The backdoor to the orphanage opened, and two girls dressed and ready for the Devil God celebration stepped out as quietly as possible. They moved as fast as they could on the lonely road down to Lem's Street, where a supposed carriage would be waiting for them to take them up Gall Stone Mountain and to the Red Palace.
Side by side, they walked, and Kira tried to keep up on her heels until the pain from walking too long hit her and she had to pause. It was something she was trying out for the first time, and she wondered how those noble women and demonesses always seemed to walk so confidently and comfortably in these like it was nothing.
"Ah," tears burned at the corner of her eyes as she reached down to get the shoes off her feet. "I can't walk in it anymore, Evie."
Eve stared down at her sister, almost out of breath from having to walk down this isolated road in the dead of the night with no hope of reaching Lem's Street any sooner. She wondered if this demon lord that would be taking them to the Red Palace would be patient enough to wait for them at the end of Lem's Street for this long.
Eve stared down at the heels in her sister's hands, her mind racing on what to do. It was scary staying on this road in the dead of night with no one in sight. They could be attacked by an animal, or one of those rogue demons, or worse, kidnapped and sold off to slave away in rich homes.
Eve bent to remove her flats from her legs and placed them before her sister to wear instead. Kira only stared at her with tears threatening to fall from her face. They indeed looked so hopeless, and she was already making this journey uncomfortable for them both. She should have pleaded—or worse, given herself to the demon lord again—so he could have had his carriage this farther down to pick them up rather than go through all this stress.
"Stop staring at me like that and put this on. Do you want your feet to be bruised further?"
Kira sniffed before pushing her feet inside the comfort of her sister's flat shoes. It was a bit bigger in size, but it wasn't something she couldn't move with. She watched as Eve quickly forced her feet into the tight blue heels and tried to make room for all her toes as much as possible.
"There," she said once her feet had been squeezed in. "Let's go before anything happens to us out here."
Kira felt terrible as she continued to gaze down at her sister's feet. All of a sudden, attending the Devil God's celebration didn't at all entice her anymore, and she wanted to put everything behind her and return home before anyone noticed that they were missing.
"Kira?" Eve called out, reaching out to nudge her gently. The girl turned away a bit to wipe the stray tears from her eyes before nodding her head that she was fine to push through it all.
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After another thirty minutes of endless walking down a bumpy road, the fine roads of Lem's Street began to show in their line of sight, both sisters moving faster, their hands tight around each other as they moved. Heads high and eyes sharp for any sign of a carriage or a demon lord waiting around to come take them to the Red Palace.
"I don't understand…" Kira breathed out after walking for what was starting to feel like eternity. "…did we make any mistakes in the turns?"
Eve pulled away from her sister to look around. This was exactly how Lem's Street should look if she remembered correctly during her few visits to this place with the head nun. But the problem was, there were no carriages or any sign of the demon lord anywhere, even though they journeyed down to the very end of the street. They could start to see Red Ville faintly from where they stood waiting.
The cold around this place was unforgiving, and Eve was grateful her dress was a long-sleeved gown in comparison to Kira's short-sleeved dress. Kira stood multiple times on her tippy toes to see as far as possible for any sign of her demon lord. A new wave of fear hit them at the possibility of the demon lord passing by briefly, not seeing them waiting for him and heading straight for the Red Palace. She doubted he cared enough to fulfill his promises to a mere human like her.
The tears that built up in her face this time were strong, and she felt stupid for ever believing that it could be possible for two hopeless orphanage girls to step foot anywhere near the beautiful Red Palace and dance with rich and noble people one day.
Eve looked at her sister, who had given up. Her tears wetting the invitation card in her hands as she stared down at it in pain. Eve sighed out in frustration, also because the cold was already seeping through her dress to her bones no matter how covered she was. She turned to stare at the Red Ville district and wondered what could come after that place—the glorious Red Palace?
She might never get an opportunity like this again to see him, her imaginary love she craved to see in the flesh once before she died. And would she let an impatient or deceiving demon lord take this opportunity away from her?
"Get up, Kira."
Kira looked up, surprised by Eve's resolve.
"What?"
"Get up," she urged while pulling the girl back to her feet and dusting off the dirt and weeds stuck to her dress.
"I don't think Red Castle is far away anymore. Just a little bit of those red-roofed houses and buildings, and we would be reaching Gall Stone Mountain in no time," Eve encouraged with hopeful eyes at the road that winds down to Red Ville district—the closest district to Gall Stone Mountain.
"It is the closest to the castle, that's why Demon Lord Raha chose to wait on Lem Street for us, and his mansion is close by as well. But we are not noble enough to enter Red Ville, that's why we needed to accompany Demon Lord Raha to be able to have access down that road with ease. The demons guarding that city would chew us inside out or possibly kill us for daring to have access to that elite road."
Eve refused to believe anything was impossible at the moment.
"D–don't we look noble enough in this dress?"
Eve stared down at their dresses and shook her head—they could never pass as the maid of the lowest noble in Red Ville.
"It's not only about appearance, but you have to have a dragon plaque or something to identify yourself as a noble and to state your class in Hell."
Eve's heart broke further, but it was quickly fixed by the sound of hoofbeats coming from behind them. They both turned to see a fair-skinned horse charging down at them at an incredible speed. The rider on the horse was concealed, his appearance and identity hidden from head to toe. Eve, without thinking, placed herself in the middle of the road.
The horse thundered toward her but halted just inches away, neighing loudly in protest. The rider fought to calm it, bringing it under control. Kira stared at Eve like she'd lost her mind, watching her sister stand tall with arms spread wide, daring the rider to move her.
The rider adjusted in the saddle.
Then, beneath the pale glow of Hell's moon, a pair of eyes met hers—dark red with golden centers, like burning suns rimmed in diamonds. Eyes that stared into her very soul.
And Eve didn't look away.