A Goddess in the Demon World || Sesshomaru

Chapter 23

All night long, Athanasia's words ran through my head, depriving me of sleep. I decide to get off the bed and change my attire when I see the sun is up. Even though Inu no Taisho is so against my stay, he kept this room untouched for the past two days.

Such a weird man. His words and actions don't match one bit.

I walk towards the covered tray of food. I pick something from it and taste it. "This man is going to be the death of me. This food is fresh," I giggle while commenting and eat more, realising how thoughtful that stubborn demon lord is.

'Not going to share what happened with Linda and Rovan?' Athanasia suddenly breaks the silence.

'You only remember now to mention their names,' I sassily comment and continue munching.

'Didn't find it necessary to mention,' She answers and continues, 'Now, blurt it out.'

'Well, they said the main body should pull us back, and there is nothing they can do to help,' I answer and pull back the cover on the tray.

'You sound like you don't care,' She remarks.

I take a seat near the mirror and put on the earrings and necklace while saying, 'I shouldn't dwell on things that I have no say in. Plus, who wouldn't want to stay in his favourite world?'

I give her an annoyingly happy smile. I hope she gets annoyed by it.

'It's not of my concern. Feel free to do whatever pleases you,' Athanasia comments.

'Ah, by the way, Toga is asking you to hide your scent. It's his condition to accept our presence here,' I remark and hear her giggle.

'Well, Zuri. I don't have to do anything because you already did that without realizing it,' She says, confusing me. Therefore, she continues, 'This necklace you just put on, and these earrings you happily accepted from Horai Island are special. The stones were made to preserve someone's presence.'

'Oh! So as long as I'm wearing them, my scent won't change, no matter if you take over my body?' I ask for confirmation, and she reassures me, making me give a sigh of relief.

I get up and turn to leave my room, but I freeze upon seeing Sesshomaru casually standing in the middle of my room without me feeling his presence. When did he come here?

"Are you done with your conversation with Athanasia?" He asks, making me frown.

"How did you know I was having a conversation with her?" I ask back.

"You are usually aware of your surroundings, but when you speak with her, you lose focus, hindering yourself vulnerable. Be careful where you decide to start a conversation with her," Sesshomaru answers.

We stand for a minute in silence. Why is he here? Why is he trying to confuse me just like his father?

"You know, Sesshomaru, for someone who hates me, you sure focus on many of my details. You were the first one to notice another soul occupying my body. You did point out the change in my eye color, and now you recognize the change in my behaviour," I say and pause, seeing his flustered expression, so I continue with a firm tone, "Tell me, Sesshomaru, why are you here?"

"I came to let you know that I met with Tototsai," He answers, leaving me to sigh. "As for the other favour, you can carry it out yourself," He continues.

And now I am the one left flustered.

He went to Tototsai. Was that what he did after we arrived at the castle yesterday?

"Thank you for your cooperation, and I meant what I said earlier," I remark.

He makes a threateningly annoying eye contact with me before saying, "My father asked me to look after you. Don't overthink anything."

Yupe, as I just mentioned, annoying.

I knew he would blame his father, but who cares because I know he did that on his own accord. He is kind of cute when he is trying to hide things.

My mind suddenly hits me with a memory of Inukimi asking me to meet her in the library when I get some rest. Therefore, I excuse myself from this nonsense and lies he is spewing to head to the library.

As I enter, I hear footsteps, so I halt to see the person present. "What are you doing by just standing there?" Inukimi asks and shows up from behind one of the book racks.

"You asked for me yesterday. What is it about?" I ask and take a seat at the nearest table.

Inukimi approaches me and stands behind me. I get confused for a second, but she places an open book in front of me. "Doesn't this look familiar to you?" She asks me so I take a better look at the image drawn in the book.

I see a picture of a woman sitting on a throne with a crown on her head, a necklace on her neck, and a long dangling earring with a big stone decorating her ears. I tilt my head and glance at the words written above the photo.

Goddess of Immortality.

I widen my eyes upon reading those words and immediately take another look at the woman, who now looks so familiar to me, but since the image is monochromic, I couldn't recognize her, Athanasia with her unique purple hair.

"Hey, Athanasia, is that you?" I speak and wait for her to answer me, but I get no reply. "So I accepted gifts that were originally yours," I comment and chuckle at the coincidence.

She is so sneaky. Didn't even bother telling me they belonged to her.

Inukimi walks to the seat opposite mine, placing another book in front of me. However, this book looks ancient.

"While I was looking for the first book, I found another interesting one. It's handwritten with two people's signatures on it," She says and leans forward, proceeding, "This is the oldest book in this library. When I mean oldest, I mean it belonged to the first dog demon."

The first dog demon!

"I recognize this book," I say and lean forward on the table, realizing Athanasia has just taken over without a warning for the millionth time. "We created it together," She continues, leaving Inukimi and me in shock.

"I see, you finally decided to grace me with your presence," Inukimi says with a wicked tone.

"I can grace you with information too. I'm in the mood to share some," Athanasia blurts out and leans back onto the chair while looking at the high ceiling; I never succeeded in seeing the end of it.

"Have you ever wondered what might be at the end of this never-ending ceiling?" Athanasia questions and suddenly leaps in the air to reach the end of the ceiling. Inukimi takes only a second before standing right in front of us in midair.

"Look! Zuri, this is the complete painting of the one in Izayoi's room."

I freeze as my eyes keep wandering from one drawing to the other. It's like the whole story of the entire Inu clan. However, my eyes stop at a certain demon; a large silhouette of a human body with a dog head, a large and dangerous-looking shadow hovers around him as if ready to engulf him.

I feel a knot in my throat as I hesitantly ask Athanasia, 'What is that?'

Athanasia approaches the part in question and answers with a soft tone, "He is the God of the afterlife, and that's the only place he belongs to. The light burns his skin, and the scent of life poisons his mind. He is not just the God of the afterlife but also its guardian."

"People call him the first dog demon."

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Time for some Inu clan origin story 😉

Who said only the female MC gets to have a cool backstory~

See you later 🍬

-👑 Noorie.