章 170: [37.4] The Flower of Desire
[Author's note: this chapter is back to Reika's point of view.]
I sat in my seat, enthralled by the singer.
She wore a red dress with a rose train gliding behind her as she walked. Her brownish-red curly hair went all the way to her waist and danced in the air as she moved.
She wore a masquerade-type mask, but her pink-colored eyes were still dazzling through the mask.
After the show had concluded, the door opened to our room.
A man bowed, "Monsieur and Madam. Our singer Rose is requesting an audience with both of you. Would you like to meet her?"
I jumped up, "Can we!?"
I've never met a celebrity before!!!
The worker nodded, "You can."
I turned to Cyrus, "Do you want to?"
He chuckled and stood up, "Why not."
We followed the worker down the hallway and backstage. We passed many performers who were removing their makeup and paying us no attention. He led us to a room where he opened the door and bowed, "Madame Rose. I've brought the two audience members you requested to see."
A sultry voice responded, "Thank you, Hank."
We walked inside and heard the door shut behind us. Rose lay comfortably on a lounge couch, staring at us with indifferent pink eyes. She no longer wore her mask, revealing her breathtaking beauty.
Oh… Wow…
She's even more beautiful than I thought.
Rose blew a smoke ring out, covering both Cyrus and me with the smoke. I coughed, "Why are you smoking?!"
She raised an eyebrow, "Because I like it."
I wanted to cry, "But smoking will hurt your beautiful voice!"
"Oh, I'm not concerned."
"But it will kill you!!"
She let out a laugh and pushed back her hair revealing that half of it was shaved. It was only then that I noticed a snake tattoo that looked as if it was crawling behind her ear and onto her face.
Whoa. How exotic.
She raised an eyebrow, "Why are you staring at me like that?"
I pointed to her tattoo, "That must have hurt."
She blew out another smoke ring, "I don't have such weak tolerance to pain like you humans."
I tried to wave away the smoke, "Ah, sure sure… Wait. What did you just say!?"
Cyrus looked just as surprised, "She said humans."
My face twitched, "Do humans usually talk like that?"
Cyrus frowned slightly, "Not usually."
"That's right. I'm a demon." The corner of her lip curled into a half smile, "That's why I'm not concerned about smoking. We demons aren't affected by smoking like you humans."
I smacked my forehead, "Another demon?!"
She laughed, "That's right. I'm the older sister of your little fox. Well, I'm the third oldest of the family."
I looked at her carefully, "So does that make you good or bad? Because I'm noticing that all you siblings have different sets of morals. Astra and Lene are super sweet, Moni is a big jerk, and Zephyr… Well. That goes without saying."
Her smile slowly faded, "I wouldn't say I'm good or bad."
Cyrus frowned, "So what is your goal then? Why did you call us back here to meet you?"
Her pink eyes slowly looked at Cyrus. She ignored his question and asked her own, "You're getting older now. Is the curse becoming more apparent yet?"
He flinched faintly and clenched his jaw but didn't say anything.
I looked between the two of them, "What are you talking about?"
Rose responded, "His ancestors were affected by the same curse that he has. They all passed it down the family line… Although this is the first time I've seen a man with it. I imagine that doesn't bode well."
Cyrus growled, "You don't know what you're talking about."
She laughed as if mocking him, "Oh, you stupid boy. I know exactly what I'm talking about. Obsession and desire… Those both are the same, are they not?"
I am getting lost.
I looked at either of them for clarification, "Obsession and desire? Can someone please tell me what you're talking about?!"
She smirked, "I guess I'm talking about you since his desire is you."
Cyrus shouted, "Shut up!"
She blew out another smoke ring, "You can't hide it forever."
I gave Cyrus a look, "We will talk about this later."
He looked away sheepishly.
I turned back to Rose, "So why'd you call us back here? What were you expecting?"
She stared at me silently for a moment before speaking slowly, "You know… Out of all my family members, I probably hate humans the most."
…That doesn't sound good.
"I hate them so much. They killed my soulmate and my sibling. I wanted nothing but to watch them all suffer in agony… But my Master said I should never kill a human. So I swallowed my hate and started performing for them after my Master died. Every single time I would go on stage, all I could feel was their sick desires… Their desires to own me… Their desires to be me… It was disgusting! I just want everyone around me to disappear so I don't have to feel any more of their desires… But I can't do that since Master said not to."
The slits of her eyes changed thinner as two sharp fangs started to protrude from her mouth, "However, when my brother gives me a request, I gladly do what he asks. And he requested that I give you to him."
Cyrus stepped in front of me protectively, "I won't let you harm her!"
I started to cough uncontrollably, "W-Why is the smoke so painful!? I can't… I can't-"
She smile at me with snake-like eyes, "It took longer than I thought."
I fell to my knees and soon, Cyrus started coughing uncontrollably and collapsed beside me.
As my body swayed, I heard Zephyr burst into the room shouting my name.
My vision started to blur, but I could make out Hazel following after him and grabbing her head.
She too collapsed upon entering the room and only Zephyr remained standing before my vision went completely black.
クリエイターの想い 
Nekoru
Nekoru Okay! We have met another sibling of Zephyr's... I know there's a lot, so let me sum up the ones we know.
(I don't think it's a spoiler?)
From oldest to youngest:
Moni: a ??? demon who uses corruption
???: a ??? demon who uses ???
Rose: A snake demon who uses enchantments
Lene: A spider demon who uses manipulation (physical)
???: a ??? demon who uses ???
Astra: A fox demon who uses illusions (unconscious state)
Zephyr: A fox demon who uses illusions (conscious state)
週次パワーステータス
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