Chapter 261: 138

Tezznin was bored, but remained patient during Heaven's training. This was her second day of training, and she was supposed to reward the same men from last time. They really did something horrible every day and Heaven thought this rewarding system must be tiring if it is done so frequently. But she knew that wasn't the case. They just wanted to mislead her and therefore doing it more often now. 

The demons that she had sent with a mission last time came back with some answers. Gael, the young demon with the soothing voice, had done his homework. He came back educated and shared his knowledge with her. Heaven had to admit that he was good at explaining and he came with very useful information. She could see that Tezznin started to listen after some time and would even ask questions. 

She was the devil's daughter, after all. The information seemed beneficial to her as well. 

Gael explained the importance of having the right people by her side to succeed as a ruler. 

Well, that was the problem. Since she was a woman, people would be more hesitant to support her, even if she became worthy of being a ruler. After thinking for a while, she came to the conclusion that she needed demons by her side. Demons weren't gender focused, but there was another kind of hierarchy in the demon world. The power ranks. Older, pure blood or created demons were highest on the rank, and she was neither. But having an ancient demon as her mate would help her climb the ladder of power. 

Now she had Ilyas. She needed more trustworthy demons, and she didn't know why she was looking at Gael as an option. There was something about him she liked, even though he resided in this kingdom and participated in indecent acts. She usually had a gut feeling about people, and it often turned out to be true. She wanted to know more about him. 

"Thank you, Gael." Heaven told him after he finished his lesson. But Gael didn't leave, and Heaven realized that he was waiting for his reward. 

Turning to Tezznin, "How do you reward them?" She asked. 

"I grant them a wish." Tezznin replied. "Usually they want more power. Isn't that the case with you as well?" She asked him. 

Gael nodded. "Yes, My Lady." 

Heaven became curious. What kind of power would he be given? 

"We have different ranking system here. The oldest are not the most powerful. The most powerful are of course my father and us, his family. The rest are ranked depending on how well they execute their mission. Those who impress us the most, are placed in a higher rank. They are meant to be respected and listened to. They are given power and authority." 

Heaven wasn't surprised. It made sense. Her grandfather gave more power to the cunning ones. 

Tezznin rewarded Gael, and then showed her around the castle. The ones in the highest ranks got to live in the most luxurious parts of the kingdom. If they kept doing well, they would keep living there or they could lose their position to someone who did a better job. 

It looked like they were all power hungry. Wealth, women, liquor, parties, and obscenity were part of their daily lives. There was a lot of competition between the demons, and they seemed to be pitted against each other. A clever way to make them commit the most cruel acts in order to beat the other and become the more powerful one. 

"You will learn how everything works, eventually." Tezznin said. 

She spoke about things that people would usually be ashamed of and never admit like it was nothing. Bad things were common. Sin was natural. Cruelty was justified and irresponsibility was freedom. It scared her how Tezznin spoke, as if this would all be normal to her, eventually. That would mean that she had seen it happen many times. 

It made her think of Zarin. Beside the golden freckles in his eyes that disturbed her, something in his gaze had changed. She wondered why he didn't get back to her after delivering the letters yesterday. Or did he not deliver them? 

Maybe not. 

She really wanted to assure her parents. With Zamiel she still had some kind of connection, but her parents seemed far away. If Zamiel visited her dreams again, she would ask him to assure them. Maybe he already did, if he had a plan. 

On her way back to the room she came by the hall where she had seen the paintings on the wall. But strangely, they were gone. Not even a single one remained. It looked like there had never been a painting there before. 

"You are here." It was the stranger that looked like Zamiel. 

He appeared beside her, and she avoided to look at him. She was still disturbed and annoyed by the fact that he looked like Zamiel. 

"This wall was painted?" She said. 

"Yes." 

"Where is the painting?" 

"I don't know. Maybe there will be a new painting." He said. "Why are you so upset about it?" 

Was she?

"I am not upset." She said. 

"You sound upset." 

She shook her head at him. 

Not feeling like having a conversation in the hall alone with this disturbing stranger, she decided to leave when he grabbed her arm to stop her. 

"Are you afraid?" He asked. 

"Of what?" Heaven tried to pull her arm away, but he held it firmly. 

"Of feeling attracted to me." 

Heaven scoffed. "I am not the one chasing the other." 

He drew her closer, and Heaven grimaced. "I won't have to chase you if you don't run." He smirked. 

Heaven was about to draw power from him and throw him across the room when a familiar voice startled her. 

"Let her go!"

The voice was authoritative, and it belonged to none other than Zarin. He approached them steadily and with an angry look on his face. The stranger let go of her arm without resistance. 

Heaven thought it was strange at first since she knew this demon was much older than Zarin, but then she realized what was happening. 

Zarin was in a higher rank in this kingdom. 

The way the stranger listened to him and left, shocked her. Heaven stared at Zarin with heart pounding. What had he done? 

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