Throughout the journey to his realm, I sat without making any noise, my mind frozen on one spot.
To me, it's as if time stood by, and refused to move.
"We're almost there." The devil called out, but I ignored him, pretending I didn't hear the words he spoke.
My mind is still trying to make out what happened between us earlier.
Why did he kiss me?
Most importantly, why did I feel the way I did when he kissed me?
The shock that went through my body seems so real, there's no way I could have taken that as a product of my imagination.
I felt giddy then. My heart elevated a little as the shock went through me.
The carriage stopped, and the Devil got down from it.
"We're here." He announced when he opened the door of the carriage.
Without talking to him, I look out through the window in expectancy, only to be disappointed.
"What are you aiming for with this?" I frown at him.
"Let's go." He gives me his hand.
As if I'll allow you to touch me.
I've not gotten over the shock I felt when you kissed me, and you're expecting me to willingly touch me.
"Where exactly are we?" I frown at him.
Looking out once again, I tried to search for any hidden castle *can you blame me for wanting one? As a prince who got married to the demon king, it's only fitting I get to leave in a castle, at least for the time being* I might have missed when I looked out the first time.
But the place was still as plain as it was when it looked out before.
Currently, we are in a place that looks more like a dessert than a place a king resides in.
There's nothing to show that this place is a palace, talk more of it being a kingdom.
"We're in my Kingdom." He gestured around, "welcome to the realm of flames."
"Realm of flames or desert?" I scoff.
"Come down, I have something to show you."
"I'm not coming down." I stubbornly shook my head, "There's no way I'll get down in a place like this."
" Like what? " He raised a brow.
" This place is a desert devil. If you don't know that, know it now." I gesture around, "We're in a desert."
" Oh," he chuckled. " We're in a desert because that's what your mind wants to see. Your mind is what's telling you that you're in a desert.
My Kingdom is anything but a desert," he said smugly.
" What do you mean? " I look out again, expecting to see a change of scenery, but the place was still as it was before.
Nothing changed at all.
"Try imagining my house as a pit of fire."
"Is that what your house looks like?" I swallow deeply.
"Far from it, but I have something similar to a pit of fire in my palace." He winked.
"Egoistic much?" I scoff at him.
"Try it. Try imagining how you think my home is, and you'll see the magic," he urged.
"You sure about this?" I raise a brow at him.
"Of course I am. Now do as I asked, and you'll see the magic."
Closing my eyes, I imagined his palace as one built with the bones of animals. On its gates, I imagined a wolf standing as a guard while a dragon flying around the property, protecting the house from any who might try to invade the territory.
The house itself is painted with the blood of the animals and that of the humans they killed, their blood dripping down.
Some skulls hanging outside the gates have maggots coming out from the noses, but those maggots weren't like the normal ones.
These are as big as a locust with wings as big as the dragon flying around the property.
*Don't blame my imagination. When you're asked to imagine things like I was, you'll also have an imagination as wide as mine.*
Not only did I not do exactly as he asked me, but I also made sure nothing like fire came anywhere near my thoughts.
And I made sure I imagined something that's not possible. Not even in a person's wildest imaginations can they imagine what I just conjured in my mind?
This way, I can be able to tell if the devil meant the words he said, or if he's just trying to fool around.
I slowly opened my eyes and locked eyes with an amused Devil.
"You can look out now." The devil motioned towards the window.
"I didn't imagine what you asked me to." I smugly said as I watched his reaction.
My mind already conjuring his surprised face.
" I know. You can look out now, your imagination is…
I look out through the window, yelping, I jump into the devil's waiting arms.
Clutching strongly to his clothes, I tried to calm my racing heartbeat.
"Your imaginations feared you to the extent you willingly fell into my arms?" He chuckled," Your imagination sure is something to be feared."
" Can you blame me?" I closed my eyes as tightly as I can to prevent my mind from thinking about the monstrosity of my imagination.
" No, I won't. How can I blame you when your imaginations brought you into my arms?"
Had this been under normal circumstances, I would have thought of a better comeback for the words he said.
But right now, there's nothing normal in this circumstance. My imagination is far from being normal, and it conjured something that's not normal at all.
It conjured abnormal stuff.
"Just make it stop. Make it disappear." I plead, "I want to avoid seeing that anymore. Please make it stop. Remove the imaginations from my mind. "
" You're asking me to wipe your memory?" He asked to be certain I know what I'm asking for.
" Anything to make it stop. Please make it stop." I plead.
The imagined Palace I conjured up is still hunting me even with my eyes closed, more so than it does when I saw the palace for the first time.