Eve came out from the head nun's office while staring at the bean-sized pills inside the small blue pouch that she would be surviving on from now on. The color of the pills was pale white, and she could tell they would be as bitter as the other local herbal drugs they had been secretly feeding her to help her feel better.
On her way back to her room in the attic, Eve paused at the stairs when she saw Maya and Gwen pulling a big red bag as fast as they could all the way to their shared room. Kira moved ahead of them to check if the coast was clear, and the three all looked so suspicious that it was enough to make Eve follow them—curious to see what was in the bag.
She hid behind a wall and peeked as they opened the door to their shared room. Kira helped get the bag inside as fast as possible before they slammed the door shut behind them. Eve waited a few seconds before moving towards their door and wrapping her hands around the rusty handle. She was surprised to see that, despite hauling such a big red bag full of secrets, they didn't bother to lock the door—just in case.
Eve slowly opened it, careful not to make the smallest creak. She made a hole big enough for her eyes to peek through and see what the ruckus was all about.
"I will fucking kill you, Gwen, if you do not spill now who sent us these Devil God celebration dresses," Kira said through gritted teeth as she and Maya faced a slightly petrified Gwen.
Devil God celebration?
Eve pushed the door open just enough to see the bag behind them.
"It's only the three of us that know about our secret invitation to the Red Palace to celebrate with the royal family and other nobles and invited guests! Do you want to fucking get us in trouble by not being able to keep your dirty mouth shut about this while you're with your useless lovers?!"
Eve cringed behind the door at Kira's insensitive words to Gwen.
"Hey!" Maya, who had been silent until now, intervened—pulling Kira far away from Gwen when she came too close, almost hitting her in the face. "That's enough, Kira. It wasn't Gwen's fault that Demonlord Khan of the West sent this to her and her two closest friends to wear to the Red Palace to celebrate the Devil God's celebration—like we planned and have always dreamed of. Why are you getting so mad and furious over nothing?"
"Nothing?!" Kira snapped, her teeth grinding like a moving chainsaw as she turned to Maya with a wrathful glare. "That fucking demon bastard just wants to set us up by giving us this expensive shit to wear to the party! Have you all forgotten that none of us would even see the faintest bright lights of the Red Palace if I hadn't dated and given my virginity to one of those bastards she's clinging to now?!"
Eve's lips parted in shock. She didn't know something this huge was transpiring between her younger siblings—the ones she was still the closest to, even though they often ignored her like she was indeed a nobody.
Head Nun Gadgadel must not know about this.
Maya sighed, clearly fed up with Kira reminding them of this for the billionth time already.
"Yes, we get it, sis. The price of us nobodies being invited to the Red Castle for the first time in our miserable lives was your precious virginity to a ruthless demonlord who still never gave a fuck about you. Yes, thank you! Are you happy now?"
Eve watched from where she peeped, her eyes clouding with painful tears. Her hands clenched tightly and trembled by her sides, her lips quivering as they floundered non-stop for words—as her emotions choked her up to the point of death.
She stared at the two she had sacrificed so much for—so they could experience something even most nobles in Hell and famous demonlords could only dream of.
One had gone behind her back to get them an expensive demon-styled attire to wear so they could fit in more and become who they were never meant to be. And the other… her voice sharp and hurtful like a blade… made Kira regret everything she had endured in the hands of these secret demon lovers of theirs—just so they could be part of something that was every maiden's dream.
To be invited once in their life to the glorious infrastructures that made up the Red Palace.
To get to dance in a pretty gown one day.
To see the King of Hell behind his unholy veil of a thousand diamonds.
Eve felt bad for Kira—for all of them.
The silence that followed between the three was the most intense ever as they all watched Kira try to hold back her pain and tears.
"Feel free… to replace me with someone else who will be going to this party with you both tonight. I was never interested in going anyway—I was just pressured to please you both!"
Eve knew very well that was a big lie. She wanted to go but was too hurt at the moment to attend with them.
"And—" She turned to Gwen, who looked the guiltiest among the three. "I hope that secret demonlord lover of yours gets to fuck you roughly like I was!"
Maya's eyes widened, and she quickly put both hands over Gwen's ears to stop her from hearing what she had just heard—and was now crying her heart out over. Maya met Kira's death glare with one of her own before Kira stormed out of the room to be elsewhere.
Eve, who had quickly hidden behind the nearest wall to avoid being caught eavesdropping, watched Kira leave in fury and then returned to see Gwen and Maya holding on to each other as tightly as they could—crying non-stop.