Quickly, as the abrupt question entered her ears, Zyponia’s eyebrows furrowed in shock, not having expected anything of the sort. “Have you remembered your past?” She awaited his reactions, but he didn’t fade in front of her.


    “Glimpses of it, but it’s all still a bit messy,” he spoke up while the girl seemed a bit shaken up, though she immediately cooled off.


    “Why are you asking? Shouldn’t you know the answer already?”


    Shaking his head lightly, he spoke up. “I remembered the priests preaching about your deeds and your kind, but I want confirmation. From an actual demon.”


    “Are you saying you’re trusting me? Have you forgotten I enslaved you?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.


    “No, I remember,” he said while glancing down and touching his chest. “But, I still wanted to hear your answer.” ‘So, will you lie, or are you going to tell me the truth I saw?’ He thought whilst staring at the troubles pivoting her face.


    “Haa,” she sighed sparsely, nippily locking eyes with the man. “Some of us are evil, that is true. There are also some that are cruelly evil. However, that doesn’t mean that the majority of the demons are the same. In fact, most of us lead a calm life. A fraction are good, and few are great. Yet, the same can be said about your kind, no?”


    ‘Correct,’ he said to himself, staring at the pink eyes in front of him. Nodding slowly at her words, he agreed to her words. “Yes, from what I remember, there were nobles possessing slaves. But,-” His words were cut.


    “You’re wondering whether the slaves here are innocent citizens?” She asked with a faint smirk, one that only blossomed as he once again nodded. “What do you think the answer is?”


    The words rumbled in his head as he recalled the previous days. Driving through the city, there were plenty of slaves near the outer layers, few of whom remained inside his memory. Because of the lack of variety.


    “You took them as slaves because they opposed and tried to fight you,” his voice spread through the carriage while the girl’s eyes brightened up, promptly bobbing her head up and down softly. “Then, what happened to the people in this town? I haven’t seen any free humans anywhere.”


    “Some are still lingering around and hiding, but the majority have already fled away, most likely to the imperial capital.”


    ‘As I thought. If she isn’t lying to sway my mind, the holy city must still be standing,’ he mused internally, not releasing any emotion out to the world.


    “So, what do you think? Of the monsters that are out to kill you?” She snickered, gazing out upon the distant city he always visited, the carriage going in the opposite direction.


    “Though a lot don’t like my presence in the city, I still think you’re the same to us in a lot of aspects. Thank you for the answers, Zyponia,” he said whilst the lady turned around, creasing his eyebrows as she suddenly immured near the end.


    “... You’re welcome, Lutiel,” awkwardly, she called out his name, breaking apart her frozen state while keeping eyes upon him. Still, coughing suddenly, she briskly changed the subject.


    “Ehem, anyways, you said you remembered bits from your past, right?” As she said the words aloud, her state traveled back to normalcy.


    “Yes,” with a terse tongue, he reciprocated the stare.


    “Do you remember hiding in that cave? Any instance of it?” Her face beamed with solemnity as the words fell inside his ears, however, despite lying his way to get answers out of the lady, he beset her with truth, shaking his head decisively.


    “I see. It’s a shame, but it doesn’t really matter. No matter how it happened, your body is still better than others,” she said covertly, however, the man’s head festered with ideas.


    “The magical energy?” He asked, making her eyes widen abruptly.


    “Who told you that?” She pried with a rabid celerity.


    Staying silent for a few breaths, he eventually bent under her glare, with no pain escaping his chest. “It was Rudrik. He said my body was different from other humans, and that my magical energy was higher than usual.”


    “Ahhhh,” she let out a frowny breath, swiftly massaging her temples with a hand. “Just when will I learn from my mistakes? What else has he told you?”


    “About the guests and their voyage to here,” he muttered under complete silence, only intensifying after he finished. If before the girl was partially irritated, now, she glared at thin air, blanking off somewhere from the anger she felt.


    His vision quickly followed down as he heard the audible clenches of her fists, however, before he knew, she already arrived back to herself.


    “Don’t worry about it, that old geezer has long since lost it in his head,” she said suddenly, glancing down at the bright necklace she had been wearing all the way from her room. “He’s only good with jewelry now.”Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ‘I should ask about it. He only said not to show anyone the note. It shouldn’t matter after I already read it,’ he mused while staring at her necklace with the bright-red gem.


    “He also gave me some note to read before I left,” he spoke up calmly, quickly awaiting her next face.


    “Hmm?” A tinge of confusion spread around her eyes. “What was on it?”


    Without thinking twice, his tongue rolled as he spoke up. “Merai. At the first, the word was blue-,” Lutiel stopped speaking, unable to have omitted the obvious change in reactions.


    From irritation to anger, now, her face wilted with a paralyzed dread. Staring at him with full eyes and an open mouth, the girl remained that way for a few quiet, yet deep moments.


    “What did you just say?” She muttered in utter disbelief, unable to construct proper reasoning. However, rather than getting angry at the one that gave him the paper, she all of a sudden leaned forward, beginning to fondle his body with keen eyes.


    He was grasped by the forearms, the girl firming her grip around the slave, all while his eyes couldn’t understand what he was seeing. “Are you telling me he gave you a note containing that word?” She asked, but in his eyes, she didn’t really focus on getting the answer, rather feeling for his body instead.


    “Yes,” he spoke up, through a distressed tone of a composed facade. “That’s what happened.” Quickly following her arms’ movement, Lutiel saw her climbing up, swiftly reaching for his shoulders and neck with both hands, the touch lingering with a cool sensation to the skin as he flinched gently.


    Regardless, Zyponia’s grip was too great for him to ever think of ways to escape, her sleek fingers smoothly rummaging through his hair and face while she seemingly searched for something through a speechless motivation.


    “No, that can’t be,” she muttered after a while, almost too delicate for him to catch the words. “Yet, you aren’t lying.” With consternation, she already slipped away from his head. Standing on the floor in the middle of the ride, her right hand lowered itself towards the middle of his chest, right at the base of his tie and where his brand lay.


    Yearning for the beating of his heart, Zyponia stared down at his eyes without an ounce of a word flowing through, leaving him times more confused than before. Though, as she finally retrieved her arm, the demon lord remained to stand there, dwelling at the man whose gaze threatened to break away under the intensifying glare.


    Still, before his sight could drift apart from her, quickly, his arms stretched out as he bounced up together with the carriage. Right as it had driven over some unstable path, the interior shook and those within as well.


    The lady, having fallen to the man’s embrace, stared around the space after feeling her seating near his lap. With a blink, she caught his face from behind, swiftly getting away before landing on her own seat and correcting her dress.


    Closing her eyes, the arms crossed after she pointed something to him. “Smooth out your sleeves. Sorry for the sudden surprise, but I needed to check something.”


    “It’s fine, my lady,” he uttered by mistake, quickly glancing up at her, only to see her unbothered, thinking face. “Was it related to the word?” He asked, but the words only hovered around the space, unanswered no matter how many breaths the girl released.


    ‘Is she still thinking about it?’ Lutiel mused while turning to the murky veil taking over the lands outside of the windows. ‘No wonder he didn’t want anyone to see me with it. But, is it actually related to magic? No, no, it must be.’


    As the thoughts poured out from his head, the silent grasp around them simply accompanied the fading sun. Since she didn’t, maybe couldn’t talk with him, he continued to stare at the reappearing stars while the carriage had become enlightened from the ceiling, a small, pale crystal glowing dimly at the duo.


    Focusing his eyes to see beyond their reflections, the dark path almost fully encroached his vision, yet as it finally passed them, he leaned closer, his eyes squinting just slightly.


    Far beyond in the distance, something glowed meekly, however, he couldn’t truly describe the images through the panes. But, the sight he caught had promptly been taken over, gradually looking back in front of him.


    “Tell me how you felt when you read it,” the girl spoke out of nowhere, revealing her pink eyes.


    Lutiel stopped for a second as images resurfaced inside him. Pondering on the tightening sensations, he briskly raised his head straight towards her.


    “I couldn’t really move for a while after, and my heart felt like it could escape at any moment,” he started speaking to the girl showing no emotion. She only listened in on every word he gave out. “I thought I was going to die from how hot I was inside, yet there was a freezing sensation creeping along my skin all over the body.”


    Staring down because of the words, the girl ruminated endlessly, only breaking apart once the carriage took a sharp turn to the right. Leaning back to the middle of the seats, her lips parted.


    “Meiar,” she said, glaring deeply into him while his sight drifted apart. Catching his ear with a hand, Lutiel tried to mellow out the abrupt ringing, but it could only end on its own a few moments later.


    His eyes rolled about the place, sweeping through, but in the end, he went back to the lord, taking in the entirety of her image, something eerie about the figure.


    Still, with enough time, the sight finally stabilised and a harsh breath entered his body, the man’s heart racing all throughout the sensations.


    “What do you feel now?” Her voice stretched out towards him, whose heart began to beat slower. With a steadier breathing, he exhaled deeply before staring right at her.


    “Disoriented,” a coarse reply left his mouth, making the girl’s lips perk slightly.


    “Interesting,” mystery flowed towards him, and before he could even ask any question regarding the matters, she added briskly. “Welcome to the world of magic.”


    It was the same feeling as before, he mused. As she uttered the last word, the air around his ears harshened, but at least, he didn’t feel so out of touch as before. No rampant beating escaping his chest, the eyes moved freely around the place.


    Yet, once again, before he could do anything, Lutiel found himself wondering. This time, why they had stopped moving already.


    “We’re here,” she eased his doubts, however, standing up from the seat while he quickly looked outside of the window, the eyes widening after seeing a staggering image.


    ‘Wasn’t there still so much road to beat?’ He asked himself, staring at the illuminated palace, a mansion that made Zyponia’s pale in comparison. Nevertheless, no answer came alight, the girl only speaking before they left for the ball.