.
"You... ca back to life?!"
Viviane raised an eyebrow.
"Ca back to life?" she repeated lightly. "No. I just... got back what was mine. Thanks to Vergil." She glanced at him with a knowing and affectionate look.
Morgana imdiately turned to Vergil, her eyes wide as if she expected him to confess to having unearthed a god or broken a cosmic pact.
He just smiled sidelong—that smile that was more of a challenge than a complint—and, without saying a word, extended his arm to the side. With precision, he summoned his sword with a snap of energy and threw the blade spinning through the air... straight into Morgana’s hands.
She grabbed it instinctively, but when she recognized the blade’s gleam, she almost dropped it.
"E-e-e-e-e-e-EXCALIBUR?!?!?!"
The na echoed through the room like ani thunder at full speed.
Sapphire, who until then had been calmly drinking a glass of wine, abruptly stood up from the sofa and shouted:
"STOP SCREAMING, BITCH!!!"
Silence.
Everyone froze. Even the sword emitted a slight uncomfortable buzzing sound.
Morgana looked at Sapphire with a nervous smile and a drop of sweat running down her temple. "I’m just... a little surprised..."
Sapphire raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, her eyes flashing. "Surprised? This house has everything. From explosions to summonings, from crazy people to quasi-terrorists, tsundere freaking out. And you’re surprised by this? Wow, there’s so much to be surprised about that it makes dizzy."
Morgana opened her mouth to respond... but closed it. Because she had a point.
Raphaeline, trying to lighten the mood, took a piece of toast from the tray. "Hmmm... with butter and garlic. Wow, Viviane, even your return to power cos with cuisine. Respect."
Ada, already holding another piece, nodded. "Powerful and talented people are sothing else."
Vergil settled himself more comfortably on the sofa, his arm extended behind Viviane, and added, as if comnting on the weather:
"Next ti, maybe I’ll make pancakes."
Viviane shrugged, serene.
"I thought about olets, but toast was faster."
Katharina, her eyes glued to the TV, muttered: "If this turns into a reality show, I want my share of the profits."
Sapphire rolled her eyes and returned to the sofa, crossing her legs with nacing elegance.
Morgana, still holding Excalibur, looked at everyone and muttered, astonished:
"I leave for two days... two days... and the world turns into an ani episode?"
Everyone looked at her... "Why are you even here?" Vergil asked...
"Oh... well, we need to discuss Alice." Morgana said more seriously.
"Did sothing happen?" Roxanne asked...
"Nothing much, she just created a dinsion within her own soul, nothing too catastrophic, right?"
"WHAT DID SHE DO?!"
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