The extra is a fox eyed jester-Chapter 71: Outburst.

Clan? It was not a family but a clan?

But of course it was, it all made sense now.

A lot of things actually.

For instance, the reason why the king was so reluctant to openly start a feud with the Astavores despite having ’that’.

He wasn’t hesitating because he couldn’t, he was hesitating because fighting an entire clan of chaos wielders was madness, they wouldn’t just bring down his army, they would tear his empire to the ground.

But why?

Why couldn’t he remember...

Azazel pondered deeply about it.

He could only arrive at a vague conclusion...

That some of the original Azazel’s memory were sealed, and something was stopping him from accessing it.

"Azazel," Leona called.

"Huh?"

"You’re not listening."

"Oh... my apologies."

He made a note internally to investigate the person called Miro, then placed down his cutlery.

"Can you repeat what you just said, about the clan and this supposed chaos order."

Leona narrowed her eyes, picked up her wine then swirled it lightly.

"Azazel... tell me, what did you do to your mind?"

Azazel frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Leona sighed, took a sip of her wine before placing her glass down.

"I don’t want to believe that it’s a body possession, there’s no way father wouldn’t have noticed if that was the case. You’ve been acting strangely, the Azazel I know would never stay in the same room with Alvina and Nathan without doing something to harm them, the Azazel I know, wouldn’t look me in the eye without flinching and he certainly wouldn’t make light of the chaos order he had been trying to join ever since he was a child."

Her gaze grew dark.

"Tell me, what did you do to your mind, was it too much, you couldn’t bear the weight of your sins so you took the easy way out? You forgot about Miro, forgot about what you put everyone through, how convenient... we’re bearing the weight of your sins while you’re living so carefree, so oblivious... How dare you!"

She snarled.

"How dare you forget, why am I the one suffering for your crimes? why am I the one who can’t sleep at night while you spend your days in an oblivious bliss."

"Leona what are you..." He paused with the words dying in his throat.

Across him, his sister Leona was crying...

It wasn’t loud, it didn’t need to be.

The subtle quake of her shoulders and the single tear which slipped down her face spoke louder than any agonized scream could.

Some nobles glanced at their direction but they didn’t linger much, the cold glares from Karina and Lily was enough to quench their curiosity.

Azazel swallowed.

His throat felt dry.

The weather wasn’t particularly windy but Azazel felt cold... he couldn’t answer, he didn’t know what to say.

"I don’t know." he whispered.

The words felt pathetic, but they were the only truth he had.

Leona scowled.

"What did you say?"

"I don’t know..." Azazel repeated." In my mind there’s this fog, it feels like a barricade. No matter what I do, no matter how I try, I can’t access some specific memories."

He let his gaze fall on his hands.

"I can’t apologize because I don’t know what I did wrong to you, I don’t remember Miro and I don’t know why you hate me so much."

Azazel exhaled trying to fight back the ache in his chest.

"You might find my actions strange, in fact you might have suspected that I’m not your brother, and you might be right, maybe I’m not Azazel or maybe I am, but one thing I’m certain of is that I don’t intend to harm any of you."

He chuckled softly.

"Actually, I’ve always wanted to get close to you, I’ve always been confused why you seemed to hate me so much, but I don’t think it’s possible for us to have a proper relationship at least not until I get my memories back. So until then you’re free to loathe me as you please Leona but I won’t stop meddling, I won’t stop interfering if it means you’re safe, if it means the family’s safe, even if I have to get my hands dirty, I’ll do anything."

Leona glared at him, her teal chiffon ruffled slightly as she got up.

"Don’t meddle in my affairs."

She lingered for a brief second then continued, this time in a cold voice.

"The chaos order will send someone to fetch you soon, and you can’t refuse it, a piece of advice, keep a low profile, you may be the patriarch’s son but not everyone looks at you in a favorable light."

She excused herself from table with Karina trailing behind her.

Leona didn’t take past three steps before Azazel spoke.

"Then let me, offer you a piece of advice as well."

He turned to her.

"You’re going to an unexplored dungeon with instructor Lauren soon, and a few of the third years."

He paused, letting the silence settle.

"Don’t trust anyone, not the instructor or your fellow cadets, knowing when to run is a valuable skill, one that saved countless legends back in their days."

His tone was low yet certain, like he wasn’t merely predicting future actions but was stating a fact.

Because... he was.

It was an event that occurred in the game’s special route, where Leona was betrayed and left in the dungeon and that dungeon was a variant, something mutated by one of Asmodeus pawns.

In the game Leona barely managed to escape becoming one of Asmodeus vessels in time before their father, Viktor could rescue her but that left her essence tainted with demonic energy, in the end she succumbed to its influence, becoming the middle boss of Act 1.

The destruction she caused was what gave Valenis the leeway to expand her influence within the empire, obtaining some allies of the emperor with the promise of power.

Leona lingered for a second more than she intended, then she left without a word.

Azazel watched her retreating figure, before returning his gaze back to the food.

A small groan left his lips.

"Ah... what a waste."

Behind the redhead, Lily stared.

To others he looked just as he would on a normal day, with the same casual silly ghost of a smile he always had playing on his lips, his eyes narrowed into slits, the same appearance his jester persona had.

But that was to others, Lily could see the exhaustion weighing down on him like an anvil. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Master, what do you intend to do now?" She asked.

Azazel didn’t turn to her, instead he rose to his feet.

The interior suddenly felt suffocating as all eyes fell on him, Azazel needed some air so he spoke.

"Let’s go somewhere quiet."

He paused then added.

"Also buy a bit of food, I’ll be waiting for you at the top of Novaine hills."

Then he left.

****

It took Lily exactly nineteen minutes to reach Azazel.

The redhead was leaning against a tree watching the city below with a sober look on his face.

The faint rustle of grass reached his ear but he didn’t turn around.

"You’re here." He said, not as a question but more of a confirmation.

"Yes." Lily replied in the same monotonous manner she had been using since earlier.

"Come take a seat."

She did as she was told.

While Azazel continued staring at the scenery of the city below, Lily set the picnic basket down then spread the picnic mattress.

When she was done, Azazel finally averted his gaze away from the city then towards his maid.

Lily waited for Azazel to begin before she could but to her surprise Azazel merely stared at her with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Eat" he commanded.

Lily narrowed her eyes but said nothing, she took a piece of sandwich and bit it slowly.

Seeing her eat so gently Azazel couldn’t help laugh.

’Cute.’ he mused.

The tainted blade Akathartos thrummed within his mind as it snarled, barely biting back a curse.

’Disgusting simp.’

’Shut it!’ Azazel retorted.

He sighed.

There were many things he had to do and the story hadn’t even begun yet.

But first...

He needed to take care of Asmodeus.

Not because of the skill he could obtain from it, but because the demon was simply pushing its lucks a little too far.

His dad would receive the letter he’d written sooner.

He already disclosed a bit of information using a certain code he was sure his father could decrypt.

The silence stretched on for a bit until he decided to break the ice.

"Lily"

She lifted her gaze to stare at him.

"I’m certain you know about the pact Liliana and I made, you were watching, right?"

Lily didn’t speak at least not immediately, instead she nodded then swallowed a bit of sandwich.

"Yes, Master Azazel, I was watching."

He scoffed.

"Drop the formalities."

"I—"

"You know... I’ve had this peculiar ability since I was little, call it perception but I could tell when someone was hiding something from me, I guess you could say I was very good at reading people."

He paused, then laughed—a half scoff.

"Right now... I can tell you’re holding back."

His eyes grew cold.

"You should know that the pact I made with Liliana, extends to you as well."

Azazel tugged at the collar of his linen shirt.

"Lily, stop holding back."

The pink haired succubus gulped, then...

She moved.