Our early arrival surprised the staff of the royal land house, but the servants immediately set about attending to her father and strapping Miriam into a rather comfortable chair.

A bit banged up, the angel looked around with interest. Lisa collapsed on the sofa with a sandwich prepared by Rwine, while Satan removed the shojos-mangas from the coffee table. Still with it, it was not possible! What was the next step for him? She really had to reread all those mangas. Besides, he had bought some new ones!

-Since when have you been watching Lisa? inquired the king, handing over the dust jacket of a volume showing a girl as a soubrette in the arms of a demon.

Miriam glanced at the high school student, before answering.

-Since the sale to Lucifer.

Sorry?

-Don't we know each other from before? she wondered.

-No. I manipulated your memory and the memory of your classmates to make room for me in the class. Sorry, Lisa...

Her only friend... was a fake friend. Suddenly deeply hurt, she realized that in truth she had never had a close friend in high school. Her self-esteem took a slap. Yet, this was not really the most interesting thing for her at this moment. After all, she was used to being disliked.

-How did you find out about this?

-Some demons are under surveillance, the angel answered without taking her eyes off Satan. You never know. But the marriage to the king... I didn't see that coming.

-Neither did I, Lisa admitted.

She looked at her husband pensively. Things had changed since they were married. With a dreamy smile on her lips, she bit into her sandwich. But what had Rwine put in it? It was really good!

-You know she's my wife, so I protect her. Why did you keep watching her, Miriam?

-You are not the only one who does not want a war between our dimensions.

This time, her husband frowned. What did she mean by that? With a sigh, the angel explained:

-Lisa has become your weak point, Satan. Now, if you die and Lucifer takes the throne, he's sure to start a war between angels and demons. Frankly, I don't want that. So I'm watching over your wife to make sure everything doesn't go to hell.

Seen like that, it was much clearer.

-I'm not his weak spot, Lisa snapped, swallowing her mouthful.

-Yes, you are, said her husband. So I can assume, Miriam, that I don't have to kill you to protect my wife's life?

-You guess right.

-Good.

That's how Lisa found herself a demon queen with a guardian angel. Her life was really taking a turn more and more bizarre. Anyway. Miriam was invited to live in the demon house. Which she appreciated, considering she had been living in the hotel for over a week. How had she not noticed? Anyway...

-I have to go back to school, said Lisa.

-Why? You don't have to.

She gave her husband a sly smile.

-Sure. And I'm going to drop out of school, blow off my career plans and sit on my entire life because we're married? That way the day you leave me, I'll be in a mess in the human world.

Without giving him time to protest, she grabbed her bag and headed out. It was amazing how you get used to everything. A week ago, she would have cancelled everything to recover from the attack.

Now she was going back to the crime scene, carefully cleaned by Lilith. To strange situation, strange behavior...

*

That evening, her father was still not awake. He had to recover from his week of torture, apparently. Not wanting to know more, Lisa did not try to get into details. At least, not in those.

For, with her fists on her hips beside the bed, where her husband was waiting for her with a damn warm smile, she expressed her doubts:

-Look, we made a mistake.

-Pardon? he gurgled. You don't want to...

-No, that's not the point. The point is that we didn't put on condoms, and that's a problem. We're going to have to do a blood test.

Although, she could already see the lab technician's head studying the demon's blood.

-I mean, I'm going to get a blood test. Do you have one?

-Yes. But can you tell me why we should do one? And what does this have to do with condoms? What's that, anyway?

Ah yes, they had come a long way. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Lisa made a point of explaining everything to him, from sexually transmitted diseases to the risks of pregnancy, even if she was theoretically safe, because she was on the pill. Without forgetting the definition of the condom. Ah, it knew everything about sexual activity, but nothing about everything that goes around the pleasure!

Besides, the more she spoke, the more he frowned.

-We don't have sexual diseases in our house.

She burst out laughing. At his seriousness, she stopped short.

-What do you mean?

-Nature made us in such a way that we need regular reports, he explained calmly. We have an absolute resistance to this kind of unpleasantness. It just doesn't exist in my dimension.

Lucky you! When you think of all the things that were lying around among the humans! Undecided, though a little reassured, she considered him.

-What if you were a healthy carrier?

-What is it?

New explanation. He could have a disease that didn't show up in him, but that his partner could catch.

-Sorry Lisa, but you're not the first human I've dated. They never had anything.

She wished she hadn't known that. Suddenly, she felt a pang of jealousy rise up inside her. Who? When? Where? Then she realized that it was unfair. He had had a sex life before her, that was normal. She didn't, but that was a detail.

-But if it makes you happy, I'll put on one of those condoms, he said, indulgently.

Fortunately, there were vending machines! She had taken some on the way, under Rwine's questioning look. She had thought she would die of shame, but he had not asked any questions. Now she understood why. He must not have known what it was all about either.

When he discovered the thing, Satan remained for a moment forbidden. He undid it completely, considered it, sniffed it with a disgusted pout, before lifting the sheet to check something, under the hilarious look of his wife.

-It will never fit he said.

-Are you sure?

Indeed, it didn't work. What the hell... If he had been human, she would have insisted that he do all the tests, just to make sure she didn't get in trouble. But in this case... You couldn't take a demon to the doctor to ask for a complete check-up!

When he threw the condom away to jump on her, to claim a reward for all his efforts, she thought she, on the other hand, should go to the doctor. It wouldn't hurt, if only to reassure herself!

*

Less than twenty-four hours later, after a day of classes, a blood test and an appointment with a gynecologist, Lisa returned home with Miriam. Having become her appointed guardian angel, she had been surprised to discover the human's lack of resentment toward her. After all, she had been lying to her all along.

She had simply explained to her that at least she had felt less alone. Then she had asked her if it was possible to change her memory again. Which was impossible, now that she was completely protected by Satan's magic.

Reassured, endowed with a great capacity of adaptation, Lisa noticed her husband's absence. Since the return of Lucifer, he came less and less to class, forced to settle the problems perpetrated by his blood. On the other hand, he had never needed to finish high school.

Suddenly, she wondered how old he was. Mmhh... According to the Bible, it was thousands of years. But according to the Bible, he had no father or mother, except God. But, according to what he had said, it was clearly not the latter his father!

She absolutely had to ask him the question.

In the meantime...

-Rwine, do you know if my father is awake? she inquired as she found the king's butler in the kitchen.

The white-haired demon turned to her, a cherry blossom apron on him, a whip full of egg whites mounted in snow in his hand. The apron, she sensed, was from Lilith... Satan's sister was giving gifts to Rwine?

-Good evening, my Queen, he said with a serious expression. Yes, your father is awake, but he doesn't seem very psychologically stable. Did your blood test go well?

Argh. Embarrassed, she waddled from one foot to the other.

-Uh... Yes.

-The results are negative, I presume?

-I don't have them yet, actually...

He raised an eyebrow.

-Your care technology is quite long. Anyway, don't worry about it. I took the liberty of leaving a treatise on demonic medicine on your bedside table. So you can see what our King is all about.

What exactly had Satan told him? With his impassive air, it was impossible to know!

-Uh, thanks, Rwine. I'll see you later. I'm going to see my dad. By the way... that new apron looks great on you.

Was it her, where she perceived a smile as she left the room? Well, it was better not to wonder too much. Given the liberated morals of demons, Lilith had probably taken him as a lover. Well, it must have been a long time ago.

-By the way, Miriam, she said to the angel as she came back into the living room. Did you really meet someone after all?

The sweet high school girl who had been her friend had regained a bit of her personality. A little surly, with attitudes of tomboys, she emitted a not very feminine giggle. With her short blond hair and her beautiful face, it contrasted.

-Nah, I just wanted to know if you and Satan had slept together, so I could report back to the archangels. Don't you want to wait for your husband to talk to your dad? Something tells me you're not going to like the answers he gives you.

That much was certain. After a moment's hesitation, she realized that she didn't want to confront her father without her husband's support. Decidedly, the more it went, the more she counted on Satan. The devil had insinuated himself in her life with a frightening efficiency!

-No, you're right. Do you want a snack?

-Angels don't need to eat as much as humans, Miriam grinned. I'm getting sick of your pace, it's horrible. Normally, we eat once every two days.

Holy crap! She had a different constitution than Satan! Curious, Lisa sat down in the armchair in front of her. A thousand and one questions were burning her lips.

-Are angels really asexual?

This earned her a nasty look. Okay, let's move on.

-Does God exist?

-No, not in our house. Didn't your husband explain to you that our dimensions don't fit the Bible scenario? We are a proud people, can you tell me why I should be in the service of an old man?

-I don't know about that. You protect a woman from a demon.

-A point for you. But by protecting you, I am protecting the peaceful balance between the dimensions. The wars have been very violent, sighed Miriam, tilting her head back with her hands crossed over her stomach. It has been counted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, in the creation of living weapons... Have you seen the zombies?

-Yes. Satan told me that originally they did not exist.

-Yes, indeed. But it is not the demons who made them. It is us, the angels. To destroy the demons on their own territory.

The angels had created the zombies!? It seemed so improbable that Lisa was stunned. On the other hand, she was still governed by the human biblical vision of angels and demons...

-Our good King St. Peter doesn't want war, murmured her angelic friend. Because of the haters, he sent me to watch over Satan's wife. If you die because of one of us, Satan will come and beat the crap out of us, and he is one of the most powerful demons that ever lived. If Lucifer kills you and Satan, he'll want a war too. You are precious. More than you know, Lisa.

The latter frowned.

-I don't see why Satan would go to war just because one of you murdered me. We have only known each other for a week and a half.

At these words, Miriam put her head back on straight, to stare at her incredulously.

-The concept of love isn't foreign to humans, though, she muttered before tipping her head back again. Bah. That's your concern.

Not sure if she understood everything, or just didn't want to understand, Lisa decided to check if her husband was home. Was he in the room? She discovered him there, indeed. An open manga placed on his head, another multitude scattered around him, he was snoring softly, a notebook covered with an unknown writing on his belly. What was the language of the demons, anyway?

Taking delicately the shojo placed on his face, she discovered a classic scene of the genre: the school festival. The famous one, where the hero and the heroine were often confronted in the outfits of a maid or a butler, or opened a guest café or a haunted house course. She smiles.

That did not exist in France, fortunately for her! Because with Satan in the ranks of high school students, it would have ended up as a theory course on sexual relations! She blushed at the thought, and then at the lecture he had given instead of their life and earth science teacher. Now she knew that he had mastered the theory as well as the practice.

-Good evening, my little wife.

She looked down at her husband. He watched her with a gentle smile. Miriam's words came back to her. Nevertheless, she quickly put them out of her mind and smiled back at him.

-Good evening, my little husband.

He seemed very happy with this affectionate term.

-You know that this type of festival does not exist here? she said, pointing to the manga drawing.

He looked desperate, as if all his plans were falling apart. What had he written in his notebook? Machiavellian plans to melt her down?

-What about the tests of courage?

-No more.

His head was worth the detour! Hilarious, Lisa gently kissed his forehead.

-You're doing just fine without all those demon seduction manuals, Satan. Tell me, will you come with me to see my father? I don't feel like facing him alone...

He took a moment to answer. What she didn't know was that her first sentence had disturbed him a little. Finally, he nodded, before standing up. For the first time in his life, he congratulated himself for having his skin color. Nobody could see that he was blushing.