The Demon’s Bride

Starting the day before, the snow had fallen slower than before. The white blanket cover Warine endlessly for another one month. While it was usually silence that filled the season of Winter, on this particular day, carriages had been busily filling the road. The guests from other lands whom didn't want to miss the wedding of the Warine Lord dispatched their carriage in the crack of dawn, making their way to the place where the first wedding ceremony was held which located in a Church. 

Meanwhile, the ballroom in the castle was filled with flowers. Round tables covered with snowy white tablecloth. From the morning everyone had been including both the bride and the servants in the White Mansion. The chandeliers sparks in golden glitters after the polish and Esther's deep blue eyes stared at the roof with her hand crossed when a maid came in with whispers once they looked at her.

"The ball will be held after the ceremony in the Church," came the voice from behind and upon the first note of his words, Esther could feel her mood that brightened a little slumped at once. 

She turned with a sour look on her face, "The maids in this castle needs some apparent teaching. Whispering right in front of the person they are talking of, I don't know whether to praise their courage or their stupidity." Esther had spoken her words loud enough for the maids to also hear her words. 

Beelzebub watched the maids who became aware of Esther's words scurried away for fear of being punished and his chuckles bubbles, "Elise would do a great job in getting them on shape. She could even control shadows and you."

"Elise?" Esther raised her brows, "Not lass? I see that she has also got you in shape."

"I thought about calling her lass but then she is going to graduate from the words tonight," Beelzebub's unfiltered words only resulted in Esther rolling her eyes. "Joking aside, I hear a little about your past with Leviathan."

"You are putting a shame to those ornaments on the side of your head which you call as ears, noisy bastard," Esther remarked, "It is in my question of how many people you have pursue with this intrusiveness of yours. Do you do this to every women in Hell?"

"Jealous, are we? But worry not; if you are jealous, I will tell you, I only involve myself deeply to a person when I have committed myself in knowing them. I am the greediest Demon in Hell. Once a jewel shines to my eyes, all I can think is to make that jewel mine," he said while staring deeply into her eyes but Esther only huffed in response, and when he saw Esther looking as if she was enough and was ready to leave the room, he brought up what he wanted to say, "As you stayed in Hell it means you also know the Demon named Asmodeus."

"The fortuneteller of Hell," Esther named the other title of Asmodeus, receiving a nod from Beelzebub. "I don't think anyone ever miss knowing that person. Although he is weak as the famous thirteen Demons of Hell, he made up his lack of power with his skill of reading the future. Once Levi also wanted to see him but he failed," and when she said this, she noticed Beelzebub humming with his lips devoid of smile. "What about him?"

"Ian went once there to ask about the bride which God would give him and that was how he met her. Think about it, Elise is the granddaughter of both an Archangel and Satan and now she is marrying a Demon. What coincidence could it be? Everything had been weaved to something called Fate which God weave to his children. It is known that God have a plan but whether his plan is great or not, no one could tell." Beelzebub's red eyes that stared at the same chandelier as Esther then zoned out in a thought. His daze broke when he heard her speak,

"You sound very appreciative of God for a Demon." Esther then saw Beelzebub smiled meaningfully and she crossed her arms, "What else did Asmodeus predicted? Did he spoke about how their relationship will fare?" It was only right for a person to see things to the end and Esther was also curious of the future Asmodeus predicted as it was known that Demon never failed in any except a single prediction he made ever since his name became well known around Hell.

Beelzebub crossed his arms, "Ian then said it is boring to know the end of the future beforehand, thus, before Asmodeus could complete he left."

"How boring," Esther shook her head as her expectation was lowered, "Now that it comes to this, he must be regretting that he didn't ask Asmodeus the complete version of their future. You can enjoy the chandelier. I would be leaving to get dressed now." While leaving Beelzebub, Esther then tipped her chin.

Why did he talked about Asmodeus when there was nothing important about the conversation? Esther asked in her mind and brushed it away as she didn't see it to be important. 

Admiring the chandelier alone, Beelzebub lowered his chin, his golden lashes casted a shadow over his red eyes as he sunk to the memories of the past few years when he was still living in Hell. Out of amusement as it was terribly boring in Hell for him, he asked Asmodeus to perform him a read of the future. Instead of his future, he had gone to ask about Ian after hearing he had taken the supposedly bride of his to his mansion in Hell.

'You know it is not right to see other's future. Diablo won't be happy,' said Asmodeus. The Demon had a white long hair that held a tinge of pink color braided over his chest while his red eyes were lighter amongst other Demon where his pupils were oval-shaped. In the building where most Demons came to gamble, they had taken a seat in the corner of the room, the side of their seat had been covered with a thick red curtain. 

Asmodeus's face came clearer when he stood nearer to the candle stand on the corner of the couch and his frown became more evident. 'When times come and he discover this stunt I will remain blameless and tells that you are the one who forced me.'

'Go on, scaredy-cat. Ian won't mind me peeking anyway he has no interest in things such as this. What did you find? Did he and the Demon's Bride get married?'

'They did...' Asmodeus trailed his words, his hand then picking the crystal ball he had before him to let the demoness who came toward them to refill their drinks. One of the demoness who was dressed in a thin clothes that revealed anything excluding her private parts waved her hand to Beelzebub which was returned with a smile that lasted shortly as he was more interested in the future Asmodeus could read rather than the women. 

'Then why does your crystal ball colored in red?'

'Do you know Beel that not every marriage is a good ending?' Asmodeus asked him, 'In the past a Demon came and asked about his marriage and while his marriage went well, they didn't end up greatly. The Demon's Bride is fated to kill Diablo and that remain unchanged.'

'Interesting but what if she fell in love with Ian instead?' Beelzebub asked and he remembered the look Asmodeus gave him where the Demon's smile was small and a shake of his head was offered.

Coming to the present Beelzebub thought again about the question Esther asked him about why he didn't call Elise by lass any longer and he finally let out the truth now that they were alone, "It is too pitiful. Just sadly pitiful."

In her room, after the endless preparation of her skin in the bath, Elise were finally able to wear her wedding gown. She stood before the long couch, letting the maids behind her to pull the laces tight before tying it with great difficulty. As everything needed to be perfect, the maids cannot help but to tie the corset tighter in order to help Elise create a beautiful body line with the gown.

Elise raised her hand to the maid who held the laces, "This is enough." She cannot have herself faint in her own wedding day, she thought. The maids obliged and move on to help her with the rest of the gown and the layers of the skirt that puffs up.

"Isn't that perfect?" Came Esther's voice who had entered the room in time. "I say that while it is simple. I feel like I wouldn't breathe if I were to wear that much layer of gown."