Yes of course.

You scoot over to make room on the bedside for her to sit down next to you and nod at her. Surprisingly, she doesn’t sit down on the bedside, but with a small and slightly cute grunt she plops down onto your lap instead. The suddenness and unexpectedness of the gesture would have caused you to jump to your feet, but her rather plump butt planted itself firmly on your thighs, preventing you from doing do.

She throws an arm around your shoulder and winks. “Thanks darling. Strap in, because unfortunately this isn’t going to be a quick explanation. I hope you can bear the sound of your servant’s sexy voice for a while.” This last sentence is accompanied by her pouting her lips and giving the best puppy-dog eyes you think you’ve ever seen, followed by a soft giggle.

“So, if it wasn’t obvious, I’m a demon. Yes, we’re real but probably not in the same way that everyone here thinks we are.”

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“Demons do not have a habit of leaving Abyssia very often. Not every demon who has arrived here is like me and willing to talk the nearest human’s ear off about who we really are. So it stands to reason that humans would just try to fill in the gaps. And boy did they,” Silquintis finishes off this statement with a slightly exaggerated eye roll.

“Um,” you say to get her attention, “what’s ‘Abyssia’?”

“Of course, I forget that you would call it ‘Hell’. Same place, different name. Even some demons call it Hell, though usually when they are mocking humans in some way. Basically, it’s the home of demons and a place for souls that have sinned. That stuff is all pretty much the same; although humans didn’t quite nail what constitutes a sin very well. Also the souls don’t stay there forever. There is no sin that is grave enough that eternal damnation is a suitable punishment. Essentially, Abyssia is a place where souls go to ‘work off’ their sins. Once they have succeeded in this, they move on to Celestia, or Heaven as humans call it.”

The very rapid-fire revelations that Hell is a real place, souls are real, and that sin is an actual thing nearly causes an overload of information. Your entire world has been shattered, and everything you’ve ever been told about the subject is false. You always had your suspicions, but nothing could have prepared you for this. After a few moments you realize that Silquintis has stopped speaking, presumably to give you time to digest what she told you. Once you think you have your bearings you nod for her to continue.

“Now, Abyssia is ruled by a single king, and it nearly always has since its conception. A long time ago, one of our ancient kings wanted to solidify himself and his family as the ruling class of Abyssia. To this end, he infused his own blood with a magical presence that all demons would recognize as superior and royal. The ironic thing is that a demon with his blood hasn’t been on the Ashen Throne for at least two thousand years.

“However, there are many demons who still recognize the authority of the blood of kings, and will swear loyalty to anyone that bears it. Myself included,” she gives a warm smile, “it’s believed that he who bears the blood of kings is destined for the throne. I don’t know that my own beliefs on the matter go that far, but I do still submit to the blood regardless.”

“But I’m human, right? How do I have the blood of a demon in me?”

“Demons can, and often have, mated with humans for various reasons. My guess as to why you have it is because whatever demon had it last decided to mate with a human to keep the blood alive. Not too long ago anyone who had the blood was mercilessly hunted and killed. Your ancestor assumed, and was correct evidently, that the hunters wouldn’t try to hunt the blood in the human realm. It’s likely that everyone in your family has the blood, it was just dormant in their family line until now. And when your blood awakened,” she points over to the book on the floor, “that found you.”

Trying your best to not let your world be shattered a second time, you manage to ask, “What’s that?”

“That is a demon too, though not as obviously as me. It’s known as the Dark Grimoire, and it has long been the possession and tool of many bearers of your blood before you. Even if the book is lost or somehow destroyed, it always manages to find its way to the blood again, though nobody is quite sure how it does so. I admittedly don’t know much about the old tome, only that it has a number of spells, incantations, and rituals that only the bearers of the blood of kings can know. In fact, I’m almost positive that without its help, you would have found it impossible to summon and bind me. Before I saw the book I was honestly very surprised and impressed that anyone managed to do it.”

“Is it really that hard to bind a demon?”

“No, not particularly; but I am no ordinary demon,” she stands up again, walking a few steps away and then turning to you letting her wings spread out and tail curl around her thigh. She reaches up and bites one of her fingers seductively and caresses an impressive breast with the other. All of this is seemingly to present herself in full to you in a fairly dramatic manner, “I am the Succubus Queen, an archdemon, and the Duchess of the Fifth Layer.”

You stare at her blankly, only able to guess at what any of that meant.

Seeing the lack of reaction, she explains, “An archdemon is a demon who has grown past the limitations and powers of other demons of their species. Demonic creatures are diverse but have limitations in personalities, appearances, and power depending on the species they are. Archdemons can or have broken these limitations to become something more powerful. Ordinarily summoning an archdemon is impossible and binding one to your will is unthinkable. At least, I would have thought so before today. There are eight layers of Abyssia, and each one is ruled over by an archdemon. These rulers are known as Dukes or Duchesses. The Dukes are servants to no one besides the King himself.” At this point she simply rests her hand on her hip and looks at you as you feel the gears turning in your head.

“Wait, if Dukes aren’t supposed to bend their knee to anyone besides the King, what happens if you have to bend your knee to me because you’re bound to me?”

“Then I would no longer be recognized as a Duchess,” she says in a shockingly flat tone given the gravity of the statement, “and if you were a demon then you would have to be elevated to Dukehood in my stead.”

“But I’m not a demon, or is the blood enough?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not. And even if it were, living humans are forbidden from entering Abyssia. And you certainly can’t rule the layer from here.”

“So what happens then?”

Silquintis sighs, “Well, what would ordinarily happen is that nobody would sit on the throne, and then it would be a race between the Dukes of the Fourth and Sixth layer to claim the throne, thus absorbing the Fifth layer into theirs.”

“That doesn’t sound very fair to you,” you hang your head a bit, “I kinda feel bad for doing this now.”

Oddly, Silquintis’s response is a smile, and it has a hint of deviousness in it, “I did say that’s what would ‘ordinarily’ happen. You’re in luck, though, because there used to be hundreds of layers. Wars over the millennia have made the number get smaller and smaller due to absorptions. Our current King vowed that he would not allow the number to drop any further as long as he was in power.

“So you see, in order to not go back on his word, he either needs to change the rule about Dukes only being allowed to bend their knee to him, which he is unlikely to do; or he has to turn you into a demon so that you can rightfully rule the Fifth Layer. He has ****. It’s honestly a pretty brilliant plan that I can only guess was executed by the Dark Grimoire.”

“Wait, what’s stopping him from just going back on his word? He’s the strongest demon, does he really need to worry about anyone being upset at him?”

Silquintis smiles, “Spoken like a true human. You know how it’s extremely difficult to **** yourself to touch something you know is burning hot? Well demons are like that but with breaking vows. It’s a fairly glaring and ironic weakness given our generally chaotic nature, which is why demons don’t tend to make vows very often. A binding is sort of like a vow, it’s just one **** by magic. Don’t worry, I don’t mind,” she winks as she says this, referring to you magically binding her.

“So, how do I become a demon then? What’s the process?”

“The process is fairly complicated and I’ve talked your ear off enough. There are just two things you need to understand. One, it’s possible. And two, it’s going to require the separation of your soul from your body. The easiest way of doing this is ****,” she delivers the last sentence in a tone that suggests that she is sorry it has to be that way. Your mind is reeling. You’re unsure of how to reconcile this.

“Does… does that mean you’re going to kill me?”

Silquintis’s eyes widen, “No! Not if you don’t want me to,” you feel slightly more relieved, “while it’s true that in order to get the ball rolling on this you will need to be dead, there is no real time limit. Me being bound to you is only a problem for the King once you have died. I can’t follow any serious political commands you give me, since you don’t understand Abyssia’s political climate yet. You are perfectly free to live for as long as you possibly can, I can even obey some commands you give me, you’d be surprised at how much influence I have over this realm.

“I can tell you though that your life as a Duke would be one of luxury. You’d have your own castle with many servants, you’ll be pampered as much as you like; or as little as you like if you’re the submissive type. Basically, you’d be in charge. Not to mention you’d be an archdemon right from the get-go. You won’t be as strong as typical archdemons immediately but you’ll get there pretty quick. There are significant perks to doing this and not a whole lot of downsides. Needing to die is probably about the worst of it.”

You think back to just a few minutes ago when you contemplating whether or not to take the chance on completing the ritual. You had pretty much resigned yourself to the possibility of **** when you made your choice, and you were fully aware of it. But this time it seems a bit different. Now you’re deciding on whether or not to willingly allow yourself to die, rather than just taking the chance that **** will probably be a consequence of your actions.

If Silquintis is being honest about all of this, and you’re unsure of what she would have to gain if she weren’t, then you have a paradise waiting for you. Or at least a life that is better than this current one. On the other hand, you don’t know your own future. Your currently mundane life may get more interesting as time goes on. Plus, you have a rare gift. You actually know for sure what will happen when you will die. You doubt that this opportunity will just disappear after tonight. Silquintis is bound to you eternally. You can choose to either die and accept your own kingdom tonight, or to live out the rest of your life and let **** come to you naturally.