Life was great in general and I was looking forward to the future, however there was one thing on my mind, now that my life was more peaceful. After an internal debate I called Lily to a private meeting.

  "My lady, how can I help you?" She asked.

  I was nervously pacing as I had waited for her. "Oh, right, take a seat, maybe."

  "Is something wrong?" She asked, sounding alarmed.

  "No, nothing is wrong. I just… I wanted to talk to you about a personal matter." I said.

  "Is there something wrong? Have I failed in my duties?" Lily asked.

  "What? No! No, I…" I sighed. "It does not have anything to do with you specifically. I am looking for an expert opinion. I, screw it! It is about children."

  "Children? In what way?" Lily asked.

  I paced some more while fighting a blush. It was a natural topic, yet somehow I felt a bit embarrassed. "What if I wanted to have a child with Lucy?" I finally said.

  "Oh, that seems quite reasonable, if possible." Lily replied.

  "Well, we would need to use some magic for that to happen, this is not a field I know much about." I admitted. "And succubi have a certain reputation for being knowledgeable in that field."

  Lily nodded. "It is true that our species is naturally female, yet we still manage to procreate. However a succubus can be born from the union of a succubus and another demon, there is also magic to temporarily turn ourselves into an incubus, a male version. But this would not work for you as it was an innate talent. You have two problems, you are different species and you are both female. While elves and beastkin can have children, I am not sure about archfey and kitsune."

  I nodded. "I am not an expert but a child could be the result of the mingling of our souls. I have discovered that while our souls have a body - or have written how our natural body looks inside of them, to be more accurate - a merging of souls should not be stopped by biological constraints."

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  Lily tilted her head, processing the information.

  Personally I had no idea how it worked in my old world, where there was no magic. But my rebirth showed that I did have a soul back then. How this worked naturally I was not sure. I suspected normally a new soul would grow once a vessel was formed. The biological act grew a body and then the body formed a soul. But what if you just formed a soul and let it grow its body?

  Lily had not said anything yet so I continued: "See, I have spent a lot of time trying to understand the way the Inquisition has modified souls. I have also contemplated the act of creating a warlock. I do believe it should be possible for us to have a child through soul magic."

  "Hm." Lily replied. "Demons can form naturally, or they can have children. Some beasts can suddenly awaken and form a soul if they grow powerful enough. Haruka was created from you awakening a tree and forming a soul. Normally the body comes first and the soul develops later. Have you considered forming a body first?"

  "What?" I asked.

  "With the help of magic, and likely alchemy, you could create a body and then try to awaken it." Lily suggested.

  "I am not sure." That sounded rather creepy.

  "Have you discussed this with Lucy? Shouldn't she be here for this conversation?" Lily asked.

  "Yes and no." I replied, while pacing. "Of course she has to be part of this discussion, however I want to be sure it can be accomplished first. I don't want to ask her if she wants to have a child with me without having a way to make it happen first."

  "Ah, I understand." Lily replied. "Sadly I am not sure how much help I can provide. Soul magic is beyond me."

  I stopped and looked at her. "You are a demon lord. You should be capable of creating a warlock, meaning you are able to do some soul magic. Actually, aura is related to your soul too. Damn, I should have offered you more guidance on that."

  Lily blinked. "A warlock? I had not considered that."

  "Anyway, I also trust you. Weird isn't it? When we met the first time I would have never expected this outcome. And here I am, trying to get advice from you about having children." I chuckled.

  "It is an honor to be your maid, my lady." Lily stated.

  "And you are my friend." I added.

  Lily smiled. "How does one make a warlock?"

  "I did it with a ritual, I am not sure if it works the same for everyone. It did require more spell slots than any mortal can have but I suppose not every immortal is focused on magic. There might be a way for more physical immortals. In the end I put a part of my soul into Lucy's soul." I admitted.

  "Lucy should be able to make a warlock herself, so both of you should be able to take a part of your soul and then merge the parts, is that your idea?" Lily asked.

  "Something like that. But I am not sure on the details, or how the body would form afterwards. I do not want to create some sort of monster. I am also not sure if the two parts would be able to form a new soul." I admitted. "But I have been studying Abaddon's work and how he siphoned power to evolve. I have studied the runes on his weapon. I am hoping I can create a ritual for us to have a child but I am still not sure how we create a body."

  "What if you grow a body in a more traditional way?" Lily asked.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "What if you used your body for the ritual? You are the expert on magic but if you merged your souls, would it be possible to grow the child within you? I suspect your child would need nourishment in some form anyway." Lily stated.

  My eyes widened. "You might be a genius!"

  It would not be a completely normal pregnancy, of course. But our link might even work to feed the newly growing soul inside of me. Maybe I could help its development by devouring a few things. There was work to be done! And if it looked promising, I would need to have a conversation with Lucy.