Astaroth waited for an answer that never came. Instead, what he saw was the demoness muttering to herself as she frantically scribbled something in her small notebook. Her blatant ignorance agitated him further.
"Tettia!" one of the underlings exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
Astaroth didn't care what her name was but only her intentions. He marched up to her side, and his tall figure easily towered over her petite one.
"You've some nerve to do that right to my face," he gritted his teeth.
She finally looked up, her eyes squinting. "How did you know I was hiding in the bushes?"
"What?"
"You knew I was hiding in the bushes," her voice turned into a whisper as she glanced left and right. "What gave me away? When did you realize I was here?"
"I didn't know you were hiding. You appeared out of nowhere!"
"Maybe it was the faint rustle of the leaves that gave me away," then she went on muttering to herself, "I should be careful next time. I need to train on my stillness."
She cast her hawk-like gaze back at him. "You knew I was here but were waiting for a chance for me to slip up. You're a sharp one."
Astaroth had no idea what she was babbling about. The only emotion he did feel was his ratcheting fury.
"Who sent you here? Speak now!" His amber eyes glowed dangerously. "Are you here to spy on me?"
"Spy?" The context heightened her attention. "I'm not a spy, but why would you think I'm a spy? What kinds of suspicious things are you doing that make you feel someone would plant a spy at your side?" Her grip on her ink pen was tighter than ever as if she would memorize every single detail that came out of his lips.
Astaroth threw a dumbfounded stare.
"Young lord Astaroth, the Blessed, came to Nethermoor and will live here for a year. But there was no specific reason given for this stay. The thing I smell here is…conspiracy!"
"Huh?"
"Demons jealous of your blessed status played their cards just at the right time to throw you out of your position. People here think that you came for some change of scenery, but there was a larger plot at play behind the curtains. To wield more power than the Blessed. But are they afraid of your return? So you think they planted spies to keep an eye on you?"
The outside world was pretty much clueless about Astaroth's embezzlement of Nethermoor's funds or how he was stripped of his noble status. It would have been a political uproar had this come out. The public's trust and belief from the Blessed was something that couldn't be allowed to waver. Given the public were kept in the dark of what he did, her theories made sense to Astaroth.
"Or it can be that the young lord himself played some dirty game behind everybody's back which got him punished. It didn't get revealed because of your status. The Blessed is a very important figure in Rudaheim. But then…"
She flipped some pages of her book and read her own notes.
"Why get sent to Nethermoor and no place else? Does this suggest you betrayed Nethermoor in some way and was sent here as a means to repent? If that was so, then the only thing that makes sense is…"
His expression kept worsening by every passing moment.
What the hell! First, she takes my side and now she is spouting nonsense!?
Tettia exclaimed. "You somehow lost your fire magic!"
Astaroth stared at her, befuddled.
She nodded. "It makes sense. Young lord claimed responsibility for the eternal winter being a demon with elemental fire magic. Yet you couldn't defeat the ice, which is your natural enemy. Either your fire didn't prove effective or maybe you lost your magic!"
"Te-Tettia…!" The two minions mumbled out of pure fear.
Astaroth's indignation formed a ring of a fiery hellish fire around him. The sparks flew everywhere, but it seemed that Tettia remained unfazed by the heat. On the contrary, a distinct anticipation shone across her face.
"Am I right? I am right, right?" She asked breathlessly - but the next moment turned into a struggle as Astaroth squeezed her neck in his palm. A fatal rush of heat flowed from his fingertips onto her skin, making her body flap for her survival.
"I lost my fire magic you say…"
He uttered in such a low whisper that made the fine hair on the back of her neck stand upright. Gnashing his jaw, he lifted her thin body in the air all too easily. He could have tolerated the blame of embezzlement or that he took Nethermoor's issue only on a surface level. But to say that his fire was ineffective or that he lost his magic was an insult beyond his capacity to bear. His blazing gaze burned at her with hatred.
Fire made Astaroth who he was. For the world, he was young lord Astaroth, the Demon Realm's esteemed Blessed. But only he knew the farce he was putting in front of the world. The ability to wield fire, one of nature's strongest elements, then became his pride and ego. He could bear any blame but not a blot upon his flames.
Else what would remain of me…? On top of not being the real Blessed, where would I stand if I lose my fire too? He trembled with pure menace and hostility.
The young demoness before her coughed and choked, the scorching heat strangling her. The book and pen she held onto fell on the ground with a soft thud.
"Begone…" he threatened to turn her into ashes.
The two minions dropped to their knees, their foreheads pressed against the ground hard.
"Me-Mercy my lord! Tet-Tettia is a little foolish!"
Astaroth didn't budge. "That foolishness should burn along with her existence."
The left minion trembled. "Tettia didn't m-mean to humiliate you, my lord! She just blurts out whatever theory she cooks in her mind."
"Yes, yes! There's never any sense to her imagination. Everyone in the town ignores her anyway!"
In response, Astaroth's embers formed a tall wall of fire encircling himself. He ignored the minions and stared at the young demoness.
"Do you see this fire? Who do you think formed this ring of fire - in which I can throw you anytime I want and burn you into a crisp? Will you now say that I cannot use my fire?" His voice turned severe.
Though her movements were restricted, Tettia managed to shake her head.
"Will you ever blurt out this nonsense again then?" He asked with a clenched jaw. He had suffered enough damage to his reputation as is. If rumors now circulated that he was unable to wield fire, that would only further aggravate the harm to his status.
Tettia shook her head breathlessly and urgently.
The wall of fire disappeared in an instant, and Astaroth released her neck with not so much delicacy. She collapsed on the ground and took several deep breaths. She patted her neck, but to her shock didn't feel any burned flesh tingling with pain.
"Next time, I won't be so merciful-"
Tettia grabbed her notebook and pen while continuously mumbling to herself.
"Fire that burned but didn't leave any marks…"
"Young lord Astaroth can wield his fire magic…"
"Which means fire was not the reason for being sent here. So what else?"
"I think my first theory is right. Someone colluded against him…Who wouldn't want to eliminate the Blessed?"
"Or maybe somebody forced him to slip up somewhere."
"But it could also be that he himself made some huge errors in judgement…?"
Astaroth watched her, speechless.
This was a woman who barely escaped her painful death only a few moments ago. If not for the very, very tiny amount of patience he had held, Tettia would have now turned into a pile of ashes. Yet with no regard to her own life, which was so close to being lost forever, she felt it was more important to jot down her observations than tremble with fear.
Has this woman lost it?
"Tettia! Apologize to my lord right now!"
The two minions screamed, desperate to make her understand the gravity of the situation, but she only cast them a displeased stare as if they were interrupting her mental process. None dared to meet Astaroth's eyes in this moment. .
"Forget her apology!"
They jolted, their backs straight.
"Prove yourself useful and give me some answers or I'll really burn down your sorry lives. What was inside this cave that got my cousin's attention?"
"W-We really don't -"
Tettia's head jerked upward, and she raised her arm with all her might. "It's the forbidden entrance to Hell!"
"What?" Astaroth threw her a dry look.
"I've been visiting this place for a few days now ever since I heard of its collapse and…" she furiously flipped her notebook pages and stopped at one.
"I noticed the birds never sing here! I've yet to see a single nest here. The plant life growing here is starkly different from the other forests. The soil also has a different feel to it," her eyes narrowed.
"So?"
"It's the birds' way of telling us that something very ominous lives here. That's why they didn't build any nests here. The plants that grow here are something that only grows in decaying conditions. All this points to the fact that this hidden underground cave was a portal to hell! Only hell can induce a suffocating environment like this."
Astaroth grimaced. He did believe in heaven and hell but not in the fact that the portal to hell would be located so conveniently on the outskirts of a small town.
"And since it's hell, it also serves as a divine punishment prison! That's where Siri is!"
Astaroth blinked.
The right minion scowled at Tettia. "There you start again! Yes, there hasn't been a word from Siri yet, but she didn't get any divine punishment or is in hell."
Astaroth raised his palm, and the minions stopped talking at once. He recalled one of Zerath's reasons for visiting was to assure Siri's family of her safety. Then he was here again, investigating the cave.
"Go ahead. Tell me more about this theory of yours."