Reborn as a Succubus: Time To Live My Best Life!

Melisa, Isabella, and Armia strolled down the cobblestone street, their laughter echoing off the buildings.

"So," Armia drawled, her eyebrow raised so high it threatened to escape her forehead entirely, "you two just happened to 'get lost' for half the day again?"

Isabella grinned, her canines glinting in the fading light.

"What can I say? The layout of Syux Academy is very... complicated."

Melisa snorted, trying and failing to keep a straight face. It was obvious they'd been fucking the whole time, but, hey, why not have some fun with it?

"Oh yeah, super complicated. All those winding corridors and mysterious rooms. Why, we could've ended up anywhere!"

"Uh-huh," Armia said, her tone dryer than a desert in the middle of a drought. "And I suppose that 'anywhere' just happened to be a conveniently private spot where you could... You know."

"Now, now," Isabella replied, her eyes twinkling. "You know a lady doesn't kiss and tell."

"Since when are you a lady?"

Isabella gasped in mock offense.

"I'll have you know I'm the very picture of refinement and grace!"

To demonstrate, Isabella suddenly struck a pose in the middle of the street. One hand on her hip, the other dramatically thrown across her forehead, she affected an exaggerated high-class accent.

"Oh, darling Melisa! Your purple visage sets my loins aflame with desire! Please, ravish me post-haste!"

Melisa, playing along, dropped to one knee before Isabella.

"My dearest Isabella! Your beauty outshines the stars themselves! I shall worship at the altar of your wet-"

"For fuck's sake," Armia groaned, though she was clearly trying not to laugh. "Can you two keep it in your pants for five minutes?"

Isabella turned to Armia with a predatory grin.

"Why, Armia dear, are you feeling left out? There's plenty of us to go around~"

As they approached Javir's manor, Melisa's ears perked up at the sound of voices drifting through an open window. She recognized one immediately as Kimiko's, but the other was unfamiliar - a man's voice, deep but not unkind.

"Looks like we've got company," Melisa murmured, nodding towards the window.

The trio exchanged curious glances before pushing open the heavy oak door and stepping into the manor's lavish entryway. They followed the voices to the sitting room, where they found Kimiko lounging on a plush couch, engaged in conversation with a well-dressed man.

Kimiko's eyes lit up as she spotted them.

"Ah, girls! Perfect timing. Come in, come in!"

The man turned, revealing a face that looked like it had seen its fair share of both laughter and worry. His eyes twinkled with curiosity as he took in the newcomers.

"Lord Malachim," Kimiko said, gesturing gracefully, "allow me to introduce my daughter Isabella, and her friends Melisa and Armia."

Lord Malachim stood, offering a slight bow.

"A pleasure to meet you all. I've heard... interesting things about you three."

Isabella grinned.

"All good things, I hope?"

"That depends on your definition of 'good', I suppose," he replied with a chuckle.

Kimiko rose from the couch, her movements fluid and graceful.

"Lord Malachim has just agreed to let us host our little presentation in one of the city's most prestigious markets."

Melisa blinked, feeling like she'd just walked into the middle of a play without knowing her lines.

"Presentation? Oh, the one you and Izzy were talking about?"

Lord Malachim's eyebrows rose.

"This is that Blackflame girl, isn't she?"

"The very one."

"Ahh, she looks... intriguing, to be sure."

"Indeed she does," Kimiko purred, winking at the man. "Now, let me tell her about what we decided. Why don't you run along, and I'll handle things from here?"

Lord Malachim nodded, a smile playing on his lips.

"Very well. I look forward to seeing what you and your... enterprising young ladies have cooked up." With a final bow, he took his leave.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Isabella went and sat on Kimiko's lap.

"Alright," Melisa put her hands on her own hips. "What did you guys decide?"

Kimiko absently stroked her daughter's hair as she began to explain.

"Well, same as you already know. This was more so just... deciding the details. We're going to host a presentation of Isabella's wand," Kimiko continued. "We'll tout it as a revolutionary magical tool, something that could change the face of magic as we know it. And knowing our shadowy friends, they won't be able to resist attacking."

"And then we spring the trap," Armia said, concluding what they'd previously decided on.

Kimiko nodded.

"Precisely. We'll be ready for them, and with any luck, we'll be able to deal with a significant portion of their forces in one fell swoop."

Isabella, still sprawled across Kimiko's lap, piped up.

"Oh, and did I mention? These sorts of events have a way of catching the royal family's attention." She smirked at Melisa, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Who knows? Maybe a certain princess will grace us with her presence. Seeing us being attacked would no doubt sway her opinion on a certain case, I imagine."

[Oh.] Melisa paused. [I hadn't thought of that.]

It made sense, though. The girl who saved the king and possibly killed the queen having some sort of merch sale? No doubt the princess would want to see it.

Melisa felt her cheeks heat up just thinking about that girl, annoying as she was.

As Isabella and Kimiko began to playfully bicker, their words taking on an increasingly flirtatious tone, Melisa found her thoughts drifting.

The plan was audacious, borderline insane even. But then again, when had anything in her new life been simple?

[This could honestly work,] she thought, a spark of excitement igniting in her chest. [We could finally put an end to this Shadow Mage nonsense. And if Aria shows up... I mean, it doesn't mean that I didn't kill her mom, but it sure would show that there are people out there who would love to frame me for that crime.]

---

{Raven}

The magical carriage lurched to a stop, nearly sending Raven face-first into Javir's impressive cleavage. She caught herself, face impassive as ever.

"This can't be right," Javir muttered, peering out the window at the dilapidated farmhouse before them. "Miria's sister lives... here?"

Raven shrugged, her expression unchanging.

Javir shot her a look that could've curdled milk.

"I get that as the sister of an assassin, you might want a rustic place away from prying eyes. But, this isn't 'rustic', it's practically abandoned. Are you sure we have the right place?"

Raven nodded once. A little impatient, she was already reaching for the door handle.

With a sigh, Javir followed Raven out of the carriage. The grass crunched under their feet, brittle and yellow. As they approached the farmhouse, Raven's hand instinctively reached for the dagger strapped to her thigh.

"Something doesn't feel right," Raven muttered.

Javir, clearly with her guard up, pushed open the front door, which creaked ominously.

"Hello?" she called out. "Vyra? Are you home?"

Silence greeted them, broken only by the scurrying of what were likely rats.

Javir moved further into the house.

"Yeah... No one's been here for a long while. This doesn't make any sense. Why would Miria's sister live in a place like this? And where is she?"

Raven's mind raced, pieces falling into place.

Quickly, she pulled out the letter that had led them here, holding it up wordlessly.

Javir turned, her brow furrowed.

"What are you talking about?"

"This letter... It's a coded message," Raven said simply, with a sigh of her own. "I didn't realize it at first. It's Miria talking directly to the Shadow Mages, not to any sister."

Understanding dawned on Javir's face, quickly followed by a mix of anger and grudging admiration.

"Clever bitch," she muttered. "So this place, this was going to be where she went after killing Melisa? To be picked up here and head back to the Shadow Mage headquarters?"

"Maybe. Or, she could have meant it was where I would come. She wouldn't mention me directly in any letters. Maybe she meant I would travel here after I... after I took out Mel."

[In another life, maybe I'd come here alone, with her blood on my hands.]

Javir nodded slowly. Then, her eyes scanned the room with new purpose.

"Alright, let's split up and search the place. Be careful, and shout if you find anything... or if anything finds you."

As Javir headed upstairs, Raven began methodically searching the ground floor.

She moved from room to room, checking for hidden compartments, false walls, anything that might conceal Shadow Mage secrets.

In what might have once been a kitchen, Raven found herself face-to-face with a particularly bold rat. She stared at it impassively until it scurried away.

As she moved into what appeared to be a study, a floorboard creaked under her foot. Raven paused, then deliberately stepped on it again. The sound was different from the others, just slightly off.

Kneeling down, she ran her fingers along the edges of the board. There - a small catch, almost invisible unless you knew what to look for.

With a soft click, the board lifted, revealing a hidden compartment beneath.

Inside was a stack of papers, covered in a script Raven didn't recognize. But the symbol at the top of each page was unmistakable - the mark of the Shadow Mages.

"Javir," Raven called out, her voice barely raised.

Footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Javir appeared in the doorway, slightly out of breath.

"What is it?" she asked, her eyes landing on the papers in Raven's hands.

Raven held up the papers wordlessly, pointing to the Shadow Mage symbol.

Javir took the papers, her eyes scanning them quickly.

"Ah, damn," Javir muttered contentedly. "This is..."

Raven nodded.

"Instructions for me. For after I killed Melisa," Raven said with a sigh.

[They were this certain I'd complete my mission. And, this certain that if I failed, I at least wouldn't turn on them.]