Thanks for the reviews. Some lore and Belos&Luz bonding. Running on good vibes. Wear your mask or else I'll break your kneecaps. Hungry.

In traditional family settings, dinner was considered a sacred time where every member of the household came together and enjoyed a meal with a side of conversationing. No phones, no job-related distraction, just awkward people talking about their day in deep silence.

Emperor Belos did not think of himself as traditional. He did, after all, led a bloody revolution and conquered the entirety of the Boiling Isles. He said that a million times already but it didn't hurt to say it again. However, the concept of eating together with family was foreign to him.

It was a lie to say he wasn't a little bit interested.

Thus, every night without fail, Belos would eat dinner with Luz instead of all alone. Occasionally, some of the coven heads would join and if permitted, even Lady Kikimora. He would ask her about her day and Luz would babble everything like a flooded dam bursting.

Tonight, however, was very different. Tonight, little Luz was unnervingly quiet, spending time staring at him instead of gobbling up the slow-roasted chupacabra shank on her plate.

Belos felt concerned.

"Um, daughter?" He called, a bowl of soup in front of him. "Is there something of matter?"

"Mmm... How do you eat?"

Belos blinked. "... With my mouth?"

"Yeah, but how do you get food there?"

"With a fork and spoon, ideally."

Luz stared even harder. There was no anger or displeasure in her stare, just a sense of questionable curiosity. Yet, he still felt it bore through his very being, looking straight into his soul.

Belos cursed silently. He might have to belay teaching her Oracle magic.

"Is that all, Luz?" He asked, the silence being both familiar and unnatural.

In a literal blink of an eye, Luz's expression shifted, revealing the more appealing look of innocence. "Yep!" she said with a pop.

Underneath his mask, Belos raised an eyebrow. He was used to his fair share of weirdness but that was new. Was this a human thing? He really wished there was a human expert or something.

Despite her assurance, the little girl continued to stare at her father, this time with a smile. Occasionally she'd blink as normal people do but it didn't stop her.

Huh, Luz had brown eyes. Belos never noticed that. It's the exact same shade as her mother's.

With a spoon in hand, Belos grabbed a bit of his soup and leaned in to taste. Luz leaned in closer, more attentive than ever. Just as the spoon reached closer and closer to his mask, the kitchen door suddenly opened, startling the girl.

"I have brought drinks, my liege." Kikimora said, carrying a tray of tea and wearing a frilly pink apron over her uniform.

The apron had a cute white anime cat drawing. It was so out of place compared to Kikimora's more serious demeanour that it took the poor girl's eyes away from Belos for several seconds. Realising this, Luz quickly turned back to her father, only to find his bowl completely empty.

"Ah, what a wonderful dish. My compliments to the chef." Belos said praisefully, patting his mask with a napkin. "Thank you for the tea, Kikimora, but why are you wearing that apron?"

"I was in the kitchen, my liege. It is imperative that I wear an apron to keep my clothes from being dirtied." The small demon explained, placing the glasses and jug onto the table.

Belos nodded. "Ah, understandable. You may leave then."

After a small polite bow, Kikimora left the room, still wearing her baby apron. Luz pouted, having lost her chance. She continued to eat her dinner, unaware of her father noticing her unhappy mood.

"Miss Kiki?"

"Yes, Princess Luz?"

The very next day, Luz stood in her room, putting on her clothes for the day. After the destruction of the emperor's tower, Emperor Belos had commissioned a new tower to be built, one with two bedrooms instead of one. Luz's room was located across of Belos's, a hallway separating the two. It wouldn't make sense for hers to be placed away from his, especially since she counted as a national secret.

The selection of clothes they bought from the Owl Lady wasn't much but it was enough for now. There were sufficient clothes that worked as daily wear, including the party costumes. Anything else was thrown out.

Luz, however, was adamant about keeping the tutu. Kikimora thought it was horrendous but Belos allowed it. Unbeknownst to the human girl, Kikimora had bought herself that apron from the same shop.

"Have you ever seen dad's face before?" Luz asked, pulling her head through a yellow shirt.

"Why do you wish to know?" Kikimora asked. She picked the princess's clothes since Luz would definitely have chosen some otter overalls or something.

"He always wears a mask and I never see him take it off. Maybe you've seen this before." She answered.

Kikimora puffed her chest in pride, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Of course I've seen it before. I've been with his Emperor for over 3 decades, 5 times your age. I know almost everything about him."

Luz grinned with glee. "Really?! What does he look like?!"

"Well, he looks—!" Kikimora said, lifting a finger. She aided and followed Emperor Belos for her entire life, seen him every single day without fail. Nothing about him was out of her grasp. Nothing.

She searched through her mind, through the countless years of memories, for even a single glance of his true face and found... nothing.

Kikimora found nothing. She had never actually seen Belos's face before.

Immediately, her form deflated. Her finger flopped pathetically and her back hunched down in shame. "I-I... I s-should... No, that's i-impossible..."

"Uh, Miss Kiki? Are you okay?" Luz asked, worried.

Kikimora fell on her knees, shocked and traumatized. How did she not know? How could she had never seen his face before? After so many years, how was this possible?

"M-Miss Kiki?"

She was his most trusted advisor, his right-hand witch. All of his secrets, all of his truths, she should've known. But then again, she didn't know anything about Belos going to the human world, let alone having a beloved. That made three things!

This can't be real...

"Miss Kiki? You're scaring me..."

Little Luz poked Kikimora's arm, looking for a response. Unfortunately, there was none as Kikimora's thousand-mile stare left her too preoccupied to reply.

And so, team Daughter-and-Not-Daughter was founded, also known as DAND or Team Dandy. All because of a face.

"So you're saying that you almost saw his face but I interrupted?" Kikimora asked, finally out of her stupor. It took the little Luz 10 minutes of frantic shaking to finally snap the demon out of it.

Luz nodded. "Yep! I thought I'd see it when he eats his soup." She said, twiddling her fingers.

Kikimora hummed understandingly. "Hmm yes, Emperor Belos has always been a fast eater. Such tactics wouldn't work against him."

"So, what do we do?"

"We will do nothing." Kikimora hissed. "As curious as I am regarding his appearance, there must be a reason he kept it hidden."

Luz pouted. No child, especially one as bombastic as her, liked to be told no. Someday in the future, she would curb this behaviour but until then, this was just how it was. "B-but I wanna knoooowww!"

"Why don't you simply ask him?"

"Why don't you?"

Kikimora blinked. "… Fair point. Unfortunately for you, I am loyal to Emperor Belos first, you second. I will not do anything to harm him."

Luz needed Kikimora to help her. She was just a 6-year-old child with 6-year-old capabilities. She couldn't even use magic that well. But then like magic, Luz had a brilliant idea. She crossed her arms behind her, as well as her feet, and looked sideways, seemingly bored.

"Okay, you don't have to do anything. But I'm still going to do something and if I get hurt, then it's your fault because you're supposed to watch over me." Luz said out loud, making sure Kikimora could hear her.

The red demoness did and glared at the child. "… I can see what you're trying to do here, getting me uninvolved and yet responsible for your safety and well-being. Since you are a child, you naturally attract danger and thus, my decision to be negligent would then bite me back."

Momentarily, Luz went cross-eyed, struggling to process all those words. While waiting for a reply, Kikimora sighed. Eventually, the funky little girl did form a reply. "I don't know what you said but does that mean you'll help?"

"Sadly so…"

"Yay!"

Thus, they began their planning stage. It was pretty standard even with magic involved. Kikimora brought in some charts and graphs, and a slideshow, explaining Belos's routine down to the exact minute. Luz didn't get any of the numbers but she nodded understandingly and later, showed off a drawing she made of Kikimora.

Kikimora taped it to one of the slides, labelled 'Distraction Examples'.

In the end, they figured out their plan. It was simple but brilliant. They were sure Emperor Belos would not see it coming.

Sometime later, the impeccable Emperor Belos was doing his usual thing — walking around the coven for no particular reason. It was odd how silent it has been throughout the day. One would think that being the execution grounds of wild witches would make the place livelier. Then again, he did make executions a public holiday.

Kids loved watching heads being chopped off. He got the idea after seeing children beat a hanged colourful donkey till its guts fell out. It was odd how the guts were candy but he didn't judge. Beasts in the human realm were weird.

As he arrived at his throne room, he sat on his special chair and took a deep breath. The throne room was always quiet ever since he installed those soundproof walls. There's only so much joy he could gain from the screams of tortured criminals. After a while, it just turned stale.

"My liege," Kikimora greeted, walking through the front door. "I have arrived and I bear gifts."

Belos raised a brow. "Gifts? From whom, and of what occasion?"

"From your daughter, my liege. She thought you might appreciate it." Kikimora answered. She then drew a magic circle, forming a small circle. From it, a single corked bottle of a dark concoction fell through, floating via levitation.

"Is that a potion?" Belos asked.

He was an expert in potions, as expected of the emperor, but he was unfamiliar with this one. He could probably guess only through colour and smell but the imagination of a child was limitless. Who would know?

"Yes, a potion of her design. It's a basic one; it simply tastes like grape."

"So it's grape juice."

"No, sire. It is a potion with the effect of tasting like grape."

"So is it not made of grapes?"

"It is mostly made of grapes."

Belos looked down, handling what he just heard. While a great emperor must always be vigilant and avoid accepting gifts as they could be booby-trapped, this was created by little Luz. There's no way she'd put poison or acid in it. She's far too innocent.

"Hm, that is acceptable then." Belos said. Without another word, Kikimora handed over the bottle whom Belos then uncorked.

FIZZZ!

Instantly once opened, the potion exploded out, splashing his grace with a face-full of possibly grape juice. The potion, combined with the various sugars, created a sticky liquid that immediately latched onto his clothing. From top to bottom, Belos was covered with an indescribable uncomfortable mess.

Turning towards his assistant, he noticed Kikimora, while slightly cringing, was mostly unfazed. At the same time nearby, he heard a few stifled a laugh, only to stop when he glanced at them.

Belos sighed. This was planned.

"Oh Titan, it seems the potion was slightly carbonated! You should head back to your quarters to change, my liege." Kikimora advised, faking a surprised tone.

"... Indeed, I should. Excuse me, Kikimora."

After a small bow from Kikimora, Belos headed straight to his room, already planning the minor punishment he'd enact on her.

What Kikimora did was risky; had it been anyone else, he would've violently crushed them into a pea. In fact, he would've reprimanded her anyway, just not to the point of pea-crushing. However, she did so with explicit support from Luz.

That changed things.

Upon entering his room, Belos immediately scanned the surroundings. There were two possibilities: either traps were set up or Luz was hiding somewhere. Kikimora's actions were only to lure him to his private quarters.

It did not take long.

"Hehehe!" Luz giggled, hiding behind the curtains.

Belos contemplated for a moment. Only a moment though, as he then snapped his fingers, causing a breeze to blow the curtains open and revealing the girl underneath.

"Uh..." Little Luz stammered, shocked that her ingenious hiding place had been discovered.

Belos walked towards his daughter, still covered in the sticky sugary drink. "Oh, hello, my daughter. What brings you to my room on this fine morning?"

Throughout his many years of cruel interrogations, Emperor Belos learned there were two types of people: those that blurted out when caught red-handed and those who held their lips tighter than the jaws of a dragon. The former were nothing but cowards and he took no care in flailing their skin off their bones. The latter, on the other hand, he respected and either recruited them once broken or provided a painless execution.

He was proud that Luz was the latter.

Luz clamped her mouth shut, covering them with her hands. She knew that if she said anything, it would link back to Miss Kikimora who, in her eyes, was her sidekick. Luz would never betray her sidekick!

Belos leaned lower. "I know you got Kikimora involved somehow, so do be a dear and explain yourself."

Luz gasped. Was she discovered already?!

"Hnng...!" Luz grumbled and whined. She was strong-willed at least. Not sure if she got that from him or her mother.

"Come now, daughter. What is it that you want to the point of spraying me with grape soda?" Belos hissed.

However, instead of a verbal response, Luz suddenly lifted her right hand, each finger clenched except for a small one. Belos raised a brow, confused. "... What's this?"

"It's called a pinkie promise! You have to promise that you won't get mad at Miss Kiki!" Luz bargained, despite having nothing to offer.

Belos blinked, surprised at what he heard. "... Luz, I'm not mad at Kikimora. I just want to know why you had her do all of this."

The human girl lowered her arm and looked away. Her fingers fiddled behind her and her legs rubbed onto each other awkwardly. "I w-wanted to see your face. You know, without the mask."

"... Oh." Belos exclaimed, speechless. He then coughed in his hand, clearing his throat. "W-well, that is a, uh, bit personal."

Luz looked dumbfounded. "Why? I've never seen you take it off before. Is it because you're ugly?"

"I think I'm rather dashing. After all, I did woo your mother—"

"Eww..."

"—but that's not the reason."

Using just a little bit of magic, Belos summoned a few puppets of light, dancing in the air. It was the same illusion magic Lilith used to explain the basic history of the Boiling Isles to Luz, albeit a deep crimson in colour. Plus, his puppets were far more detailed. Life-like, even.

"There was once a lazy farmboy, ignorant of the world around him. Every day, he'd go out to town to play and after that, he'd sleep under a boring oak tree. It wasn't a grandiose life but he was content."

"What happened to him?" Luz asked.

"He died." Belos answered bluntly. "Killed by wild witches that raided his farm, all because he didn't want to pay in their threats."

Luz looked horrified. And yet, he continued the story, else she'd have only half the tale.

"But before he died, he heard a whisper in the air and underneath his body. It told him of the truth and from there, he was reborn like a phoenix!"

Luz began clapping happily. "Yay! He lived!"

"Indeed, he did. But he could never return to that life, not after what he'd seen and heard. The world believed he was dead. And so, he threw away his face and replaced it with a new one."

Unconsciously, Belos touched the side of his mask, his fingers running on its edge. There was a sadness in his eyes, pain and grief over what was abandoned. "All in the form of a wooden mask."

Luz stared at her father, slowly understanding what the story was. Guilt grew in her heart, causing her to look downwards in shame. Quickly realising this, Belos kneeled down to her height and unpromptedly rubbed her hair. Luz giggled, feeling ticklish.

"My apologies. I didn't mean for it to turn sombre." He exclaimed, putting his hand away.

Luz nodded and smiled softly. "It's okay. I'm sorry I wanted to take off your mask. It's important to you."

"... Such kind words. A rare trait on the Boiling Isles." Belos said with a grateful tone. He then grabbed the little girl from underneath her arms and lifted her up, placing her small body onto his broad shoulder. "Come, let's go have some ice-cream. A reward for your honesty."

"What about the grape soda?" Luz asked. She even felt the stickiness from her butt.

Belos cheekily smiled and through the magic at the tip of his finger, all the grape soda evaporated instantly along with its sticky sugary components. He was as fresh as a pair of newly washed clothes, though lacking the familiar smell.

"What grape soda?" He asked back before poking Luz in the stomach and having her giggle.

Belos and in essence, Luz, walked out of the room. He made sure her head didn't hit the door frame on the way out. Though, the door itself was half above his height. "Someday, that farmboy might show his face to you. Once he has the courage for it, that is."

"I want it to be on my birthday! Not this year though." She said. It was fine if she didn't see it now or sometime close in the future. She could wait for a bit.

She also wanted her mom to be there when it happened. It was only fair that the whole family was there. Until then, she'll wait for however long that might be.

"So... you promise you won't get mad at Miss Kiki?"

"I'll think about it."

He did for a moment. Just a moment. In the end, he made sure that the demoness still got punished somewhat. Nothing cruel, especially due to her years of undying loyalty. No, she'd just stand on a balcony with buckets of water in each hand for the next several hours.

Alas, poor Kikimora.