"What?" Emperor Henrick asked with a frown etched on his forehead, "You want to meet who?"
The demon lord hesitated and said in a soft voice, "Rea.....My Astrea"
(Midnight, Lorcan's birthday)
Lorcan returned from his bath and was currently drying his wet hair. He looked outside the window and sighed when he realized that it was midnight. It was his birthday but he felt down...How could he not when the girl he loved treated him as just a friend?
A year passed by and he was still her fake fiance. After that day in the commoner's street, Astrea and he met quite often both inside and outside the royal palace. She was an energetic lady, who made his days. He was always smiling in her presence. In the beginning, he met with her because he was intrigued by her, but as he spent more time with her, he fell in love.
It was the first time he felt something like that and he was scared of his feelings. They were overwhelming...He couldn't go on without meeting her for a day, her talking or meeting with other males infuriated him, he wanted her smile to be only reserved for him, then came the physical attraction.....he wanted to gobble her up, kiss her dry, fuck her senseless...Ah! he shook his head to come out of those thoughts.
"But she sees me just as a friend" he muttered to himself and got ready to sleep to only be stricken by a piercing headache.
"Ah!" he screamed, but then tried to suppress it to not alert the guards outside. It was getting unbearable as he sat on the bed still clutching his head, "Damn!" he cursed out and got up to search for some medicines to reduce this pain.
Rummaging through his cupboards, he finally found a headache medicine and drank it. He returned to his bed and slept ignoring the pain, he thought that it was because of stress. Maybe he would be alright after a good night's sleep.
Lorcan soon drifted off into his slumber but after a few minutes, he opened his eyes which changed from red to pitch black, "Finally" he said in an annoyed voice and got up from the bed.
He swept his hands through his locks and sighed when he noticed it still being blonde, well it would eventually change into its original color. It took him almost ten years to get back his body, and it annoyed him to no end.
The emperor, who was also his body's father always used that scepter to suppress his presence. That dimwit thought that he and his son were different, "Mortals can be annoying" he said as he reached the balcony.
He looked up at the night sky with a frown, he knew that he was a Demon Lord, but nothing other than that. His memories were sealed, he could sense it but it was too difficult to crack the seal. He came out of his thoughts when he felt a pebble hitting his forehead. He scanned the garden below his balcony and found a small figure waving at him.
Astrea darted her eyes like a vigilant cat breaking into someone else's house and used her hand to cover her hood. She was constantly looking at a certain balcony, "Is he already sleeping?" she thought out loud after not seeing him near the balcony. Astrea knew about Lorcan's little habit of enjoying the night's breeze on his balcony, that was why she was standing here waiting for him to come out.
She was once again busy checking her surroundings when Lorcan came to the balcony, "Lorcan!" she squealed but soon closed her mouth. It would be a disaster if she got caught by the patrols. She waited for him to notice her, but when he didn't, she took a pebble and threw it at him, and as expected of her precision, it hit him on his forehead, "Serves him right" she harumphed, then waved her hands crazily when he looked at her.
The demon lord looked at the girl who was swinging her hands. He narrowed his eyes when he felt his heartbeat increasing the more he stared at her. Then he rummaged through Lorcan's memories and found out about the girl, "You like her?" he asked no one in particular. Almost all of his memories were filled with the girl with silver hair and emerald green eyes.
It was troublesome, "Should I just kill her?" he thought out loud and sensed how he felt a sharp pain in his heart after thinking about hurting her. He sighed and looked down at her and chuckled when she glared at him with her adorable face.
"Why are you standing like a stone!?" she yelled making sure that only he could hear, "Pull me up"
The demon lord blinked his eyes at her sharp words. This little rude thing...he wanted to snap her in half but stopped himself. He did not want to kill someone as soon he woke up, "Go away..." he said giving her the last option to run away from his clutches but Oh how wrong was he? That rude little thing didn't run but instead started climbing the tree near his balcony.
He had to admit that she was quite agile. Carrying a weird-looking box in one hand, she climbed and stretched her hand to him, "Help me dummy" she spat not caring about her rude way of addressing the crown prince of the empire. Her life mattered to her the most right now, she would be done for if soldiers found her snooping around the crown prince's palace.
The demon lord just stood in his place not heeding her words. He was still processing her words. Did she just call me a dummy? he turned to give her a piece of his mind but closed his mouth when he saw her struggling to stay on the thin branch.
Sighing, he went to her and helped her down by holding her waist. She was so tiny...he thought as he continued to hold her and she smells so nice....he got lost in his thoughts as Astrea pulled him inside his room.
She took a deep breath and removed her hood. Then she turned to scold him but halted when she noticed his handsome face. It was a crime to be this good-looking, she shook her head to remove those absurd thoughts.
Astrea smiled brightly and stepped toward him, "Happy birthday Lorcan"
He came out of his thoughts and observed as she opened the weird-looking box and something round with his name written on it...Ah, he remembered it, mortals called that a cake. But why did she bring a cake? then he remembered her wishing him a happy birthday...Oh did she bring it for him?
Astrea lighted a small candle she brought with her and put it on the cake. Then she held Lorcan's hand, "Blow the candle and make a wish"
His heart fluttered hearing her soft voice. It was so different from before when she was yelling at him to pull her up. And her smile, he wanted to cup her face in his hands and continue looking at it.
She chuckled when he just remained silent. His pitch-black eyes went unnoticed by her because of the lack of light inside the room, "Go on, make a wish" she urged him.
He absent-mindedly blew the candle and closed his eyes. He wished nothing but he didn't want her to feel sad so he acted by keeping his eyes closed. Then he opened and looked back at her warm eyes, "Done?" she asked and he nodded his head.
She smiled and hugged his waist, "I once again wish you a very happy birthday. May your coming days be filled with happiness, a little bit of sadness, and lots of luck"
"Why sadness?" he asked as he embraced her back. Her smell calmed down his mind and her touch brought so much comfort.
"Hmm....." she drawled her voice as she rested her face on his chest, "Life is always filled with both happiness and sadness, it will become boring for one if we experience only joy and not sorrow. Offcourse I wish you only happiness, but I want you to be brave when faced with grief" she pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, "And always know that you have me to share your worries no matter how big or small they are...I want you to feel so much happiness but remember me when you are sad...and I-i like you Lorcan"