Much to my surprise, I was not expecting the apparel of that fully-grown woman to magically adjust to my petite form. Compared to her, she is a tall and buxom black haired beauty. I am just a child dressed as a miniature adult.

She also forced me to drink a potion, it was terribly bitter and I almost vomited. I thought that it was poison, but it was the exact opposite — a healing potion! My twisted ankle was fixed, even my fractured rib went back to normal, and my cuts and wounds regenerated. It all happened in the same time.

"What is that sorcery?" I gaped in awe as I gained a new found respect to the unknown woman standing right in front of me. "Will you be so kind to lend me the secret recipe of your potion?"

"It is called a secret recipe for a reason, darling." She seductively winked at me, a smile tugging on her red painted lips. Of course, who was I kidding? It was tad obvious that she is an overly cautions woman that has many secrets, she wouldn't even bother to introduce herself to me.

"If you are wondering why your curse markings haven't disappeared as well as your color blindness reverting back to a normal vision, it's because my potions only has an effect in this dimensional space."

A sigh of dismay escaped my lips and was replaced with a frown. "Well, thank you for the clarifications."

"Why the long face?" She delicately placed her perfectly manicured nails on top of my small shoulders as she made me face the mirror on the wall. "Look at the mirror, a young lady such as yourself should have a pretty smile on her face."

I saw my reflection within the mirror as she has mastered the art of turning an ugly ducking to a magnificent swan. I wasn't able to clearly recognize myself at first glance.

She groomed my disheveled ebony hair earlier with such ease as it flowed behind my back, it was so smooth and shiny. Not even a single strand was tangled in a knot. She applied a heavy make up on the visible parts of my skin that was not hidden with clothe in order to cover my horrid markings and manicured my nails, polishing it with a soft gel.

The oversized garment and footwear that she leant me earlier was altered to my size. I wore a royal violet ballgown made from the finest fabric with a white dress beneath over a criss-crossing satin violet lace. The top neckline is trimmed with dainty white ribbons as I wore black leggings to cover my legs and a pair of low-heeled ankle strapped violet shoes. It was a perfect fit.

Not only that, she even let me borrow her luxurious jewelries. She has another set of accessories other than snakelike decorated figures. I wore a matching pair of sterling silver dangling amethyst earrings, and a silver beaded chain amethyst rivière necklace.

I still have an Achromatopsia, a total absence of color vision. With that in mind, she gave me a thorough visual color description of my outfit and accessories. 

"Thank you very much for your efforts," I turned around and gave her a genuine smile. "May I now ask what is this for?"

"I only wanted to make you look appropriate in front of His Highness." She wrapped her hand around mine and gently pulled me closer. "Now that you look even more beautiful, we should hurry up and have some fun~" Her voice leaped with excitement as we hurried out of her room, dragging me behind her.

She didn't gave me a split moment to ask where we are going, extravagantly dressed. We went through the dimly-lit hallways, headed down the grand staircase and went to the ballroom.

She pushed the heavy door open with one hand as I was surprised to see that there were a lot of guests inside.

But they were not your ordinary guests...

"W-What are those?" My eyes widened in horror, cold sweat glistened on my furrowed brow. Stepping back, I was about to make a run for it until a pair of delicate hands stopped me.

"Calm down, those dark spirits won't hurt you."

"Are you trying to reassure me? Well, it's not working." I retorted, folding my arms across my chest. A frown forming my lips. "There is no way I would dare to go inside."

Before my eyes, it is a rather presentable ballroom crowded with apparitions emitting ominous vibes. A grim and forbidding orchestral classic music filled the room.

"I don't even remember asking for your opinion, honey~"

Grabbing my wrist, she pulled me inside as the doors instantly closed from behind. Her grip was too tight, I couldn't break free. We headed straight to the crowd as we immediately spotted a tall and handsome young man with long silver hair flowing down his waist in the middle. He was surrounded with 'guests'.

"Good luck." Winking at me, she released her hold on my wrist and pushed me towards to the throng of ghosts.

To my astonishment, I passed through the shadowy figures and almost stumbled on my foot when someone catches my fall.

I looked up and saw a pair of enchanting crimson red eyes staring down at me. "Hello there, little one." His deep husky voice carried a nasty breathe as I cringed in the awful scent.

I backed away from him, covering my nose. "It would be nice if you get rid of your bad breathe."

He only chuckled, offering his hand. "Like I told you, you'll get used to it. Without further ado, shall we proceed to the final trial?"

I placed my hand on top of his as he gently held it. His painted red long fingernails poked my palm. "Wouldn't it be better to trim short your nails and keep it clean?"

"You sure do like to pay a lot of attention to others." He grabbed me by my waist as I took hold of his broad shoulder, he even had to bent down in order for me to reach him.

The Grand Duke guided me towards the dance floor as another piece was being played, we began waltzing along with the other ghostly guests of the manor.

"You're so tiny," He stated as our eyes met, a playful smirk danced around his lips. "It's hard to believe that you're thirteen, I actually thought you were younger."

I scoffed. "I'm still growing, Your Highness."

His smirk grew wider. "I must say you are a fast learner. I guess your mental capabilities compensates for your short-comings." This man has a lot of hot air coming out of his filthy mouth.

"May I ask if the man and woman who assisted me earlier were your companions?" All I could do was to change the topic.

"Indeed, have they piqued your interest?"

"Yes. Both of them helped me a lot earlier, especially the beautiful woman with snake ornaments."

"It seems like they didn't even bothered to introduce themselves to you."

His eyes darted elsewhere, breaking eye-contact as I simply followed his line of sight. It was the eccentric black haired woman which helped me earlier, she was dancing with one of the male guests.

"Tell me, my little lady, do you have an idea who she might be?"

My little lady? Is he seriously calling me that?

"No, I do not know." I admitted.

"She is the first female demon and His Excellency, Emperor Lucifer's consort, Lady Lilith."

He saw the shock register on my face before I could even hide it. A small smile dancing across his lips. Then his gaze shifted to another direction and it was the platinum blonde haired man who I encountered earlier. He was surrounded with a lot of 'guests'.

"...I would no longer be surprised if he is the emperor himself." I could tell that blonde man has a greater presence than the master of this household himself, though I sincerely hope my assumptions were correct.

"Certainly not." The smile on his face disappeared as his expression darkened, I could sense pure malice radiating from him. "If you offended the emperor by comparing him to be another nobleman within the demon society, then I might not have hesitated to punish you for your impudence."

A cold shiver run down my spin, making me shiver involuntarily. It seemed like I said something I shouldn't have.

"But since he is close to His Excellency, Emperor Lucifer's social standing, I will turn a blind eye on this incident just this once. I highly advice you to think about your words twice before you speak."

My lips quivered with fear, sweat trickling down my forehead. I couldn't look at him straight into the eye. I was so terrified.

"F-Forgive my insolence, Your Highness. It was not within my intentions to insult the emperor."

I still couldn't understood why am I abiding to these dangerous demonic fellows. Why must I degrade myself when I am not even part of this world? There is no need for me to obey them, but a part of me is afraid of what they might do to me.

"He is a creature with the form of a sea serpent and also one of the emperor's six younger brothers, he represents the sin of envy, Prince Leviathan."

I am not well-versed in the rules and regulations of this world, but it was easy to determine that the Grand Duke is closely associated with the monarchies. Henceforth, he is not an ordinary demon noble considering his connections to the Imperial Family.

What are they even doing here in the first place? In such a derelict spooky mansion? Why aren't they at the Imperial Palace?

"It seems like there are lot of things running in your mind." He suddenly spoke, snapping me back to reality. "...Or were you frightened of what I said earlier?"

There are so much I don't know about this strange dream as well as my enigmatic, current dance partner. Of course I am afraid of the unknown.

"It's both, Your Highness." I admitted. "May I ask what are they doing here?"

"Apparently, those two wanted to escape from the humdrum of their lives." His gaze softened, the threatening glare he shot me earlier eventually subsided. "Thus, they would invite themselves in my mansion unannounced."

I still have a lot of questions I wanted to ask, but I feel like I shouldn't prey on them any longer. My feet were starting to ache since we had been dancing for quite awhile now.

"What exactly am I supposed to do in the final trial?"

Without answering my query, he simply grinned as the song ended. I was surprised when he lifted my hand and placed it near his lips.

"My little lady, you passed~"

"What? How?" His sudden announcement left me totally flabbergasted.

"You didn't fall for my charms."

My jaw dropped, his bluntness greatly astounded me. "Was there a purpose of going through those trials?"

He dropped my hand, freeing his hold onto me. "In the first trial, you displayed your bravery in facing Lady Lilith's familiars." Then he caressed my cheek, his sharp and long nails poking my skin, covered with heavy makeup to hide my flaws.

"In the second trial, you were not able to accept the harshness of your reality and went as far as to delude yourself."

I had nothing to say about that. Lowering my gaze in humiliation, he lifted my chin and forced me to look straight into his crimson eyes.

"And in the final trial, you were able to exceed my expectations. Most mortals failed to succeed since they usually fall for temptation, but somehow you were able to resist me."

Well, how am I supposed to fall for someone with a nasty breath?! If I tell him that, my visit here would probably be cut short.

"Not only that, I also couldn't hear your thoughts." He added as his cold hand left my cheek, he proceed to fiddle with my tresses. "I wonder why is that?"

"Grand Duke, forgive my impertinence, but does His Highness really have the power to relieve my suffering?"

"You surely are an impatient young lady." He chuckled as he released my hair, I could still feel his touch lingering. "Is that what you truly desire? To lift your curse?"

Without a moment of hesitation, I answered. "Yes. I want to live my life as a noble lady again."

"Since you passed the trials, I give you my word to grant your desire in exchange of a price, I expect that you meet your end of bargain."

My stomach churned in discomfort, I was afraid of making a deal with the devil. I know that something bad will surely happen.

"What, what is it you want from me?" I stammered, my legs were trembling in fright.

He smirked and I knew he was up to no good.

"I want freedom."