Chapter 02 Gardening Instead of World Domination

“I am Leon von Sulis. Chosen champion of the Crown and a third-year student at Luminere Hero Academy.”

 He glanced around the quaint park. “Miss Molly, this park is within the academy grounds. Access is restricted to students and faculty. I don’t recall seeing a lady of such… striking beauty at the academy before. Owner of such a lovely smile would be hard to forget. Are you perhaps a first-year? A new transfer?”

"Oh. No. No, no, no, no, NO!"

Molly's demonic heart tried to hammer its way out of her fuzzy sweater. "What?! This park is part of the academy?! Stupid, STUPID teleport! I just aimed for ‘the human town, stupid park near the castle’! Gha! My brilliant, demon lord-level magic had been thrown off course. Aura of Leon’s light magic must have interfered with the coordinates. I crash-landed into the lion’s den! Think! Demon lord’s daughter! You can lie your way out of this!"

She forced a laugh, “Ahaha! You caught me! Yes, totally! First year! Just transferred! Molly Moriana! Just a, you know, lowly noble from the… Sunny Beach! Hoping to get a cushy knight title and live the rent-free life after graduation, hehe!” She punctuated this with a finger-gun gesture that she immediately regretted.

 “The Sunny Beach? Lady Moriana, I must advise you, the entrance exams for Luminere will start only next week. Semester begins next month. You aren’t… in some kind of trouble, are you? Did someone mislead you about the enrollment process?”

"Aaahhh, he’s handsome! Why is he so NICE?! It’s making lying harder! Teeeh! It's not the time to admire his good looks!"

“No trouble! No trouble at all! Just… super eager! I got here early to, um… to look around! Get a head start! You know, scout the library, find the best cafeteria… bench.” She gestured vaguely at their seat.

“I see. That is admirably diligent. Though, the semester doesn’t begin for another month. The dorms won’t be open for general occupancy until next week.”

"ANOTHER WEEK?!" Mori’s smile froze. “Right! Of course! I knew that! I just… love empty buildings! So quiet!” 

Leon stood up, testing his balance. He gave her a small, formal bow. “Then, Lady Moriana, I shall not keep you from your… atmospheric scouting. Thank you again for your assistance. I must go and report my… incident with the Demon Lord to the academy council.” A shadow passed over his handsome face. “He grows stronger each time... I must train harder.”

“Right! Of course! Bye-bye!” She gave him a small wave.

He nodded, turned, and took a few steps down the cobbled path. Then he paused, looking back over his shoulder. The sunlight caught the gold trim on his uniform, making him look like an illustration from a holy text. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Moriana. I look forward to seeing you in class. Should you need guidance, please do not hesitate to ask.”

And with that, he was gone.

Mori deflated like a punctured pool float, slumping back on the bench.

“Well. That happened. Ahhh, I better get out of here before more trouble finds me. Dad’s probably turned the castle upside down looking for him and if any of the academy faculty find a random girl with demon-grade teleportation sickness in their private park… not cute."

With one last glance at the path Leon had taken, she closed her eyes, focused, and let the shadows at her feet swallow her. 

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Leon walked on the polished marble walkways of Luminere Academy. His mind was a battlefield of memories and unsettling questions.

"The last clear moment: Demon Lord’s chamber. A swing of Malakar’s fist, which I parried. Then… the Void Lance. It hit my guard, shattered the light-shield. The impact… I remember flying backward, the world a smear of stone and dark energy. Then… nothing. A blank space. And then… waking up. On a bench. In the academy park. With a headache and a beautiful girl looking at me."

He reached up and touched the bump on his head. No serious injury, already fading under the healing light.

"How did I get from heart of the Dark lands to the academy park? The castle is a three-day ride, even by Pegasus. I was unconscious. Did I… walk? No...

That girl. Molly Moriana. She’d been flustered, charmingly so, but her story was full of holes. Eager first-years do not ‘scout benches’ a week early. The way her eyes had darted, too-bright smile… she was hiding something. But her aura, when I briefly scanned for any malign enchantment, had felt… mundane. A little flicker of low-tier, unspecified elemental magic, common for minor nobility. Nothing remarkable. Nothing that could explain any of this.

Unless she’s a far more powerful caster than she appears, shielding her true strength… But to what end?" The thought was preposterous. "She’d seemed genuinely concerned for me. And the way she’d blushed…"

Leon shook his head, dispelling the image of her tan skin deepening to rose-gold. 

"Something is not right."

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Molly landed back in the center of the disaster zone that was her bedroom. A long, weary sigh escaped her.

“Uggghhh, look at this mess. My limited-edition Glitter fall perfume from the Celestial Boutique… smashed.” She pointed a trembling, glitter-nail-polished finger at the sad, sparkly puddle seeping into her plush rug. “That had real crushed pixie wings in it! Do you know how many favors I had to call in with Auntie Succubus for that?”

She picked her way through the rubble, her cute ankle boots crunching on broken glass. “My Sunset Glam makeup… annihilated.” She held up the plastic case, now crushed. “And my favorite bunny-shaped body lotion warmer! Murdered!” The ceramic bunny lay in two tragic pieces, its cheerful smile severed.

Her gaze fell on the remains of her bed. The lace curtains were shredded, the posts splintered. She’d made those lace charms herself. 

“Men. No respect for a girl’s curated vibe. Dad and his ‘weekly mortal combat’ schedule, Mr. Hero and his ‘flying through walls’ grand entrance… they’re like two giant, messy toddlers.”

But as she scowled at the wreckage, the memory of that grand entrance replayed. The weight of Leon on her, his scent, the shocking softness of his lips…

A furious blush rocketed up her neck. She shook her head, the motion sending her blonde curls bouncing. “Nope! Focus! Damage control!”

She closed her eyes and raised her hands. A soft, dark violet light emanated from her palms. In less than ten seconds, her sanctuary was restored. Perfect. Pristine. Deeply cute.

Molly lowered her hands, the violet light fading from her eyes. A tiny, satisfied smile played on her lips. "There. Much better."

She flopped backwards onto her bed, sinking into the plush comfort. Staring at the ceiling, her thoughts drifted from interior design back to the man she met.

“It’d be so much easier if they’d just… stop, like, what’s the actual point? Dad isn’t even trying to conquer the world right now, he’s too busy trying to get his ‘Scourge of Humanity’ merit badge renewed. And Leon… he’s just doing his job. Being a really hot, noble hero.”

She rolled onto her stomach, kicking her feet in the air. A dreamy, faraway look glazed her eyes.

“Would it be so bad if they just… stopped? Imagine if they did stop… If Dad took up gardening instead of world domination? If Leon could just… come over for tea?"

The image formed in her mind: Leon, out of his armor, sitting on her frilly settee, holding a tiny floral teacup. Her dad, still in his #1 Demon Dad shirt, offering him a plate of suspiciously dark cookies. 

She giggled into her pillow. Then the image shifted.

"He’d look better out of that stiff uniform, though. For sure. All that righteous posture, all that disciplined strength… what’s underneath all that?"

Her daydream took a sharper turn, teacup vanished. Now, she was the one pinned. Not by rubble, but by him. On this very bed. That earnest, focused gaze of his, but directed at her, with an intensity that had nothing to do with holy quests.

 "Mmmm... those strong hands that wielded a holy sword… what else could they do? Would they be gentle? Or would they be rough?"

A slow, warm shiver traveled down her spine. She rolled onto her stomach, burying her burning face in the cool pillow.

"I’m not some blushing holy maiden waiting for a chaste kiss at the altar. Please. I’m a demon lord’s daughter. We’re made of desire. We’re supposed to take beautiful things, take what delights us."

Her own hand, with its glittery nail polish, trailed absently down her side, over the curve of her hip, coming to rest low on her belly. The touch was idle, but her imagination was anything but.

"So what if I think about him? What if I… imagine the details? The weight, the heat, the way he touches me."

She let out a soft, frustrated groan, squeezing her eyes shut. Behind her eyelids, the fantasy played in vivid, scandalous detail. The feel of his long blonde hair brushing her skin. The contrast of his hands against her tan skin. 

"There’s nothing wrong with this. It’s just thinking. It’s my own business. My own little… secret indulgence."

Her breathing hitched slightly. The hand on her stomach pressed a little firmer.

"I know. I know what this feeling is. It’s not holy. It’s delicious. He really is so handsome up close. All that blonde hair… it’s so soft-looking. I bet it smells like sunshine and that light magic of his. And his shoulders… so broad when I was pushing him off me. What would it feel like if those arms were around me on purpose? If he wasn’t unconscious, but was pulling me closer…"

A shiver, delicious and warm, trickled down her spine. She rolled onto her side, hugging a pillow.

"His lips were soft and warm. What if he was the one to kiss me? For real. Not an accident. What if he leaned in, those serious blue eyes looking at mine… what if he whispered my name…"

Her breath hitched. The fizzy, charged feeling she’d gotten from their magics touching, that strange pain-pleasure hum, echoed in her memory, but now her imagination recast it. It wasn’t just magic reacting. It was a spark between their bodies.

"He’s so righteous. So pure. I bet he’s never even thought about… this. About what my hands might feel like on his skin. About what his hands might feel like, sliding under this sweater…"

Her hand, as if moving of its own accord, drifted down from the pillow. Her fingertips brushed over the soft fabric of her sweater, tracing a slow path down her stomach. The touch was light, but her imagination was not.

"He’d probably be so flustered. All 'M-My lady, this is most improper!' But his eyes would be dark, wanting. I’d just smile and tell him… 'But I’m a demon, Leon. We don’t care about ‘proper.’ We care about what we want.' And I’d pull him down…"