-Mael-

"Hey, hey! Can you tell me now?" Milia asked, causing me to let out a sigh.

After our initial meeting, she kept pestering me to tell her why I was there, which was out of the question. Worse, she'd been trailing after Grayfia and me for a good ten minutes now.

The problem was I couldn't excuse myself from her, and the other due to this place was massive.

They had the money and resources. What's a little hallway or three and maybe even guest rooms numbering the tens each luxurious enough to host royalty from neighbouring countries, right?

That said, the princess of the castle was pretty adamant. Maybe it's because, like me, she was isolated in this place and was made to avoid much outside contact.

"As I said before, Lady Lucifer mentioned about you before. Been told me about few stuff if I ever meet you," I sighed wryly for the umpteenth time, really drawing all the self-control I had not to ignore her. "That's all it is, Milia. Honestly."

"Hmmm, Is it now?" She didn't look convinced.

"Yes," I replied calmly.

"From the look in your eyes, it doesn't seem so," Milia said while giving me a stare, much to my frustration. Explaining the same thing again over and over was madness, but if I did anything to offend this ball of curiousity. It may just end up backfiring on me in the long run. It didn't help that she was so darn cute about it.

Milia made an expression that showed that she didn't believe my reasoning. Her light jogging was closely following my normal steps due to the difference in our size. Despite being twins, there was a huge difference in size between me and her. Not to mention, she was also quite short, only reaching up to my upper chest. "It still feels like you're hiding something. C'mon Mael, tell me about it, pretty please~?"

'... Please stop trying to ask me while using your cuteness, you sneaky little devil. My sanity was on the last rope here,' I mentally groaned, while also realising my idiotic statement, considering that both of us were devils now. "Not now. Lady Lucifer told me earlier not to tell anyone about this matter yet. You need to ask about this yourself later."

"...Bummer! You're no fun at all, booo!" My twin sister didn't like the secrecy game, causing her to pout in annoyance as she then repeatedly hit me with her fists. "C'monn! No secrecy! I hate when someone doesn't tell me what's going on~~!"

"... Please stop hitting me Milia," I spoke with a neutral tone while while trying to keep my patience on my twin, which I knew wouldn't last long given my increasing temper for her abrasiveness.

"Not until you tell me about what you are hiding!"

'Seriously, this girl,' I just flatly stared at her pouting expression, while also casting a glance at Grayfia who dutifully followed both of us in behind, sending eye contact while also underlying my message.

'Is my sister always being chummy like this?'

She was nothing if not persistent.

Well, cute.

Cute and persistent.

In any case, I tried to look to Grayfia for help, but the only thing I got was the cold shoulder as she led ahead of me. A glance over her shoulder met my insistent gaze and the small smirk forming on the corner of her lips was decoded as 'Please deal with it on your own.' I didn't need anyone to tell me this was payback for leaving her to deal with that vixen from earlier.

'Petty much?'

"Hey! Do not ignore me!"

"But I have not," I tried to respond in a hast reply. It was hard when she was holding my arm and tugging on my sleeve now. Not to mention I could clearly feel the sensation of my twin's bodacious bosoms were closely touching my shoulder.

Had she not been taught boundaries? Or was this the first time she interacted with someone her age and she was being clingy as a result? That's so fucking cute but also annoying at the same time.

I swear if I could just pinch her cheek—

"—You are spacing out again!" She was tugging on my arm now. But considering my taller stature, an advantage due to the advanced growth of Ajuka's experiments, she couldn't stop me with such gentle tugs. She did weigh me back hard enough that I tilted to face her. "I. Said. Answer. My. Questions!"

The momentary glance of mine to the side had my senses locking on to her. And with that, my eyes caught the numerical change recognizing a threat to my person.

I saw and felt her demonic power grow and bloom. On instinct, I countered her pull with my own and erected an invisible wall to guard against any follow-ups.

There was a spark as I felt nothing, coupled with a disbelieved expression from Milia.

But as I practically cancelled her attempt to pull me with my strength, my composure slipped as the active numerical running alongside my head told me I messed up. Teeth grit, I glanced up, a set of numbers visible only to me locked in place above her head.

'That's quite huge for a girl around her age—Wait, phrasing,' Brushing the misplaced innuendo aside, I couldn't help but feel proud of my twin. 'Excluding me, she's probably got the highest power value in contrast to her youth.'

But the pride in me died down a bit as I met the eyes of my sneaky sister. Unfortunately, I had responded to her act of provocation, matching her demonic energy's power equally. The girl smirked, quick to interpret it her way as she grinned competitively. "Finally gonna take me seriously, Mael? How about a bet?"

"A bet Milia?" I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow for her demand. "A bet for what?"

"Fight me now!"

"And if I say no?"

She punched a tight fist against her ready palm. Eyes glaring at me with a toothy smirk plastered on her mouth. "I will not let you."

Her eager stare was nearly making my cheeks cramp. "Stubborn, aren't you? Quite an excitable which contrasted with Lady Lucifer as well."

"Heh, Mum says I have a stubborn streak. Aunty Tamamo calls it my 'eagerness to learn'," she shrugged. "Either way, I know you are hiding your strength, there's no way an ordinary devil can dismiss me that easily. And since it's been boring not having someone but my teachers to spar with, why don't we get to know each other a bit more? With our fists, of course."

"Confident you can take me on without consequence?"

"Hell yeah, I am!" Her hair flared, akin to what mother's did when she was summoning her power. But unlike Selena, Milia's power was concentrated on her limbs.

My eyes were quick to calculate a direct hit of that on my person would likely leave a scar.

'Okay, spunky and uncompromising. Of all the adorable traits you could have,' I inwardly sighed at such unclothed behaviour. I wonder who made my sister possess such aggressiveness, I wonder if was due to one of my Mother's peerage. Surtr, perhaps?

The situation was starting to get out of control. Even Grayfia who previously stayed on the sidelines was quick to stand between us. "That's enough, Lady Milia. Demanding a spar with Lord Mael before he even settles himself in is just too brazen for a lady of the house to act."

"Stay out of this, Grayfia!" Unfortunately, it seems like my twin had little to no self-control once she settled on her one-track impulse. Demonic energy started to leak from her body as a familiar power surged forth, bathing the entire hallway with an intense amount of purplish-black colour that had Grayfia stepping away. "I got things to do with Mister Astaroth over here!"

Eyes burning with a stark Veridian, I quickly erected a small barrier. It was not a second too late either as smoke and dust burst forth. A small explosion erupted in the middle of the hallway, stopped by the solidified wall of green glimmering like the scales of a snake before they shattered into whisps.

The offender who launched a volley of concentrated Destruction simply smirked as the dust settled. Her fist held between me and her was coated in demonic energy almost as volatile as our mothers.

"Heh, so you could block that after all, Mael? Cool." Milia wasn't at all perturbed attacking me out of the blue. She was looking pumped. "I have never had a chance to test out my power on someone my age before. Guess this means we are about equal."

''Equal', my ass. Does anyone just fire off lethal blows like that willy-nilly around here?'

Perhaps, but I couldn't be too sure about that assertion. The fact that she fired it at me was one thing, but Grayfia was right there. If I chose to deflect it rather than absorb it, she'd have—

"How about this!" Another sudden rise in demonic energies. Balling her fist behind her, it looked like Milia was winding up to punch the air. But my eyes and power locked onto that fist. A dark orb concentrated with a power akin to Selena's, but it wasn't just volatile.

Forget explosive, that shit was a downright miniature nuke.

"Hey, Mael! Catch!"

I was preparing to dodge the deadly orb of destruction when I realized Grayfia was right behind me. I knew that Grayfia was perfectly able to defend herself from Milia's assault, but my body moved before my brain could properly decipher the next course of action.

Without thinking, I swept Grayfia off her feet and snarled as I leapt out the window. She let out a cute yelp as we fled, and had this not been an emergency, I would surely have enjoyed her reaction. But I didn't have the courtesy to even smile as I accelerated Kankara's computation power. Numbers blazed in my field of vision, hazing my sight with a greenish hue before completing.

I let my Demonic power rush to my legs, empowering my limbs and lower back as I hit the ground in a skid. Princess-carrying Grayfia wasn't much of a toll on my body. Despite her size and size, she was pretty light. Although curvier and fuller than her maid attire suggested, her soft and elegant form could comfortably fit in my arms. Having jumped from the third-floor window, to crash land in the outdoor garden without dropping her required some adjustments on the fly.

The ground I impacted had a fine line where my shoes dug into the dirt. Gotta hope the gardening crew doesn't flip because of that. Looking up, I saw Milia's wide-eyed expression, though it quickly changed as she gave me a shit-eating grin which made my eyes twitch in irritation.

'This little brat—'

"L-Lord Mael—?"

But first, the maid. I turned my attention and looked back to her flustered expression. I shifted her so she was leaning against me, which had her expression dazed a bit, but I chalked that up as altitude sickness for suddenly descending two floors in the arms of another. She had a healthy amount of reddish hue in her cheeks so she looked fine.

"My apologies for that Grayfia," I said while looking at the maid, who was now in a total breakdown as her composure crumbled, reducing her into a blushing mess.

"I… I'm fine. C-could you… let me down, please?"

"Understood," I obliged, lowering the maid and allowing her to use my shoulders to support herself. She was quick to give me a wide berth. That was good.

Just in time too as I waved my hand upwards. Coated in a layer of demonic power's defensive force resembling a greenish snake wrapped around protectively, I deflected another ball of Destruction and sent it to the ground. It deleted some of the earth and grass, but ignoring that, my eyes locked onto the girl who hopped out of the window and landed a fair few metres from us.

"I am right that you can easily deal with it," Milia then quickly added with a wide smirk on her expression. "Considering you just easily deflected my attack of that calibre."

"That was impolite to attack your opponent without his consent whether he hasn't agreed to fight," I state flatly.

"Who cares~~! You definitely prepared for that jab before! Going to take me seriously now?" The girl dared to provoke me while taking her fighting stance.

"Very well," I intoned a bit of authority in my words. Her eyes narrowed, seemingly surprised I would take a tone against her when I was supposedly her family's guest. "Have thee."

Even if she's my blood sister. Enough is enough, and I will gladly teach her a lesson or two.

I took a breath, drawing air into my lungs before releasing the dam.

"Ekh—!"

"My Lord—!"

A cold feeling went down both Grayfia and Milia's spines. Or rather, Milia visibly shivered as my concentrated demonic energy emanated from my body and bared itself her way. The maid retreated a bit as well, leaving my attention solely on my twin.

Unlike Milia or Mother who allowed theirs to envelop their body like an aura of fiery flame, mine was a refined coat. Smaller, contained, but far more concentrated. Like armour. Armour made of verdant ice. Cold as a cold-blooded snake staring down at its prey.

"Whoa, that's a heck of an aura that you got there," Milia said while eagerly smirking. She was itching for it as she responded in kind, releasing her fiery aura. The blackening returned, twice as strong as before.

"Last chance to back out girl," I gave my last warning which only went deaf ears.

"If it's gonna make you stop being a spineless coward and take me seriously, I don't care how far I take it! Come at me, Mael!"

"Please stop, Lord Mael!" Grayfia, who regained her composure, immediately addressed the situation as she stood beside me, ready to intervene whenever necessary. "You as well, Lady Milia—"

"It's fine," cutting off the maid's attempt to reason with my unreasonable twin, I added. "I'll handle this."

"My Lord—!"

Ignoring Grayfia's attempt to cease the tension, I cracked my knuckles in preparation for confronting my twin. "Since she's was so persistent and is quite a hothead, I might as well nip the bud before it blows up anymore. Gotta be the bigger person and teach her that enough is enough."

I whispered the last half of my reassurance to Grayfia, which irked Milia who I seemingly ignored. "Stop flirting around and get on with it! Hurry up and let me blast your face in, only then can you try seducing my mother's maid!"

"... I'm seriously going to blast your face," I replied flatly with a sigh. I dropped more provocation in my tone and expression. "Are you the type to try to make me lose composure? Or are you just that unconfident in blasting me with your fists?"

"You're gonna regret that, Mael!" Milia exclaimed with a predatory smirk on her face as she vaulted into the air.

I didn't need to taunt her into an attack as she did it immediately.

My eyes followed her swift ascent, locking onto the spiking power centred in her body before it flew to her hand. Enveloping her fist, my eyes quickly calculated the force behind the attack as she immediately rocketing into my face with frightening speed.

It would've been frightening had I not predicted her flight path down to the smallest details.

I side-stepped, watching her expression shift in slow motion as she zipped past me to punch the air. The grass above where I stood earlier cindered and wilted, but I remained untouched and observant of how Milia's internal flow of power rushed out her arm and dissipated. My power already quickly studied the subtle weave and wane of energy throughout her physical form.

The air exploded outward, causing a metre-wide sphere of displaced air to ripple and rupture. The calculation would have been a near-fatal hit on a person.

At that moment, once my close-up analysis of her attack was done, I threw an arm out to counterattack.

"Eeep—!" Of all the things to expect, Milia was not prepared for the slap to her cheek. Clicking her tongue, Milia's gaze locked on me, wide as though she only saw me then. I gave her a cheeky grin. "You little—"

'Too predictable.'

I swiftly ducked as her power bloomed in her centre again, rushing to her other wrist as she followed up with another fist. I stepped into her swing, breaking her poise with a slight bump of my hip against hers. "Nice form, but your stance is weak."

I mused before throwing a kick that whipped one of her legs from out of under her. Imbalanced and unsupported, she tripped forward and the Destruction-enveloped fist blasted a bush that was behind me earlier.

"Gah!" Milia's face unceremoniously landed on the flowerbed.

"Had enough yet?" I asked monotonously, as I felt kind of bored with her straightforward pace.

Turning to me, her face contorted into sheer rage while covered in dirt.

[Bang!]

"I guess not."

The anger within caused the source of her power to bloom with more Destruction energy. The flower bush nearby wilted and melted as her body was consumed in the flames of her overflowing demonic power. Coming out in waves, I had to take a few steps back as part of the garden began to brown and dry up, unable to live under the air of her power. Before she even realised what she was doing, Milia struck her fist on the ground without care.

It cratered the earth a good half-metre deep.

"Stop dodging like a coward and fight me properly!"

The increased value warned me of the sudden danger. My eyes narrowed at Milia. Specifically, at the sudden rise of her power value which was skyrocketing now in correspondence with her temper.

'The apple doesn't fall far from the fucking tree,' I mentally snorted but outwardly smiled in sarcasm. 'It's just like Mother.'

Being powered by emotion was poetic romanticism at its finest, but that's not to say it wasn't a double-edged sword. Unlike my peerless mother who only had Ajuka as a likely equal, Milia was still inexperienced and prone to lose control.

Case and point, Milia's ire at my blatant show of amusement. "Fight me seriously, dammit!"

"You think I would just stand there and take the hit like a dumbass?" I shrug, playing into her dwindling patience. "Come now, Milia. Is this really how Lady Lucifer's child thinks combat would go? Very amateurish, I must say."

"Shut up!" roared Milia as she dashed forward with higher ferocity, as her demonic power shot up into an entirely another level. Her intent was clear: landing a direct hit on my face.

'Once again predictable,' I raised my hand before gripping the thin air.

As I did so, Milia's body suddenly just stopped in midair, much to her astonishment. It was as if time around her was frozen.

"W-what the hell is this—"

I weaved the air around her, puppeteering my power in strands of invisible strings. The air about her hazily shifted, and numerous green-coloured snakes made of demonic energy became visible wrapped around her legs and wrist tightly, rendering her unable to move. With a snap of my finger, the snakes then sink their long, sharp fangs into Milia's limbs, not wounding her but causing her to cry out in pain.

"Get off me!"

She tried to escape, firing off flares of her Power of Destruction by coating her limbs and wriggling around. She succeeded in destroying a couple of my Binding Serpents, but just as a pair were decimated upon contact with her flame, much to her disbelief, they immediately regenerated and were back to biting down on her skin.

'The insertion of disruptive energies should kick in soon.'

She futilely tried harder, empowering her aura and attempting to set the air around her on fire. Still failed to untangle herself from the endlessly regenerating binds. Her solution was repetitive and completely ineffective. As I predicted, my twin was inexperienced to the point of being quite vulnerable to overwhelming power.

I crossed my arms and sighed.

What Milia would've noticed if she paid more attention was that she was feeding the snakes that she tried to burn away. Once she'd been bitten, the Binding Serpents had acclimated to her energies and were syphoning off the excess to be self-sufficient.

They weren't just for rendering my opponent immobilised on the spot. They also acted as debilitators by absorbing my opponent's power.

It didn't take long until she started to weakly slump on the bindings. The grass and earth beneath her were ruined by the air of her power, but she had ruined her own by expending so much of her supply. Her glare remained stubborn, even with laboured breathing and a paling face.

"… You… What did you… do…" Milia rasped weakly her eyes glaring at my skull with fatigued rage.

I didn't respond. If she didn't learn on her own, then she'd be coddled forever. A part of me felt bad as I was bullying my sister like this, but another part of me had a different opinion.

She needed a reality check.

Ignoring her glare, I casually walked around her. From afar, Grayfia looked like she wanted to speak, to tell me to stop it now that Milia was pacified. But I quickly sent her a message via telepathy magic.

[No need to worry. She'll be fine after a meal or two.] A wave of relief flashed on her face and in my mind, a sign of her response. [Besides, this is good for her. In a way, consider me taking on my brotherly responsibility.]

Out of sight of Milia's gaze, Grayfia gave me an incredulous stare before sighing away. It was as though she was telling me off to consider her position as a maid of the Gremory and that, as it was still a secret, letting a guest bully her liege's child was still too far.

Maybe it was. Then again, I was also Milia's twin. She was family. Even if she doesn't know it yet. Correcting her impulsive behaviour was my job.

I crossed my legs and sat on the wilted grass. Then, much to her confusion, I willed my snakes to relinquish her. Slowly, gently, they carried her to lie down before me with her head on my lap. I could just chuckle at the teary-eyed glare she was giving me, the pursed lips closer to a pout than anything.

It was then that I started ruffling her hair. "Had enough yet? I don't wanna continue this anymore than needed, but if you keep this up, I might have to start spanking butts."

She looked horrified. I chuckled and didn't do that, simply letting her relax on my lap as I played with her hair.

It was soft, silky. Almost as beautiful as my mother's, albeit shorter and decorating a face more appalled and confused at my actions than adoring. Yet, Milia still looked like a younger version of Selena.

Her expression right now closely resembled the first time Mother saw me. The instant of momentary confusion.

I continued ruffling her hair. "So? Did you learn anything today?" When she didn't answer, I playfully pinched her nose. Her eyes squinted, fearful I'd punish her with more snakebites, but I didn't. I just pinched her nose and let her go. "'Do not bite off more than you can chew'. Understand? Even if you can guess my age, you couldn't have expected me to toy with you so, didn't you, brat?"

It started as a sniffle.

Then, she started bawling. Letting her roll over and bury her face in my stomach, I continued to ruffle the girl's hair while she cried her eyes out. Humiliating her wasn't in my plan, but this girl was so easy to torment considering how easy she was to piss off. Cheeky brat indeed.

"There, there. I'm sorry for bullying you. I won't do it again." She might not have heard me, but in any case, I continued to console the girl until she felt better. I wasn't the right guy to be doing this for her, but hey, I was finally an older brother.

"You—Jerk…!" rasped Milia as she used her weakened arm to hit my chest. "... Stupid—Idiot!"

Well, shit. I wanted to spoil her too, not just bully her.

Snap.

My eyes instinctively drew onto the sound of the flashing camera as I stared incredulously at the sight of Grayfia who was currently holding a Polaroid camera, apparently in the middle of taking… pictures?

'Another picture—flash photography out of all things, really?'

Seriously, You had the audacity of doing that after I had to deal with my sister, who was currently bawling her eyes out. Unbelievable.

"Grayfia, what are you do—"

"What are you doing?!"

A boisterous voice sprang out from the distance, making me flinch due to the sheer volume as it cut me from calling out Grayfia to not taking more pictures.

My eyes were drawn up to another mop of red hair, who was marching straight toward my place. She quickly stood before me while crossing her arms. Power of Destruction emanated like raging flames, dancing alongside visibly threatening fiery red locks. Orbs of sharp azure looked down as a newcomer arrived at this easily misunderstood scene, as another familiar face now joined the mayhem.

Then again, she had every right to be looking at me like that. While it may have been my sister crying on my lap, my aunt didn't know that for a fact.

-To Be Continued-

Beta Reader: LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB99th Britannian Emperor(Discord), ReavesTheReader (FF.N and QQ) Basilisk

Another chapter down

First, we got the first sibling feud, with Milia surprisingly having a Vali-esque thirst for battle.

Like I said before, a dangerous girl indeed.

Unfortunately, her (secretly) older twin ain't having on that and quickly beats it into her head.

And we finally meet with the third redhead who isn't pleased with what she just saw.

I pray for your being, Mael.

No promises for next update, I just let my muse speak up.

For now, please enjoy the chapter. Ciao