"Clover," Albaric frowned, "Clover, I'm talking to you!"
Clover spun around and leant on the bars, "Yes, believe it or not, my being three feet from you makes it quite easy to hear you,"
Albaric stared through the barred cell with irritation. It was scarcely lit, as usual, he could only make out Clover pacing the length of the cell. Everything else was dark. Albaric let out an audible sigh.
"Then why don't you answer?"
"Strange, I thought I just did," Clover returned with comparable annoyance.
Albaric's eyes twitched. He inhaled a deep breath and forced a restrained smile.
"When will you give the Emperor your answer? It's been two days,"
"I'll give it when I'm ready," Clover dismissed, "I need time to think."
"What is there to think about?!" Albaric snapped, "I know you only told the Emperor about the other Demon Lords to buy time for Ace. But now, his fate is tied to yours. So stop with the games and just agree, before the Emperor's patience runs out,"
"And where is Ace?" Clover raised an amused eyebrow, " I haven't seen him. Shouldn't he be pleading his case instead of you?"
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to see him right now," Albaric averted his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Clover tapped the bars, their eyes set on Albaric pointedly.
"It means you two are not good for each other. He's finally starting to move on, just leave him be,"
"Leave him be?" Clover rejoined, "That's hilarious. He's the one who's been tormenting me!"
"Well, he's not going to do that anymore. So now, Clover please! Just tell the Emperor you accept,"
Clover slunk back into the depth of shadow covering the cell.
"Fine."
----------------------------------
Within the hour, the Demon Lord was once more before the Emperor. Albaric and Ace stood to one side of the court. On the opposite side below the throne, the Grand wizard stood beside sister Leila. The full court of lords and ministers all stood before the Emperor.
This time, Ace noticed Bird was there too. Bird looked nervous. He glanced sideward at the wizard, but the wizard's eyes were moored ahead, with an expression of thinly veiled discontent. Then Bird glanced uneasily at Ace.
Ace didn't repel him this time. However, all eyes were promptly brought to the front of the hall. The Emperor was leaning back on one hand, sitting upon his throne with the same impervious glare.
"Well, Demon Lord?"
Clover wore a placid smile. The marks on their face were fading and only their skin remained unnaturally pale and their eyes deceptively delicate. The metal ring was still tightly fastened around the neck. With a theatrical bow, the Demon Lord bent their head to the Emperor. A malevolent smirk spread across Clover's face.
"I will offer my services to the Empire,"
The Emperor tilted his head back as if the words dissatisfied him.
"Then the Grand Wizard will supervise you until we can cross the border," he announced.
Ace glanced up. The Grand Wizard's barely contained rage amused him. However, he also noticed that this time, as Sister Leila attempted to coax him with a discreet squeeze, he repulsed her by giving the Emperor the obligatory bow.
"Your majesty," Albaric addressed the Emperor, "Will you allow me to assist the Grand wizard? "
"As you wish," the Emperor returned brusquely, his eyes fell on Clover, "I want results without delay. If this ruse or you make any attempt to escape, you won't need to wait for an official execution. I will cut you down myself,"
Clover lifted their head with an entertained smile.
The session in court ended. Accommodations were arranged and it was decided that the Demon Lord would be contained to the tower where the wizard could keep an extended watch as they worked. By the end of the week, a strange assembly stood together in the courtyard.
Albaric, Bird and Ace waited as the demon Lord was ushered to the foot of the tower. The guards were to double their patrol but the Demon Lord was officially turned over to the tower. The wizard wasted no time in conducting the demon Lord straight to his study. All of the students watched with a mixture of fear and curiosity. They had been instructed not to converse with the demon in their midsts.
Once inside the confines of the office, Clover began to peruse the room. It had a high ceiling. Mainly there were bookshelves filled with old books, tomes and scrolls. The lower cabinets contained a peculiar assortment of musty items. Curled and shrivelled up herbs sat beside occult tools.
However, for the most part, all these strange curios were camouflaged by piles of books stacked a foot off the ground and a mess of documents that trailed from the floor to the desk at the centre of the room. Even the fireplace seemed lethally adjacent to a cluster of letters, half unopened or otherwise disregarded. The only air and light that could penetrate the musty study came from a long thin window beside the door.
For this reason, the atmosphere of the room was much gloomier than the lower levels of the tower. It somehow seemed to fit the wizard's own chaotic and depressed demeanour as they settled in the office. And it was this observation that brought another smile to Clover's face.
The wizard with a shrewd and annoyed glance took this smile to mean just that. And as if to cure the demon lord of that smile, he promptly tossed a book into Clover's arms. However, the book fell to the floor with a bang. The wizard looked the Demon Lord over with seething contempt. Clover held up their wrists with a cool smile. They were still shackled.
"You don't expect me to work like this, do you?" Clover challenged.
The wizard's eyes twitched and his jaw clenched. He took the key from his pocket. As he approached, he pointed at the metal ring around the neck:
"The necklace stays," he warned, "I've put a spell around the tower. You won't be able to leave, so don't even try,"
Clover laughed with their usual light and frivolous laugh but said nothing. After the wizard removed the cuffs around the demon lord's wrists, Clover began to stretch their arm, cracking their knuckles much to the wizard's chagrin. He was forced to shift his anger elsewhere. He shot an irritated glance at Albaric.
"I don't need you here," he asserted, "You'll only be in my way. Go swing your sword about or whatever it is you do now. I'll call you if the need arises,"
Albaric and Ace were about to leave the room when the wizard sharply called out:
"The boy stays,"
"What for?" Albaric frowned.
The wizard rolled his eyes, "He's the only one who actually returned from the demon world unscathed. That in itself warrants some investigation. More importantly, he's still my student,"
"I don't want to be your student anymore," Ace returned calmly.
The wizard raised an eyebrow. Ace remained unaffected with clear unyielding eyes. The wizard stepped towards him.
"When will you learn that I don't care what you want? the wizard leaned in viciously, "So why don't you just do as I say for once!"
Even for the wizard, it was an exceedingly bitter statement. Ace exhaled angrily and marched back into the office. Albaric stood apprehensively in the doorway for a moment. He could see his presence would only add fuel to the fire. Reluctantly, he took his leave.
Ace sat in the window staring out as an awkward silence descended. Clover let out a snigger. The wizard immediately shot a glance back.
"You're so commanding now, no?" Clover tittered, "Don't worry, I like it. You're like a little viper. I'm looking forward to this. I get to spend time with my old student and see what he's done in my absence. I feel so proud,"
The wizard gritted his teeth.
"You're not here to play around!" he snapped. Then with an abrupt change of pace, he cooled. With a resentful grin, he then said, "You know what? You play! Do what you want. Then I will get to watch the Emperor take your head. It's win-win for me,"
Yet to the wizard's dismay, Clover continued to smile indifferently to his threats.
"Ah...You're still a killjoy, Michael," the Demon Lord retorted, throwing their head back in boredom.
"You will call me by my title here,"
"What is your title again?" Clover smirked.
"You know what it is,"
"Oh, that's right. You're Grand Wizard. Whatever that means. I wonder if the Emperor just pulls these names out of a hat or something? I liked you better when you openly flaunted the Emperor's rules. Now it's all secret sanctions and the usual Empire bullshit. You can be honest with me, Michael. It's not as fun when you have permission, is it?"
However, the wizard wasn't provoked this time. He shook his head in weary resistance. Subsequently, he sat behind his desk and began to flick through some documents. For several minutes silence reigned. Bird took his cue and began to organize some of the scrolls.
Even Ace gave in and began to read through some of the books about magical items. He attested this to curiosity rather than obedience to the wizard. The truth was he needed to be distracted. He hadn't seen Lord Clover since the trial.
He and the Sword Saint had a good talk since then. It was the first time he was able to really explain his feelings to Albaric, not just about the Demon lord but even how he felt after the duel with the Emperor. It was Albaric who made the suggestion that he keep his head down for now.
Ace thought it was a good idea. He had made the pledge to Clover himself that he wouldn't bother them after the trial. Of course, then, he had no way of knowing they would be confined to the same room. Still, he wanted to get some distance from the Demon Lord for another reason.
Despite his brush with death and all his real desire to embrace his new human life, it wasn't so easy to strip himself of all his feelings towards the Demon Lord. Rationally, he knew for certain it was the best course. However, emotionally it was like being on the edge of a sinkhole. One step forward and he knew those feelings would be revived with a vengeance.
Clover, on the other hand, annoyed with the silence began to pout. They began to trace a finger along the shelves and scan them with a look of utter boredom. They even pulled one out of the books from the shelf but only inspected it with a disinterested glance.
After an hour or so, Clover marched over to the wizard's desk.
"None of this stuff is useful," Clover announced, "You're wasting your time,"
The wizard didn't lookup. Everyone else was buried in their own research. Suddenly, Clover proceeded to knock all of the wizard's books from the table. The slam of the hardcovers hitting the floor brought everyone's eyes up.
The wizard glared at the demon Lord with unbridled rage.