Chapter 90 The Weight of Return
The portal spat them out into the Vestibulum’s arrival chamber, and Lilith stumbled slightly as her feet hit the familiar dark stone. The temperature drop was immediate and jarring after Gluttony’s perpetual warmth, cold seeping through her clothes and making her shiver. Beside her, Sera wrapped her arms around herself while Morpheus chittered unhappily and burrowed deeper against her neck.
“Welcome back, Lady Lilith.”
The voice belonged to a guard she’d seen dozens of times but whose name she’d never learned. He bowed formally, and Lilith found herself missing Beelzebub’s casual energy, the way he’d just grabbed her arm and dragged her places without all this ceremony.
“Thank you.” Her own voice sounded strange after weeks away, too formal, too careful. “Is the Devil expecting me?”
“Yes, my lady. Lord Lucian has been instructed to bring you to his chambers immediately upon your return.” The guard’s expression was carefully neutral, but Lilith caught something in his eyes. Worry, maybe. Or pity.
Lucian appeared as if summoned, his mirror eyes reflecting her travel-worn appearance at her in endless repetition. “You’re back. How was Gluttony?”
“Overwhelming, wonderful, complicated.” Lilith adjusted her bag. “How’s the Devil?”
“Worse.”
Lucian didn’t soften it. “He’s been asking for you every day. Wants to know if you’ve made your decision.”
The question hung heavy in the air.
Made your decision. Chosen one brother. Bound yourself. United the kingdoms.
All the weight that had temporarily lifted during her travels crashed back down like a physical force.
“I need to settle in first,” Lilith said, hearing the exhaustion in her own voice. “Unpack, clean up—”
“Father isn’t interested in waiting for you to be comfortable.” Lucian’s tone wasn’t unkind, just factual. “He’s dying, Lilith. Every day he gets weaker, and every day he wonders if he’ll live long enough to see the prophecy fulfilled.”
Sera’s hand found Lilith’s, squeezing once in silent support. “Can’t she at least change clothes first?”
“Five minutes. Then I’m taking you to him whether you’re ready or not.” Lucian turned and walked away, clearly expecting them to follow.
Their chambers looked exactly as they’d left them, but somehow smaller after the excess of Gluttony’s guest quarters. Lilith changed quickly into cleaner clothes while Sera did the same, both of them moving in tense silence.
“Are you okay?” Sera asked finally, watching Lilith struggle with buttons her tired fingers couldn’t quite manage.
“No. But I don’t think I get to not be okay right now.” Lilith gave up on the buttons and grabbed a different shirt. “The Devil’s dying, everyone wants answers I don’t have, and I’ve run out of excuses for delaying.”
“You don’t have to decide today though. You just got back.”
“I don’t think that matters anymore.” Lilith looked at her reflection in the mirror, barely recognising the girl staring back. She looked older than nineteen, worn down by months of impossible choices and crushing expectations. “Time’s up, Sera. I can feel it.”
Lucian was waiting in the corridor when they emerged, and he led them through familiar passages toward the Devil’s private chambers. They passed servants who bowed and brothers who watched with varying degrees of interest, and Lilith felt as if she were walking toward an execution rather than a conversation.
The guards at the Devil’s door stepped aside without question, and Lucian opened it to reveal a room that smelled like sickness despite obvious attempts to mask it with incense. The Devil sat in his chair by the window, and Lilith’s breath caught at how much he’d deteriorated in just three weeks.
His skin had taken on a grey pallor, his breathing was laboured, and the vitality that had burned in him despite his illness had dimmed to barely a flicker. He looked like he was holding himself together through sheer will, and that will was running out.
“Lilith.” His voice was weaker than she’d ever heard it. “You’ve returned. Come, sit. Tell me about the last kingdom.”
She settled into the chair across from him, very aware of Lucian standing behind her and Sera waiting by the door. “Beelzebub’s kingdom was… a lot. Excessive in every way, but also beautiful. He showed me both sides of Gluttony, the good and the dangerous.”
“And did it help? Visiting all seven kingdoms?” The Devil leaned forward slightly. “Do you know who you’re choosing?”
The directness of the question made Lilith’s stomach clench. “I… I’m still thinking about it.”
“Still thinking.” The Devil’s laugh was bitter and cut short by coughing. “You’ve been to every kingdom, met all my sons, learned about each sin intimately. What more do you need to know?”
“I need to be sure. Choosing wrong could—”
“Choosing wrong could be disastrous, yes. But not choosing at all guarantees disaster.” He leaned back, exhaustion evident in every line of his face. “I’m dying, Lilith. Weeks, maybe days. When I die, if the kingdoms aren’t united under the prophecy, they’ll tear each other apart. My sons will fight for power, Armageddon will strike while we’re vulnerable, and everything I’ve built will crumble.”
“I know the stakes—”
“Do you? Because from where I’m sitting, you’re acting like you have infinite time to make up your mind while I literally waste away waiting for you to decide.” His frustration bled through despite his weakness. “I brought you here for a purpose. I’ve given you everything you needed to fulfil it. And you’re still hesitating like a child afraid to commit.”
The words stung more than they should have. Lilith felt tears prickling at her eyes but refused to let them fall. “I’m trying my best.”
“Your best needs to be faster.” The Devil closed his eyes. “I want an answer within the week. Choose a brother, prepare for the binding ceremony, unite the kingdoms. Or watch everything fall apart because you were too scared to make a decision.”
“Father,” Lucian started, but the Devil raised a hand.
“Enough. I’m tired. Leave me.” He didn’t open his eyes again, and after a moment of tense silence, Lucian gestured for Lilith and Sera to follow him out.
The corridor outside felt suffocating. Lilith leaned against the wall, trying to breathe normally while her heart raced and her vision swam slightly.
“He’s scared,” Lucian said quietly. “That’s why he’s being harsh. He’s terrified he’ll die before the prophecy is fulfilled and everything he’s tried to protect will be destroyed.”
“I know.” Lilith’s voice came out steadier than she felt. “But knowing that doesn’t make choosing easier.”
“Nothing will make it easier. You just have to do it anyway.” Lucian’s mirror eyes reflected her distress. “One week, Lilith. That’s what he gave you. After that, ready or not, you’ll have to choose.”
He left them there, and Sera immediately pulled Lilith into a hug that she desperately needed. They stood like that for a long moment, Morpheus chittering softly from Sera’s shoulder in what might have been comfort.
“Come on,” Sera said eventually. “Let’s go back to our rooms. You need rest.”
They returned to their chambers in silence, and Lilith collapsed onto her bed without bothering to take off her shoes. Sera settled beside her, Morpheus curling up between them with his usual easy affection.
“One week,” Lilith whispered to the ceiling. “How am I supposed to make a decision that affects entire kingdoms in one week?”
“The same way you’ve done everything else. One step at a time until you figure it out.” Sera’s voice was gentle but firm. “And you’re not alone in this, even though it feels like you are.”
But Lilith did feel alone. Completely, crushingly alone with a choice she didn’t want to make and consequences she couldn’t fully understand. She pulled out the crystal vial from the Keepers, the one that would show her truth when she finally drank it.
One week. Seven days to decide which brother to bind herself to, which kingdom to help rule, which future to step into. Seven days until time ran out and she’d have no more excuses.
The vial felt heavier than it should in her palm, and Lilith wondered if knowing her truth would actually help or just make everything more complicated.
Outside, the Vestibulum carried on with its usual oppressive atmosphere, unaware or uncaring that one girl’s impossible choice held the fate of seven kingdoms in the balance.