D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 1284 1284 Asteodia’s Parent Problems Part 2

--- Kat ---

Nixilei figured out why the maid was fired pretty quickly and looked about ready to murder someone… but she was behind Asteodiaʼs line of sight so that the elf couldnʼt see the fury in her eyes. Probably for the best. ”That woman basically raised me… and I canʼt even remember her name anymore. I think I hat my parents for that the most. I tried to find out what it was a few times, but hoo boy, I was slapped down hard for that. Or, no wait, not literally” 

Nixilei looked positively murderous. If she had hostile magic of any kind instead of healing magic things in the room would be catching fire, getting struck by lightning or perhaps freezing where they were placed. Asteodia, perhaps aware of this, continued anyway. ”The two servants that attempted to tell me were also fired, so the others got the damned message. 

”Not to say they were just thrown out without anything, they were given severance pay, because of course, mistreating the servants is a sign that you have no class. Apparently itʼs fine to kick my mother out of the house because she didnʼt give birth to me, but not paying people for their work? Well thatʼs just unacceptable. 

”My parents have some fucking weird ideas about how to remain in good standing… and itʼs not even the last time they did it! The next maid they had watch over me was a human called Gertrude. She was lovely even though I was such a brat to her. I constantly complained that she wasnʼt the first maid, that it was her fault the first maid was fired. 

”Not true at all of course, and she didnʼt report me for my outbursts whenever she could get away with it. Gertrude remained just the right side of professional for many years… until my eleventh birthday. I… I barely remember what I was crying about, but she found me, talked to me, and helped me bake cookies. I remember being so happy that day,” 

Asteodia had tears in her eyes as she spoke of Gertrude. That lost, but slightly happy look turned to anger again in an instant as she spat out, ”Gertrude was fired the next day. I wouldʼve cried and wailed if I Gertrude hadnʼt left behind a letter explaining everything. I was old enough to understand at that point. My parents… were not good people. 

”After that I tried to keep my distance from the servants… and mostly succeeded. Itʼs not like I was trying to get close to the first few servants… but I think I actually considered the first woman my real mother when I was younger, not like now where I think of her, spiritually, as my mother. I mean… itʼs been years now and I canʼt think too fondly of her, but she still holds a powerful place in my heart. Even if I never remember her name, Iʼll remember that she existed,” 

*Do you think thereʼs a way to track that woman down?*

[Maybe? Itʼs been over a decade… and sure she was paid to leave, but I have to wonder if she was paid to leave and then… disposed of. I donʼt want to throw shade at Asteodiaʼs parents unnecessarily… but they clearly arenʼt good people so I think itʼs within the realm of possibility.]

[Otherwise? I suppose if Asteodia summoned the right demon she could find that woman again… but the details are so fuzzy that I imagine youʼd need someone at least Rank 3, perhaps higher. It would cost her a pretty penny to summon a demon that could still find answers, and I doubt sheʼd want to ask her parents for money to pay for it.]

*Yeah. For some odd reason, using money to find the servant they threw out might not put them in a great mood. I almost wish I had an ability to help. I mean, maybe dream-walking would… but I doubt it, and it would be just as, if not more likely, to give us false information anyway.*

”As for how I grew up… it was a weird combination of sheltered, abandoned, and also pushed into training. So… I had a bunch of guards following me around all the time, some obviously, some not quite so much to keep me safe. Iʼm not sure I even managed to shit without being watched. Iʼm not sure if I was ever bothered by the stares, or the constant watch they had on me but I wasnʼt before I left… now Iʼm not so sure. 

”Iʼd see my parents… usually once or twice a day at meal times. They were… oddly insisting that I at least seem them around… and then theyʼd go and abandon me for the rest of the day. I know they were busy with stuff and still are, but it really did feel like I was being abandoned. All theyʼd do at dinners, at least ever since I could remember, was criticise what I was doing during the day. 

”Do you have that stereotype of noble ladies learning how to walk by putting books on their heads?” asked Asteodia. Kat and Lily nodded. ”Yeah well that actually happened to me. Except it wasnʼt just books. I started with hard pillows, then moved to books, and then the final stage was walking around with delicate cups on my head. Dropping one of those was not fun. 

”Iʼd study my letters and numbers during the day, as well as a few other subjects. History, economics, poetry. A whole swath of things that never really called to me. Though I will at least say that being able to read and write is a massive deal and Iʼm at least glad they insisted on that… but well…

”I was also trained in weapons, a few different ones until I settled on the spear then I had that drilled into me. Apparently despite the guard, my family does still want me to have my own strength… but I couldnʼt appreciate it or anything else Iʼve been talking about. I didnʼt enjoy the training all that much and the learning was only slightly better. The only contact I had with my parents was during those meals where they would complain about my progress with my studies, or how untalented I was in the spear or whatever perceived fault I had at the time.

”Well, not always. Iʼd sometimes, very rarely, get a few scraps of praise… but if anything that was much, much worse then constant ridicule because when I was younger I used to try so, so hard to get them to show me that affection regularly. When I eventually realised they wouldnʼt I was hurt… and when I realised that my praise was actually dependant on outside factors like my parents getting a good report on their investments or when theyʼd spend an afternoon drinking instead of spending time with me.”

[Kat Iʼm feeling an awful lot like some people need a murdering. What do you say?]

*I say you need to get in line behind Nixilei.* Kat was right. Nixilei was looking practically apoplectic. She was trying so hard to keep her thumb slowly and regularly running over Asteodiaʼs hand… but the rest of Nixileiʼs body was tense. Her free hand kept twitching towards the dagger hidden in her clothes, her mouth was shut up tight and Lily could even see Nixileiʼs wings phasing into the world for a few moments at a time.

Asteodia, deliberately looking away from the rest of them, continued. ”And so that was my life. A life constantly set around pleasing parents who didnʼt want to be pleased and were only there to punish me for failing to uphold standards I was never informed of. If Romildaʼs family hadnʼt been talking about their daughter wanting to set off as an adventurer, Iʼm not sure theyʼd have let me go… 

”And even though they did… Iʼm not sure I ever really enjoyed my freedom. My spirit was crushed, and the regular letters they force me to send, made me feel like I couldnʼt truly escape them. I felt so… free from them… until Kat pointed out that I was still trying to live up to their expectations even so far away from home. 

”Apparently Iʼm not as free as I thought. I donʼt even know why I keep sending the letters to them. I probably shouldnʼt… but perhaps Iʼm scared theyʼll tell the guards to come collect me. Then again… Iʼm Rank 2 now, not sure my parents ever made it to Rank 3. Then again, Iʼm sure we have at least one Rank 3 guard, so perhaps my fears are real. 

”As for how theyʼd feel about Nixilei? I donʼt even know. Or, no Iʼm sure they would find something to complain about just to berate me for my choices in life, but Iʼm not sure which part of her theyʼd pick. Perhaps that sheʼs a spy, perhaps that sheʼs a woman, perhaps that sheʼs a fae instead of an elf. Honestly, I donʼt know. I think theyʼd go after me for her being a fae… but considering all the rumours about my mother being half-human, I canʼt be sure. Though then again, mother insists sheʼs 100% elf, so perhaps Iʼm wrong,”