NOVPUBAsmodeus left the administrative wing without another word.
The hallway outside was still. Torchlight flickered against the stone, but most of the inner staff had retired for the evening. No voices. No footfalls. Just the low groan of shifting beams somewhere above—a sign that the north side was still settling.
He made his way through the corridor leading toward the forge yard. He didn't rush. There was no reason to.
The air shifted as he passed through the arch—warmer here, heavy with ash and oil. The blacksmiths were still working despite the hour, but it wasn't chaotic. Two anvils rang in steady rhythm. A half-finished wyvern harness lay across a rack nearby. A younger demon boy nodded to him without speaking, face streaked with soot.
Asmodeus nodded back, just once, then moved on.
He passed the new stables. Then the southeast training yard. Finally, he stopped where they repaired the old well, now converted into a central square. It was open space now, surrounded by scaffolded towers and stacked timber. For the first time in a long time, it didn't look like a ruin.
It looked like something they could build on.
"Still walking?"
Serena's voice came from behind him.
He turned slightly as she approached. She was barefoot, her cloak dragging a little behind her on the stone. Her steps were slower than usual, careful with her belly, but she didn't seem tired. Just thoughtful.
She stood beside him, looking out at the square with him.
"I spoke to Ciela earlier," she said after a pause. "She told me we'll have our own quarters once the east wing is finished."
He nodded.
"...When there's time," she added quietly, "Can I have a garden?"
He looked at her.
She wasn't smiling, not fully. Just watching the dark with that soft, fox-like calm she always had when something mattered, but she didn't want to make it a fight.
"We can clear space near the south terrace," he said. "It'll get sun in the morning."
Serena blinked, surprised by how fast he agreed.
"I thought you'd ask what for."
"There's no need to."
Serena's lips curled upward as she snorted with a huff. "I just want something to take care of... for when you are not here, and for the little ones to enjoy."
"I'm going to head back now... I think that Yuina and Yumiko will be waiting for you."
She skipped closer to him, tapping her toes on the stone floor, before kissing his cheek and prancing down the hallway, humming a vibrant tune.
"..."
Asmodeus couldn't help but watch her leave in silence... his heart still throbbing.
The mortal Serena felt more alluring and real.
The eastern corridor was quiet, the air still faintly tinted with incense. The portal chamber was at the end of the hall, doors open, the faint hum of dimensional energy leaking through like a soft breeze.
Asmodeus walked in with his usual calm. He didn't need to announce himself.
Yumiko stood near the centre of the room, adjusting the cloth wraps on a small, quiet bundle in her arms. Her white robes were simple. Travel-worn but clean. Her expression didn't change when she saw him.
Yuina stood nearby, cloak drawn over her shoulders, her back straight as always. A second bundle rested in her arms—smaller, wrapped in deep blue fabric. She was murmuring something in Elvish under her breath. It sounded like a lullaby.
"You're leaving tonight," Asmodeus said.
"Yes," Yuina answered without turning. "We won't risk opening the portal at sunrise. It stirs too much attention."
Yumiko nodded slightly. "The sooner we're home, the better."
Asmodeus stepped forward, his eyes lowering to the infants without speaking.
Yuina adjusted the blanket in her arms and tilted it slightly.
"You never asked," she said evenly, "but you should know their names."
Asmodeus didn't answer. He looked, silent.
"This one," Yuina said, brushing a pale finger along the blonde infant's brow, "is Aurelia."
The baby didn't move, only blinked once in her sleep, eyes twitching beneath her closed lids.
Yuina shifted her grip, revealing a second face half-hidden in the folds of the wrap. "And this is Velmina."
This one stirred slightly. Velmina's black hair was soft, flat against her head, and her lips parted briefly in a soundless breath.
"You have daughters," Yuina said plainly. "Twin. Balanced. We thought it was time you knew their names."
Asmodeus looked at them without moving.
He didn't flinch. But something in his posture shifted—just slightly.
His gaze lingered. Not on their features, but on the fragile stillness of them. The weight. The reality of them.
Then Yumiko stepped forward with her bundle.
"This is Tsukihana," she said. "She's not loud, but she's never still. Foxfire flares if she sneezes."
The child made a tiny noise—somewhere between a hiccup and a growl—and buried her nose into the crook of her mother's elbow.
Asmodeus's brow creased—not in confusion, but in focus, the expression he formed when absorbing something he hadn't expected.
"…I didn't know," he said simply.
"We didn't tell you," Yumiko replied. "Not until now."
He said nothing else.
But he looked at each child, one at a time. A strange feeling in his chest stirred as he reached out, causing Yumiko and Yuina to gasp.
"Nngh...Hnnng....?"
Tsukihana's throat made more sounds as he lifted her slowly, a weight barely more than a few potatoes, yet to Asmodeus, the weight was more than anything in this world.
'She.... no, they are my children... my little girls?'
It was a bizarre emotion... like a wave washed over him and filled his body with energy, and worry. His heart throbbed faster and faster as the tiny creature wrapped Tsukihana's stubby little fingers around his.
"Ah..."
The two women watched him, unable to look away from how attractive Asmodeus looked while holding Tsukihana. That's when he looked to Aurelia and Velmina and scooped them into his right arm... his body so large he could carry all three in his arms.
"Hello there, little princesses... You will surely grow up to be beauties like your mothers..."
Their eyes barely flickered, but three pairs of eyes all watched him, as if filled with awe, fear, and amazement at his face... and the big man that suddenly held them.
He wondered if they could feel the bond, the strange feeling of affection that he did... maybe this was fatherhood?
Asmodeus found himself worrying about things he might have deemed insignificant in the past.
"..."
Asmodeus didn't speak. He didn't hand them back.
He adjusted the blankets with the same care he gave his sword.
The three girls were weightless in his arms, but something about it felt heavier than any war he'd fought. Not in a burdensome way—more like… permanence.
He turned without a word and began walking.
Yumiko and Yuina followed a few steps behind, their kimonos moving softly with each step, sleeves brushing the air. They didn't question him, didn't rush him. They understood better than anyone how rare it was for him to hold still, let alone carry something delicate.
The halls were quiet as they passed.
No guards interrupted. No aides approached.
The Citadel itself seemed to recognise what was happening and gave way without resistance.
Tsukihana wriggled once, a small sigh escaping her lips, her cheek pressed softly against his collar. Aurelia blinked twice in her sleep, and Velmina barely moved—except her fingers, which slowly curled around the edge of Asmodeus's tunic.
He glanced down just once.
They were real.
Not symbols. Not titles. Just his daughters.
And they were small enough to lose if he ever let go.
They passed through the upper arch near the eastern overlook. It wasn't much—just a stone platform with a narrow view of the valley below. Wind moved through it like breath. Cold, but not harsh.
He stopped there.
Yumiko stepped up beside him now, holding her sleeves closed across her chest.
"They won't remember this," she said.
"I will," Asmodeus replied.
Yuina said nothing.
But she looked at him differently now, confused between her imagined response and the kind, soft and affectionate atmosphere he gave off. Her eyes lingered because it made such an impact that she wanted to stay... forget her empire.
Asmodeus adjusted Aurelia slightly as the wind pulled at the ends of her blanket.
"She'll be the hardest to read," he said quietly.
Yuina raised a brow. "How do you know?"
He looked down again. Aurelia's mouth had shifted slightly into a faint frown, even in her sleep.
"She makes the same faces you do," he said.
Yuina didn't smile at first, but when she noticed his loving smile, she couldn't help but blush and didn't argue.
Yumiko stepped forward now. "And the others?"
"Velmina is cute... she reminds me a bit of my mother, though her small eyebrows are just like my lovely wife."
Once again, Yuina's cheeks became hot, but she turned away, huffing and pouting.
"And Tsukihana..."
He paused.
Yumiko turned to him.
"She's like a perfect mix of her pretty mother and her handsome father."
"Ack..." Yumiko couldn't help but laugh, before she poked his back, her cheeks also a little pink, but she seemed annoyed he called himself handsome.... "But she does have your eyes..."
"They're much softer... so she won't look angry all the time, haha."
Asmodeus looked out across the Citadel, stone by stone, all of it being rebuilt beneath the dimming sky.
This was what they would inherit.
And that was starting to matter more than he expected.
"Thank you for giving birth to such wonderful daughters, Yuina, Yumiko. I am truly happy right now... to have my own family once again."
That's right, this feeling he felt in his chest, a small flame growing larger and larger that he wanted to protect... it was the feeling of wanting to protect his family.
