The Demon’s Bride

"Yes." Elise replied. The shed of Curly wasn't that far from the horse shed, instead the horse shed was just too large. When she arrived at the shed of Curly which to her expectation had a larger shed than the horse, she stepped forward to the gate of the shed and called his name. "Curly?"

"Don't get too close, missy." The young man warned while leaning to the wall behind him. Truthfully, Elise didn't expect him to still stand there as she thought the young man would leave after leading her the way.

Just as Elise was about to take a single step forward again, she hard a sound of small steps running toward their place while shouting with delight. "Woof! Woof!"

"Curly!" Elise called to have the dog replying her words with more barking. The dog was still the same as she remembered, small and adorable with its tail swinging upside down with delight. While barking Cerberus saw Elise's hand rubbing his head and laid on the floor as though he was asking for more rubbing. "You're still adorable!" Elise replied gladly. "Stand!" As Elise commanded, the dog sat straightly.

The young man who stood beside Elise unknowingly had inched closer to the scene with gaping mouth. "He greeted you?"

Elise turned her head and tilted it to the side. "Curly is very friendly, you know."

"Friendly, you say. Even after working ten years here, it still bark loudly when it saw me." The young man said with a sigh. When he reached out his hand to the Cerberus, like a fierce animal, the dog growled veraciously, seeming wanting to shout "Don't Touch me!" To the young man, making him to sulk.

Elise laughed at the scene, speaking to Curly lightly. "Don't do that, Curly. He's not an enemy."

"Woof!" The dog replied but it didn't seem like it would change his attitude toward the young man.

"What's your name, missy? I'm Johannes, Johannes Sinne but you could call be my nickname, John." The young man named himself. "You seem to have an affinity with animals, are you possibly a mix?"

"By a mix, you mean half-humans and mythical beings?" Elise asked and saw John nodding. "I'm not a mix, I'm a human."

"Thought so." John replied confidently.

Seeing his confidence, Elise asked curiously. "How do you know?"

"You see, I don't think anyone know but mythical beings, mixes, and humans have something different in their features." John spoke his mind aloud. "Their behaviors are also different but it's not something that anyone's eyes could spot."

"Oh." Elise sang her reply. "Then how do you know I'm a human?"

"You way of walking." John replied. "A werecat or werewolves walk with the shoulder upfront, straight and strong. Vampires have an elegant features and delicates look nevertheless they have a very mysterious air around them. Elf have and even more graceful look like flowers, they tend to be very soft. A human, well they look ordinary, walk ordinary and have ordinary features."

Elise chuckled funnily from his words. "Are human that ordinary?"

"Ordinary isn't a bad thing you know." John defended. "Well it's not the best thing either though."

"Then, let's see." Elise turned her eyes to the man. He didn't have a strong body that suit the werecat description or werewolves, he also didn't have an elegant features like a vampire and his eyes weren't red, also he doesn't seem to be an elf because his ears are normal in shape.

"You can't guess it?" John smirked. "Actually the statements that I made before is for famous mythical beings that human know, I myself is just a normal mythical beings with a very thin blood line of my great great great grandmother's. So I'm more of a human. Ordinary, aren't I?" His words made Elise to laugh again.

"Then, as a fellow of ordinary people, we should be friend." John said as he dusted of the dust on his knees. "Let's get along, Elise."

"Likewise." Elise replied and they both laughed at each other again. For some reason, Elise was reminded her of her little brother William, perhaps because of their speech and their smile. Thinking that, she felt a yearning to see her family's face again.

Not far from the scene, Ian who had just exited his study room, sensed his dog barking loudly as though there was no tomorrow and turned to the window beside him. To his amusement, he spotted Elise coming to visit the shed like what she had said previously at the dinner. Yet beside her, there was a particular young man standing beside her talking while laughing.

He felt amused by watching Elise laughing and giggling happily in delight, but suddenly he felt as though he had lost his amusement. His heart wasn't happy. Not at the least from the scene where the young man jokingly laughing with her. His red eyes stared at the scene for a long time without a word.

"It seems she have made a new friend." Austin in his cat form spoke.

Ian shifted his crimson gaze at the cat, not replying anything. Seeing his expression, Austin commented sourly. "Why do you look that irritated? It's bound that Elise make a friend and a human at her age would have started to court a marriage partner, you know? Well, usually it's their family who does that." Austin tried to lightened the mood but instead made it even worse. Ian had an unreadable expression but the usual smirks that he had grew colder like an icicle.

"I should have really taken in a dog." Ian coldly stated. "What's your matter here?"

"Nothing. I'm just here to tell that you receive an invitation to a party." Austin replied after pulling an envelope with his mouth and spoke again with a muffled nose. "In case you're about to ask why Maroon wasn't the one sending this to you is because he's currently digging the hole in the forest."

"Digging a hole in the forest." Ian replied with a chuckle. "How many intruders have come here after puppy came?" He asked while placing his hand over the window pane where the girl was standing at.

"Thirty? Or perhaps more than that? I've lost count." Austin replied. "There must be only several people who knows her real identity yet we have a lot of 'guests' to entertain at night, to have a lots of holes, the Church is getting old." The cat scoffed before pawing his nose.

"Continue The Protection and make sure the Barrier is still closed." Ian ordered. "Also," he trailed. His eyes gazing at the envelope with an unfading smile. "Prepare a dress."

"A dress?" Austin was about to ask for who but abstain himself as he knew exactly for who the dress was for. "I understand."

As the cat left, Ian still stayed there watching Elise playing with the Cerberus while crossing his arm in front of his chest. Since when did he became a petty man, seeing her laughing with another person only to feel irritated because the smile wasn't directed for him. He felt the humanely feeling that he lost almost a thousand year ago, coming back to him. Anger and dissatisfaction, or perhaps another extra emotion? He remembered to have heard of this feeling before. It was the feeling what humans called as jealousy. The feeling of indescribable irritatedness to the man who spoke with her, must be the feeling of jealousy. Truly he had became a petty man, he commented to himself with a chuckle.