The Demon Lord Is An Angel-Chapter 513: Celebration Dinner

Three things stood out in Arc’s mind as she rode with her parents on the way home.

The first was that she knew why Raven had suddenly gotten so serious, given the status of being a special student meant their lives were literally on the line for even the perception of an abuse of magic.

The second was that she would have always been placed as a special student, short of knowing to thread the needlehole of permissible knowledge at the common or advanced level, which she had never been taught.

And the third thing, which she found herself hating a little, was a newfound sympathy for her father, Kir Gale’s, position.

In the beginning, before the Veil and well before she was born, her father made a mistake. As a professor at the Academy, he’d set about spreading true knowledge, starting with the complete form and functions of fire. The knowledge itself would have been harmless without practice, much less the capacity to visualize the smallest levels of how fire formed, but it formed the seed of some of the deadliest and most destructive incidents in Norneau’s history as mages and mavens furthered their mastery of flames. One villain in particular, called Michelle of the Conflagration, was responsible for burning nearly an entire ward to the ground...

"Thus, it is out of necessity that we restrict the curriculum to the levels you have seen. Common knowledge for the majority. Advanced knowledge for those who show promise and, more importantly, the capacity to keep a calm mind. And true knowledge of reality, which we hide behind the word ’special’."

At the conclusion of Imogen’s speech, Arc hadn’t known what to think, so she asked the first question that came to mind. "So my father... had nothing to do with why I’m a special student?"

Imogen chuckled then. "If anything he has everything to do with it, given how he raised and educated you, along with your other parents. But if you mean to ask if he requested such for you, then the answer is ’No.’ We barely speak outside of official functions and the odd request. And speaking of which, I do have one odd request for you..." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Which brought her to the present...

"Congratulations!!!"

A wall of sound expressing that one word met her when her Dad opened the door to the dining room, which was probably the only normal, non-spatially enhanced room in the manor that could hold the entirety of the House of Stars. Even Atikka was present, Arc’s half-sister hovering, literally, with a plate of food already piled high with samples of everything. The only one absent was Atikka’s mom, Amarena, but Amarena ran Norneau’s Knights, and so always had a ready excuse to avoid her child... at least according to Atikka.

The mood was so joyous, Arc didn’t want to interrupt it with her complicated feelings.

"So, little Arc’s all grown up," Attika hovered over to Arc almost as soon as she sat down.

"How are you?" Arc asked, acutely aware of Attika’s perpetual state of flight.

"Same old, same old. Books, illusions, and meditation," the look on her face hinted at her boredom. "I thought I’d take after Auntie Stella and try my hand at writing... Fiction, obviously. Not that Dad will let anything I write out of the house."

Arc nodded, commiserating with her sister over the latter’s restrictions. "I’d love to read your writing sometime."

"Aww, but you’ll be out of the house, won’t you? Didn’t you tell me you wanted to move into the Academy? Do your own thing?"

"I did..."

"Well then, here’s a lesson for you..." Suddenly, an unseen force pulled Arc closer to her sister. Close enough that Atikka could whisper in her ear. "We are gods, sister. It’s only Father that wants us to serve instead of letting us have our due... Remember that while you play with the mortals."

Arc swallowed uncomfortably as she was released. Attika’s intensity burned the words into her mind, and she barely caught a slight shift in the ambient mana before their Father’s voice bloomed in the air.

"Atikka, go to your room. Now."

With an annoyed sound and a roll of her eyes, Atikka took her plate of food through the portal Father opened for her, which led into a room that was more than half library. Arc caught a glimpse of Atikka’s circular bed at the center of the room before the portal closed.

The departure drew many eyes, but it wasn’t the first time Atikka acted out in front of everyone, and so while the atmosphere grew a bit quieter, it stayed relatively high. Sylvia and Cory, ever the duo, took a few turns trying to embarrass Arc with their stories about what they did when they first moved out, which apparently involved a lot of dating around for Cory and a lot of pulling him out of the fire for Sylvia.

As to Arc... "I’m not sure about dating around. I need to figure out my magic and all..."

"Right, right," Cory nodded. "You know... I swear in one of the succubus labs, they have this machine that gets really deep and-"

Sylvia smacked Cory on the back of the head. "Don’t listen to your brother... or Atikka for that matter," her usually absent-minded face showed concern. "They both still need to grow up."

"As if you aren’t younger than me! People just think you’re older because your hair is all grey and haggy."

"It’s silver!" Sylvia actually growled, her foxlike features seeming to grow a bit sharper.

"Cory! Sylvia!" their mom, Kordia, stopped their brewing fight with just their names.

As they were getting chastised, Arc chose to make her escape outside. Staring out into the moonless night, only the lights of the city and the perpetual, slight glow of the dungeon tower made an impression on the Veil. She’d often wondered what it would be like to live with a moon overhead - or even to visit one, but behind the Veil the sky was the same as it had always been, cycling the days through reflections of the inside of itself.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"What’s a penny?" Arc asked her father as he appeared behind her. The question came automatically, before she remembered to be mad at him.

"Just an old coin, made of copper." Arc let out a snort of acknowledgement, but did not invite further conversation. When he leaned on the banister next to her, elbows resting, he continued to talk. "What your sister said to you... I know it was meant to hurt me."

Arc rounded on him before she knew what she was doing. "That’s what you want to talk about? How about "’Wow, Arc, I’m so proud of you for getting in!’ Or, ’Hey, let me finally tell you what’s wrong with your magic so you don’t embarrass the family.’"

"There’s nothing wrong with your magic-"

"Dragonshit! This was supposed to be my first real step out of this house, and the first thing you think of when you come to me is to make whatever Atikka said to me about you!" She felt tears burning behind her eyes. "I did my best there, and I might get only a year before I’m shoved aside, but you wouldn’t know any of that because you always want to talk about her."

"This... isn’t really about Atikka, is it..." her father said, crestfallen.

She sniffed, wiping her nose before it betrayed her. "And now you come up to me, asking for what? My thoughts? After you grounded me when nothing happened! When have you ever cared about what I think?!"

It didn’t matter that Arc knew he was right. Or that she disagreed with Atikka, knowing her sister used her to goad him. It wasn’t fair, but Arc wanted to hurt him, because, "You weren’t there. The whole time I looked for you, you were just gone."

Her father paused after nodding, his eyes flickering back and forth with ten thousand motions in a single moment. Long ago, Arc learned that this meant he was thinking. Accelerating his thoughts to a degree that would have melted the brains of someone with a mortal body.

"I know it might have seemed that way, but trust me when I say I was there after you passed the last test. I saw you make a friend, the pangolkin girl, yes?"

"If you were there, why didn’t you find me? Why did you let Dad do all the work?"

Her father winced, but remained silent. Arc didn’t want to look at his face because she knew what face he was making, the same disappointed face he held for Atikka. The sad face of a father who didn’t know what to do.

"Whatever. I’m going to my room," Arc said, using her groundedness as an excuse to leave the conversation. She got two steps into the hall before he called out to her.

"Arc..." he paused, biting his lower lip as he considered his words, his tail betraying how tense he was. "You’re still grounded, but tomorrow we have a guest, and if you’re willing to show him around, I’ll allow you the run of the house until you... move."

Arc didn’t have to think to give her answer. "Fine," she replied, realizing that this was what he really wanted to talk to her about. It didn’t occur to her to wonder who the guest was until she was well within her room. But by then, the only thing she was in the mood for was grabbing a pillow and falling asleep.