Two enormous violet wings burst open from Eliss's back like those of a giant bat, spreading wide with a majestic flare. A sinister violet glow surrounds her, countless motes of light rising from her skin and drifting into the air. Even her once-emerald eyes now blaze with that same haunting violet light.
«W-What kind of trick is this supposed to be, huh?! I must've been set up for some crazy high-budget prank show if they managed to pull this off…» Aoshi stammers, shaking like jelly during an earthquake. A chill sharp as the Antarctic wind shoots down his spine. But really, who could blame him? It's not every day you find yourself face to face with a real, flesh-and-blood demon.
«No tricks, my beloved Aoshi,» Eliss declares, her voice cold enough to freeze fire, yet absurdly pompous and self-satisfied. «At this very moment, you stand before Princess Eliss Narkhalis — second daughter of Azhelar Narkhalis, ruler of the glorious Kingdom of Ravessia!»
«R-Ravessia… Kingdom of what? Is that, like, somewhere near Russia?» Aoshi asks, as confused as he is terrified.
«No, you idiot — it's not a kingdom of this world, but one on Elyndra, a parallel world to yours. Do you really think a kingdom filled with millions of demons could exist here without anyone noticing? Aaah… of all the humans I could've fallen in love with, why did it have to be a clueless idiot like you?» Eliss grumbles, her terrifying princess aura shatters in record time.
«I don't think that's how a girl's supposed to talk to her boyfriend…» Aoshi mutters.
«Honesty is the foundation of a deep and everlasting bond like ours!» she snaps back proudly.
So she really does think I'm an idiot…fantastic.
«Anyway, about the reason I'm hopelessly in love with you…» Eliss continues, her voice clearly embarrassed. «The other day, I had this brilliant idea to sneak down to Earth for a little… ehm, first-hand research on you humans.» The love she feels for Aoshi keeps her from going into too much detail — she doesn't want to hurt his feelings or sound like some shameless flirt.
«Well, it turned out to be a total disappointment… at least until I met you. You were the only man who didn't fall under my irresistible charm, so, well… for a maiden as infinitely beautiful as me, being ignored by you was the greatest humiliation imaginable! So, I decided to use my charm magic to make you fall madly in love with me… but for some reason I still can't figure out, something went wrong — and my own charm spell backfired! That's it. Now do you understand why I said I'm not pretending with you?»
Succubi… charm magic… parallel world… No way — this can't be real!
Aoshi's limited human brain just isn't built to process something this absurd — far beyond the grasp of anyone unaware Elyndra even exists. And just like a computer suddenly forced to execute code it can't understand — BEEP — system crash. Shutting down…
Nearly two hours pass before his eyelids snap open all at once.
He sees the ceiling of his cramped apartment — but only half of it. The other half is eclipsed by something blocking his view. And then he realizes the back of his head is resting on something soft, smooth, and delicate, like a silk pillow.
«Finally awake, you sleepy coward.»
Eliss's bright yet gentle voice — pulling him completely back to reality — makes him understand. His head rests on her thighs, and that huge shape blocking his view… is Eliss's enormous chest, seen from below. The lights are still on, and from this angle he can just glance out the window to confirm the sun has already set. It's so blissfully comfortable that the thought of resisting doesn't even cross his mind.
When am I ever going to get another chance to use the thighs of a total bombshell as my pillow?
«E-Eliss…» Aoshi mutters, his voice slurred and groggy like a man waking from a hangover. «You won't believe it, but I had… I had this crazy dream about you. I dreamed you grew these huge demon wings from your back, and you were glowing with this terrifying purple light, and you told me you were the princess of some kingdom in another world, and—»
«Oh, my sweet Aoshi,» Eliss says, a gentle, reassuring smile spreading across her face. «That wasn't a dream.»
BEEP — system crash… SLAP!
This time, Eliss saves him from fainting again — with a sharp slap that snaps him back to reality.
«Stop running away from your responsibilities,» Eliss grumbles, clearly offended.
As if I'm choosing to lose consciousness on purpose…
«So… what now?» Aoshi asks calmly — he's already skipped straight from denial to acceptance, skipping every stage in between. A resigned acceptance, to be precise.
«Obviously, the plan is to return to Elyndra as soon as possible and leave this world full of lust-driven idiots behind! But before that, I need to find a way to break the charm spell that binds me to you. Just spending the morning without you tears my heart apart; imagine being separated forever! No way — I'd fall into eternal depression! Until I find a way to undo it, we'll live together — and that's non-negotiable!» Eliss declares with unwavering firmness that leaves no room for argument.
Now that I know the truth — no matter how absurd it is — I almost feel relieved. Sure, sharing my apartment with a demon princess from who-knows-where won't exactly help me sleep well, but it's oddly more comforting than thinking it was all a prank by Miori or one of her friends just to mess with me again. Eliss is so beautiful… and honestly, she seems like a good girl despite her temper. She cleaned the entire place, tidied my clothes, and there's even the smell of dinner she cooked. Yeah… maybe this won't be so bad after all.
But there's one problem — a big one. I can barely afford to feed myself with my lousy part-time job… how the hell am I supposed to feed her too?! Speaking of which— Aoshi's eyes dart toward the clock on the wall.
Crap, it's almost seven! My shift starts in an hour! If I'd woken up even thirty minutes later, I'd be unemployed by now — and that would've been game over! Wait… I just came up with a genius idea!
«All right!» Aoshi says decisively, trying to muster the willpower to lift his head from Eliss's thighs and get ready for work. «I'll let you live here until you find a way back to your world. But on one condition.»