The Demon’s Bride

Elise looked at the bird, giving a glance where her brows slanted before she turned to Ian who had spoken. She wondered what he meant by not being the same. Wasn't the rose from last time turns out to be the same? "I thought you would be able to bring back lives, like the rose," she reminded.

Ian continued to stare from above, seeing Elise who had crouched her knees on her ground to take the bird's body. "I am no god, Elise. A Demon is not blessed with enough power to resurrect lives. To tell you the difference between it would be hard. Do you want to seem sweetheart?"

Did Ian meant to see the bird come back to live? Elise asked to herself. She didn't know, why Ian had asked, and felt he did because there would be consequences taken. "I would like to," said Elise, thinking that she was being selfish which was good.

"Okay, come here," on Ian's words, Elise stood up to stand in front of Ian. She extended her hands which was holding the bird's body to Ian. She wondered what would happen, and was looking forward to see the bird to become lively again. But somewhere, she could feel that it would not happen. 

Ian reached out his hand and with a grin on his lips, he snapped his finger. Elise fixed her eyes at the bird, thinking that it would take minutes for the magic to take effects but then, the bird didn't move. Elise pulled her brows, her head tilting before she craned her chin to look at Ian's red eyes, "It didn't work?"

Ian saw the expression he expected to see from her, and tipped his chin, "Try to feel the bird's chest, Elise." and Elise did what he told.

Her finger pressed enough to feel the heart of the bird, when her eyes widened, "It's beating!" To her miracle, the bird on Elise's hand could move, and her expression was stunned in amazement. Ian told her that he was not blessed with a power to resurrect lives, but it was certain that the bird's heart was palpitating. Elise then frowned when she noticed what was wrong, "The bird is not moving."

Ian didn't agree to her words but he didn't deny either, "What do you think happen? As you know, by now, it is not moving."

Elise wondered if it was related to Ian's previous statement where the bird would come alive but it would not be what it was before? 

Ian watched Elise with his eyes smiling. It was a great pleasure for him, to lead, and teach Elise to study more things. Elise was no less than a pure white parchment paper, that was yet to be filled with writings or drawings. It was his responsible as the man who would marry her in the future, to put an ink and color her with his thoughts about the cruel world she had only seen glimpse before.

Elise, on the other hand, was focused on the bird. It took her a moment of silence before she say, "There is no soul."

"Correct, and this call for a reward," Ian said in a sing-song tone, praising her for her quick wit. He had asked a person the same question but the person failed to reply to the next day, in the end, the man had to die on his hand. "I can bring things to life but not the soul. No one in this world could ever resurrect a life, as what they needed is soul, and to call a passing soul is not something a human could do. Not even Demons could do this."

Seeing Ian wasn't able to, Elise believe the task would be impossible. Bringing the body back to life, was enough miracle, thought Elise to herself. 

"I heard of it before, that there was a black magic that could bring a person back to life, do you think that would not work either?" questioned Elise whose eyes first stared at the bird before she noticed the silence came from Ian. Turning her head, she closed her eyes as a gust of wind blew her face. She sneaked a look by squinting her eyes that was blown by the wind and there, she saw Ian putting a smile that was different than any other smile she had seen before.

The moment Elise had to close her eyes, she opened it again to see Ian with the still grin on the corner of his smile. "That would never happen. Even if they become a Demon, acts or rituals of bringing other's to life, would never happen."

Elise also accepted death. It was much better than to know there was a resurrection magic. It would be delightful to ever see the people who you treasured, that had died come back alive; but Elise felt that at the same time it would be uncanny. 

The people who had died, should have took a rest from the world, and stay at a better place in Heaven. Wouldn't calling their sound from the place their rest on disturb their peacefulness?

"You should bury it," said Ian for her attention to fall at him. He noticed how Elise's emotions were unstable, and seeing how her power would activate according to her emotion, Ian thought to keep close eyes like how he always did to her and on the changes of her emotions that could be crucial. "They say bodies that are not buried would be reincarnated again with the same place they were wounded on their death affecting them on their second lives."

Elise then heard the snapping sound of his finger and the body of the bird that had gotten warm, turned cold again on her hand. She stared at Ian, her eyes not straying away from him, and Ian accepted her gaze willingly. If it was others staring at him for more than a minute, he would have threatened to pluck their eyeballs, but Elise's eyes were beautiful that Ian didn't mind to be stared by it for years to come.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Ian?" asked Elise because yo her ears it sounded like so.

"I don't." was Ian's brief but meaningful reply. "I don't believe that there would be something after death. Once a human died, their body would decompose to soil, leaving them only as skeletons. It takes an extra years for the bones to be destroyed. It's not much different to other creatures in this lands. The salamander, unicorns, and mermaids, they all die the same way like human. Do you find death still frightening, Elise?"

Elise hated death as it was what separated her from her family. But she had enough wisdom in her to understand that all beings would die at one point, and her family had drawn the shortest stick by dying before her. It was natural, and although it was sad, she had to accept it, and Ian knew Elise had accepted her family's death well without moping in tears.

"They are frightening," replied Elise. "I don't think there will be a day when death is not frightening."

"But death is what makes a human's life worthwhile," said Ian, he looked at her with his eyes unleaving. He watched her with the smile that was solemn, "Knowing that there is an end in your life, could be said as a salvation and maybe some times it doesn't, it all depends again to the situation and the person's wish."

Reaching out his hand, Ian touched her cheeks that had turned cold and his lips were wide, "But you don't have to fear death for I am here, puppy. I won't die nor will I let you die."

At the same time they spoke, Maroon came out to the garden, spotting Ian, the butler walked and stopped in front of the Lord. His body bowed to show his upmost respect, "Mr. Beel has arrived, my Lord. He is waiting in the entrance."

"Waiting," repeated Ian with a scoffed, "That man can't entertain himself and need others to help him find amusement for his live," Ian then shifted his eyes to look at Elise. He didn't want Elise to meet the swindler of hell, "Clean the place spotlessly, Elise. Who knows this would be your last work at the garden as a maid."

Elise didn't mull over Ian's words and she saw him left the place with Maroon, who glanced back at her with his eyes narrowing. Did she did anything again that had the butler to narrow his eyes? But then, Maroon had always looked at her with the same distance gaze and now that she thought about it, Maroon had done this perhaps long before when she was still young. 

It was a long time ago that Elise didn't remember well, but she recalled that there was one person who she would not want to stay with for a long time as the person didn't smile but look at her with a passive expression, which was Maroon.

She wondered who Mr. Beel was, the name was somewhat rare and unique that it caught to her mind. Seeing the bird's body on her hand, Hallow's head popped from her pocket that now became his nesting place. "I didn't know he could do that..." whispered Hallow. Because of the time where he was locked in a vase, Hallow didn't want to chide on their conversation that might earn her a worse punishment than the vase.

He found it surprising for the Demon to be able to bring the bird alive even if there was no soul. It was something that only greater Demons could do but the man had done it with a snap of his finger in ease. Hallow can't help but to praise Ian for his power.