The Demon’s Bride

Elise stayed on Ian's embrace as long as he needed her presence, letting him feel her warmth and she also felt his living warmth. Ian couldn't express more of how relieved he was to see that she was fine, that no deadly wound was inflicted to her. When he thought of how late he was and how he could be late, anger raise in him, partly to the people who tried to harm her and mostly to himself.

There was a desperation for being useless in his heart that reminded him of what he felt when he lost his mother— the time when he was pushed on the ground, held by many people to watch his mother's last moment with his own two eyes.

Elise was also relieved to see Ian again. She had acted tough, showing her power, commanding the shadows, but truthfully she was scared. Even though she was a Demon's Bride, the creature that the two sides of Relics and Dark Sorcerers covet, all she wanted was a peaceful life where no danger could come to her and his life. Elise didn't like to fight but it was necessary as she still want to see another day with Ian beside her.

Now she understood that there are fight in which one of the opponent doesn't wish for anything but to stay alive; it was because they have people they think dear of which why they didn't want to die, like what she felt.

With their chest pressed, she could feel her heartbeat pacing fast when all of a sudden, Elise's brows raised, finding it strange, "Ian, can you move away a little?"

Ian pulled back a little and retracted his body from leaning over her chest for a deep frown to loop on his forehead, "Is there any wound on your body that you feel hurt?"

Elise shook her head, "I feel fine, in fact better. This is not about me but you," her eyes slowly lift up from his chest to his eyes, "Your heart is pacing very quickly is that normal?"

Ian's face was imbued with a sudden surprise and taken aback. He took his hand and pressed it to his chest where he indeed found his heartbeat thundering quickly even though he hadn't tried doing so. It was not normal and strange because his heart had long been unmovable unless he was the one to make it beat.

Yet instead of appearing confused, a chuckle passed by his lips, "It's appear that you have successfully scared me to death." He joked, but Elise wasn't smiling, she didn't find it funny as questions overfilled her mind.

"Is this normal?" she asked again, looking at him, her blue dewy eyes stared at his playful expression where Ian smiled to assure her.

"It is not normal but not deadly either," he replied, so indeed it was not normal. Elise knew Ian was an immortal, he cannot die precisely because the curse that was put to him as he took Caleb's position as the third generation Diablo. 

It was a guess that ran in Elise's mind... "Has your curse been broken?" She hesitantly brought up the possible guess.

Ian didn't immediately reply. As strange as his heart beating, he didn't put much care initially. He was still basking on the fact that Elise was alive and breathing and how fortunate he was for not being late to come and save her. But now given a guess by Elise, his furrowed brows deepened, "It shouldn't be easy to be broken." and he didn't do anything that could break his curse.

The curse of Demons are stronger than any curse ever done by humans. It was so potent that the way to break the curse remain an enigma for thousands of years amongst Demons. There had been many people in Hell who tried to break the curse, like Caleb and the other first generation Diablo, but all came as useless. Due to how difficult it was to find the method to break the curse, soon everyone believed that there are no way to break the curse, believing that instead of a curse, it was a never ending punishment or perhaps a power to cage Demons forever to Hell.

"There is no use questioning around, we need to check it to see whether it's true," and Elise saw Ian rose from the side of the bed.

He walked toward the cupboard, pulling the drawer and took out a dagger which she never knew was there. Unsheathing the dagger, he run his palm over the blade without hesitation. Blood dripped when the diagonal wound opened. Ian watched the blood dripping down. Pain burn on his palm but he had gotten used to the pain he didn't quite notice how painful it was.

Elise gasped upon seeing the blood. He might be immortal but she couldn't see him in pain. No matter how immortal her beloved was, she was still like other women with a lover, she cannot see him in pain.

She pushed herself from the bed only to feel her world danced around her and she felt Ian's strong arm covering her waist, "Shush, naught girl. You shouldn't move. You lost quite a lot amount of blood. Resting a bit won't restore them."

With one eyes closed, Elise opened the other to adjust her sight, "Your wound," she said.

Ian reached out his wounded palm and Elise watched how his wound had closed, "See it for yourself, dearie, the curse is still there. Even if the curse has been broken, I wouldn't die easily. And isn't it would be Heaven's last act of kindness to me? They are letting me to live the rest of my life with you, like a normal person; I can grow old until my hair turn white beside you and rest in a coffin buried next to yours."

Ian wasn't wrong, thought Elise. While she didn't want him to die, she knew the suffering of the miserable loneliness to be alone. She didn't wish for Ian to suffer when she die in the future and thought to find a way to break his curse. 

She should be happy when she find out the curse had been broken... yet why does she feel so unsettled?

Elise meet his eyes again which gleamed with brightness and glitters, "I don't think I can imagine you turning old."

Ian spread his smile evenly, "Why? Because of how handsome I am? But I do trust that even if I turn old like a grandpa, I will still look handsome."

His smile contagiously caused her lips to escape chuckles which died down slowly as she placed her palm on his chest, trying to feel his heartbeat, finding it still as if the thundering heartbeat from earlier was just her imagination.

"Ian..." she called his name, her words whispering slowly, "My heart feels heavy. I feel uneasy."

"What is there to be uneasy of?" Ian softly caressed his hand from the crown of her head to the end of her hair, "For as long as I am here with you, beside you, nothing should come between us. Don't you remember? I am a Demon even disaster is afraid of me." He chuckled.