The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 6: Penumbral Addendum

Alastor had been staring at his bookshelf for longer than was probably necessary. He'd long since been unable to decide on what he wanted to read next; standing here wasn't going to fix that.

He was bored, and he hated being bored.

He'd come to this hotel in order to avoid that.

The meeting with The Nuisance had been a slight deviation, but it hadn't really changed anything regarding Alastor's aggravations at the other demon. He had no intention of stopping his music, or his cooking, or his gardening, unless Charlie specifically told him to.

It was the first shred of spine the other demon had offered, though it hadn't been much.

Alastor was now left in the distinctly uncomfortable position of needing the princess to set roles, as though she was some kind of schoolmarm overseeing errant children.

That miserable wretch was spoiling everything and the Radio Demon wanted to tear something apart.

Being ruled by emotion was infuriating, and would make him useless in the event of a fight. Best to just get some sleep, and deal with things tomorrow.

Alastor summoned his magic and altered the shading on the rear wall with a wave of his hand, twisting the colors of the setting toward a nighttime focus with darker greens and blues.

More blue in his life. Fuck.

Just one more reminder that this was, in fact, Hell.

He was halfway to bed when a soft knock sounded at the door. Alastor answered and almost wished he hadn't.

Charlie's hair was loose, tumbling down her back in white-gold waves, and she was wearing a petal pink dress with a red lace choker and heels. The scent of jasmine drifted about her in an aura that practically shone.

"Hi, Al. Do you have a minute?"

He must not have responded, because she asked again.

"Of course, my dear!" he replied quickly, gesturing her inside.

Charlie seemed tense as he closed the door, the smooth line of her shoulders hunching slightly. "Sorry to bother you, I know it's late," she murmured.

"It's no bother at all! Something on your mind?"

The blonde demoness' face looked stricken, as if she was barely holding on to her composure.

"Bad date?" he asked, idiot that he was. Her love life was no affair of his.

"Oh no, it was fine! It was good," Charlie rubbed her arms. "Until Velvet showed up."

Ah.

The youngest member of the V Triumvirate had a special obsession for Charlie and Vagatha's relationship, specifically in that she tried to cause as much drama as she could.

She had come to the Hotel posed as a potential client shortly after he'd arrived, and Charlie had completely fallen for her ruse. Of course, he'd already known about her allegiance to Vox and Valentino, so he'd watched quietly from the distance to see how the princess would react when Velvet's scheme was uncovered.

After all, the princess' strong personality could potentially sway the demoness, and if they stole an ally from Vox, that would just be all sorts of cake.

But of course, that's not how things had shaken out. It turned out Velvet had been planning on involving him in her scheming, and the moth demoness had confronted him with accusations that he was trying to seduce Charlie.