As if on cue, the ginger demoness stepped inside his office from one of the backrooms.
"Oh, you're alive," she announced with a yawn, her freckles dancing as she smirked at the pissed dragon. Maple seemed troubled, at the very least.
Her face was all flushed, but she didn't say a word.
She couldn't. Clenching her fists instead, she looked like she was about to explode.
This only made Konrad wonder about the balance of powers again.
She was a huge, ancient dragon—and flustered like nothing else.
How powerful was his freckled little lover exactly?!
"W-why—um, lady Lilith," was the best Maple could squeeze out. "I-I could've died."
"Nyah, you were fine." The chaos incarnate waved her off. "A little sleeping potion wouldn't hurt your kind. And why would I go easy on a dragon, when you tried to—"
Her eyes landed on Konrad, and she cut herself off, her hand flying to her mouth.
If possible, this made her slip-up even more obvious.
Konrad held his breath, too, unsure how to react.
What was it with this situation? It's been two weeks since he rescued Maple, and he has almost forgotten about her. All he remembered was that he wanted to keep her existence a secret.
Lily blurted it out without giving it a second thought, and—did Eyna already know?
She didn't seem surprised at all, her smart, purple eyes looking hungry for drama.
And Vargas was there at the time, but—
"Oh, come on, Konny," the girl scoffed. "Aren't they your inner circle? Besides, shapeshifting or not, you can't exactly hide a dragon for too long. I meow-n, look at her," she said, and he did.
Maple was closer to blushing than blowing up now.
She acted self-conscious under his gaze for some reason, but still more or less human.
Not a natural one, per se, with her crimson hair and too perfect shape, but—hmm, interesting.
Did she try to copy Lily? When she first projected her image inside his head, she looked different. More mature, more filled. But after Konrad freed her, she took up this shape.
Well, she read his mind and wanted to impress him, but—the similarities were too striking.
If anything, she overdid it by fixing all the ginger's imperfections that he liked so much.
Her lines were sharper, her eyes greener, no freckles or the soft baby-fat on her belly. And her bust, well, she was closer to Eyna in that regard, not huge, but enough to draw attention.
Lily must have noticed it, too.
So that was what it was all about? The prank, the strange hostilities—his Haremette Number One was jealous, and for a good reason.
He surrounded himself with beautiful women, and should've noticed it earlier.
Having a harem was a dream of his before, but nothing more.
Too surreal, unrealistic—but wasn't that his life now? He was trying so hard to overcome other problems that he missed what was right in front of him.
Eyna's purple eyes also lit up, but for a different reason.
"Inner circle," she whispered, trying and failing to hide a satisfied grin. Cute.
"Wait, so that story about you helping her escape, then finding another captive—"
Okay, as it seemed, Vargas was the only one not reading the room. And at least someone bought that lame story. He could only hope some tribesmen did, too, but—
"Why'd you even try to keep her a secret?" Lily asked the exact question he was thinking about.
He had to strain his brain quite a bit to remember his reason.
"Ah, the thing—To fight Maou Midori."
Seeing all those confused expressions, he decided to elaborate further.
"Y'know how Gabrielle planned to lure him with—" he paused again. Glancing at Eyna and her still bright eyes. Did she even know? "S-she could've been my secret weapon."
"Right," Lily nodded, then shot him down. "That would've never worked."
"Who's Gabrielle?" Maple asked, still flushed and lost in the situation.
"Even with a fake dragon, and with Miss Puppy-Eyes distracting him," the ginger said, ignoring her. "A real dragon has an aura that someone powerful could smell from miles away."
Well, Konrad felt it too, and he wasn't at the same level as his lover.
"So this is that huge monster we encountered in the salt mines?!" Vargas demanded, still dragging himself behind. That was the last straw for the dragon, face turning brighter again.
"Who's a monster?!" She yelled, pouting, but a glance from Lily shut her up again.
"Okay, let's all calm down," Konrad pleaded, raising both hands and stepping between them. "I see, I should've been clearer with everyone—about everything."
The silence that followed made him regret that decision, but now he was in it for good.
Reforms. That was what he wanted with the lands, with his title, so might as well start with his personal life. He had allies, not tools. Real people—or dragons—with feelings and thoughts.
He wanted them to figure it out amongst themselves when he didn't understand it, either.
"Lily? What do you know about—you know." But there was still the secrecy.
Gabrielle wasn't here, for better or worse, but the pact with the angels was the biggest of his concerns. Of course, the ginger could read his mind, so he didn't have to say it out loud.
But so did the dragon.
"Ah, so that's who this Gabrielle is," she muttered, defeating the purpose of keeping the secret.
"Yeah, screw it, it's time to come clean," Konrad decided.
He faced the other two—the schemer and the helper.
The ones who might've done the most, for and against him, but couldn't read his thoughts.
"Lily, Gabby, and this—um, Maple—they aren't human," he started. Silence.
"I suspected Lady Liliana, and you said Maple's a dragon, but—Lady Gabrielle?" Vargas asked, scratching his temple, but not looking as surprised as he had expected. "She's so fragile and—"
"A good actress, that's what she is," Lily scoffed. "A big fat liar, who loves to meddle."
"Now that's another thing I'd like to clarify," Konrad continued.
The ginger was right, this was his inner circle, so—
"I come from another world, too. I'm still a human, though. Not as powerful as these girls are, but I knew Lily from my previous life—and she ruined it for some reason."
Now, that did raise a few eyebrows, Eyna's in particular.
"What did Master do to deserve it?" she asked, her voice innocent and curious, aimed at Lily, not at him. Which kind of hurt, if he wanted to be honest. Why not ask him?
Not that he knew—
"It's—complicated." That was it. Lily, the always big-mouthed whirlwind, fell silent.
"I don't follow, kid," Vargas interjected. "So you're all some supernatural forces who came to take over this world?" He didn't seem upset about it, more like confused and—hopeful?
"I'm far from supernatural," Konrad said, shaking his head. "Kinda wish I was, though."
"You're doing great, Konny baby," Lily murmured, stepping closer with a weak smile. "You always had the potential, which was, um—sorry, I had to take it away from you."
"Uh—that thing. Could you clarify?" he asked, his resolve already crumbling.
He thought this would be about sorting the relationships between his allies, but—
Now he found himself in an existential crisis, starved for answers.