The Demon’s Bride

It was a demon. The man wasn't a high demon but he was not weaker either for a lesser demon. Esther watched the man's face, trying to figure who he was only to come up with nothing.

"You are, Miss Welyn's father?" Esther was the one to ask. In such a tense moment, no one but her could ask and she had took the opportunity to do so.

The man's eyes peered down to her dangerously and Beelzebub returned his glare hatefully. "You have the wrong person."

"No. I know I have the right person. You are Beelzebub, that boy who my daughter had saved and who you had taken advantage of her kindness in order to use her!"

Beelzebub frowned, "And who told you that?"

The demon's eyes fell on the demoness who had remained silence. To this Beelzebub's widened his gaze, "You—"

The demoness's face remained silent. She closed her eyes, remembering the time when she was still asleep. There were many who called to her name, trying to summon her for their needs.

At the time, she was still asleep. In a war that occurred thousands of years ago, the war didn't leave only wounds on her face but also deep scar on her heart and her soul.

Tired of everything, she decided to rest, closing her eyes and lay her soul in a forever sleep. Yet, like a moth to a flame, even though she was wounded by humans themselves and regardless how she had rested her soul, it appears that she couldn't hold herself from hearing the human's call on her name.

She watched what their need, listening to their suffering. At first, she didn't have any attachment to any of the humans who called her. Demons began to summon her as well as it appears Ariel had made her into a goddess in Hell from her life story, while omitting her demise.

It comes unexpected to her when she learned demons' wish are some times more selfless compared to humans who wish for riches and luxury. The demons' wish were to kill their enemy who had harmed their family.

At first, she was still unconvinced to help them but by times, her heart gradually moved and the urge to help them grew in her heart.

She kept a record in herself of those who she wasn't able to help due to her condition and one of the people she remember the most was a human woman who had escaped from the abyss.

It was a strange and rare occurrence. For a human to make a wish from her in Hell and for a human to be able to escape from the abyss.

It started as a pure curiosity but grew quickly into more than interest. From the story of the woman, she pitied her, and invested her concern to the woman. 

The human woman had summoned her from the hidden lake. Throwing the rock three times before making a wish on the lake should have been the ritual to summon her yet while the human woman did the first two steps, she never uttered her wish to her.

That human woman was Welyn.

Back in present, Esther was startled to who Welyn's father had pointed his hand to. Like her, Beel was as shock as her. She was reminded to the demoness' warning before they had left the floor earlier.

'We will become an enemy.'

Was this what she meant?

"It must be a misunderstanding— no, it is a misunderstanding!" Esther raised her voice to Welyn's father. The demon didn't listen to her and it would be futile to persuade him but she didn't want to let go of the chance. 

Welyn had played a large role in Beelzebub's life. Because of the woman, Beel could be here with her. Even though she hadn't met Welyn before, Esther was deeply grateful for her help and she could tell Beel had more respect, gratitude, and guilt to her.

He wouldn't want to harm Welyn's father, the father to his savior.

"Silence woman. I won't show any mercy to you regardless if you are the same kin as my daughter," to the man, he had lost his daughter. His precious daughter had been suffering from her child's death and even though he tried to help her from her suffering, he was still unable to persuade her to move to her future.

It wasn't that he didn't understand Welyn's pain of losing her dear son. Her son was his grandson as well, but as the person on the sideline, he could only encourage her to move forward with her future. Only now that he had lost her as well that he understood the anguish that haunted her.

He also understood now in the most painful way possible her reason to forfeit her life to resurrect her son. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't successful as the demon in front of him had killed her!

"You don't know what pain one can feel when losing their precious person," he said angrily where everyone could see his boiling anger. "But I would be sure you will understand that pain when you lose someone important to you."

Beelzebub hand quickly pulled Esther's shoulder toward him. Esther's heart skipped in startle and she look up only to feel chill running down her spine as a deep menace colored his face in a dark purple color.

"Don't you fucking dare," Beelzebub won't let anyone touched Esther, not even if they threatened her by words. "What is this game you are playing at? Do I know you?" Beelzebub directed his question toward the demoness who stood silently and continued her silence.

"Why are you lying?" An annoyed smile grew on Beelzebub's lips. "Considering you are a powerful demoness, you should knew better than anyone what happened that time!"

"Stop talking and fight me!" The demon in front of him shouted, irking him even more. Seeing that it was impossible to talk the man through it, Beelzebub only see the way out of this is for him to smack the truth to the man's head. 

He pulled Esther behind him, "Don't go far away from me," he warned but Esther shook her head.

"No matter what happen, can you promise me that you wouldn't hurt or kill him?" Esther questioned while holding his arm.

Beelzebub could tell at that moment her plan, he looked at her, his eyes didn't show any lies as he had promised to be forward to her without any lies as barrier between them.

"I can't promise you that."

Esther saw his deficiency and slowly settled her hand on his cheeks, "Then I better finish this quickly."

Beelzebub held her hand and when she left his side, he had to scrunch his eyebrows to hold back of his anger. Lifting his chin, his red eyes snapped at the father of his old friend. "Don't test my patience any longer. I can't promise I won't kill you if you do."

Esther sauntered her way to the demoness. As she arrived near, the woman didn't put her guard up. She simply stared back at her with her gaze bleak.

"Was it Welyn who had started a contract with you?" Esther stated forward, going straight to the point. 

"How do you know?"

"It's too fishy isn't it? All Welyn's acquaintance are her, Beel and her father. I doubted it could be anyone else other than her husband and her. But her husband, if my memory served me right had left her before her son did. The dead could not make contract but before they died, they could."

The demoness was silent until she said, "She wanted her son back.. That is the only wish of her that I can find."