"Freya's not done?" Arche gazed at the group that arrived.
Caiden shook his head in reply, he had already turned back to his humanoid form. The blush on his face had already faded, but if one observed him carefully, they would see the faintest pink that tinted his ear.
James and Luca stood at the corner of the room, none of them had the desire to eat.
"...I'm sure you know the purpose of our organization."
Luca nodded expressionlessly. Without Freya present, he changed into another person entirely. James was used to this version of Luca so he didn't mind.
"The normal members are called 'sins'. On the other hand, we are called 'major sins' who each represent one of the seven deadly sins. Pride, was the master's title in her previous life."
Luca remained silent, seemingly in deep thought. James thought he did not understand and explained, "To put it simply, the major sins are the Master's disciple while the sins are the disciples of major sins."
"Freya was the one who chose you guys? All of you are very strong and should be older than her, yet you guys willingly followed her?"
Sure, his little sister is very lovable. He would die for her if she wanted him to. But that can't be the same for strangers.
"...master's power in this life is restricted and she does seem milder. You won't ask this question if you knew how she used to be like." James's face showed a complicated expression.
"It won't be exaggerating to say she used to be the strongest demon in the demon realm. He almost got killed by her with a flick on his forehead." Mason joined in.
"...where's your lord?" James frowned, showing blatant displeasure. He wanted to be alone with Luca!
"A slip of the tongue, he's probably...sulking? He asked me who the former Greed was to Master. I didn't want my head flying off so I answered honestly."
His lord was sharp, and with the blood oath he had sworn, his lord will know he was lying the moment he opened his mouth.
"Who was he to her?" Luca asked, curious.
"Lover." James's lips twitched, "The only one who Master considered her equal. He followed Master ever since she was a child if I'm not wrong, probably the earliest out of all of us."
Mason nodded his head, "You're correct. I was the second, he was the first. I was Master's secretary while he was her personal knight."
"Isn't this bad?" Luca's brows knitted.
He knew the temper of Caiden. He had seen him torture suitors who came after Freya during banquets.
He tore the men into shreds without batting an eyelash, blood splattered all over the walls of the room. Those men even begged for death at the end.
His indifference and ruthless methods of torture made, even Luca, who was quite cruel himself, have goosebumps.
Caiden stood at the center of the room, as though snowy white rose amidst the corpses, not a speck of blood reached him. That image had burned into Luca's mind.
He wondered if this man was too dangerous for his adorable little sister. Yaya didn't know what he was doing behind her back.
The twins were lucky that she held them of importance, or else Caiden would've...Luca shuddered at the thought.
The main point was Caiden gets jealous easily, no, possessive should be more fitting.
"My Lord and the former Greed is quite similar at one point. Their feelings for Master had surpassed love, it's more of an obsession." Mason rubbed the back of his neck.
The three went silent.
"I'll inform Master when she arrives." Mason sighed and excused himself to take some food.
"Anyway back to the topic, I'll give you an example~" James hooked his arms around Luca, "Lust, the one with Master right now used to have an interesting hobby. Long, long ago..."
"Master, are you sure? This route, I heard them talking about a face peeling demon." James's hand tightened on the ten-year-old.
"Isn't that more interesting?" Freya indifferently pulled him forward, "I'm sure you can protect me."
"Master, spare me...if Greed and Envy knew-"
Before he could finish, a woman with orange hair appeared before them. Freya gazed at her lazily and mumbled something inaudible.
"Oho~ what a pretty little lady we have here?"
"I'm not pretty, I'm beautiful." Freya's lips curved nonchalantly. "So you're that demon who peels off faces on a whim and kill the owner afterward."
"If I am, so what?" Vivian scoffed.
She sighed in regret, "Thanks to you, the pretty ladies on this street are decreasing."
"You should worry about yourself first. I'll make you my new collection!" Vivian rushed forward, swinging her whip fiercely.
Freya remained unfazed. She turned to James, "Stand back."
Freya avoided the whip gracefully, looking like she was dancing. Relax and elegant, her body moved nimbly, approaching Vivian in a blink of an eye.
Her index finger tapped on her forehead, making Vivian fly back and crash into the wall. The loud 'bang' resounded in the narrow alleyway.
Freya sauntered to the newly made dent with her arms behind her, her eyes curved, "So ugly."
...
Vivian's face twisted in anger, this was her favorite skin! She wanted to move but her limbs were limp.
The child bent down and caressed her face.
"W-what are you-arg!"
Freya mercilessly tore the skin off her face, blood spurted everywhere. James behind her felt his scalp growing numb but his master only gazed at the red muscle tissues with innocent eyes.
James scratched his arm that had goosebumps all over, this felt like a scene from a horror movie.
As a demon, her skin regenerated after a few minutes. Freya scrutinized the new face, her smile like spring zephyr moved their hearts.
Freya gently tilted Vivian's chin, drawing dangerously close, "Isn't this much better? You're beautiful just the way you are."
With a poof, Vivian's face turned red. It was only later that she found out Freya was only ten-years-old.
"If I didn't know better, I would've mistaken Master for a seductress." James sighed, "Well, every villain has their own sad story. Vivian wasn't an exception. Master helped her get revenge."
Luca gazed at him, "What about you? Freya must've been younger when she met you."
"Yup, she was only eight. I was about the same as Vivian, though I liked...human hunting. I've already quit though.
'Go do what you need, I'll bear the responsibilities.' She was so cool when she said that."
Luca rubbed his chin, his Yaya was usually very cute when she was with him. She liked acting like a spoilt puppy. It turns out she had a cool side.
"The series, 'Prism of Four Winters' was also written by her."
"That ancient magic series that many coveted? I heard one's mana awareness will greatly improve after learning the techniques in there."
"Yup, she wrote that when she was twelve," James said proudly. "Oh right, I'll give you a scroll later."
Luca raised his brow, "What scroll?"
"It's something all major sins have. It's a special scroll created by Master. Give it some blood and the scroll will give you instructions on how to cultivate a unique ability.
I can create gates to the human realm and heavenly realm. Albeit, there's a cooldown period. Vivian can see the red thread of fate, Ruby can make one remember their previous life, etc.
There are a few rules. One, you can't teach your ability to another person. Two, one person can only have one scroll. Three, no outsiders are allowed to have their hands on the scroll, though it's not like they can use it since Master never acknowledged them.
This is also the homework she mentioned earlier. There are many stages of cultivation for one ability after all. "
"Then what about Yaya?"
"...She can use all. She created them after all." James had the word 'obviously' plastered on his face. "But I guess she can't use them now."
Luca mused, "None of you found it weird?"
"Weird?"
"Don't you think she's too strong for a child?"
"...a child," James murmured, his eyes widened. "I had never seen master as a child...it seemed normal no matter how great she was. I wouldn't have noticed if you didn't say anything!"
"...this-"
Luca was startled when a pair of arms circled his waist behind him. Cold, why were they so cold?
"Ah, you found out." Freya's giggle made them jolt. "I used puppetry on you, can't believe it didn't fade."
Puppetry was a strong ability, from controlling movement to thoughts. Strong puppet masters like Freya could control people without strings, and the victim won't even notice they became puppets.
"Ah~ so that's why." Realization struck James.
"It's a shame I can't use it anymore. I loved that ability." Freya sulked.
"Why are you so cold? When did you come in?" Luca asked as swept her off the ground and princess carried her.
"My temperature dropped after reconnecting with the demon realm's core." She answered obediently.
"I came in not long ago, I was talking to daddy just now." Freya nuzzled her head against his cheeks. "I came here to say bye-bye."
"?"
Freya's gaze fell onto Mason behind her, Luca and James understood at once, he already told her.
She let out a chuckle and intentionally dragged out her tone,
"I have to go coax my sweetheart~"