Chapter 60: do not buy this - . because its free.

Chapter 60: do not buy this Chapter. because its free.

The demon slightly turned back to look.

​Her face was flat and stern, just like always. But... today, there was a strange silence in her eyes. That terror, that pride that always reflected in her eyes, was somehow missing today. She looked into Himanshu’s eyes for a second and then immediately looked away.

​For a moment, Himanshu couldn’t even understand why she did that. The Demon Queen who never averted her gaze from anyone, why was she looking away today?

​But then... he understood one thing very clearly.

That act of looking away came after having her respect and dignity shattered over and over. It was obvious that today in this cafe, she had picked up the dirty plates of several strangers. Who knows how many bitter words she had to listen to.

​That fierce demon, who wouldn’t even let Himanshu touch her without her permission... who would slice off people’s heads with a single gesture, had to endure the trash talk and leftovers of two-bit nobodies today. She was realizing that in this world, she wasn’t a ’Queen’; she had no existence, no worth here.

​Her avoiding gaze and staying quiet for a few moments... only made Himanshu believe it even more.

The demon was feeling a weird kind of guilt and embarrassment right now, which was breaking her ’supreme character’ ego from the inside out.

​But right then, piercing that heavy silence, Himanshu’s voice came again.

"Valoria..."

​That’s it... this one voice gave the demon a shoulder to turn all that guilt and embarrassing frustration into anger. It was like she got the spark she was looking for. And she became totally ready to let out all the pent-up rage inside her.

​Before Himanshu could call out her name again, he realized that he needed to take a step back first. The danger had spiked.

​But before he could even take two steps back, the demon gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and covered the distance with massive strides. Today, the anger in the demon’s eyes actually had a real reason behind it—her shattering pride.

​The demon threw her hands forward in a flash to grab Himanshu’s collar.

​But... who knows why, her hands just stopped trembling in the air mere inches away from his collar.

She looked at her own trembling hands for a few seconds. Clenching them into fists, she finally lowered them back down.

​Glaring at Himanshu with her sharp, reddening eyes, she barely managed to control her anger-heavy breaths and turned around again.

​It was obvious that the demon was trying to control her anger. She didn’t want to lose like that day again. And anyway, it was starting to dawn on her that if she took her anger out on this boy in this world, she would be left completely alone in this hollow reality.

​The truth was, she was slowly starting to understand Himanshu’s value. Himanshu was the only person who treated her like a ’Demon Queen’, someone she didn’t want to distance herself from anymore.

​With hands still shaking from anger, she started cleaning the dirty dishes in the sink again. She completely ignored Himanshu’s words, as if he hadn’t said anything at all.

​For a few moments, Himanshu just stood there in the back, watching her. Keeping his eyes wide and trying to calm his heart that was pounding like a hammer in his chest.

He just didn’t have the guts to ask her anything a second time.

​Himanshu had figured out from her behavior exactly why she was mad.

But he still didn’t know if the call had actually come or not. Because it didn’t matter to the demon. Someone calling or not calling couldn’t bring any change in her behavior.

​After staring at the demon’s tired, defeated back for a few moments, Himanshu decided to turn around.

As important as Priya’s call was to him, not bothering the demon at this fragile moment was just as important.

​Just as Himanshu reached his hand out to open the door and leave...

the sound of a phone ringtone coming from the back of the kitchen froze his hand right there in the air.

​For a split second, Himanshu just froze like ice right on the spot. He couldn’t even react.

​One ring went by...

and then a second... before the third ring could finish, the demon’s voice came from behind.

"Hello..."

​That voice echoed in Himanshu’s ears like a bomb going off.

Before the demon could even say a second word, Himanshu ran back like a madman, snatched the phone right from her hand against her ear in one jerk, and pressed it against his own. He didn’t want to do that, but if the demon said anything else, it wouldn’t take Priya a second to figure things out. Right now, hiding the truth was way more important than dealing with the demon.

​[Hello... is this Himanshu’s number?]

​Hearing that familiar, sweet voice coming from the phone, Himanshu’s pupils widened. And his heartbeat shot through the roof in a flash.

​"Hello... hello... hello..."

"He... llo..."

After taking two deep breaths, only ’hello’ managed to come out of Himanshu’s mouth, and that too was badly broken and trembling.

​[Hello Himanshu... is that you?] There was a bit of confusion in Priya’s voice.

​"Yeah... yeah-yeah... it’s me speaking."

Because of his shaking hands, the phone wasn’t even resting properly against his ear.

​[What happened to your voice...?]

"Noth... nothing happened."

[Then... then why do you sound like a girl?]

​That’s when Himanshu realized that his toes, which were resting on the floor... were now slowly lifting into the air.

​He looked down.

The moment the demon’s terrifying, narrowed red eyes locked with Himanshu’s wide ones... Himanshu realized he had made the exact same mistake the customer had made.

Looking down on her!

​Himanshu knew very well that the demon could unleash her anger on him.

​"How dare you snatch the phone from my hand?" The demon’s voice was like the hiss of a venomous snake. She had Himanshu hanging in the air. "You could have just asked."

​Not a single word came out of Himanshu’s mouth out of pure fear. Eyes wide open, Himanshu angrily cursed himself in his head. Shit! What do I say now? If I try to say anything, a choking ’gurgle’ sound will come from my throat and Priya will figure it all out! He just didn’t know what to do in this moment. If he said anything to the demon, the sound would go through the phone, and this situation in front of Priya would get even worse.

​[Hello... hello... Himanshu?]

Priya’s voice from the phone hit his ears again.

​Without wasting a second, Himanshu pressed the mute button on the phone with his trembling thumb. ℯℯ𝘭.

But maybe he was too late by now. In those last words of Priya, there seemed to be more suspicion than just a question about his voice.

​Placing the ongoing call on the slab near the dishes, he tried to calm the demon’s anger, but it was probably too late for that. He thought he would just apologize first.

​But right then... came the loud sound of the kitchen door opening.

​Gaurav, who was humming a song, was pushing the door open while balancing pizza boxes in his hands.

His entire focus was just on keeping those boxes from falling.

​Because of the door opening so suddenly, the demon got distracted, and thanks to that, Himanshu got the time to plant his feet back on the ground.

​But the demon’s hands were still locked on Himanshu’s collar. The distance between Himanshu and the demon was also very little. Obviously, to lift someone off the ground into the air, the person lifting has to bring them really close.

​As soon as Gaurav looked up, he saw the two of them in that close position for a second.

And then... after lightly blinking twice, he tried to force a fake cough.

​Even though both of them were staring right at Gaurav (the demon in anger and Himanshu in shock), Gaurav had already lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

​"Doing... all this isn’t allowed here. Unless you’re alone."

Keeping his neck down and with a light blush on his face, he said that while placing the boxes on the counter.

​Looking at the senior’s face, the demon felt weird. That strange hesitation in Gaurav’s eyes made the demon feel uncomfortable from the inside for the very first time. Bringing her red eyes back to normal, the demon lowered her gaze for a second.

After shifting her gaze here and there, she let go of Himanshu’s collar with a jerk.

​Giving Himanshu one sharp glare, she walked out of the kitchen with heavy steps.

​Taking a deep breath, Himanshu controlled himself. He couldn’t understand what was going on in his life. Things were changing so fast that he wasn’t even getting the time to breathe properly.

​After watching the demon’s back as she left the kitchen, he turned to look at the phone.

The call had disconnected.

​After picking up the phone in his hand, he didn’t try to call back. Because this was his work time, and the situation had gotten so awkward that he couldn’t have talked properly with Priya anyway.

​The senior (Gaurav) tried to normalize the weird atmosphere with his same old energetic voice.

"Alright then junior, today we’ll learn how to make pizza and try making coffee again."

​Himanshu just nodded ’yes’ in a tired manner and moved forward.

​Working in the kitchen with the senior for three straight hours, Himanshu finished today’s shift.

During those three hours, whenever the demon came into the kitchen for some work, Himanshu’s back would tense up on alert. Until she walked out of the kitchen, Himanshu couldn’t even focus on his work. And this happened a lot, because the demon’s job was to handle the background stuff, bringing in and taking out dishes.

​Anyway, as time went by, Himanshu started feeling like the demon’s anger had cooled down a bit.

​°°°°°°°°°

​Right after leaving the cafe after their shift, Himanshu was walking ahead of the demon this time.

It was obvious he didn’t want to end up in that hanging-in-the-air situation again. The moment they got away from the cafe, the demon quickened her steps. Hearing the fast footsteps coming up behind him, Himanshu gulped down his fear and made his strides bigger too.

​But just a few moments later... he felt the demon’s hand on his shoulder from behind.

​Without a second thought, Himanshu squeezed his eyes shut and started repeating those lines like a parrot, the ones he had been saying all along.

"Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me!"

​When nothing happened for a few moments, no kick landed, no punch... he slightly opened one eye.

​Without blinking, the demon was looking right into his eyes.

Lowering her eyes again, she just let out a soft ’hmm’.

​Himanshu froze right there for a second.

Wait, wait, wait, wait...

Did she just accept my apology?

Well, that is what I wanted. But... but how did that just happen? So easily?

​And right then, Himanshu noticed something weird about the demon’s walk.

That walk wasn’t full of attitude like before, not like a Queen’s anymore. There was a bit of hesitation in her steps now. Her shoulders were slightly slumped. It was like... she was slowly starting to hate her own walk, or maybe she just didn’t want to walk with that wide, proud posture anymore. After everything that happened in the cafe today, she was realizing just how hollow she was.

​Did one day at the cafe teach her this much? Could it be... could her...

​Matching his steps with hers, Himanshu paused slightly and asked.

"Did you get into a fight with someone?"

​Without turning her neck, staring straight at the road ahead, the demon stopped for a second and said.

"No."

​Himanshu didn’t say anything. He just kept walking quietly beside her.

But seeing that hollow face of the demon, he was feeling something weird inside.

Then, after walking a few steps, he gathered his courage again and asked.

​"Are... are you okay?"

​The demon’s steps stopped right there.

She slowly turned toward Himanshu and looked into his eyes.

​Himanshu could clearly see that humiliation, that embarrassment, and a terrifying ’hollowness’ in her eyes. Today, those eyes didn’t look like a Demon Queen’s... but like those of a normal, broken girl, who had just realized for the very first time that she had no existence, no value in this world.