Chapter 62 - Reward?
"Toby," Maelle called out over the rushing wind. "Give Vincent directions to your home. We’ll administer the Honey Lake Extract to your siblings without delay."
Clinging tightly to Vincent’s ankles, Toby stammered out directions through his chattering teeth. "J-Just head straight for the slum district! T-Toward the low clock tower!"
"Which way’s the slums?!"
"J-Just go straight!"
Wrapped securely around Vincent’s waist, Ava looked down at the trembling man below her with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Aww, look at the little Toby trembling~ What’s the matter? Afraid of heights? Careful, or my grip might slip and I’ll push you off~"
"Eeeek! MISS AVA, PLEASE–!"
Slipping only an inch down just to tease him, Toby actually lost his grip, falling backward into the open night air.
"GWAAAAAAAHH!!!"
"""TOBY!"""
Vincent quickly folded his wings inward and dove straight down like a falling star.
He swooped under him just twenty feet above the rooftops, catching Toby securely by his collar with one hand before snapping his wings open and bursting back up into the clouds.
"I GOT YOU! You alright?!"
"I-I’m alive!? Thank you...! *sob*"
"Ava!" Maelle scolded, her violet eyes flashing with genuine anger. "That was uncalled for!"
"I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t think he’d actually fall! Forgive me, Toby!"
Still weeping from the near-death experience, Toby continued to choke out directions through his tears until the glowing lights of the industrial and wealthy districts faded into gloomy, tightly packed rooftops of the slums.
Vincent touched down silently in a narrow, muddy alleyway. His divine transformation fazed away, and the four of them slipped quietly into a small, dilapidated wooden house.
Inside, the home was sparsely furnished and cold. On a small pallet bed not too far from the fireplace lay two bedridden children.
They possessed fluffy, feline ears resting atop their hair and slender cat tails curled around their blankets.
"Leo! Zally!" Toby rushed to their bedside, kneeling on the floor. "How are you feeling?!"
The young boy, Leo, slowly opened his eyes, offering a weak smile. "Toby...? We’re okay... better than yesterday. Zally even ate a little soup..."
Vincent’s brow furrowed as he looked at the fragile children. "Man... they’re really young."
"These are my younger siblings," Toby introduced proudly, wiping his nose. "Leo and Zally. They just turned nine. Leo, Zally. These are my... friends. Vincent, Ava, and Princess Maelle Ebony."
Standing beside Vincent, Ava leaned in, whispering in a surprisingly quiet tone. "Half-breeds with mana-rot rarely make it past ten without treatment..."
"Well, that changes tonight. Leo, Zally! Look! I got the medicine!"
With Maelle and Vincent helping hold the children up, Toby carefully administered the Honey Lake Extract into their mouths.
Within moments, a visible transformation occurred. The children’s chests suddenly stabilized, the feverish red flush on their cheeks faded into a healthy complexion, and their breathing became smooth.
The siblings sat up straight on the bed with wide eyes as the suffocating pain consuming their entire being vanished as if it were never there in the first place.
"I... I can breathe again!"
"It doesn’t hurt anymore!"
Overjoyed, the children threw their arms around Toby, and the three siblings wept tears of overwhelming relief as they clung to one another in the middle of the small room.
Without hesitation all three of them knelt on the wooden floor in front of Maelle.
"Your Highness... You saved my family. From this day forth, my life and my family’s loyalty belong entirely to Princess Maelle Ebony."
"We swear it!" The two siblings echoed in unity.
Maelle stood quietly, observing the young children. As she looked around the room – at Vincent, at Toby, and at the growing circle of individuals slowly rallying around her – a faint spark began to form in her mind. A quiet ambition regarding her future standing, but she pushed it aside for the moment.
"Toby. Do you know when to administer the next dose?"
"Next dose...? Is... is it not a one-time cure?"
"No," Maelle explained patiently. "You must administer another dose once every three months for the first year. After that, their bodies will have accustomed to the mana balance, and you will only need to give them a single dose once every year from then on."
Toby’s face drained of color as panic returned to his eyes. "E-Every three months?! But... but! I can’t afford–"
Maelle reached into the sack and took out multiple vials of Honey Lake Extract, along with a heavy leather pouch of gold coins plundered from Rizer’s vault. She set them down firmly on the bedside table.
"This is enough to last them for the three-month intervals, as well as the yearly doses for the next decade."
Toby stared at the fortune in utter disbelief. "Y-Your Highness... I can’t accept this! This is too much!"
"Do not be absurd. It is only right that I take proper care of those who pledged their loyalty to me."
Maelle turned her chin away as a faint, embarrassed dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks.
Leo and Zally didn’t care about royal etiquette. With squeals of joy, the nine-year-olds leaped forward and wrapped their arms around Maelle’s waist in a tight, affectionate hug.
""Thank you, Your Highness!""
Maelle froze as she looked down at the cat-eared children clinging to her cloak. Awkwardly, she raised her hand and gently patted their heads with stiff, uncoordinated movements. "U-Uh... yes. You are very welcome."
Behind her, Vincent and Ava burst into quiet, stifled laughter at the Princess’s total lack of experience with affection.
"... We are leaving," she suddenly announced, stepping back with a flushed face. "Rest well you two. Toby, expect to see me again soon."
"Yes, Your Highness! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
""Bye bye!!""
Leaving Toby to tend to his recovered family, Vincent, Maelle, and Ava navigated through the quiet streets back to the canal’s sewer shack.
There, they found Gwen sitting inside by a small lantern, untouched and completely uninjured after torching Rizer’s stronghold.
"Gwen," Maelle let out a subtle breath of relief. "I am glad to see you unharmed."
***** "It takes more than a few thugs to catch me, Your Highness."
They checked on their prisoner, Lucianne. Bound in her chair, the noble girl looked thoroughly demoralized, her eyes red from crying after hours of sitting alone in the pitch blackness.
"I gave her some bread earlier," Gwen reported dryly. "She was surprisingly obedient."
"Hey, Gwen... how does she... you know. Use the bathroom?" Vincent asked when looking around the room.
Gwen pointed casually to the murky wastewater canal flowing right outside the shack door.
"Oof. Man, that’s hella gross."
"She’s lucky I even brought toilet paper inside this dump."
With that, Gwen closed and locked the door, leaving the silent prisoner behind as they made their back to the Academy dormitories.
As they strolled down the quiet, moonlit streets, the group discussed their upcoming strategy.
"The Academy Gala is only a few days away," Maelle noted. "We must prepare for that as well."
"Ooh!" Ava chirped, skipping beside Vincent. "We should all go shopping together tomorrow! We can try on fancy dresses, and Vincent can be our judge!"
"That won’t be possible, Ava. The upcoming Gala is strictly a human-only event, held exclusively to celebrate students who successfully summoned a Familiar during the ritual."
Ava’s springy step immediately stopped. Her shoulders slumped with tragic disappointment as she realized the cruel reality – being a demon in disguise meant she couldn’t attend the grand party alongside Vincent and Maelle.
"Aww... No fair..."
"Hey, Ava. How’d you even become a student at the Academy?" Vincent asked curiously.
"Oh that? My employer set me up. All I had to do was disguise myself and walk in with the documents."
"Damn. It’s scary how easily you got in."
"It just goes to show how much power this "employer" has." Maelle said as she narrowed her eyes in deep contemplation.
.......
Soon, they reached the residence hall. Outside the floor leading to Ava’s dorm room, she stopped and turned to Vincent with big, watery hazel eyes, shuffling her feet shamelessly.
"Vincent... I worked super hard today. Can I please have a reward before you go? Please~?"
Vincent looked at her pouty expression and let out a defeated sigh. "Fine..."
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug.
She broke.
Ava went into absolute ecstasy. Her body went completely limp, practically melting into his chest as a bright flush covered her entire face and her eyes shimmered with a purplish hue.
"Ahhh~ Haaaah~ HAAAHNN~! So warm~! This scent~! EHEHEHE~! EHEHEHEHE~!"
’Dafuq?!’
Before Vincent could pull away, she quickly darted her tongue out and licked the side of his neck.
*Schlick~*
"Urgh! Ava!"
Snapping back to her feet with a giddy bounce, Ava sprinted down the hallway and looked over her shoulder before entering her room. "EHEHEHE~! GOODNIGHT~!"
Vincent slowly wiped the warm saliva sticking to his neck. "She’s hopeless..."
Continuing up the staircase to the top floor, Gwen, Vincent and Maelle finally entered the dormitory master suite.
Maelle walked over to her writing desk, standing silently with her back turned to him. With a troubled look, she recalled how effortlessly Vincent had shown affection to Ava – and how easily Ava had melted from a simple hug.
Feeling an awkward, unfamiliar swell of envy in her chest, she turned around and took a hesitant step toward Vincent.
"Maelle?"
With a straight face, she reached up and placed her hand on top of Vincent’s head, giving him two awkward, mechanical pats.
"Good job today, Vincent. This is your... reward."
".... Huh? What are you... Huh?"
Gwen’s mouth slightly agape in shock. Never has she ever seen Maelle do something like this.
The second the awkward atmosphere hit her, a crimson blush exploded across Maelle’s face. Overcome with paralyzing embarrassment over her own bizarre action, she quickly took her hand off his head and conjured a summoning circle in a panic.
"R-RETURN!!"
"Wait–!"
SHEEN!
His body dissolved into light motes, vanishing from the room.
......
Back in the Divine Realm...
Vincent materialised inside the kitchen of his mother’s estate. Taking a second for himself, he covered his mouth as his cheeks heated up from embarrassment.
’Holy shit... Where did that come from? Maelle...’
Going up to the bedroom, he found his mother sitting on the edge of the velvet bed, dressed in a loose, silk nightgown that draped elegantly over her flawless figure.
She turned her head, a warm, radiant smile spreading across her face. "Welcome home, baby. I was just about to pour some late-night tea."
Vincent let out an exhausted sigh, walking over and flopping face-first onto the soft mattress beside her. "Mama... today was craaaaazy..."
Maribelle giggled softly, laying down beside him and gently cupped his cheek. "I want to hear all about it."
As the quiet night went on, Vincent recapped his chaotic day: the academy day, the ambush of the Literature Club members, their trip to the Black Market, causing havoc at a syndicate hideout, saving Toby’s sick cat-eared siblings, and finally, Maelle’s bizarre, stiff headpat before she panicked and sent him back.
"I just don’t get her sometimes. Whenever she tries to express anything normal, she freaks out and shuts down. Mama... how do I get her to just loosen up, stop stressing, and... urgh, this is gonna sound cringe. How do I make her be true to herself?"
Maribelle looked at her son with a ’mothers-know-best’ smile curling her soft lips. Her blue eyes twinkled with ancient wisdom.
"If you want a cold, burdened girl to open her heart, Vinny... It’s simple. You just have to spoil her rotten until her heart melts~"