Chapter 244
“It’s where the husband lives with his wife’s family to build character and develop his spirit.”
“There’s something like that?”
“Yup! It used to be really common.”
All the color drained from Payne’s face.
That was when he realized why Hela had insisted on dragging him to the demon realm.
“But… that’s a custom from hundreds of years ago! And it was mostly for royalty…”
“You do know that for demons, a few centuries is barely a week, right? And if it’s for royalty, that makes it even more fitting for Sue—she’s the favorite little sister of Sermedes, the Queen of the Succubi, and the last fruit of the Asti tree.”
There was no way to argue with that. The logic was impenetrable.
At this rate, Payne would be hauled off to the demon realm for ‘in-law training’, and he glanced at Ashtel, desperately hoping she’d back him up…
“I love it! Payne, let’s go to the demon realm together. You still haven’t really had a good talk with my sisters, have you?”
Of course he hadn’t. They were demons! Succubi! Payne groaned and put a hand to his forehead.
And that’s how Ashtel and Payne’s journey to the demon realm was decided.
So, why did Roman come along too?
The answer was simple.
“Alright, everyone—please put on these bracelets.”
“Are these the ones Carmen made?”
“That’s right. Her finest masterpiece yet.”
“Ooooh…”
Hela had only delivered the news; she didn’t have Carmen’s enchanted items with her.
When Ashtel told Carmen she wanted to visit with Payne, Roman appeared at their house the very next morning with the magical devices in hand.
“Thanks to this, I lost our bet.”
Roman said, his eyes narrowing to slits as he forced a smile.
Payne vaguely remembered hearing about that bet when the sisters had gotten together before.
‘If the wizard loses, Carmen visits him in his dreams…’
Judging by the dark circles under Roman’s eyes, she must have really drained him dry. Payne shuddered.
“The bracelet activates automatically when you cross realms. Everyone ready?”
“Yay! Let’s go, Payne!”
“…Yes.”
* * *
Anyway, that’s how Payne found himself in the demon realm.
He let out a long sigh.
Their residence was a grand mansion prepared by Sermedes, exclusively for Ashtel. Compared to their little cottage in the human realm, this place was positively more opulent.
There was even a garden filled with statues, each one depicting Ashtel at various stages of her childhood—
Ashtel crawling on all fours, Ashtel toddling around with stubby legs, even Ashtel spreading her wings for the first time.
Honestly, Payne was happy to see glimpses of Ashtel’s past he’d never known,
Especially since the statues would spring to life with dramatic sound effects whenever anyone approached them.
It was fascinating… and adorable… and he could’ve watched for hours.
But with thousands of statues, it also bordered on the terrifying.
And that wasn’t even the most overwhelming thing.
The moment they set foot inside, hundreds of humanoid demons greeted them in perfect unison.
They were clearly modeled after human aristocratic servants—but Payne couldn’t fathom how anyone could train such selfish, willful creatures to behave so impeccably.
‘I want to go home.’
Payne thought.
Almost every day, Ashtel’s sisters would drop by, And it was torture for a priest to be pampered by demons, having to watch every move and every word.
By the time a week had passed, Payne was halfway to losing his mind.
“Payne, want to visit Sis Seri’s domain today?”
“Seri… you mean…”
“Yup, my eldest sister!”
Payne definitely remembered. She was the one who’d once tried to kill him. His face went stiff as the memories surfaced, and Ashtel flinched as she realized.
“Sorry, Sis Seri makes you uncomfortable, huh? Want to just stay here today?”
“No, I can go.”
Actually, staying at the mansion was even more dangerous.
Ashtel’s sisters would just ask, “Why isn’t Mr. Pe law coming? Does he hate us?” and give him pitiful looks.
‘Mr. Pe?’
Seriously… where had they picked up that weird title?
Payne thought back to Hela’s constant teasing and let out a heavy sigh.
In truth, he’d expected this much. If anything, being welcomed was more uncomfortable than being harassed.
“Sue loves the soul-seaweed from Bloody Valley. Could you pick some for her?”
“The… what?”
“Bloody Valley. Well? Why are you just standing there?”
Still, no matter how much he was pushed around, Payne wasn’t reckless enough to wander the demon realm alone.
While he was sweating bullets trying to figure out how to refuse, Ashtel always stepped in to shield him.
She stuck by his side, blocking every attack her sisters tried to launch. He was grateful for that, but it was still exhausting.
“Alright, let’s visit Sis Seri’s domain. If you’re uncomfortable, just say so, and we’ll come right back.”
“…Okay.”
How could he possibly say it out loud?
Payne’s suffering only deepened—and Ashtel never seemed to notice.
Only Roman, who shrugged and patted him on the back, seemed to sympathize.
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