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 twenty one, 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.