Krampus slammed open the strawberry wafer door and stepped into the kitchen. His hoof was immediately met with a cluttered mess. The checker tiled floor was littered with plates, pans, crumbs and cloths, making him wonder if he'd stumbled into the wrong room.

Alas, the fresh scents of cookie dough and a variation of spices proved him otherwise. He welcomed the cozy fragrance with a sigh. In sniffing out the source of the smell, Krampus' attention was drawn to the corner of the small room. There, he spotted a small elf woman pushing a tray of what looked like chocolate chip cookies into a brick oven.

She jumped at his sudden entrance, holding an empty tray close to her chest. "What can I help you with, Sir?" Her cheeks were tinted red as the lone cook gathered her composture. Whether it was from embarrassment or exhaustion, Krampus couldn't tell. After wiping her head clean of sweat, she smiled at him politely. "I'm a little busy right now, but if there's anything you need-"

The goat demon held his hand up and shook his head. "Never mind that. But I am curious; what exactly are you doing? No one's here. Are you the only servant who knows how to cook?"

She paused while squeezing the side of her apron. "I'm... making a snack for the king." A spark of recognition crossed over her features. "You must be the prince everyone's been talking about. You've caused quite the uproar, y'know," she huffed with a frown.

Casting her brown eyes across the floor, she pushed her braids behind her back, falling to her waist. "As for the others... well, you should already know since you've been here long enough. They're dead."

Krampus glared at his hooves. He grew more frustrated as days passed. With his fists tightened, he muttered, "Don't worry, soon he will be too."

The cook gasped, dropping a tray as she stepped back with wide eyes. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"Well," he started before moving closer to her, "I mean the old coot will be rotting under the ocean. Wouldn't that be fun?" Krampus grinned at the frightened girl, clutching her hands with intensity. "We could take him down together! Imagine, everyone'd be free to live how they wanted!"

The cook stared at him while attempting to wriggle out of his grip. "No, no! You don't understand― I have a family to protect! I can't get involved," she muttered, shaking her head. She then snatched her hands from his and stepped back. "Y-you need to leave. I can't afford to be a witness to a crime that will lead to the death of my loved ones."

She reached behind her back, rummaging through the cluttered mess on the countertop until Krampus spotted a glimmer of light. The cook was holding a rather large kitchen knife with trembling, sweaty hands as she glared at him. "I have too much to lose!"

He grinned. "My, my. That's an awfully dangerous tool you have there. But let me remind you; that king of yours is the one responsible for your family's fear, as well as everyone else's." He leaned in close enough to brush his beard on her knife. "Wouldn't you rather not have to worry about whether or not the food you make is worth him keeping you alive for another day?"

She persed her lips and looked away. "That's just a pipedream. I'll be dead before whatever your plan is goes into action, and so will the ones I'm protecting."

Krampus chuckled before ripping the knife from her hands with his tail. "They won't be if you let me do what I need to with these cute flowers here." He gestured to his tuff of fur, where the flowers remained near his chest. "I can't take them out because this is the only way I can hide the miasma, if only a little bit. Anyways, you don't need to be involved. You can just leave and pretend that you messed the schedule up."

Her head continued to shake, brushing off his suggestions. "They'd still know. One of the servants would report my suspicious actions to the king and I'd... I'd die."

Krampus was surprised by the organization of the king's security, especially since he was able to sneak in there without being caught. "Wow, Sandy Claws really knows how to play dirty." He sighed, resting his chin on his clenched fist in thought. After a few silent moments, he gave the girl a crooked smile and exclaimed, "I have an idea!"

Krampus took the knife from his tail's hold and pointed it at her. "Elves are very... durable, right?"

The cook nodded with furrowed eyebrows. "That is correct."

"Excellent. So if I were to say, gouge out your eyes and cut off your ears, you'd still be able to walk around, correct?"

At that, she took a step back. "Yes, Sire. W-what are you getting at?"

A glint crossed over the goat demon's eyes, lighting them with a mix of wild emotions. He brought the knife to his tongue and licked its edge before growling, "I think you know what I'm getting at, girl."

The cook's legs trembled as she backed further away, practically molding into the counter. Krampus licked his lips and stepped closer until his nails could trail up her neck to her cheek with ease. "Yes, that's it. Those delicate, frightened brown eyes of yours. Without them, you wouldn't see me come in."

Krampus traced her tense jaw with his fingertips until they reached her small, pointed ears. He grasped the edges between his fingers and rubbed them, causing a whimper to erupt from the elf's rose-tinted lips. "Ah, and those ears. Without these, you wouldn't hear a peep. Much less me coming in."

"B-B-But, Prince-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Krampus placed a pinch of pressure on her neck. "Please, refrain from using that title with me. I would rather hear it from no one but that worthless king as his last words."

His whispered orders were brushing against her ears, each note carrying a tune that kept her on his every word. "Yes, K-Krampus."

"Good girl. Now, how about it? You don't need these, do you?" he purred while stroking her face. "You want to protect your family, don't you?"

Her mouth acted as a vacuum, sucking in the very breath she exhaled. "How can you guarantee that my family'll be safe if this doesn't work?"

"Well, a dead king can't kill anyone now can he?"

She averted her eyes, biting her lip. "No, I suppose not."

"This plan will work. Would you rather stare at your family's graves or feel their arms embracing your sacrifice?"

The cook tugged on her braid and twirled it between her fingers in consideration. "I... I'll do it. You seem to be the only one willing to risk your life for us. Just promise that you'll give my remains to my sister if I don't survive."

"Of course, dear. May I know your name?"

"I-it's Lilith."

"Lilith, huh. I believe that means 'night demon.' How fitting, since it'll be lights out for you in a bit." Krampus brought his hand to his mouth to conceal the cackles that tempted to reveal his presence.

Brown eyes glaring at him with unsaid impatience sobered him up. "Just hurry up and get it over with."

"Alright, Lilith." He took hold of her golden cheeks and forced her face to look at his, the knife millimeters away from penetrating her skin. "Now hold still; we don't want that pretty face to get more cuts than necessary."

"May the stars forever be in your favor," was Lilith's last words before he sliced her ears off with ease. Then, only a muffled cry could be heard.

Blood stained his cheeks, and he sighed. Maybe gagging her would've been better. At least then he wouldn't have drool all over his fingers. Even so, he proceeded to cover her mouth with one hand and trace out her right eye with another. By then, her body shook until she became still. Her left eye closed, signaling she'd gone unconscious from the shock.

"Hey, hey, hey," he muttered while lightly tapping her cheek, "I'm not done yet."

After getting no response, Krampus adjusted her limp body against the counter and raised her face to his. At least it was quiet now.

Once the deed was done and the bloody objects were in his hand, he laid Lilith down and headed to the back of the cluttered kitchen just to hear a jingle near the oven. Krampus smirked, remembering her putting the cookies in there. Just in time for the cookies.

He grabbed a mitten and took them out while licking his lips. It wouldn't hurt to have one. After cleaning his hands of any residue, he snatched one off the tray and stuffed it in his mouth. Lilith knew how the king desired his cookies to taste like, and now Krampus did too. The chocolate melted at the touch of his slimy tongue as the soft cookie broke apart between bites with ease. Delicious. Maybe he'd take another.