The Demon’s Bride

One of the two people was familiar because it was only this afternoon did she talked about him, the younger man was Ernest Lone, the younger brother of the Churchmember, Dalton Lone.

"You," Elise said with her eyes wide in a surprise. The man upon looking at her was also surprised and his eyes went even wider when he spotted the man with the red eyes, Ian. Although at the moment Ian's hair was wet from the snows melting from his head, his face, behavior, and clothes was apparent to belong to a higher class. Only a glance of Ian's face would leave a deep impression to anyone who saw him, the impression was enough for anyone to never forget it until they lay on the casket.

Ernest walked from the bed where he had took a seat at, standing to walk toward the door and he curtesy, "Greetings to you, Lord Ian, and Miss Scott, is it?"

"I am," Elise smiled, returning the man's smile in politeness. "It is nice to meet you again, Mr. Ernest."

Ernest smiled, not forgetting to greet the Lord of Warine with the same smile and Ian raised his brows ever so subtly, then he shifted his eyes at Elise, "You know him?"

Elise replied with a prompt nod, "He is Dalton Lone's younger brother, the person who I met during the first exam."

"Lord Ian," another voice chimed in and it was a lower-pitched score. He appeared with a smile looking at the two politely before bowing for his brown hair to fall haphazardly over his forehead. "Can we consider this as a Heaven's will? We have just talked about you."

Looking at who it was, Ian tugged his lips, "Alfred," and the man bowed.

"I am grateful that you still remember my name," he then turned his face to Elise, "It is also nice to meet you, milady, you must be Miss Scott. I have heard a lot about you but seeing you with own eyes I can vouch that the rumors of your gorgeousness doesn't do justice to how beautiful you are."

And when the man wanted to take her hand for a greeting kiss on the back of her palm, Elise was about to raise her rejection to the kiss when Ian took her hand before Alfred, "As flirty as ever, Alfred. Your wife would be troubled with the amount of words you threw to women."

"Don't jest, milord I don't have a wife," Alfred chuckled.

"Well that is a shame but you can't kiss my wife's hand. We are taught to prioritize our health and a kiss is a way to transfer germ," Ian smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes after casually dropping the warning. 

Both Ernest Lone and Alfred was shocked by this fact. "Pardon me, but married? I did heard about the news of marriage but I didn't know you have been married."

"We will get married soon," Ian confirmed and his eyes turn to Elise whose cheeks felt hot as if it was burning, "Elise is a little shy and I want her to get used by me calling her my wife. Although I wish for you to call me husband soon," he said while tugging her fingers. "What do you say?"

Elise looked at the people's eyes on her as attention was suddenly thrown over her. She looked at Ian, finding his smile where the left corner of his lips grew wider than the other, and she knew this was his smile when he was being mean to her, "Ian." She called his name with a warning.

Alfred poured a laughter to the room, "Sure enough from your banter I can tell that your marriage are coming along well. I might not be as close as Alex to you, milord. But you have taken care of me since I was young like how you did to him. I would be very thrilled if you could grant me the position of your future children's-"

"Shall we speak about the ghost town now?" Ian interrupted Alfred's useless chatter and immediately the man clapped his hand as if he had forgotten what he was caught up in and took two steps away from the door. 

"We should discuss it together, please come in," Alfred offered and entered before Ernest followed.

While they were still in the door, Elise looked at Alfred and whispered, "Who is he?"

"Someone who I once had to take care," replied Ian and Elise raised her brows as it was something unusual. She didn't know that Ian took care of children in the past. "His family is considered to be one of the most influential in Hurthend, but one day his parents died. Being the only human family in the vampire's land, the vampires went to dispute about who would want to take care of him."

"And they chose you?" 

Ian chuckled at her question, "Is it that surprising for me to be chosen?"

Elise pursed her lips and she looked at his teasing smile, "Was your reputation amongst people at that time terrible?"

"You have gotten smart in evading my questions, are you?" Ian raised his let eyebrow at her which Elise replied with a smile. "At that time my reputation wasn't terrible even now I am still better than a few Lords of the five lands. But I was feared for my power. In fact, I wasn't chosen as the one to take care of Alfred, he was the one to come up to me. I took care of him for only three years, he was fifteen at that time."

"I didn't know you are good at taking care of children," whispered Elise under her breath listlessly.

Ian pulled out his finger to lift her chin, "Didn't I took care of you well when you are young? Or was I lacking something?"

"No but there was a time when I thought you were avoiding me." Elise confessed the feeling that she had when young.

"In a sense I guessed I was," Ian confirmed her guess that has her stopped her steps and her attention was stolen to him. "I don't have emotions due to the amount of years passed in me but I still can get attached to things or people. I didn't want to get attached to a little girl who would always hug my leg when in the future I knew she would leave me."

Over his words and the smile he showed, Elise looked at him with her expression bashful. Her smile then appeared as well as he question, "How did you know I would leave? Did you expect it?"

Ian brought his shoulders on air and placed it down, "I peeked slightly to the future with the help of Asmodeous, a Demon who could see to the future; just a little because I was curious of the bride that Heaven gave to me. At first honestly you looked like a puppy that I once had when I was young. She always chases for me just like you did. That's it and nothing else."

"Is that why you called me puppy?" One of Elise's question was why Ian would often called her puppy. 

"Yes, her name was Duchess, a name my mom gave me with it."

"She must be adorable," Elise whispered, wondering how Ian was as a child. Did he played like any other child? She met him now when he has become the Lord of Warine and with how he was now, it was hard to imagine of his childhood past but she could tell he must had a childhood no different than others with pain as what he and his mother had to went through. He must have been handsome since young because people said that men are like wine the more they aged they better they were. "What do you think about me now?"

"Oh? Questioning my feeling now, are you?" Ian placed his hand behind her back, slowly climbing down as his two fingers trailed her spine, his voice fell low, "Haven't I showed you enough of how ardent I love you? And how passionate my love for you?" 

Elise felt the faint hair on her back raises over his words, "I was curious, just like you," she whispered. 

"You are getting cleverer and slier but I don't dislike it," he then bent, and Elise felt her heart and ears tickles when he said, "I am thankful that God gave you to me, a demon that I don't mind visiting Heaven at some point." but Elise wondered if going Heaven was good when they don't know whether Angels would be on their side or the enemy's side as Ian was a demon and she had a Demon's blood in her.

"What will you do in Heaven? I doubt they would welcome us with open hands," and she caught how his eyes moved away to the ceiling and he hummed as if finding a great idea. 

"Have a tea."