The Punishment of A Demon General

I mean... Never want me apart of her harem? I mean, why would she say that? I didn't even do anything wrong! What did I do to deserve that? Why does it even bother me so much! I didn't even wanna be apart of your stupid harem anyway! What do you even care?!

I continue floating in the white space for I don't know how long in silence after that thought, panic starting to rise that maybe I'd somehow failed whatever it was trying to make me do and that I'd be stuck here forever now! At least make me stuck forever in the Gods damned void at least, not in this hellishly bright-

"Ilvia!" I suddenly jolt upwards, smacking my head into something hard with a bout of pain erupting from my skull, the Heroine clutching her head and rolling on the bed in front of me as I rub my forehead.

"Owwww...! What the hell?!" She clutches her head, whining on the bed as she does, looking at me with tears in her eyes, making my head blank. Aaah... I want to see more of those tears! Look at how cute she looks!

Instead of worrying about her, I begin pinching her cheeks happily while she squirms, enjoying watching her writhe under me with an evil grin on my face, her tears quickly going away as she rubs her forehead, expression turning into pouting after.

"Jeez, forget I was worried about you anyway! You seem fine." Seem fine? What does she mean? I tilt my head curiously, looking to her, still pulling at those cute cheeks of hers.

"You were crying in your sleep, so I was wondering what was up, but I guess it wasn't that bad of a dream or whatever... I thought we were supposed to have some sort of like weird out of body experience! Everyone even told me about that! I've been scammed! Where was it?! I wanted to fuck you silly, dammit!"

I rub my head in confusion and pain from our heads smacking together, does she not remember anything that happened in that dream? Usually they do, though... I mean, it can fade if they aren't reminded of it somehow, but she seems awfully keen on remembering it, so I can't imagine she would just forget.

Ughhh, everything was so weird about that dream, I don't like it... The fact it happened with the Heroine can't be a coincidence, either! My heart begins hurting once again as I remember what she said in that dream.

"Ilvia?" I'm only able to think about it for a couple moments before being called by the Heroine again, looking to her, her rolling on the bed having completely stopped, just a red mark remaining on her head now. "You okay?"

"... Yeah, I'm fine." Why does she keep asking that?! I'm not doing anything! Stop asking if I'm okay, I don't like it! There's no way I cried in my sleep either, I'm not gonna believe that one for a second!

I squirm around as she looks at me with that worried expression, her face approaching close to mine, making my cheeks darken in surprise, feeling like she's a lot more affectionate than a couple days ago for some reason.

"If you don't tell me, I'll just read your mind instead, and I'll pull all the juicy details out!" You... You dirty cheat! That's not fair! I can't help but grumble, turning away from her, wondering what to say to her before she decides to try and read my mind.

"... Is it really okay if I'm in your harem?" The question comes way too naturally, I don't like what this Heroine is doing to me, but whatever... I can just get her to leave with my servants, and I'll deal with living life without my servants!

That's what I'm gonna do, that's it. "Never mind I said that, actually I just wanted to-" My mouth is suddenly covered by the Heroine's hand.

"Why the hell wouldn't it be okay if you're in my harem? Did Killa say something? I definitely made it damn clear to her if she said some shit to you about that at the start of this trip I would have her dragged back." I can't help but look shocked, confused by the sudden anger the Heroine expresses.

She uncovers my mouth with her hand after that little rant of hers, expecting me to say something with arms crossed over her hickey covered body, bringing a darkness to my cheeks as my eyes linger on each of the marks.

"No, uh, Killa didn't say anything I just..." You're the one who said it, how am I even supposed to say that? I mean obviously it was you in a dream, but it was you in one of those weird succubus dreams, that has to be you-you, right?! ... Right?

How am I supposed to tell her that, 'You said it in my dreams so I got worried', doesn't that just kind of make me the worst kind of person? I furrow my brow in frustration before perking up.

Whatever, it's fine if I'm the worst, I'm a demon! Who cares! ... I'm still not gonna tell her.

I take a deep breath. "... I was just thinking, I'll let you do your thing, you can take my servants back to the human lands or whatever, and I'll be your double agent or something here." That'll probably pass off as something. I can give her details enough just so she doesn't die to whatever, I get to stay far enough from her to get away from her creepy influence.

Then things can start getting normal again! I can stop feeling like this, and I can get away from this crazy- "No." She states firmly.

... Honestly, I kind of expected it, it was kind of a far-fetched hope for her to trust me that much anyway.

She suddenly pushes me down by my wrists, holding her red forehead close to mine, looking deep into my eyes. "You're already apart of my harem. I'm not letting you escape that easily." I feel a chill up my spine as she looks at me, her eyes staring deep into me with a certainty that brings my heart an equal amount of uncertainty.

Instead of saying anything else, she just gives me a sudden cheerful smile and a peck on the lips, surprising me with both, my heart fluttering from the change in demeanor.

"I-" My mouth is covered again, interrupting me.

"Shut, I'm hungry, your emo butler came along and said breakfast is available in the dining hall, and that everyone else is there."

+Oh, THIS is where you started learning 'shut' from.+

(Shut.)

Oh, right... I'm home too, I forgot about all that on top of everything. I mean, I did vaguely think about it earlier, but being reminded of that just makes everything even more frustrating now.

Instead of responding, I just lay down flat on the bed lifelessly, giving up, exhaustion overtaking me now that I'm in my own bed, not wanting to leave it, knowing I'd have to probably go see Wrath today too...

"... Okay, seriously. Are you okay?" She begins feeling my forehead for some reason with her hand, I'm unsure why. She doesn't seem to be checking my temperature or anything because she isn't using her forehead for it.

Not that I'd need my temperature checked, I'm a demon, but I would have felt better if she worried about me like that...

+Ilvia, you're an idiot.+

(... No comment.)

Instead of answering that question, I roll over onto my stomach in protest, not wanting to respond anymore, eliciting a sigh from the Heroine as she gets out of bed. Yeah, go eat breakfast! I wanna be alone.

"The Heroine from the top of the cage!" What? What is she doing? Suddenly I feel a sharp pain on my back as I'm pile-driven into my bed with a groan, the wind knocked out of me with a loud wheeze.

"As Goddess as my witness, she is broken in half!" She calls out from behind me, her elbow still digging into me. I can't help but scramble out of the bed from under her, looking at her while rubbing my back.

"W-what was that for?!" This psycho Heroine has really gone off the deep end now! I can't help but glare at her with a pouting expression.

"You wouldn't tell me what the problem was, so I figured I'd make a problem for you to be annoyed about." What? What kind of logic is that? Are you crazy?

"What? It worked, didn't it? You stopped whining in bed." I open my mouth to try and fault the logic, but it's just so flawed I can't even begin to find a place to start.

"See? Perfect, let's go get breakfast and meet with everyone." She grabs my hand, dragging me out of the room in a run towards the dining hall. Wait, how do you even know where it is? Shouldn't we wait for someone to guide us?

"Hey-" I try to shout as we run, "If we just run around randomly we'll get-" Eh? I stare at the three people at the table eating, "Lost..."

"He gave me directions since it wasn't far." The Heroine states smoothly, my head butler, Llorithen standing at one side of the room letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing us enter.

"Thank you very much for bringing the Madam over." He says, pulling out a seat for me at the head of the table as I just give in, not wanting to think about how she managed to memorize those directions in such a short period.

+It's literally down the hall...+

(... Shut.)

+You can't just keep saying 'shut' and 'no comment'.+

(No comment.)

+I've broken her for the day, I guess... I'll need to shove a tool in you later to repair you.+

I have a seat, being pushed in by my butler as the three dig in, equal parts excited and lacking manners, the decorated breakfast of spiced sausages, mulled wines, meats, tossed vegetables, simmered eggs, all ripe for the taking in a sizable celebratory banquet for my return all await us.

Honestly, I can't say I have much of an appetite after that whole pizza debacle, especially watching as the Heroine digs into the foods herself, piling her plate up high with an expectant and cheerful look.

"Heroine, what would you call someone who drags you into a store and buys you over half a dozen extra-large pizzas, a 'new-york style cookie' and a 'deep-dish' pan pizza because you look like you need to eat more?" She nearly chokes on a sausage she just bit down on, swallowing it and pounding on her chest.

"... I don't know, what would you call someone who does that?" Eh? Why are you saying it like that? This isn't some kind of joke, I'm not trying to set you up for a punch-line or something, I'm legitimately asking a question!

Stop looking at me with expectant eyes like you're expecting some kind of joke from me, what even is this?! At least this confirms there's pizza in this world... Ugh, maybe I'll buy some for my slaves as a going away present? I mean that party seemed pretty neat...

"You call them an idiot, I guess." I say, shrugging. Grabbing some food off the plates as I try to ignore the lingering knot of frustration in my stomach, the Heroine giving me a pouting look of disappointment at my joke. This is going to be a long day.

+Right, time to give you your repairs, Ilvia!+

(Hey, I'm fixed already-)

Author's Note:

Things went better than expected, so I decided I'd just post. Technically it's a bit of a weird mix between 'it went better and worse than expected' but it was positive enough that I don't have any issues writing. :)