“Well, yes, she did have a slave brand, but that was to only keep her from running away, though that didn’t work. I could say that you are my first actual slave.”

  “I see,” he said with a straight face before nodding faintly. Though, seeing her eyes, he added. “Like I said, I didn’t think you were heartless, but I don’t understand while you’re telling me all of this.” The man stated before cutting away a piece of the small potato.

  “I’m telling you because I want you to understand. I thought about it all of today, and I concluded to keep the promise and reply to your question. You are someone special, a human unlike any other I’ve seen. Even the heroes couldn’t compare to you. And there is no point in hiding these things so much anymore seeing as you’re getting so familiar with the magical energy.”

  Hearing her voice, his mouth drifted apart slightly, stopping before harshly swallowing the piece of meat. ‘Special? More so than the heroes? Hiding? Like with meiar?’ Lutiel wondered, recalling the words of Luviene, however, he quickly stopped the thoughts, listening to the lady in front of him instead. He would only fall into a spiral of confusion if he had stayed inside.

  “You know about our origin already, right? Luviene told me you figured it out.” Yet, instead of explaining quickly, she asked him first.

  Pondering for a few moments while her stare bore deep into him. He opened his lips slowly, locking with her pink eyes. However, just like his lady, he first drifted off the topic.

  "In the dreams, the priests were always talking about how you came to existence from our sins, from the nightmares we hold, or even from the fears we shiver in front of. You should be the opposite of light, the darkness that embodies once God goes at night. Yet, it’s all false, it seems,” he started speaking while the demon’s face set in place, listening with the entirety of her being at the words.

  “You came here from your own lands, no?” He asked before adding on immediately after. “You came here from your home by the ocean, right?” Once again, he asked in confirmation while his eyes solemnly befell her.

  “Yes,” she spoke succinctly, only to continue under his severe sight. “At first, only eight of us came here on a ship, including Magon. Ever since, the number simply never stopped increasing. Up to this day, there are hundreds, if not thousands of demons coming over each month.”

  The man heard her words, however, his face remained still. ‘I knew it,’ he muttered inwardly while keeping his eyes around her lips, not doubting the words in the least. No breath later, they already parted.

  “Nobles, cities, houses, families, an army, all that you created on your own, we have our equivalents.”

  “I see,” he muttered with a lowered head. Though, quickly bringing it back up, Lutiel’s curious face reflected in Zyponia. “Is that related to the vows?” His question was almost instantly met with a nod of her head.

  “Just like you, we have a kingdom, in which a king rules us. Before we were sent here by our lord, we needed to be bound by an oath, all of the demon lords that came,” she said whilst staring to move her right hand towards him, confusing the man’s eyebrows. Turning the hand around, before long, he saw something glow away with a lilac shade.

  Engraved inside the skin enough to create shadows, the round mark had been filled with lines going in every direction, connecting with another point of the circle before branching off into countless more. Similar to the one he had seen her draw on paper, this one seemed ever more complex to his eyes. Though, as they began to shiver and itch, the man quickly took his eyes away, rubbing himself beneath her voice.

  “Its purpose is very clear. We would die if any of us attacked humans without a sound reason. If the humans didn’t assault us first, we could never do anything at all.”

  Calming down before her voice, his face promptly froze up with solemnity, ruminating on the words. ‘This also must be true. After all, I can’t remember a single instance where they ever attacked us. Still, for what reason?’

  “Why?” His voice wasn’t loud in the slightest, however, it still bellowed with meaning.

  “It would be easier to just kill all of you right away, no?” She asked him with a meek smirk, only to receive a serious nod from his side. “We never came here to wipe out humanity, no matter what you may think.”

  “Then, what did you come here for?” The man asked yet again, only to receive a cheeky grin from her.

  “Didn’t I say you could ask only one question?” Though she spoke, the lips quickly fell down before him, with a dejected manner. “Haa, do you remember Lutiel, the human from the festival?”

  “Yes, I do,” he said quickly, unable to contain his veiled interest.

  “We came for him, since we needed him in our kingdom, however, you should know how that ended already. Then again, we only realized it was him after his death, nineteen years after coming over,” with a tired tone, she spoke, much to the bewilderment of the man before her.

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  ‘What? They wanted me all along?’ His brows furrowed at the words, instantly falling into a strife of mind and body. ‘Should I tell her I’m him? No, no, but what if she’s making all of this up? But she doesn’t seem to be lying. Still, what if she used magic to conceal her lies, would I be able to tell?’ His thoughts hastened up, coalescing to the point of heating up whilst grinding against one another.

  “Lutiel? Is everything okay?” Her voice promptly brought him back to the space, softly brushing across his shoulders. Blinking at once, Lutiel quickly nodded his head.

  “I’m fine, sorry,” he said with a quieter tone than usual. In the end, he couldn’t reveal the truth.

  Staring at his eyes, which lowered themselves at the table, Zyponia thought through her blank face for a while, eventually opening her lips once again. However, before her voice could crawl out from the mouth, it drowned beneath the man’s.

  “Why did you stay, then? It also seems as though there are more of you here than what I can remember.” She quickly shut her face whilst visibly fidgeting around at the words. Stuck in her head, she waited for a few breaths, away from his eyes.

  Yet, she seemed to have finally made her decision. “To look for a specific human. We couldn’t get to Lutiel before Magon got his grasp of him, so we decided to settle for the next best one.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We looked for years for a human. The rest of the demon lords are searching even now, however, we haven’t ever come close to one like you. There were a few special figures, but compared to you, they still lacked your ability to accustom yourself with magic,” she said, making him gleam with confusion.

  “Wait, so you’re saying that-” he started speaking, but she quickly cut into him.

  “Yes, what I’m trying to say is that I want you to move back to my kingdom together with us.”

  “What?” He uttered, the words falling out of his words absentmindedly. “To move to your land? But, I would be abandoning the rest,” he muttered the thoughts out without knowing, swiftly glancing up at the speaking lady.

  “I’m sorry, Lutiel, but do you even have anywhere to go? You were hiding away in a cave, unlike the humans that flocked back to the imperial capital. I’m also sorry to tell you this, but as your master, I will be bringing you with me regardless of your stance. It may seem ruthless, but we need you.”

  Silently, he stared at the demon lord’s face, seeing her poor mood while telling him the news. ‘As much as I don’t want to admit it, she’s right. I can’t even escape her brand, not to mention find a new home in the capital,’ he thought through lifeless eyes. ‘But, going to a completely new land I have no idea about, full of demons? Leaving the rest of humans out to die? No, die? What if I succeed?’

  “Zyponia, if I were to be the right human for you, what would happen to Aseun?” He asked calmly, with a renewed look around his eyes.

  Smiling at the words and understanding him without a word more, she quickly unfolded the puzzle around him. “We would go back to our kingdom. The rest of humanity would be left alone, naturally.”

  “I see,” Lutiel mumbled, shutting himself into his head. ‘Would you forgive all of my sins at that time?’ Asking as an image spread across his mind, he once again looked into her eyes. “I will go. When are we leaving?” Changing his approach completely, he made her face fester into a smile.

  “It will take a long time before we start our journey back home. First of all, you need to complete your training with the metals, as well as start working on your weapon.”

  “But I don’t have any,” he interrupted, only to widen the smirk around her.

  “You said you’re fine with the sword, correct?”

  “Yes,” nodding away, his voice filled the table out.

  “A friend of mine came here during the last voyage. Although she attended the ball, she was in a different part of the mansion when we arrived. Like every demon, she practises magic, however, she is also a sword master.”

  “Will she be teaching me?” His voice coiled around her ears through somewhat widened eyes.

  “Yes, your first session will start in four days from today. I meant to tell you later, but this little occasion has appeared,” she started speaking, with a somewhat eerie tongue near the end.

  Staring closely at her face, he waited for a while before the thought that sparked up matured fully. “You planned this for a while already, haven’t you? My talk with Raeyine was only an excuse, no?” He asked with dubious eyes, watching as the girl before him raised her glass, sipping heavily on the substance.

  “Maybe? I was still a bit angry at you. The revolutionaires or the holy army, they all produce the same results, which is the death of their people. I can't let you think about them.”

  “But, they dealt a powerful blow at the ball,” he added, beginning to stir his fork through the plate once again. Slicing off a piece of the steak, he chewed it while listening.

  “That’s true, but it was only because they had help from other demons.”

  “What? How?” He blurted out after finishing eating, to which Zyponia replied with exasperated eyes.

  “Haa, money, like always,” she said with a sigh, turning his eyes clearer.

  “We really aren’t that far apart, huh?” He mused momentarily, making her smile into a mellow laughter.

  “I also used to think otherwise,” she said, beaming a smile. “However, you made me realize the truth. No matter where I am, every one of you stares at me lecherously,” she spoke while looking at him weirdly, making his eyes quiver and brows furrow.

  Following Zyponia’s escaping laughter, he quickly spoke back. “Sorry, I never meant to look at you in any perverse manner,” he said while she raised an eyebrow, stopping her giggles.

  “Really?” His body and face immured in place at the question, only intensifying at her next words. “I found your glances around my chest somewhat heavy,” the girl spoke before taking another sip of the wine, all whilst the man seemed stuck frozen in place.

  However, he quickly began reciprocating. Opening his mouth to the busy girl, she stopped briskly, almost coughing at the sudden revelation. “Is that so? But don’t you also like staring at me? Camilla at least tries to glance at my muscles, you however-,” he kept talking, only to be swiftly interrupted by the girl.