The coachman gave Lara and Demian a ride to the forest outside Dandelion. As it was snowing, the cold weather meant there were few people on the street. Only the sound of their carriage was heard on the empty road.
Lara stopped the carriage inside the forest. She grabbed Demian's hand and told the coachman.
"Please wait for us here."
"Yes, milady."
"It's cold so rest inside the carriage."
Lara was wearing a heavy coat and a thick cape. She made Demian wear the same cape. Then, they walked into the deep forest.
"I feel like I'm being kidnapped."
"How did you know?"
Lara smiled. Whenever the two stepped on the snow, a crunch sound could be heard.
"Where are we going?"
"Where no one is."
"There's already no one here, Lara."
"Where there's no star or moon."
Lara's voice sounded like a song. Demian decided not to ask more questions. A sweet heat rose from the hand he grabbed. He wanted to touch her fingers, he wanted to tickle her wrist and sweep her shoulders. He wanted to listen to her beating heart and breathe along to that beat. As he was having such thoughts, Lara suddenly talked to him.
"I have a question."
"Ask me."
"Who gave you your name?"
Lara asked. She was walking across the dense forest of trees. A small snowflake that fell through the branches flowed down her cape.
Demian replied.
"Me."
"You named yourself?"
"I wouldn't say it like that. It just came to my mind one day. It was just like someone…told me of a past that I don't even remember."
"I heard you saw the demon in person in the North."
"I did."
"How did you feel?"
Demian recalled the demon he encountered in the North. White hair fluttering like a ghost, speed and strength that humans could not keep up with, and she even had the appearance of a beautiful woman.
Originally, it was only normal for predators not to disguise themselves as one. But this demon was strange, while hunting, she enjoyed distracting humans by using the form of a beautiful woman.
"I was angry."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I only had the thought that I had to fight her and win. I feel bad for Acerus for saying this, but I just ended up saving him while I was dealing with her."
"Did you win?"
"Yeah."
This time, Lara was surprised. She stopped her steps and looked back at him, her pale face looking somewhat flushed. Demian put his palms to her cheeks and melted her icy figure. Lara asked again.
"Did you kill her?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because she swore to obey me."
"Why… Who and why? What did the demon…do to you?"
"She said she would obey me."
"So you spared her."
"Yeah."
Demian did not tell anyone about it, he had forebode that something troublesome was about to happen. Instead, he told the Northern demon not to run wild and she did what he told her.
Lara raised her head and looked into Demian's face. Her red eyes stared intently into his dark blue eyes.
"Demian."
It was a voice full of conviction.
"I like you."
"Lara?"
"Do you know how much I like you?"
"Lara, what's wrong?"
"Even if you tell me to die here and start over, I can do it. I can drink that black potion again. If you end up like what I saw… I can start over ten times, no, twenty times."
Demian's face shone bright, then darkened again. The moon—revealed through the clouds—was playing hide-and-seek above them. It snowed, then stopped, and then snowed again.
Demian put Lara's hand inside his clothes. Then, he pulled her waist tight and hugged her.
"Are you testing me to see what I can do for you?"
Lara's eyes shook wildly. She calmed down in Demian's arms and took a long deep breath several times. Then, she told him as if she was notifying him.
"You could turn into a demon someday."
"What?"
"In the future I saw… You were a demon lord and led this world to destruction."
Demian could not understand her. However, upon hearing Lara's next words, he refrained from denying her.
"It happened after I committed suicide."
"Lara."
"It was said that demons become strong by eating other demons. I think the reason that Valac is after you is because he knows who you really are."
"I can deal with him."
He said in a low voice. Of course he would. According to Acerus, Valac was weaker than Lilith. And Lilith was weaker than Demian.
"If you become the demon lord, I must kill you in the name of God."
"Lara."
"So I kept thinking. What should I do to prevent you from becoming the demon lord? Do I just need to live and not die? If nothing I do can stop your destiny…"
Lara grabbed his collar and pulled him closer.
"Did you know? Have you already noticed that you're not human?"
Demian nodded slowly. It was impossible not to know. Only his appearance was the same as other humans, everything else was different. He did not know since when, it was probably before he became an adult, but Demian has lived his life without thinking of himself as a human being. So he came to see everything in this world separately from himself.
"I thought it was weird. People catch a cold when the weather is dry and get food poisoning when eating spoiled food. But I have never been sick in my whole life."
"Not even once?"
"Never."
There was something else. Demian confessed the out-of-place feeling he had felt all this time.
"I never shed tears."
That was a question as big as love for Demian. He said he did not remember ever feeling love for anyone or anything before meeting Lara, the same went for the feeling of sadness.
"When a comrade dies during a war or when someone witnesses a tragic scene… A normal human would cry."
There were many different forms of sadness, such as silent tears, howling and throwing a tantrum, or breaking down and weeping on your knees. But Demian did not cry. Let alone crying, Demian had never been heartbroken.
"There are a lot of things I don't have."
Demian did not feel the normal desire as a human being not because he was a slave but because he was never even human.
But not anymore. He had changed. Lara looked into Demian's eyes. The deep blue color captivated her and did not let go. She peeked into the infinite mystery that lay within.
"You have love."
At Lara's words, Demian nodded his head. He said he knew that the feeling he felt for Lara was what people called love.
"You also have desires."
Love also manifested itself as desire. Especially the love between a man and a woman. Even at this moment, Lara's body was constantly responding to Demian's body temperature and movement. Her body was antsy to get closer, so, too, was his.
"I won't kill you."
Lara's words of wanting to go to a place where there were no stars or moon were sincere. She knew that the God of Fate could watch over her anytime, anywhere.
She could not avoid God's eyes just because she entered the deep forest but at least she could convey her own will that she did not want to be found out.
"It doesn't matter if you are a demon. Even if you're destined to be the demon lord, it doesn't matter. There are more important things than your identity or the fact that I'm a saintess.
"Lara."
"I will never let the man I love fall into tragedy twice."
She wasted one life to realize that she actually loved him. She would never make the same mistake again.
"Demian, do you love me?"
"So much that I can destroy the world."
Lara opened her mouth slightly.
Haah.
Her hot breath flowed through her thick lips. The heat that had warmed her heart escaped through her mouth.
Lara realized that she was so crazy over Demian that she could not go against her feelings even knowing that he was a demon. The God of Fate had chosen the wrong saintess. Lara was not someone who was just and heroic.
Even at this moment, she could avoid God's eyes or do anything to deceive God just for this man.
"Lara."
Demian's voice was like music. Sensual and addictive music that she had never heard of before. Even if he repeated the same things all night long, she would not get tired of it.
"If I become a different existence and become the demon lord that destroys the things you love…"
Demian did not deny it, he did not tell Lara that such a thing would not happen. He only said this.
"Kill me with your hand."
"Demian!"
"Then, you won't have to start your life again."
Demian whispered.
"Now I know. That karma that I accumulated after I became the demon lord and destroyed the world… That's what sent you back. So… If I die in your hands, I can save you and the world."
That was not going to happen. Even if that was the case, it could not have been possible.
If I had to kill you, I'd die with you.
Lara told herself.
When she looked up, Demian was smiling.
He flashed a pleasant yet slightly toothy grin before gently lowering his head to look at Lara's face. Then, he gave her a deep kiss on the cheek and said,
"It's okay."
"Demian…"
"Even at this moment, I'm much happier being the man you loved in your past."