Lilith taught me a lot these past few days, what magic the church taught me in two years can't compare to what I've learned now, not to mention spending time with Lilith is so much better than the drills the church put me through. I don't need to wake up at sunrise every day to train anymore, and I still learn way more! It's currently the fourth day since the start of my 'bet' with Lilith, well it's a bit embarrassing to think about it now, I already decided to accept her, but I don't want to lose without a fight, so I should at least make her work for it.

*boop* Feeling someone poke my nose, I giggle and open my eyes

"Are you falling asleep already? Maybe we should stop early today" Lilith asked me with a mix of worry and amusement on her face. Mostly amusement...

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about stuff" 

"Like how you can't wait to become my daughter?" She asked sarcastically with that smug look on her face, making me blush a bit

"Not that! Well, maybe a bit... But you get what I mean! I was just thinking about... Everything, really. Um, Lilith, I just wanted to tell you, thank you. For everything you've done for me."

She hugged me close while patting my head and said, "Don't worry about it, I'll always be here for you in case you need me. Demons live for a long time, you know? Also, this seems like a good time to talk to you about something I've been meaning to ask for a while now..."

"Hm?" 

"Once it's time, would you like to become my real daughter? Demons have an inheritance ritual that they can perform on others, to basically turn them into demons. It requires us to give up a small piece of our soul, so not many ever do it, but I wouldn't mind doing it for you. So, what I want to ask is, do you want to become my blood-related daughter? You don't have to if you don't want to, of course! I'll treat you the same no matter what's your answer, but... I would appreciate it if you thought about it and gave me your answer sometime..." She said while fiddling with her fingers, she really doesn't look like the Demon Lord that could level cities when you look at her like this...

"Oh, sure." I thought it was something important, by her tone, but it's nothing bad, so it's fine.

"Huh?"

"Sure thing, I'm fine with that."

"Yes, I heard you the first time, but are you sure? this is permanent, you can't come back to being human once we're done."

"Well, it won't hurt or anything, right?" She nodded, "Then it's fine! You've made me really happy these past few days, so I want to do something for you as well!"

She hugged me tight and said, "Thank you. Thank you, Lily" It seems like this means a lot to her, so I'm glad.

The days passed by quickly, I kept teaching Lily magic while Melania did some work behind the scenes. Lily learned a lot, she can freely use the five basic affinities in any way she wishes, whether it's an already-made spell or something she's thought up on the spot, which she happens to be very good at. With this, I've built a solid foundation for her, and I'll start teaching her about more complicated magic from now on. She's the type who's very hands-on and relies more on instinct than on solid numbers and values, this may help her once she's already learned something, but it makes learning things that require an understanding of complicated phenomena that much harder. It hasn't been a problem with the basic five, but she'll have to relearn and learn holy, space, and possibly dark. I don't want her to get bored, so I'll take things one at a time and teach her slowly so she doesn't burn out.

Besides that, today is the day! Lance managed to get everything done in time, at least the old man is good at his job, so all that's left is to perform the ritual. Thankfully that's the easiest part, as it's already been prepped in a room beforehand, and I just have to put the finishing details in.

"Seems like you're in a good mood today, Lilith" The child whose hand I'm currently holding while we walk spoke.

"Ah, is it so easy to tell? The truth is, my dream was to have a family, but I had given up on it when I became the Demon Queen, and then you showed up!"

We soon arrived at the right room, we decided to use a room in one of the underground chambers of my castle for convenience's sake.

Melania, who had been silent until now spoke, "From here, it'll be just you two. Lith knows how to do the rest on her own, and I'm sure you'd prefer to have some privacy, right?"

I nodded, then opened the door. The room is quite dark but clean, only illuminated by the candles used in the circle made of chalk, while a small stone pillar is in its center with a wooden bowl atop it. There's an empty path in the circle so we can access the middle without smudging it, so I walk towards it while leading Lily after closing the door behind us.

"Now this is more in line with what I expected to see when I first came to the demon continent" Lily said with a smile

"Well, not everything they say is false, I suppose." I smile back at her

We reached the middle of the ritual circle, "So, what do we do now?" She asked.

"You just watch. I'll be doing most of the work" Saying that, I placed my left hand above the bowl and cut my wrist with some wind magic, letting around a cup's worth of blood pour in, before healing it back up. Picking up the bowl and presenting it to her with a smile I say, "Now drink it!"

"Ah"

Nory

I was suddenly super inspired to write this again, so here it is! I won't bother to talk about how I totally took forever to post this chapter, but hey, the next one, for real this time, won't take that long to come out. Pinky promise.