Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

This was awkward.

The Eredar twins had come here intending to establish, once and for all, that they were superior to Clea in every conceivable way, from beauty to talent.

Instead, they’d lost the first round to the one advantage neither of them had anticipated.

Clea’s spectacular chest.

The twins were hardly thrilled about it.

For one thing, Eredar women simply weren’t built that way. Their race had a rather different distribution of body types, with most women falling somewhere between modest and average. Reaching Clea’s proportions was already unusual.

And until now, the twins had never particularly cared about that part of their anatomy.

Eredar were humanoid, and their standards of beauty overlapped with those of humans in many respects. But there were some important differences.

For an Eredar woman, the first thing anyone judged was her face.

That much was perfectly normal.

The second was where things became considerably more exotic.

Her horns.

Their shape, color, smoothness, patterns, and ornaments were among the most important measures of an Eredar woman’s beauty.

Then came the tail.

Its length and thickness mattered greatly, with the ideal tail being roughly as thick as a baby’s forearm and hanging naturally to around knee level. An elegant tail ring was considered one of the finest accessories an Eredar woman could wear.

Aurecelyss, for example, wore a high-temperature magical tail ring at the tip of her tail.

Only after all that did an Eredar’s overall figure become a significant consideration.

The twins silently fumed.

Look at these horns.

Perfectly shaped. Naturally patterned. Completely unadorned by unnecessary decoration.

And this tail.

Long, elegant, powerful.

How could any of that possibly lose to two lumps of flesh?

Evenson really is a primitive Warlock. Absolutely no appreciation for proper aesthetics.

Unfortunately, they had finally encountered a problem that couldn’t be solved by arguing.

Their standards of beauty were simply different.

So Salorass changed tactics.

"Regardless, Evenson admitted today that we’re far more useful to him than you are."

Crack.

The purple clay teapot’s handle snapped cleanly in Clea’s hand.

She calmly set the broken piece aside.

The tension in her face relaxed into a smile.

"Something can be extremely useful and still be nothing more than a tool."

The twins exchanged a glance.

Then they shifted back into their human disguises.

Aurecelyss gave a disdainful little laugh.

"If we’re merely tools, then what does that make you?"

She tilted her head.

"A pet?"

"One day, his affection for you will run dry. When that happens, what will you do when you’ve become completely worthless?"

Clea’s expression hardened.

Salorass smiled confidently.

"Putting your hopes in someone else’s feelings is exactly the sort of mistake mortals make."

She lifted her teacup.

"We don’t make that mistake."

"Our destiny belongs to us. Feelings are merely a lubricant that makes cooperation more pleasant. What truly binds us together is value."

Her gaze sharpened.

"Even if one day our love becomes ordinary and loses its passion, as long as we still possess something the other needs, neither of us will ever let go."

"Well..."

Clea raised her cup and hid her mouth behind it as she drank.

"Thank you for the lecture."

The expression on her face was strange.

Part of the problem was the tea.

The tea dust she’d used tasted terrible, and some of it had caught in her throat.

But the larger problem was what the twins had said.

Their words had struck deeper than she wanted to admit.

Clea hadn’t experienced enough of the world to claim she’d seen everything. Some of her ideas were still naïve.

But naïve didn’t mean stupid.

She had run her little anime and occult merchandise shop for quite some time now. During those years, she’d watched countless couples come through the doors.

They bought each other gifts.

They confessed their love.

They swore eternal devotion.

Then they’d come back months later.

Same customers.

Different partners.

The fact that a couple could become two couples had certainly been good for business.

It had also taught Clea something.

Love could be fragile.

Could her relationship with Evenson be just as fragile?

She didn’t believe so.

She trusted his feelings for her.

What she couldn’t be certain about was whether even a strong love could survive the erosion of time.

Clea lowered her cup.

I can’t keep going like this.

It’s time I changed.

The decision settled quietly in her heart.

Seeing that Clea had fallen silent, Aurecelyss smiled coldly.

"A pet should understand its place."

Her voice was almost playful.

"If you get clever and make a mistake, you might end up angering your master."

Salorass added in an equally ominous tone, "And once a pet loses its master’s affection, it becomes nothing."

Clea nearly shook with anger.

But she understood what they were really saying.

"So..."

She looked between them.

"It seems Evenson didn’t do anything outrageous this time?"

"Of course not."

Aurecelyss immediately nodded.

"He went to handle legitimate business. We never believed your rumors. We’ve always trusted Evenson completely."

Her smile sharpened.

"But your distrust nearly caused him serious trouble. If that had happened, he’d probably have been furious with you."

"However..."

Salorass’s eyes shifted mischievously.

"Going to him and reporting on a little stray cat would be humiliating."

She smiled.

"So you should thank us."

"We spent a long time talking to him today, but we didn’t tell him what happened."

"Well, thank you..."

Clea’s eyes narrowed.

Then a sly smile appeared.

"But you still went to find him, didn’t you?"

She leaned back.

"Sounds like you don’t trust him nearly as much as you claim."

"Don’t be ridiculous!"

"How dare you!"

The twins snapped back simultaneously.

Clea answered with nothing more than an unimpressed look.

Salorass’s expression softened slightly.

"You know as well as we do that Evenson isn’t exactly trustworthy in certain areas. So naturally, we have to keep a closer eye on him."

She paused.

"Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same way."

"Oh..."

Clea slowly nodded.

So that’s what this is.

They hadn’t come here merely to argue.

They were establishing a mutual defense pact.

The misinformation had started with Clea, certainly.

But the twins had made their own spectacular mistake by running off to investigate it.

If Evenson found out?

Fine.

He might get angry.

It wasn’t as though the world would end.

But if he found out they’d made fools of themselves on this scale, the embarrassment would be unbearable.

Clea immediately understood.

"There’s nothing to discuss."

She put on a bright smile.

"Evenson really isn’t very reliable in certain areas. Completely untrustworthy."

She didn’t feel even slightly guilty saying it.

After all, she had two female demons sitting right in front of her.

And then there was what had happened on the airbus.

If she could still sleep peacefully after all that, she’d have to be completely shameless.

"We’re demons."

Salorass straightened, her expression becoming serious again.

"In our worldview, there isn’t really a distinction between friends and enemies. We care about value and interests."

She extended a hand toward Clea.

"And I’ve just realized something."

"In certain areas, our interests are remarkably similar."

Clea looked at her hand.

Then she slowly drew a circle on the tabletop with one finger.

"So..."

"We should form a close alliance."

"Exactly."

"That suits me perfectly."

The two sides stared at each other for a moment.

Then their expressions broke.

"Heh..."

"Hahaha."

The alliance was sealed.

...

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/Sinmerry