Sebastian's mind was uncharacteristically not completely focused as he worked around the manor doing his daily chores while trying to work out what to do about Lukas.
All he could think about was his interaction with Adalina the night before. He loved the feelings of their bodies touching as his hands rubbed up and down her curves and his lips touched her skin. He had done so with multiple women in the past, but it was the first time he had ever actually enjoyed it and didn't have an ulterior motive with his actions. Touching her like that was what he wanted to do for so long. He had been very unhappy when she had stopped him.
However, he had forced himself to pull it together for her sake though it was a severe test of his control. As much as he hated having to cease the moment, he didn't want to force anything onto her for fear that she would pull away from him again. If he had to wait even longer to be able to touch her again, he might go insane.
He wasn't exactly sure why she had stopped him. He had been able to sense how much she liked what he was doing, and yet…she still stopped him.
Was he reading something wrong?
That was impossible. He did not read humans wrong.
"Sebastian."
Sebastian spun around and flung a silver butter knife at the voice behind him. He was surprised to find a young brown-haired woman lying on her back on one of the couches. She was wearing an extremely short white skirt with a revealing black shirt that dipped rather low in a V-neck cut but hugged her very tiny form so that he couldn't see anything that the shirt didn't cover even if she bent down. There were no shoes covering her feet. There was a small very messy bun on top of her head while the rest of her hair ran all the way down her back. She was smiling at him with the knife between two of her fingers.
"There's no need for that, now is there?" she said with a clear American accent as she tossed the knife away.
"Who are you?" he demanded, wondering why he hadn't sensed her presence before now.
The woman smiled at him as she seductively crossed her legs, toes pointed. "I am an Oracle. I'm here to help you make sense of some things."
"You mean with the Grim Reaper?"
The Oracle laughed a little. "I mean with more…personal matters."
"What are you talking about?"
The Oracle sat up on the couch to face him. "Your feelings for Adalina."
"How do you know about that?"
With a smirk, she lay down sideways on the couch with her hand supporting her head. "I know everything."
"How is it possible that I have these feelings? Demons are not capable of love."
"It is not unheard of, Sebastian. There are several cases of demons falling in love for various reasons under all kinds of circumstances. I have to say, it's very rare for a demon to fall in love with a human. It's even rarer for a demon to fall in love with one who is pure of heart."
Sebastian looked at the woman. "She's what?"
The Oracle stood up from the couch. "Adalina is not an ordinary human. She is a human who is pure of heart. Demons usually repel and reject things that are pure of heart. That's why despite her pure soul, you were never drawn to her. Nevertheless, in your case, you fell in love with her."
"How?"
"When you connected with her, you shared more than just her memories. You shared her ability to feel. You shared…each other."
"I've shared memories with humans before and this has never happened."
"Those humans were not pure of heart like she is."
The more Sebastian thought about that, the more it made sense. He had only shared memories with people he was contracted to, and anyone who was willing to sell their soul to a demon certainly did not qualify as pure of heart.
He had begun to have feelings for Adalina immediately after sharing her memories, and he distinctly remembered having a strange feeling the moment they disconnected and the feeling only growing as time went on.
The Oracle put her hands behind her back and walked a bit of a distance away from him before saying coyly, "If it helps, she returns your affections."
Sebastian's brow furrowed in confusion. "How can she be pure of heart if she is attracted to a demon?"
She turned back around to face him and slowly walked back over to him. "Purity doesn't mean perfection. And in any case, she is drawn to you. Not that which makes you a demon. She is drawn to your willingness to protect her. She is drawn to the part of you that is gentle with her. She is drawn to the part of you that truly does care for Ciel, and we both know it's there. She is drawn to the way you make her feel safe. She is drawn to you because you are the only one who understands her even though she does not speak."
The Oracle spryly hopped up onto the couch and sat on the back of it. Sebastian flinched at the sight of her bare feet on the furniture.
"And this is just me talking here, but I think if she knew how much control you exhibit around her in order to not upset her or make her uncomfortable, she'd be drawn to you even more. I'm serious, you really have the most control I have ever seen from a demon. A good majority of demons would've killed Adalina the moment they saw her because she is a pure of heart being. You must've trained yourself to not be affected by pure beings. It's the only way you could've lasted this long."
"If all of that is true, is it even possible for a being like me to be with someone like her?"
"It is possible, but it will require great sacrifice."
"What do you mean? What must I do?"
"In order to be with Adalina, you will have to give up your life as a demon…and become like her."
"You mean…I have to become human?"
"Yes."
The mere thought of becoming something as low as a human was disgusting to him. How could he possibly become part of the species he despised? He found humans rather interesting as he studied their desires and actions, but actually becoming one was another matter altogether.
"You said she is drawn to me because I understand her," he clarified. "I understand her because I can sense her emotions which helps me guess what she is thinking."
"You can do that as a human to some degree. You can do all of the things she is drawn to you for even as a human to some degree. Especially with the right persuasion." When Sebastian didn't answer, she added, "I know what you're thinking. Because you're a demon, you could just do something to darken her heart so she won't be pure anymore and then you won't have to become human. Sorry, but it doesn't work like that. She would have to do something herself to darken her own heart, but if she does end up doing whatever that may be, it will break her completely. She'll never be the same. I would keep that in mind."
"How…how would I even go about becoming a human?" he asked.
"Adalina must kiss you of her own free will, and you must be willing and ready to accept the change. You must know that you only get one chance. If the transformation does not occur on the first kiss, the both of you will be forever doomed to live apart as separate beings for eternity."
"But…what if after I change…she decides she doesn't want to be with me, or I do not want to be with her any longer?"
The Oracle hopped down from the couch. "That is a risk you must be willing to take. You must decide if she is worth it."
Sebastian looked down for barely a second, and when he looked back up, the Oracle was gone.
He had heard of Oracles like her before, but he never thought that he would actually meet one. Oracles were creatures who rarely made appearances in the human world or any other, so not much was known about them or their abilities. He did know that they were even cockier than demons due to their extensive knowledge. The major difference between them was that they actually cared about the human race.
His mind obsessed over everything she had told him. How was he supposed to choose between Adalina and staying a demon? It was an impossible decision. Did he really love her enough to sacrifice all of the power he so desired?
Adalina's mind had been spinning ever since her little moment with Sebastian. She didn't know how she felt about actually enjoying the feel of his lips and hands on her. For one thing, she was pretty sure that he did not have feelings for her. How could he? It wasn't possible.
Why did she even like his touch? She hadn't enjoyed it even remotely before, so what was different about now?
What was different was all the times he had saved her life. All the times he had done everything he could to protect her. All the times he was gentle with her in everything he did. How he made her feel as if her life mattered. How he made her wish that she could speak so that she could tell him just how much he really meant to her.
But that just made her nervous. She knew that he had very…interesting interrogation methods as she had managed to find out his way of getting information out of some girl in a circus. She didn't want to be just another woman who had fallen prey to his charms.
What if that was all last night was? What if everything he had done was just a way for him to gain something in the end?
But…that hadn't been what it felt like…
"Adalina."
Without thinking, Adalina grabbed her whip and flung it at the mysterious voice behind her. A brown-haired woman caught the whip in her hand.
"Why is everyone in this manor so violent?!" the woman exclaimed.
Adalina looked at the woman in front of her, wondering how exactly she had gotten past Sebastian and why she was dressed so completely improperly.
"Let me just cut to the chase," the woman said to her as she let go of the whip and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm an Oracle, and I'm here to help you figure out your feelings for Sebastian."
Adalina creased her eyebrows together.
"Oh, and I can hear your thoughts so I can communicate with you that way since I know you're not exactly fond of speaking."
You're an Oracle? Adalina thought.
"Oh, come now, Adalina. When you live in a world with demons and Grim Reapers, I thought you'd be a little more open to the existence of Oracles."
Don't people usually go to Oracles, not the other way around?
"Well, yes, that's how it used to be a zillion years ago. Then some of us realized that we weren't doing any good getting ridiculously old and disgusting in a place where hardly anyone knew we even existed. So we started going around, offering help and advice to those who needed it. And you guys need it all right. The amount of confusion I sensed in this house was nauseating, and I had to do something before I went crazy. Anyway, you like Sebastian, don't you? Of course you do, or else I wouldn't be here. It might surprise you to hear this, but he likes you as well."
How can he like me? He said himself demons don't love.
"Yeah, I know, but contrary to what he says, it's not completely impossible. He's not the first demon to ever fall in love. Although I'm pretty sure this is the first time a demon has fallen in love with someone who is pure of heart."
I'm pure of heart?
"I've never met anyone more pure of heart than you are. Which is why I was so shocked to see that Sebastian had fallen for you. But it happened."
How can a demon be in love with something pure of heart? Shouldn't he hate such things?
The Oracle smiled. "Funny, he asked the same thing about you. Do you remember when Sebastian had you connect with him so he could see your past?"
Yes.
"Well, since you're pure of heart, he shared more than just your memories. It's kind of complicated to explain, but the main point is that that connection is the reason he's in love with you now. If you want to be with him, and we both know you do, then he has to become human. After all, it's completely illogical to have a human who is pure of heart and a demon end up together. That is impossible. For him to become human, you have to kiss him and he has to be ready to change. If it doesn't happen on the first kiss, that's it. You don't get any more chances, and the two of you can never be together."
It…doesn't make sense.
"Nothing in your life has made sense since the moment you found out Sebastian is a demon. I know this is a lot to take in. But trust me, it's better to know all this than to not know. Right?"
I suppose.
"He really does care about you, Adalina. More than you realize. But this decision is for both of you. You have to be the one to kiss him, and he has to accept the consequences. I wish you both the best of luck."
Adalina blinked, and the Oracle was gone. For a moment, she wondered if she had just hallucinated the whole thing. But only for a moment.
Adalina smiled a little to herself. Regardless if Sebastian was ready to become human or not, the absolute truth was that despite being a demon, he had fallen in love with her just as much as she had fallen in love with him.