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I pulled at the stiff, tight collar of my snow-white shirt. It felt like a leash. I looked at myself in the big, gold-framed mirror one more time.
A team of servants had just finished dressing me in the fancy clothes I had to wear to go out among the high-class… demons.
A ball.
My tutors and my books told me that a ball was a party where many people gathered to dance and talk and celebrate something.
But the servants, when they whispered to each other in the hallways, said something different.
They said a ball was a place to make secret deals, to play sneaky games, and to size up your enemies. The criminal underworld in Hell. The idea was so strange it was almost funny.
When I really thought about it, these balls were just like the big meetings the cultivation sects used to have.
The strong people made fun of the weak ones, and the weak ones kissed up to the strong ones, hoping to get a little bit of power.
Then, as soon as their "friend" or "master" turned their back, they would stab them. If you just changed the dancing to fighting competitions and the silly, fancy clothes to the simple robes I was used to, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
I had been avoiding parties like this ever since that first big gathering in the capital city. Back then, all the big families were trying to show off how much better they were than everyone else.
It was boring and pointless. No one at a party like this would take a kid seriously, especially a kid who wasn't even going to be the next leader of his family.
They wouldn't make deals with me or include me in their secret plans. And if I wanted to gather information, my own network of spies was much better than trying to listen in on conversations myself.
There were too many things about this society of demons that I still didn't understand because I was so young.
No one was going to talk to a child about the secret fights between the great families, or about the problems between the noble demons and the common ones.
No one was going to tell me that the demon race was in the middle of a population crisis, that they were slowly dying out over hundreds of years.
The demons here weren't born from the pain and suffering of sinners, like the demons in my old world.
They were born in the "normal" way. But it was a very slow process. It could take hundreds or even thousands of years for a demon couple to have a baby.
That was why demons had a reputation for being a very lustful race; they had to "try" a lot to keep their numbers up.
And even with all that trying, it was rare for a demon couple to have a child in two hundred years.
For very powerful demons, it was even harder. That was why my new father, Rofocale Lucifuge, was considered so special. He had three children in less than a hundred years, and he only had one wife.
I finally gave up on fixing my uncomfortable clothes and headed toward the big hall where the party was being held.
The official reason for the party was to celebrate my mother's one-hundredth birthday.
In demon society, one hundred was a special age. It was when a demon was considered a full adult, with more freedom and the right to take a test to become a high-rank demon.
But the unofficial reason for the party was for the Six Great Houses and their friends to get together.
That meant I would have to deal with a bunch of annoying "kids" who thought they were smarter than me and who would be trying to get my mother's attention.
It made it very hard to resist the urge to stick my spear, the Dancing Shadow, into their throats.
The only things I was looking forward to at this boring party were seeing my mother and getting a chance to talk about magic with Zaorom Nebiros.
A familiar feeling pulled me out of my thoughts. The fake, polite smile I had been wearing on my face for the servants turned into a real, wide grin.
"Dear sister," I said as she walked toward the entrance of the hall. The sounds of the party were already drifting out. "Your beauty is as stunning as ever, and your smile makes me want to do great things. I know I have said it before, but let me wish you a happy birthday one more time."
She blushed and looked away for a moment, but she quickly got her calm expression back.
"Thank you, Inflis," she said. "But have you forgotten that I asked you not to be so formal with me? It makes me feel uncomfortable."
"My mistake, sister," I said, bowing my head. I felt a little disappointed in myself for making her feel bad, but I wasn't going to change how I spoke to her.
Her gentle hands reached out and straightened the collar of my shirt. Then, she ran her fingers through my dark hair.
"There will be a lot of guests tonight," she said with a teasing smile, looking me up and down. "Many of them are your age. You don't have to stand next to me like a bodyguard all night."
"I understand, sister."
"Maybe you'll even find a girl you like, and you'll want to marry her someday."
"I really doubt that, sister," I said, my voice serious. "My love has already been stolen, and it is held tightly in your lovely hands."
"Inflis! Don't say such embarrassing things!" she exclaimed, her face turning red again.
I felt a little bit of pleasure at teasing her, but also a little bit of guilt for making her feel awkward. I followed her into the giant, brightly lit hall.
The room was full of demons, and the golden light from the magic lamps made everything glow.
An orchestra was playing a slow, quiet song that didn't get in the way of people talking. I had been feeling a heavy, powerful presence for a while now, and my eyes immediately found a head of bright red hair in the crowd.
The owner of that hair was already walking quickly toward my mother, who had just noticed him.
An icy feeling spread through my chest. I quickly turned my head away, forcing down the powerful urge to kill that was boiling up inside me.
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