Whelp, here I was back in the guillotine again.

“It’s okay, Mr. Ryley.” Violetta turned her head toward me like we were at some kind of macabre sleepover where the sleeping bags were replaced with execution apparatuses. “You did your best!”

I didn’t answer. This was all her fault. All because she had to be framed for murder. Hell, for all I knew, she was the one that did it. Everything seemed to point to her.

I moved my neck as much as I could to see what was going on. The audience was talking amongst themselves. Lyili was standing and speaking with the king about something. I couldn’t see Yaika, and thankfully, it looked like Minzfel hadn’t made it back yet. It seemed like there would be a little time before the execution. If I could only figure out a way to get out of this before then…

“Hey, you did good out there,” Brad whispered from behind me. “Sorry it didn’t work out, bro.”

Why was everyone patting me on the back like I had just lost a little league game or something? I was about to fucking die.

“Well I guess you’re not getting your ice cream,” I said. I doubted that would persuade him to help me escape, but it was worth a shot.

We were all quiet for a few moments.

Brad suddenly spoke up again. “Don’t worry about it, bro.”

“…How can I not worry about it?”

Brad made his whisper even quieter. “Ms. Lyili.... It wouldn’t have worked out, man.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I started yelling.

Brad shushed me. “She’s a Flereous.”

I sighed. “So what?”

“You don’t have those in your world either?”

“Of course I don’t,” I snapped. “I’ve never seen a demon in my world. Why would I know anything about what a ‘Flereous’ is?”

“They’re really hot,” Brad said. “Like, literally. They can make fire, you know. That’s why they don’t wear any clothes. So yeah, sex wouldn’t work. Your… uh, stuff would melt.”

Oh my god. The last thing on my mind was trying to get into Lyili’s non-existent pants. Wait… what?

“Brad…” It felt like I had just been punched in the stomach. “What did you just say?”

“Y-You know,” Brad stumbled over his words. “She’s… really warm inside, if you know what I’m saying, bro.”

“No. Not that.” My gums ached from clenching my teeth so hard. “What the fuck was that about her… being able to make fire?”

“Lots of demons can make fire, bro. Lich, Dragons…”

“Are you talking about fire magic?” Violetta asked excitedly. “Succubi can use it too, you know. Although it’s really the only magic we can do… Anyway, look!” She lifted up one of her fingers, and a small flame sparked into existence. “And I can make it fly… Um, are you alright, Mr. Ryley? Your… face is turning red.”

A burning rage bubbled up from deep inside of me. Fire? Succubi could make FIRE? The fucking thing that set off fire sprinklers? And no one thought to mention that to me even once? I mean, I guess I should have thought about it. Of course demons had magic. I was so caught up in trying to sound like I knew what I was doing, it never even crossed my mind.

No. They should have told me. This was it. This was the last straw.

“YOU IDIOTS!”

The whole room looked at me like I had just screamed as loudly as I possibly could. Which, I had.

“Mr. Allard…” The king stood up from his throne. “Is… Is everything alright?”

“No everything is not alright!” I shouted. “Succubi can make fire!”

The king exchanged a look with Lyili. “…And?”

“And that’s exactly how they made the fire sprinklers go off!”

“Oh,” the king said. “Well I suppose that clears up how Violetta did it then. Thank you for letting us know.”

“No, that’s not how Violetta did it!”

“…How did she do it then?”

“God damn it, I’m trying to say that Violetta didn’t do it! Let me out of here and I can prove it!”

The crowd burst out cheering.

“Yeaaaaah boi!”

“Show ‘em Violetta’s innocent!”

“You don’t suck!”

Fuck yeah. Now I just needed to think of who really did it and how they did. Yeah, I had been completely bullshitting about the whole ‘I can prove it’ thing. Still, this was my second chance, and it was probably my last one.

“Oh, wow,” a lazy voice came from behind me. “How exciting.” Apparently, Yaika had been standing behind me this whole time without saying a single word. God, she was weird.

When the crowd finally settled down, the king spoke again. “Ms. Lyili, what do you think?”

“Sir Allard… are you trying to escape my blade again?” Lyili heaved, holding her hands close to her chest. “I’ve… I’ve never been so humiliated.”

I couldn’t tell if she was angry or turned on. I assumed it was both.

The king seemed uncomfortable. “Uh… should we… allow the trial to continue?”

“Ugh…” Lyili kept her hands on her chest. “Only… if Sir Allard can prove that he has new testimony that will change what we know about the murder…”

Oh, right. I was supposed to be thinking of something. Shit. “Of course, I have new testimony…”

“Who?” Lyili asked.

I looked around frantically. Finally, my eyes fell on a pair of light pink lips curled up into a reassuring smile. “Violetta!”

Violetta took a few seconds to respond. “Wait, me?”

“Yes, she, uh, has very important testimony about the moments before Volk was murdered,” I said.

“That sounds preeetty important, father,” Yaika said.

The king put his hand on his chin. “Hmm… that does sound important. Brad, please let Mr. Allard and Ms. Violetta out at once. The trial is resuming!” The crowd cheered again.

Yep, that was all I could think of. I was banking on Volk hitting his foot on the inside of his desk.

I really didn’t want to have to put my head back in that guillotine for a third time.