I woke up as I felt Dad carry me over to the bed since I momentarily fell asleep on his shoulder after crying. He lied down beside me for a while before he started humming the song that I sing for him as a lullaby.
After a while he went silent I felt his hand over me as his breathing slowed down and became rhythmic. I waited till I was sure he was deeply asleep before I sat up and looked at him.
There was a time in my past life when I had delved into the research of the paranormal because the black magic and the occult fascinated me. I had read the research papers of the famous and the credible paranormal investigators. The one thing that they had impressed upon was that black magic was a result of the deal with the creatures of the dark, that is, the demons. I had no idea if the same case would be here or not since the story only spoke about Claude performing black magic on himself and even my memory wasn't quite supportive as with time everything had faded except for the major events which I had made a note of.
Now, if I had to get rid of the black magic then I'd have to take this chance and play a gamble, to see if what I learned in my past life was true or not.
There was no other choice. I couldn't wait any longer.
"Forgive me, God." I whispered as I gently brushed my fingers over Dad's forehead putting him into deep slumber and then placed my hands on Dad's chest and closed my eyes.
I focused on the root of the black magic and spoke.
"Is... there an entity which is guarding this spell?" I spoke. I didn't know if it was there or not but the way the black sludge was, it seemed as if it was alive.
"You need a soul to feed on."
The root seemed to move a little, "I know you need one, and currently you're using my father's."
"So?" A low sleek voice replied shocking me.
So, it really was there!
I had only assumed that I might be able to talk with it but I didn't expect it to really be here.
"Shocked, I see." It chuckled darkly.
It was a demon for sure. It seemed quite obvious now, black magic always involved the one from whom it was rooted to. The Devil.
"You seem like an old soul, travelled lifetimes and seen a lot of things. What do you want from me?" The demon asked.
"Let go of my father." I said.
"Pfft." The entity started laughing, I could feel his loud and demonic laughter ring in my head yet, I gritted my teeth and went through.
"You just need a soul to feed on, let go of my father..." I licked my lips, "You can have mine."
"Oh..." The demon stopped laughing.
"An old soul which has tasted the divine touch...? Sounds delicious..." He spoke.
The notion of handing my soul over to a demon was extremely revolting yet, I had no choice. In order to release father of this curse I had to give this demon something which it couldn't refuse.
"But, you see..." The demon spoke, "I had made a contract with your father... I'm guarding his memories and emotions for him. So, I can't take up your offer."
"Then make a contract with me too!" I hissed desperately.
"I need you to release my father, you can have me. But please, please... release my father from this." I begged as I felt the moisture at my cheeks.
"Aw... Don't cry, little one." The demon said, "you see, I'm a little weak in front of cute children."
I felt something cold touch my chin and I opened my eyes to see a pale faced black haired man in front of me. His eyes were completely black with bright red pupils, there were two black horns poking out of his skull and he wore a deadly smirk over his lips as he stared down at me.
I stared at the dark existence who was grinning at me flashing its sharp fangs making a chill run down my spine. The strong pressure fell over me as if it was trying to crush my chest and making my heart slow down.
"And since you're begging me so, I'll take you up for your offer. Your soul will be mine." He said with his eyes flashing dangerously.
I gulped gathering enough strength; trading a soul was quite a simple thing for people who didn't knew the consequences of it. Trading a soul to the demon meant that for all eternity one would never be able to see the light, they would suffer in the endless darkness in the hell and that suffering will never have an end.
"Promise me one thing then," I spoke and he tilted his head slightly.
"Not a trace of your or anyone's black mana will be there in Dad's body and also his memories will be intact from the past as well as from the present." I said and he smiled widely.
"Sure, tell me your name child." He said and I gulped.
"Amara."
"Amara... such a beautiful name, I'm Berserif, the 9th demon serving the great Leviathan and our Lord Lucifer... and I'm glad to make this deal with you." He said as he held my hand in his large one resting a kiss on my knuckles.
He lifted his eyes to mine and smirked darkly before I saw his dark misty form rise out from Dad's chest with a black magic circle appearing on Dad's chest and the same one opened on my chest as well. I gasped as I felt the dark mist rushing across the room as if a typhoon had been set loose. The mist swirled before I felt my body being lifted in the air and the mist shot through my chest stopping my heart for a moment.
Right... this is what I wanted. Now... Dad will be free...
***
The next morning I woke up feeling Dad's hand around me. I slowly opened my eyes to see him sleeping peacefully beside me.
Did I really take away the black mana that he had? Or was it a dream?
I kept looking at Dad's face for a while till he opened his eyes and looked at me.
"Good morning, Dad." I said with a smile and he blinked before sitting up.
"How are you feeling now? Did you have any other nightmare last night?" He asked.
"No," I said as I sat up but the sudden dizziness made my head swirl.
Dad grabbed me before I could fall and I groaned lightly feeling the dull ache in my head.
"I'll call that Warlock to look after you. It seems like you're having a lot of side effects of that incident." Dad said as he rested me back on the bed and got down himself.
I lied back and fell asleep, I didn't realize how long I slept but when I woke up I found Dad sitting by the edge of the bed looking out of the window. The room was dark.
"Dad?"
"Go back to sleep." He only said as he reached out and touched my forehead putting me back to sleep.
The darkness swirled around me and I could feel the numbness that the death would bring. It was hard to discern if I was dead or alive, the sharp flashes and the ache in my head was the eminent feeling that demanded my attention but for some reason it felt as if I was heading towards a path which was unknown to me.
I recovered from that feeling of nausea after a few days but something had changed within me. I usually would sleep well but now, I couldn't, if I did manage to fall asleep I'd be greeted by the nightmares which were so lucid that I would be forced to think that they were reality.
I never cried to Dad about them since he seemed to be changing a little as well. He threw out the picture of Penelope, his ex-fiance, the cheating bitch who seduced Dad's brother.
He was more relaxed now, his icy aura was the same but he was brighter now. He would sleep peacefully and would sometimes smile as he stared off into the space.
It was a good sign.
And just like that several years passed away peacefully.
Currently, I and Athy were having dance lessons as we were both close to turning to 14 where our debutante was close.
"And turn. Now finish." Athy and I gracefully moved and finished making the lady who was teaching us clap.
"Really, there's not a single flaw in your dancing Princesses. You two are a textbook example. How is it possible to be this light and graceful!"
I and Athy relaxed as the lady continued speaking.
"I guess the fact that your mother was a dancer helps in times like this, Princesses." She mocked and my fists clenched.
"I just did what you taught me ma'am." Athy smiled not saying anything but I wasn't going to let it go.
"Oi." I growled making the woman flinch.
I used my telekinesis to pull a sword from the wall decor. Oh, I forgot to mention I was a strong enough Mage right now and also close to becoming a swordmaster.
"Kneel." I hissed making her go pale.
I had stopped mediating years ago but still my mana usage had exponentially progressed enough to make me one of the most talented Mages in the Empire.
"Pa-Pardon?"
"Are you deaf?" I grimaced as I stepped towards her.
"Kneel!" I shouted and she fell to her knees.
"I-I'm sorry, Princess, I didn't mea..."
I placed my sword's tip at her throat as I glared venomously at her.
"You do realise whom you mocked right now is our mother..."
She gulped.
"Then you must also know that our father, the Emperor's mother was also a commoner, right?" I smirked darkly at her and she trembled as the tears started streaming down her face.
"Y-Yes, Princess."
"You dared to run your mouth for the women who are important to my father!" I growled watching the fear fill her being. I could see my devilish expression reflecting in her wide eyes.
"I-I apologize, Princess Amara. Please spare me! I would never make such a mistake again, please!" She cried as she put her head on the floor crying and begging for mercy.
"Please spare me!"
"Mistake, you say?" I hiss as I reached out and gripped her hair pulling her head up to face mine.
"It's as good as treason." Her face if was pale first it was completely ashy now.
"And you do know what's the punishment for that, don't you?"
The woman cried loudly as she begged for mercy and I was tempted to chop her head off.
"Ara, let her go." Athy spoke from behind me.
I swung my hand and slapped across the face of the bitch before throwing the sword. I stood up leaving the woman crying on the floor as I faced Athy with my usual blank face.
"Let's go." She said and I nodded.
But before I left the hall I turned and looked at the woman who was trembling on the floor still crying.
"If I see your face again, I'll rip your head off." I threatened before I stepped out.
My anger seemed to have grown more explosive since I turned a teenager, if not for Athy I would have killed at least a hundred people. She was able to calm me down easily, though she was quite scared at first yet, she managed to get used to it.
"You went a little bit too far."
"Such bitches should know their places before running their mouths." I spoke coldly as we walked back towards our room.
Athy was still studying hard while I'd managed to– in the words of our teachers– graduate as soon as I touched the subjects. I was easily able to grasp everything and within a few weeks of me taking up something the teachers announced they had nothing to teach me.
For the time being Athy and I were heading to Dad for our tea and snacks time. Athy was dressed in a beautiful red dress while I wore a blue one.
With time she'd grown even more cuter and beautiful.
"Daddy! I missed you today!" Athy shouted as she ran up to Dad and kissed him on the cheek.
She'd also gotten greatly comfortable around Dad as after being released from the black mana Dad started to soften up a little more to us.
I walked up behind her and Dad looked at me as I reached out and gave him a hug.
We sat before him to eat while he just stared at us, Athy took the lead as always as started speaking while I ate a little and then stared off into the space suddenly feeling peaceful.
Yes... This is what I wanted. Me, Athy and Dad to be happy and together.
"What about you?" Dad asked and I looked at me.
"I almost killed another one today." I said nonchalantly making Athy sigh.
It was becoming a normalcy for me to snap at people and Dad never said anything because I never did anything to anyone except for scaring them to death. And honestly, even if I did kill someone he wouldn't say anything for that as well.
"Who?"
"Madame Pompidou." I said and he tilted his head slightly.
"She didn't praise you?"
"She insulted Mom." I said and his eyes widened.
Mom wasn't a taboo subject anymore, since he recalled everything including his emotions so, he was doing his own thing to properly deal with it and this time with me and Athy around he was relying on us.
"Ara..." Athy spoke but then flinched at what Dad said next.
"And you didn't kill her?"
"Dad?!" Athy shouted.
I smirked, "I'll do that next time I see her."
"Aigoo!" She sighed.
"Your birthdays are coming soon." He spoke and Athy and I exchanged a glance.
Dad had made a small tomb in the yard commemorating mother's death. We would every year visit it on our birthdays.
"What do you want this year?"
He'd given us everything we'd asked for since we were seven years old, he'd arranged gifts for us and even wished us happy birthday.
On our seventh birthday, Athy asked back Hannah and Ces, the maids who used to give Athy chocolates while I asked for mother's portrait.
Athy nearly had a heart attack when I asked for that she'd given me an earful thinking Dad will kill us but after a few days she was shocked out of her wits when she saw the large painting of our Mom in my room.
"H-He really...?" She stared at the smiling woman in the portrait.
After that many of Mother's portraits were placed around the palace and that tomb was made.
When we turned 9 Dad handed Athy the key to the treasury while he tossed me the Royal Seal saying it was bothersome and we should handle it.
He'd literally meant that I take up his responsibility, I'd refused at first but unofficially I was just taking it anyways.
Currently, most of Dad's work was completed by me while he relaxed and took walks with Athy, the only official work left for him was his signatures on the important documents while the rest like writing reports, taking care of summons and even staying in audience hall was looked after by me.
Most of the nobles believed that I was the Crown Princess while I was trying not to make it official.
"You can tell me if you have something you want like last time. Or something you want me to do." Dad said.
"It's okay. I love anything as long as it's from you, Daddy!" Athy said shaking her head as she was greatly satisfied.
I would have asked for him to not treat me like his aide but... I had taken up the responsibility so, I needed to take care of it.
"I want something." I said making Dad and Athy look at me.
"What is it?"
"A portrait of us three as a family." I said and Dad stared at me for a moment.
"Okay." He said and Athy cheered.
After that I went straight to my office, well, Dad had made it separately for me where there were a lot of bookshelves and papers. God, knows I never thought I'd end up doing something like this.
Another thing about my office was that, Athy and Lucas often came there to slack off while I worked. Well, they were the reason why I often took breaks or else I'd have drowned in work.
Even at this moment, Athy and Lucas were here talking about the debutante and first dance. Athy had ended up asking Felix while Lucas was scolding her for that.
"What about you? Are you even going for your Debutante or just stay here for the rest of your life?" Lucas asked looking at me.
I kept writing as I hummed.
"Did you even hear what I said?" Lucas asked and I sighed.
"It's Athy's choice, if you're jealous of Felix why don't you just say so?"
Lucas spat out the tea which he was drinking.
"The hell are you saying?"
Athy gave Lucas a strange look which made him glare at me instead.
Athy left after talking for a bit and Lucas stayed behind watching me.
The only person who knew that I'd taken away Dad's black mana was Lucas. He had known the moment he saw me the next morning when Dad summoned him.
He'd been angry with me and disappeared for almost half a month before he returned and said he'd find the World Tree.
"I'm not doing it for your Dad, nor for your sister. I'll do it for you!" He'd made it clear as he'd looked into my eyes.
Since then he was keeping an eye on me and my black mana, I knew he was quite dedicated to help me since he genuinely considered me as his friend and I was glad I had him by my side.
***
Don't get confused readers, the fact that the demon or sort wasn't in the story is true but I had included it here.
Also, the story will unfold slowly so, please bear with it. Everything has an answer.
Have a great day!