Of course Douma remembered Tsuyu. She was the first attendant he saw since his regression.
'Hmm, her taste wasn't that bad…'
Douma made the silence stretch for a while before he coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem. I didn't expect Tsuyu to actually have a child. Now this brings a lot of questions. How did you become a demon? Were you raised in the cult? How much do you know about me?"
He paused, letting his smile widen.
"However, I can't waste time asking Muzan-sama's puppet questions right? I guess I have no choice."
The look in his eyes turned genuinely sorry when he gazed into Hozuki's green eyes. This made her somewhat confused before she realized Douma was trying to send a message to Muzan through her.
'I-is he going to kill me…?'
Standing respectfully, Douma gave a short bow. "Sorry, sorry, Lord Muzan. But I have to borrow this demon of yours. Don't be annoyed."
Before Hozuki could even blink, Douma's hand was already resting on her head. Then, she went unconscious.
Mitsuri gasped. "Knocking a demon unconscious? Douma-kun, you're so cool!"
Beside her, Shinobu unknowingly released a faint smile of pride before it vanished.
"Why did you knock her unconscious though?"
Throwing the small demon over his shoulder, he grinned. "What better way is it to get information than to read memories?"
Shinobu's eyes widened. "You can do that?"
"Hehe."
Douma giggled in reply, then sprinted off.
Shinobu wanted to follow him but decided not to. Instead, she continued to the Butterfly Mansion with Mitsuri.
Meanwhile, Douma returned to his underground palace in the cult and laid Hozuki on the ground. Saki, Ume, Gyutaro, and Nakime appeared one after the other to check the situation.
"Oh? Isn't this one of the Lower Moons?"
Naturally, Ume recognized her. She had seen the demon several times during meetings.
"Hmm. However, she's the daughter of one of my former attendants." Douma nodded then turned to Saki. "Your direct predecessor."
The demon's soft eyes widened. "Lady Tsuyu?!"
He nodded, then stretched. "I'm going to read her memories, then consume her. Or does anyone want it?"
Ume raised her hand with a bright expression, while Nakime turned away, uninterested. Naturally, Gyutaro was in support of his sister, even glaring at Douma as if to say, 'Give it to Ume now!'
Unexpectedly, Saki's expression turned sad. "Douma-sama, you 'consumed' Lady Tsuyu, right?"
The demon nodded.
"Then you shouldn't eat her or let anyone eat her. She's the last piece of Lady Tsuyu remaining in this world. Do you want to get rid of that?"
Douma tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Indeed, Tsuyu was the one who helped me plant those wisteria flowers. However…"
His gaze turned slightly cold as his lips curved upwards.
"This little brat tried to kill my Shinobu-chan. How can I let her go without a little punishment?"
The other demons turned to Saki, waiting for how she'd convince Douma. Completely out of character, Saki showed a terrifyingly cunning smile.
"How about you make her serve you for a while? I'm sure you can tame her with your methods."
Douma's eyes narrowed. He'd never tried anything with a loli figure in his whole life. However, Saki's words stirred a dark flame in his heart.
Nakime gasped, clearly uncomfortable. "Isn't she too small? I mean, it won't even f-f-fit."
Saki turned to her with a confused look. "Isn't she a demon? She can simply increase her size until it can barely fit. I'm sure that'll be enough lesson."
Douma's eyes glinted. "Ah! Saki-chan is truly wise, but let's deal with the first issue."
His smile turned equally terrifying as he approached Hozuki's unconscious form.
Holding her head steady, he slipped into her consciousness and cast her into an illusion that would reflect her whole history.
It turned out Tsuyu was much older than she looked and had a child she concealed from the cult. Ever carefree, Douma hadn't investigated that. Hozuki was formerly named Akane when she was a human. She was raised in an orphanage and only saw her mother once in a year. When she was fifteen years old, she suddenly noticed that her mother didn't visit her any longer. She investigated into it and finally realized her mother was working in a monastery as the leader's attendant. However, the claims of the other believers were that her mother had visited 'paradise'.
With her curiosity piqued, she kidnapped several of the monastery members and tortured them, hoping they revealed what 'paradise' truly was.
However, none of them truly knew what the 'paradise' was except that it was a beautiful place of rest without worries.
With her desperation increasing, she sought to hunt down and kidnap the founder of the Eternal Paradise Cult.
Unfortunately, she ran into a dangerous existence before she could carry out her operation—Kokushibo. The six-eyed demon was someone who had suddenly appeared and offered her eternal life and strength.
At first, she hesitated, but decided to join him. After all, her life was pretty dry without any goals except finding the cause of her mother's disappearance. Upon her transformation, she reverted to the form which she was most fond of in her memories—her eight years old self who had received a gift during her birthday.
When she became a Lower Moon Demon, she quickly learnt of the existence of Douma and connected it to the Eternal Paradise Cult Founder. Unfortunately, he already left the demon ranks when she joined. Because she had already become a demon, her obsession with him became twisted after learning a lot about him from Gyokko.
'Such a great backstory… Ara~ I'm impressed.'
Douma's smile widened as he stopped reading her memories from his illusion. Then, his fingers pierced her head. His icy blood flowed into her and eventually erased all traces of Muzan's in her.
Crack!
The ice covering her cracked and shattered, revealing her new appearance. Her hair and eyes remained the same while her horns turned inwards, curving above her head. Douma had directly manipulated her body proportions to match Saki's description so she was a bit pleasing to the eye but still petite.
'A perfect lolita…'
...…
In the abandoned house, Muzan suddenly crushed the head of the human he was holding while veins bulged on his face. He had just received Douma's 'sincere apology' from Hozuki's memories.
Finally, the Demon King couldn't help but shout his frustrations.
"Douma!!! I'll kill you!!!"