(Note: I dramatically altered this chapter, I'm afraid. I did some very heavy revisions, combining and rewriting both chapter 1 and chapter 2, then making chapter 3 into the new chapter 2.)

“Just how big is this thing?” Jacob muttered, glaring at his computer. The words “Tower Conquest” were stretched across his screen, in large golden letters. Beneath that was the subtitle, “Can you take Dimona tower as your own?” and beneath that was a loading bar, which had been slowly filling up for the last fifteen minutes. It was still only at ninety percent, though it did tick over to ninety one even as he glared.

“...Maybe I should make a snack or something,” Jacob sighed, glancing at the clock in the corner of his computer screen. It was apparently only two. Since it was the weekend, he didn’t have to worry about how late he stayed up, either. In other words, he would have plenty of time to play. He was just being impatient.

“Guess I’ll wait another minute…” 

***

“What is the matter with you!?” I screamed, glaring at the maid in front of me.

“I-Is something the matter, my queen?” the maid asked me, causing me to glower even more harshly.

“You certainly have audacity to ask me that,” I told her, looking her up and down. She was a lesser succubus, a demon whose ancestors had settled in the mortal realm some generations back. She had dirty blonde hair, cut right above the shoulders, with a touch of curl at the end. A long cord-like tail, with a spade at the end, poked out from beneath the skirts of her dress, while black wings stretched out from her backless uniform. Her eyes, like all of her kind, were pure black, making it impossible to tell just where her pupils were focusing. It did seem like her eyes were directed downward, though, instead of at me. I was glad to see she knew her place.

“I-I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Princess,” the maid told me. Her voice was trembling, but the tray in her hands was perfectly steady. It was actually impressive that she managed to stay so composed in my powerful presence. Not that I intended to compliment a being who was so far below me.

“Your ignorance is part of the problem,” I told her, before gesturing to the very tray she was holding. “What do you see on that plate?”

“E-eggs, bacon, and toast, Princess?” the maid said, brow furrowing. “Is that not what you ordered?”

“Of course it’s what I ordered, you dimwit.” My lips pulled back into a sneer as I spoke. From the look of confusion on the maid’s face, it was clear she had no clue what my issue was. Which, of course, only made me more irritated. 

“The toast,” I said, magnanimously deciding to indicate the problem. Despite that, the maid’s brow remained furrowed. “Are you seriously such an idiot that you can’t recognize a problem even when it’s pointed out to you?”

“I’m sorry, Princess,” the maid said. “I really don’t know what’s wrong with it.”

“I don’t know how it could be more obvious,” I complained, letting out a sigh. It seemed I would need to point out the flaw myself if I wanted anything done about it. “The toast is cut vertically; as my maid, you should know that I prefer it be done diagonally.”

“I… I see, Princess… I’ll go to the kitchen and get new toast, immediately.” 

“That’s not good enough,” I informed her, narrowing my eyes. Was this woman new? I didn’t remember seeing her before, but that hardly meant anything. I never bothered to memorize the appearance of mere servants. “By the time you return to me with new toast, the breakfast will have cooled. Inform the head chef that I wish her to remake the entirety of my breakfast, so that I can enjoy it all at the proper temperature.”

“Understood, Princess,” the maid said, bending lightly at the knees and turning to leave.

“And if you bring me the wrong thing, again, I’ll have you and the chef both thrown in the dungeon,” I called after her.

The maid didn’t respond, but I was sure she had heard me. Just as I was sure she would do as I asked. Unless she wanted to spend a few days in a cell, at least.

“Honestly,” I sighed, shaking my head. “You’d think they could at least get my last meal as a princess right…” I just hoped they wouldn’t make such a crucial mistake during dinner. If they got my first meal as the queen of Dimona Tower wrong, even I didn’t know how I would handle it.

***

A small “ding” rang out from Jacob’s speakers, telling him that the game had finished loading. 

“About time,” he grumbled, moving his mouse toward the start button. He was grinning, though. “Let’s see… Right, we start with the classic scrolling text for the game’s background. Lucy the heroine has trained her whole life to fight Devilla Satanne, the demon queen - well that’s a porn name if I’ve ever heard one. Lucy has made a solo trip to the demon tower, against the wishes of the church… Yada yada yada… Bla bla bla… Alright. So it’s like Alice said - a hundred and one floors, ten generals, and the demon queen as the final boss. You seriously wouldn’t know this was a porn game from the description, though… Guess that’s why they put warnings all over the store page.”

Jacob waited for the scrolling text to finish, then left clicked to start the game. Despite being porn, the game had a surprising amount of combat. The heroine, Lucy, had to work her way through a narrow passageway, slowly climbing up the tower, defeating demons with her sword as she went.

Most of the climb was fairly monotonous, with only the floor counter in the upper left corner telling the player how far they had progressed. Every tenth floor, however, the passageway would open up into a wide area; the boss room. From there, one had the option of either trying to seduce the demon general through dialogue, or just jumping straight to combat. Either way victory ended with the demon general submitting to Lucy, having sex with her, and then giving her part of their magic power so that she’d be strong enough to fight her way through the next ten floors. The dialogue boxes seemed to ignore the hacking and slashing Lucy had been doing so far, with the generals and Lucy both treating it as if she’d simply incapacitated all the demons she’d met so far.

The comat was exciting for Jacob. So was the dialogue, though in a very different way. Combined with the fact that every demon in the tower seemed to be a hot girl, Jacob could see why Alice had recommended the game to him. She knew Jacob was almost as fond of lesbian porn as she was, after all.

“Though it’s sort of strange how all most of the demons just look like different types of monster girls,” Jacob had to admit.

***

I held out my arms, allowing my maids to examine me carefully for any defects in my state of dress. My outfit was pure white, with a pleated skirt that stopped just short of my knees and a backless, armless top that hugged my breasts and showed off all my curves. All of it had been tailored to fit me perfectly, and it had even been adjusted the very day before, so there was little doubt of it fitting right. This was my coronation, though, and there was no room for error. 

“Everything looks wonderful, Princess,” one of my maids declared. She was a lamia, a lady with the bottom half of a snake and an upper half that was mostly human. She was also one of the many demons that served me - not a true demon, like the lesser succubus who’d delivered my breakfast, but it was all the same so far as the human church was concerned. If you weren’t a human, you were a demon, and that was all there was to it.

“I have your shoes ready, Princess,” another of my maids told me. This one was something of a rarity: a unicorn girl, with hair as white as white as my own, if only half as long, and a single pale horn growing from her forehead. She was holding out a pair of high heels, which of course also matched the white motif. I stepped into the proffered shoes without comment, slipping my toes through the open ends and allowing my unicorn maid to strap them on. 

“Your generals are ready, Princess!” yet another maid called, opening the doorway. I couldn’t see many of her features from where I was standing, but she seemed to have a faint green tinge to her skin. Perhaps a goblin, then? I didn’t care enough to check.

“Let them be ready,” I told the maid. A faintly ticklish sensation spread across my back, then disappeared. I heard a faint gasp from one of my maids, and it brought  a smile to my lips. It was always like this when I manifested my wings. I was sure they looked magnificent today, as always - each feather as dark as the void itself.

“I’ll make my way to the throne room at my own pace.”

***

Jacob let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He’d managed to seduce the final general, which was good. According to Alice, if you entered combat with her it wouldn’t end until she was completely destroyed. In other words, there wouldn’t have been a sex scene.

“Though it’s not exactly like I really have time to enjoy it, anyway,” Jacob groused to himself. It was almost seven A.M. Jacob had been playing nonstop since the night before, something he would never have done if it hadn’t been the first day of his weekend. He was tired, and desperately wanted to sleep, but he was so close to finishing the game that he couldn’t quite bring himself to stop playing. True, he was more or less numbly skipping through the majority of the dialogue, at this point. He wasn’t even paying full attention to the sex scenes. The game let you make a save file whenever you defeated a general, though, so once the sex scene was unlocked you could simply reload the file and run through it all over again. Even if he didn’t have the energy to enjoy it during this play through, being able to go through it at his leisure later would be well worth the trouble.

“Next up is the demon queen...” From what Jacob had read, the generals were only capitulating to the heroine because Devilla herself was so terrible to them. Even Lucy herself seemed to view the demons as pitiable victims of Devilla, true villainess. It made Jacob wonder just how bad the woman really was.

***

I walked into the throne room with a smile on my lips. I was calm, and confident. The coronation was barely more than a formality to me, after all. I already wielded supreme power over my people, and had since I was mere thirteen hours old. Indeed, there was only one part of this ceremony that held any real importance to me, and that was the Rite of Insight: a holy spell that would grant me access to an archive of knowledge. It had been passed down from demon queen to demon queen. Now that I was eighteen, it would finally be mine.

My generals were already waiting for me, naked and kneeling in a display of vulnerability and submission. A wooden stand had been placed in front of the throne, and atop it was a small box, made of pure gold. It would open only for a member of the royal line, and it contained the spell that would cement my position as a great and powerful demon queen.

Of course first I had to listen to the orator discuss our history. She was a wolf woman, with a bushy tail and furry ears. She was likely quite beautiful during her own time, but her long and wild hair had long since turned grey with age, and her face bore deep wrinkles. She had held the position of orator since my mother’s time, making her something of an oddity. Almost everyone else who held a position in that administration, including all but one of my generals, had either resigned or been let go.

“We begin the story with the Fallen One - Luci…” The orator’s voice droned on, and I found my thoughts drifting within moments. I knew most of the story already, anyhow. How long ago humans and demons, then known simply as monster girls, had warred over territory. How the angels above had declared humanity the goddess’s chosen ones, even though the goddess herself had long since gone on a journey. What’s more, the angels went and created the heroine, a human woman who actually absorbed magic power from the demons she killed. Even killing her did no good - another one would simply be born nine months later.

That was what caused Luci, my ancestor, to grow angry with her sisters’ favoritism. Unable to turn them aside from their new path, she chose to fall from grace and descend to earth. She gathered the monster girls under her banner, helping them to fight back against the humans and their angel backing. She also chose not to fight the humans herself, however, turning her power only on the angels’ aberration of a chosen heroine. Despite being made queen, her goal was to counterbalance her sisters’ influence, not to eradicate humanity or lead the monster girls to supreme victory. Her descendents followed the same principle, only going to battle against the heroine, and only when the power of the angels’ had grown strong enough within her.

Of course, that refusal to take part in battle was a big part of why our territory had been reduced to a single tower. One in the middle of a wasteland, no less, thanks to the last heroine unleashing a rather large amount of holy magic.

She was the one who’d taken my mother, too, when I was a mere thirteen hours old. I hated the entire thrice damned line of heroines, but I hated her the most. Jodeyne. It was all her fault that we were in such dire straits. It certainly wasn’t because of anything I’d done.

Try telling that to my people, though. True, my mother likely could have led us to more victories had she not been pregnant with me. And yes, she likely wouldn’t have died in battle against the heroine if she hadn’t been weakened from childbirth. But to blame me for the state we were in? It wasn’t my fault that we’d made no progress reclaiming our lands. I was constantly ordering the generals to do something about it, so saying I hadn’t been doing my part was just ridiculous.

“And that of course leads us to our current princess: Devilla Satanne, she who will soon become queen.”

The orator was staring at me. It seemed she’d finally finished droning on. My turn.

“My name is Devilla Satanne,” I say, my voice serious despite the smile on my lips. “My mother was Grimmilla Satanne. My ancestor was the Fallen One, known as Luci, who took the name Satanne from her mortal wife. Right now, I stand before you as a princess. In mere moments, I will stand before you as your queen.”

With those words spoken, I reached out to touch the golden box. It was warm beneath my fingers, and I could feel something like an electric current running through my fingertips as I touched it. Carefully taking each side of the lid into my hands, I looked about to make sure that all eyes were upon me. 

No one moved, or even made a sound, as I reached into the golden vessel to pull out a small scroll of parchment. Opening it revealed three sentences, written in a language I did not understand. I didn’t need to understand the words, though; so long as I read them phonetically I would be fine. Once the Rite of Insight had granted me the knowledge of past demon queens, I would be able to translate this and any other holy writing with ease. I’d even be able to cast holy magic of my own.

Smiling, I thought of all the power at my fingertips, and began to read the words.

“Aloosh verocka devort magnina foruus. Groona, sellis rone essel dorma  dorfus noga gillar, divi woon yuul queel maka yota walla ipsiin ritell. Woon deen maka oon det devort ackella.”

Wait, no - that last word was supposed to be ackello.

***

Jacob sighed in relief, leaning back against his chair. He’d finally done it. He’d beaten the game. It had taken him all night, and most of the next morning, but it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go that day. 

“That last fight against Devilla was seriously hard, though,” he complained to himself. Even with power from all ten generals, it still felt like Lucy had been at a disadvantage during the fight. The queen had seemed able to cast a seemingly endless number of spells, on top of having an intense physical attack that could shave away huge amounts of the heroine’s HP. To top it all off, if you actually wanted the sex scene, you needed to take Devilla down to the red and hold her there for ten minutes of real time. 

“And she could heal herself, too… Ah, well, it was worth it in the end. Though I can’t help but feel a little weird about that ending…” Unlike with the generals, Lucy hadn’t been content to let the demon queen off with just a promise to reform and make peace with humans. Instead, Lucy had put a divine collar around Devilla’s neck. The enchanted item not only sealed the demon queen’s magic, but also forced her to obey a variety of commands. The once powerful demon queen ended up as little more than a slave.

“Well, maybe I won’t do a replay on that particular scene… At least it’s over, and I can finally go to bed.”

It was at that moment that Jacob’s phone rang.

***

My body began to glow. A flash of light filled the windowless room, rushing past the kneeling figures before me and filling the entire room. The light remained only for a moment before folding in on itself. Inky darkness rushed back towards me. Then it was over, as quickly as it had begun, and I was simply standing in a moderately well lit room.

“What…” My mouth was dry. My head was pounding. What had just happened? I remembered casting the Rite of Insight, and getting the last line wrong. Then there had been a phone call…? Yes, I had been called into work. One of the bag boys had called in sick, and my blowhard of a boss had absolutely insisted I come in. Except… Except who in their right mind would call a princess in to work as a bag boy?

Something was off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something was definitely off. I tried to think back to how my day had started. 

I’d been delivered breakfast, but the maid had brought me something unacceptable.

No, that wasn’t right - I… I had stayed up all night playing a game, no? And then I’d gotten a phone call… It was my boss, demanding I come into work. Something about one of the other bag boys quitting? He’d insisted, refusing to listen to any complaints, and I’d reluctantly agreed. 

Who would make a princess come into work on her coronation day, though? What would he have done if I’d been late to the ceremony as a result? I was just lucky that I’d finished my shift in time.

Did I finish my shift, though? I remembered being so sleepy that I could hardly keep my eyes open while driving. But I didn’t remember actually arriving at work, yet alone finishing the day.

I was starting to get a headache. No. Not starting to - I had one. It felt like someone was trying to break my head open from the inside. My legs began to shake, and my knees to give way. It took every ounce of my willpower not to scream, even as I drove my black nails against my scalp and desperately tried to hold myself together.

Around me, the generals stayed in place. Even as I myself crumpled to the floor, they waited for the signal to rise. A distant corner of my mind wondered just how much these people feared me, and what I had done to deserve it. True, I had a tendency of throwing tantrums. Yes, I tended to bully any girl who thought she was prettier than me. If I was to be brutally honest, perhaps I’d even thrown a few people in the dungeon. But surely none of that was uncalled for from a demon queen? Surely they wouldn’t just leave me to die, for lack of an order? Yet, still, the kneeling generals around me refused to move.

The pain was getting worse. My vision was starting to go dark, and my nails were digging deep enough into my scalp that I was beginning to worry I’d draw blood. With no other recourse, I managed to swallow my pride and whisper, “Help,” a moment before finally passing out. Yet, even in the darkness, there was still that splitting pain.

***

I sat upright in bed, gripping the pink comforter tight enough to make my knuckles white. Before I could even open my mouth to call for help, a maid was already standing by my bed. “My queen? Are you alright?”

I gave a slow nod in response, not trusting myself to speak. The pain that had been threatening to tear me apart was gone, but in its place was a maelstrom of confusion, and scrambled memories that I could hardly piece together. The Rite of Insight… It was supposed to give me the knowledge of my ancestors. Despite my flubbing the last phrase, it had apparently worked - at least, if you were willing to stretch the definition of “ancestors” to include past lives. It was having nineteen years of new memories shoved into an eighteen year old head that gave me such a splitting headache, and caused me to pass out. Even now that things had settled, there were still a lot of memories to sort out.

I had apparently been a man in my last life, for one thing. My name had been Jacob Divington. I was, at the time, a high school graduate. I’d worked as a bag boy, trying to save up some money, and I’d held a vague plan to go to college. I’d lived in my parents’ basement. And I’d died in what I could only imagine to be a car crash, after falling asleep at the wheel on my way to work. 

It was sort of a pain that I’d died, but since I recovered all my memories in this new life it hardly seemed to matter. Even if it was strange to go from straight human male to lesbian demon queen, I’d in all honesty already spent eighteen years like this and it wasn’t like I’d ever held complaints before. I was starting to realize that I had been a bit of a spoiled brat up until this point, in fact, so if anyone should have been complaining it was the staff around me. 

There was one thing that worried me, though. That game I had been playing before death, Tower Conquest. It had taken place within the Dimona tower, where I now lived. It had involved defeating ten demon generals, all of whom I recognized from my own life. And the demon queen, who was treated to such a cruel fate at the end of the game, had been named Devilla Satanne.

For a moment, I was desperately tempted to deny it. I wanted to roll about screaming and crying, like the brat I had been this entire life so far. At the same time, I wanted to curse my past self for being such a terrifyingly arrogant individual that even my own demon generals would turn against me. Anger and despair both welled up within me, fighting for dominance, and for several moments I could only stare at my delicate looking hands. The hands of a demon queen.

Eventually I had to face the truth, though.  I had been reborn as the villainess of a porn game. Not only that, but I was already the same age as the Devilla in Tower Conquest. That meant I had less than a year until the heroine came for my head. 

With no other choice, I turned my thoughts toward survival. I desperately wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, but there was no time for that. I had less than a year to either find a way to save my people from extinction, defeat the heroine, or simply escape the tower. 

The first option seemed impossible. Even with two lives to draw on, I was still working with only the combined experiences of a spoiled princess and a bag boy. The second option, meanwhile, felt pointless. If my generals all ended up supporting the heroine, then it would hardly matter whether I won or not. My life as a queen would already be over.

In that case, wouldn’t it be best to simply escape the tower? It seemed pretty selfish, at first glance, but it wasn’t as if my presence was actually helping my fellow demons. Most of the time I only managed to get in the way. If I left, my generals would be free to run the country as they wished. They might even be able to find a way to defend against the heroine, and maintain sovereignty.

...Though, really, that would only be delaying the inevitable. There’d still be another heroine, after all, and the next one might not be so compassionate. If we ended up with a particularly vicious one, and there wasn’t a demon queen there to face her, demonkind really could end up getting wiped from the map. 

Even if I wasn’t doing the best job of getting along with my people, I didn’t want to see them killed. If possible, I wanted those who’d been supporting me so far to live happy lives. Ideally, they would be able to achieve the same peace with humanity that they found in the game. Just without the part where I lose to Lucy.

I considered the matter for several moments, trying to examine the issue from different angles. I couldn’t run away. If my generals weren’t desperate to be rid of me, there was simply no way they’d accept working with Lucy. Defeating Lucy, on the other hand, would leave me with ten weakened generals who hated me. Even if I managed to hold onto power and replace them all, after the fact, it was likely that the church would take advantage of our weakened state, whether they had a heroine or not. Replacing the generals preemptively wouldn’t do me much good, either, Even if I could find powerful enough replacements, who actually liked me, there’d be no chance to train them for the job. Removing ten experienced generals in favor of ten inexperienced sycophants wasn’t going to do me much good in battle.

I needed a way to secure my people’s future without sacrificing my own. It was a tall order, and for a long moment I couldn’t think of anything.

Then it hit me. A slow smile began to spread across my lips, gradually transforming into a manic grin. If I wanted to secure a future for my people, I needed my generals to rebel against me. If I wanted to avoid meeting a bad end, I needed to run away. I had been looking at those two things as mutually exclusive - but why? Yes, I did need to be present for them to rebel against me, but I didn’t need to be present after they rebelled against me. So long as I was there when Lucy entered the tower I could simply give a hysterical command for my demons to protect me, then run away in secret. Even if my people eventually realized I wasn’t there anymore, it would be too late for them to put together a better offensive, or designate a new leader. They’d have no choice but to take Lucy’s offer of peace.

But what would happen to me? Running away meant losing my place in this world. With all of demonkind hating me, I’d have no choice but to hide among humans.

That wouldn’t actually be impossible, though. Since this world didn’t have photographs, most humans would have no idea what I looked like. A little hair dye would cover up my pure white hair. I could pass my nails off as painted, and avoid manifesting my wings. My purple eyes might still catch attention, but since Lucy herself had orange eyes I didn’t think that it would be a dealbreaker. The only real concern I had was how I’d manage to support myself. Perhaps as an adventurer? I could exterminate monsters, guard caravans, or perhaps gather out of the way magical ingredients. Even hiding my inhuman strength, I could still boast magical strength far beyond what a human could muster.

I only had one real concern about this plan of action. Namely, I feared that I might be a little lacking in what this world viewed as common sense. I didn’t know how to cook, for example - not without what I still thought of as a modern oven or stove. I also didn’t know how to wash my own clothes without a washing machine. And then there were considerations such as the name of local currency or the price of common goods and services. I could maybe get past the last two, by pretending to be a foreigner, but bluffing wouldn’t help to clean my clothes or fill my belly.

My preferred way of handling this would be to simply learn the skills for myself in the time I had left. Cooking was my main priority, followed by cleaning. I could thankfully already sew, if only barely, thanks to the home ec lessons I’d taken as Jacob. Still, I wasn’t going to turn down the chance to improve that, either.

How exactly was I supposed to master these skills, though? As queen, I couldn’t exactly head into the kitchen and simply start making dinner. I’d draw far too much attention - and far too many questions. Even if I used a spell to blend in with the staff, I’d either get called out as an unfamiliar face, or “fired” for my inability to do the job.

I needed a teacher. Someone who knew the profession, of course. Someone who I could control, and keep silent. Someone no one would raise an eyebrow at seeing, whether they were walking into my bedroom, or busying themselves in the kitchens.

It didn’t take me long to come up with an answer. Compared to trying to figure out how to save both my people and my skin, this one was quite obvious. In fact, the answer was making a very big point of not staring at me in the face.

Turning my attention to the maid who’d spent this entire time standing silently by my side, I gave her a quick once over. She was a lesser succubus, with dirty blonde hair that had been cut right above the shoulders, and a little curl at the end of her tresses. I thought perhaps I recognized her, but it was difficult to say. I had never paid attention to my maids before now. But that was about to change.

I let my frown shift into another smile. The maid seemed to stiffen for a moment, and I thought for half an instant that I was somehow seeing terror in those pitch black eyes of hers. It was probably just my imagination, though.

“Hey you,” I started, wishing I’d bothered to learn this one’s name. “How would you like to be my personal maid?”

***

“My queen? Are you alright?” I asked. I was careful to keep my head bowed, and my eyesight focused on the bed instead of the queen herself. Looking directly at Devilla was a good way to get slapped, and that was when she was just a princess. I didn’t want to imagine what she’d do to me for looking at her now that she was queen.

Or rather, I really wanted to imagine it, and in depth too, but probably not until I was off work. Getting my panties soaked in arousal while on the job was a big no-no for me. Professionalism was important, after all.

My question got a nod from Devilla, but nothing else. Usually she’d spout some nonsense about how great she was, and then maybe threaten to throw me in the dungeon for doubting her. The fact that she just nodded, instead, was actually a little concerning. Whatever happened at the coronation must have taken a lot out of her.

I wished I could offer her some sympathy, but I knew full well that it would just end up being thrown in my face. Again I wouldn’t really mind that, but it would all be over for me if the queen realized I liked that sort of treatment. There was no telling how she’d react if she found out a commoner was getting off to her.

After nodding, the princess went absolutely silent. Standing next to her, my head was still bowed but my eyes were no longer downcast. Actually I was looking right at her, but I was willing to bet she couldn’t tell. Since my eyes were pure black, it was nearly impossible to guess where my pupils were actually focused. Not that it was without risk. Thoughts of the princess feeling my gaze flitted through my mind, as I waited for her to command or dismiss me, and I couldn’t help but shiver in delight at the thought of what she might do. Oops. I hoped she’d mistake it for fear.

The silence dragged on. The princess didn’t seem to care about my shivering and at this point I was more or less staring at her, though I was careful to keep my head bowed so that it looked like I was studying the bed, instead. I was starting to wonder how long I’d be forced to stand there, in silence, when the princess’s frown suddenly morphed into an evil grin. I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind, but I could only hope that whatever plan she’d just concocted wouldn’t involve too many victims. Just me would be fine, though.

I expected her to give me an order after grinning like that, but she didn’t. Instead, she started to frown again, apparently lost in thought. Had she hit a snag? It didn’t seem to last long, because soon she was grinning again.

Grinning, and looking right at me.

“Hey you,” she said. “How would you like to be my personal maid?”

My head snapped up from its bowed position, and I stared at her in shock. I knew that I was asking for trouble, doing that, but I didn’t really care. She’d either slap me for my insubordination, or take back the offer. Maybe both, which would be something of a double win.

She did neither. She just looked at me expectantly, as if she were honestly waiting for me to reply. But how exactly was I supposed to respond to this? In the first place, wasn’t such a position supposed to be filled by members of the upper echelons? Like, the daughter of a general, or at least the granddaughter of a very wealthy merchant. I was just the daughter of a prostitute. Making connections with my family wouldn’t do anything for her!

Wait. Maybe she didn’t know that my family was poor? That seemed likely, actually, considering she didn’t even know my name. She probably just assumed I was someone of some use. Then if I told her the truth, maybe I could get out of it?

I bowed my head, again, and then snuck a glance at Devilla’s face. She was staring at me, still, with a soft smile on her lips. It looked almost gentle, but I wasn’t fooled. She was definitely plotting to hurt me if I didn’t do what she asked.

Well, unfortunately for her, I actually enjoyed that kinda thing.

“I’m just the daughter of a prostitute, my queen,” I explained, keeping my voice soft and respectful. “I’m not worthy of such a position.”

I figured that would be enough to get me out of it. As much as I loved being abused, I didn’t think I’d be able to maintain my composure if I had to deal with it full time. Besides, while it was a joy to be punished, it was even better getting to dish out punishments to the naughty women who came to see me on my off days, during which I worked at my mother’s brothel. While they didn’t pay nearly as much as I got just from working as a maid to the princess, the lust they gave off was as much a part of my diet as the physical food I bought with my pay.

To my surprise, however, Devilla gave me a broad smile and said, “That is of no concern to me. In fact, knowing you come from a common background makes me want you even more.”

Well crap. I wasn’t sure why she wanted someone of common birth, but I didn’t think she had anything good planned. It wasn’t like I could say no, though, when the queen herself was asking me to be her personal maid. My last hope was to get the queen to change her mind. For that, I only had one weapon at my disposal: honesty. Or partial honesty, at least.

“If I worked here full time, I wouldn’t be able to eat,” I told her, speaking slowly, as if explaining myself to a child. I knew that I was being insubordinate, but I’d pretty much accepted that I was going to be punished for this. As long as I didn’t actually get fired, everything was fine. “I’m a succubus, you know. I need to have plenty of sex to survive. That’s why I work as a prostitute on my off days.”

“I see,” Devilla murmured, much to my surprise. From the face she was making, you’d think she was actually considering what I had to say. I had mostly expected her to get mad at me for not agreeing off the bat, and to pull the offer back as “punishment.”

“Then, in that case… Would sex with me be acceptable? We could do it whenever you got hungry.”

“I…” Sleep with her? I didn’t want to sleep with her! For one thing, as far as I knew, the demon queen had absolutely no experience in sex whatsoever. Up until now, she’d always complained that there was nobody worthy of her attention. I didn’t know why she’d suddenly decided a maid was worthy, but she was probably going to be bad in bed. And I couldn’t imagine her being open to tips on the subject, either.

“I’m really not worthy,” I said. “You’d definitely be better asking one of the other maids. I can introduce you to a good one? Rackeel’s mother is a wealthy merchant, so I’m sure she’d be a better fit for you.”

“No!” For some reason, Devilla sounded a touch frantic in her response, and it was hard not to raise an eyebrow at it. “I mean… I want you.”

“I’m flattered, your majesty,” I lied, trying not to gnash my teeth in frustration. “Can I think about it? My shift is almost over, and I’m growing quite hungry…”

“In that case, why don’t I feed you myself?” Devilla suggested, tossing off her comforter and standing “Unless that’s a problem, of course?”

Dammit! Why had I said I was hungry? I could have kicked myself. There was no taking it back, though. I couldn’t just tell the queen that I thought she’d be bad in bed, either, so I reluctantly gave her a little curtsy and moved to undress her.

The dress she wore was buttoned in the back. Most demon clothing is built with an eye toward easy removal, especially among us succubi, but this outfit was for the coronation so it prioritized looks over function. That’s why the buttons weren’t just in the back, but were somewhat tiny, and difficult to undo. It took me almost three minutes just to get them all off.

Once that was done, though, it was a simple matter of tugging the top off Devilla’s shoulders, and then pushing the rest down to the floor. Within half a second of the final button being undone, I had a naked queen standing before me.

It wasn’t my first time seeing her naked, of course. I’d helped Devilla undress plenty of times. It was a little different, though, knowing she was naked for me. I’d never appreciated just how fat her ass was, for example. It looked like a single slap would cause it to jiggle beautifully, and I had to physically grab hold of my wrist to hold it back.

The front wasn’t half bad either. She had a slender waist, small enough that I could reach around it with a single arm. Her pussy was clean shaven, but you could see a touch of white stubble right above her tight slit. Her breasts were big melons, the sort that would sit heavy on your palm, and her nipples were quite pronounced. They were stiff, too, and judging from how warm the room was I didn’t think it was from the cold. Looking again at her slit I could see a faint glistening, liquid reflecting the room’s torchlight.

“Does my form displease you?” Devilla asked. She sounded somewhat hesitant. “I… I will understand if you do not wish to sleep with me,” she added. She sounded almost nervous. It was… Cute? I’d never thought of the queen as cute before.

“You look gorgeous,” I told her, honestly. “I just can’t believe I’m about to fuck a queen…” 

Ah. Maybe I shouldn’t be using such rough language in front of the queen? She was smiling, though, so maybe it was fine? In fact, she was coming toward me for some reason. 

“Now it is my turn to undress you,” she declared, reaching out to gently take my hands with hers.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” I protested, trying to pull my hands back. Her grip was light, so it should have been simple. It should have been, but it was like my fingers were caught in an iron vice. I knew the queen was strong, but seriously?

“Please…” Devilla said. “I want to pull my own weight tonight.”

“I… If you wish, my queen,” I replied. I wasn’t entirely sure what to say, honestly. It was just plain weird that the queen was showing consideration for me. 

My response made Devilla smile, for some reason, and she immediately circled around me. Was she looking for buttons? She wasn’t going to find any. My dress was backless, for one thing, and not nearly as fancy as her’s besides.

None of that seemed to be a setback for Devilla, though. Since my dress was largely held on by a loop around my neck, she took a hold of it and pulled it gently over my head. That alone was enough to let my dress fall to the floor. I wasn’t wearing a bra beneath, either; just a pair of black panties, which I expected her to go after next. Instead the queen slipped her arms around my chest and grabbed a hold of my breasts.

“Eek!” I squeaked, almost jumping in surprise. My breasts weren’t big like the queen’s - they were maybe just barely a b-cup, more than enough to fill someone’s palms but pretty lacking when compared to the queen’s double Ds. The trade off to that was that my tits were ridiculously sensitive. Just having my nipples rub against the fabric of my dress was often enough to make me squirm. Having my breasts groped, like the queen was doing, was enough to make my knees go weak. And then her thumbs moved, ever so gently brushing against my nipples before moving to trace about the inner edge of my areola.

“Does it feel good?” the queen whispered, leaning in to press her breasts against my back. Her lips were less than an inch from my ear, and I could feel her warm breath against my skin. Without warning, she leaned in to ever so gently bite my earlobe, pinching and tugging with her teeth. The little bit of pain, mixed with the pleasure of her fingers, caused an embarrassing noise to slip from between my lips.

The queen laughed, releasing me and stepping back. I turned as well, wanting to be face to face with her so that she couldn’t pull off another surprise attack. The moment I turned to her, though, she casually grabbed me by the waist and lifted me into the air, throwing me down atop her rather large bed. When I tried to sit up, she placed a hand gently on my shoulder. I said gently, but the strength she put in it was inhuman, and she was able to pin me down without any apparent effort.

“Forgive me if I’m a little rusty,” the queen said, crawling into bed atop me. Her thighs squeezed themselves flush against mine, and her face was right above mine. She was leaning down toward me, and I realized with a start that she intended to kiss me.

Her lips, when they reached me, were soft and sweet. Her hair smelled like the flowers that sometimes - rarely - came across the market. As surprising as it was to be kissed by her, it wasn’t at all a bad experience. I was actually starting to relax and lean into it, when my defenses were breached by an unexpected attack. Her tongue had entered my mouth. It teased against the roof of my mouth, sliding across my teeth and teasing itself against my own tongue for a moment, before pulling back.

Then she separated from me, a big grin on her face. I thought she intended to get off me, at first, but instead she pivoted a hundred and eighty degrees. That put her pussy directly above my lips, hanging wet and tantalizing above me. It also put her directly above my own slit.

“Uh - my queen? Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” I asked, hardly able to believe it. Devilla was a talented enough kisser, to my surprise, but going down on someone was an entirely different matter. The taste, and the smell, were both pleasant to me but personal tastes varied wildly and it could be a bit overwhelming for a newcomer.

“I am,” Devilla declared. She sounded faintly smug. “Is that a problem?”

“N-no… Not a problem,” I responded, careful with my words. “I’m honored to be your first, actually, but are you really sure you want it to be me? I could just eat you out, if you want. That’s more than enough to feed me.” Actually, I didn’t even need sex to feed, just lust. There was plenty of that wafting off the queen. It was so thick in the air I could almost taste it.

“Nonsense,” the queen protested, giving a faint shake of her head. I couldn’t actually see it, from my current angle, but I could feel her hair shifting against my thigh. “I want you to feel good, after all.”

That last part caught me fully off guard. I could only stare at her in shock. And while I was staring silently at her, she made her move. Lowering her head to kiss my slit, she nipped ever so faintly against my inner thigh, before licking the spot and then biting it again. Using one hand to support herself on the bed, she used the other to begin rubbing up and down my thigh. Each rub seemed to take her hand a little closer to my center. I was already wet, but the anticipation of her finally touching me was moving me toward drenched.

Where the hell did Queen Devilla learn this? I wondered, too shocked to make my own move. I knew full well she was a virgin, and even succubi didn’t have natural talent like this. While I was wondering about that, though, Devilla’s hand grew ever closer to its final destination. Not just her hand, either: her kisses and nips were also climbing up my thigh, and I couldn’t tell whether her hand or lips would reach me first.

It turned out to be a tie. Her fingers touched my outer labia at the same time as her lips reached the other side. From there, both closed in on my inner folds, her teeth ever-so-barely pinching at them, while her fingers moved further in, rubbing at the very edge of my opening. I was sopping wet by that point, more than capable of taking a finger or two, and Devilla moved immediately to slide her forefinger right in. My walls squeezed down on the slender intruder, as if trying to prevent her access, but between her strength and my wetness it was a useless fight. She squirmed her way inside me, right up to the hilt.

Then she moved her thumb. Having expected an attack from her lips, I was completely unprepared for her to make contact with my clit. The way her short trimmed nail gently teased its way into the narrow space between my clitoris and its hood, though, I’d never have thought that this was her first time having sex. She swiftly, expertly, coaxed my clitoris entirely out from under its hood. Then, to my surprise, she pulled her thumb away.

“My q-” I started to ask what she was planning, but froze when her lips sealed themselves around my freshly exposed clit. Sucking softly at the oh-so-sensitive flesh, she made a point of bringing her teeth close enough to bite, even going so far as to let my clit touch her teeth. I shivered a little, thinking she might just nip me, again, and I wasn’t sure if it was fear or anticipation. Regardless, the bite never came. Instead, her tongue darted out to touch my clit, then retracted again. She did this several times, and each touch made me feel like lightning was shooting through my core. There was a heat building in my center, and it was threatening to overwhelm me if she kept it up.

Then her lips parted from my flesh and her thumb took their place, the flat of it teasing my button in a slow circle before ever so barely pressing in. The contact, and the pressure, was enough to elicit a soft moan from my lips. When she removed her thumb completely, though, that turned into a whimper. I was getting close to the edge by that point, so hot that I felt my insides might melt, and I didn’t understand why she was stopping. Was she messing with me? Was this entire thing some twisted form of punishment? What crime had I committed to be so denied? I wanted to ask, to beg her for more, but I couldn’t. Devilla was the queen, after all, and I was just a maid. If this was what she wanted to do to me, there was no stopping it. 

I had to bite my lip to stop from whining as Devilla’s finger pulled out of me. I was almost sure this entire thing was just some cruel prank, by that point, but there was nothing I could do about it. The only thing that confused me was the lust I still felt emanating from Devilla. It hadn’t gone down at all; in fact, it was getting stronger by the second.

With Devilla’s own pussy filling my field of vision, I couldn’t see what the queen was up to. I couldn’t see, but I could still feel her hair sliding across my thigh as she moved her head. That was the only warning I had, before her lips sealed themselves upon my sex, and her tongue pushed its way into my opening.

The movement of Devilla’s tongue was hesitant, at first, in a way her other movement’s hadn’t been. She seemed to gain confidence quickly, though, and soon she was taking long languid licks, pushing her tongue in deep. While her fingers had elicited electrifying pleasure from my body, her tongue had its own appeal. It was warm, and soft, and its gentle attention caused the heat inside my body to swell. I was close to cumming, moving faster and faster toward the edge, and all she had to do was keep it up.

It seemed like Devilla wouldn’t be content with just that, though. She drew her tongue back from my pussy and moved again to kiss my clit. Her tongue pressed against it, a long lick that moved up to the hood and then even further, brushing against my sweat-slicked blonde landing strip. Then she lowered her head again, sucking lightly at my clit. I was so preoccupied, I didn’t even notice when her fingers moved to penetrate me once more. Not until she shoved two of them inside me.

The sudden entrance, combined with the long kiss to my clit, was enough to send me tumbling over the edge. The world went white as my head slammed back against the bed. I was only distantly aware of my body, and the fact that it was letting out a seemingly endless scream.

When I came back to my senses, Devilla was no longer on top of me. She was sitting on the bed with a smug smile on her lips, and a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. It was only then that I realized I’d completely neglected to return the favor. And now I had missed my chance…

“I-I’m sorry my queen,” I said, starting to sit up.

“For what?” Devilla asked, lifting an eyebrow. She sounded honestly confused.

“For not pleasuring you back?” I reminded her. I expected punishment to follow, once I brought it to her attention, but what I’d done was honestly inexcusable. Failing to bring someone pleasure was a serious thing.

To my surprise, however, the queen shook her head. “That is fine,” she said. “If anything, I should be apologizing to you for pushing myself on you so suddenly. In the end, I never even asked you your name…”

“...It’s Abigail, my queen.” I tried to get up, so that I could at least give some sort of bow, but the queen placed a hand on my thigh to stop me.

“Abigail,” she said, looking at me straight in the eyes. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my personal maid?

For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to say. I’d figured it was a done deal. I’d already submitted to her in bed, more or less, so I expected her to just override any complaints. Instead Queen Devilla was asking me. Just what had gotten into her?

“...If… If you’ll have me.” Maybe it was the delightful sex. Maybe it was the fact that she’d given me a choice. Either way, I honestly felt like there was only one answer I could give her. 

It was a definite yes.

***

Long after Abigail had left for the night, I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. I’d just had sex for the first time in my life. The first time in this life, at least - I’d done it plenty back when I’d been Jacob. It was a little different, without a dick, but I thought I’d done at least a passable job of it. It seemed like it had been enough to make Abigail say yes to my offer, at least.

With that, I had secured a teacher for myself. Someone who could train me in how to cook, clean, and sew. I hoped we could get along… but I wasn’t really expecting it. In fact, I was rather sure she hated me.

After all, regardless of what pleasure I had or hadn’t brought her, Abigail had not touched me even once.