It was already the second month after Siora and Aiden's marriage broke up. Still, the arguments between Solana and Cliff were never-ending. Cliff was always angry and blamed his wife and three daughters for his misfortunes.
Not only her parents but also her two sisters. If Siora is a meek woman who doesn't dare to go against her parents, Neia and Maylin are brave girls. Both of them defended their mother and sister until they kicked Cliff out of their miserable home.
At the same time Cliff left, upset with his children, Siora also left to enter the forest after asking her mother's permission.
Siora immediately headed to the peach tree, her favourite place to stay. Even though all the neighbours and people who knew her family said that Siora was stressed because of the cancellation of her marriage and was too desperate to deliver her life to the forest guardian demon, she did not care.
In fact, it was in the forest, sitting under a lush peach tree, that she could calm down and forget about her bad luck for a moment. Coupled with the belief that the tiger demon that always bothered her was no longer there.
Siora's assumption was correct. Axe had stopped following her since Zaf had pulled his nephew back to the White Tiger Demon Clan Palace. Zaf wasn't angry at Axe's stupid question. But the Supreme King's advisor wanted his nephew to be more thoughtful and considerate.
Because, of course, the stupid question Axe had thought of was serious. Marrying a woman of humankind was not impossible for a demon. Still, it had to be avoided for Axe, who would later become Supreme King Almomos' successor. At least Axe had to marry one of the princesses from the tiger demon kingdom of a different race.
If even one month had passed in the human realm, Axe had spent a long time in the demon world. Naturally, the Sleeping King was bored and needed to refresh his mind in his favourite quiet place.
However, the woman he liked was unexpectedly there. Exactly!
"Siora," said a voice that suddenly appeared behind Siora.
Of course, this shocked Siora; her legs took a step back in fear.
"Don't be afraid, Siora. I won't hurt you," said Axe, who always smiled at Siora.
"W-who are you exactly?" asked Siora in a stammering tone.
"Didn't I introduce myself back then, huh?"
Siora silently did not answer.
"My name is King Axe; just call me Axe," said Axe, and then this man spread his hands.
Siora was again surprised because now he was in a jewelled palace. Siora saw many people wearing warrior clothes and even women wearing clothes from the royal era.
"What is this place?" asked a curious Siora.
"My palace, I am the king of this palace."
"King?" Siora repeated, "All I know is that The Black Gold forest is famous for being haunted, but I didn't expect to see all this. Did you kill me? Am I dead?"
Axe laughed at that and sat on the throne of his palace.
"I just want to be friends with you," Axe said, "I know what pain you're feeling right now," he added, making Siora pause.
Axe got up from his seat. He gently pulled Siora's hand and invited him to go. In the blink of an eye, they were already close to the fish pond and sitting there with a dish of fresh fruit. Even Siora had never eaten expensive fruits such as grapes, apples, etc.
"Don't be afraid of me, Siora. I just want to be friends with you; I just want you to forget your sadness," Axe said.
"You know about my sadness?" asked Siora with a trembling voice.
Axe smiled and asked a waitress to peel the apples. Siora watched the female servant, who she saw looked as genuine as a human.
"We are the same, Siora."
"The same; what do you mean?" asked Siora.
"Both creatures were created by God. The difference is that you were born from the human race while I am from the demon race," he replied, making Siora feel strange now, "Eat this apple," Axe invited.
"Thank you," said Siora, who felt hesitant to eat it.
"I know you're hesitant to eat this fruit. It tastes the same as fruits in the human realm; why hesitate?"
"Really?"
"Just try tasting it."
Siora swallowed harshly, inwardly afraid but actually curious.
"You can tell me your grievances; I'm ready to listen," Axe said sweetly.
It would be a lie if Siora was not fascinated by this man in front of her. In a way, Axe had mastered Siora's heart so that she did not feel afraid of him.
"Don't hesitate to tell me, I'm ready to listen," Axe said a little forcefully.
Through his eyes, Axe again hypnotized Siora. In the end, Siora told Axe all about her life and family. Her tears were unstoppable; even now, Siora cried until she was exhausted.
"Siora," Axe called softly. Siora immediately turned to the gentleman who was reaching out to her.
"What does that mean?" Siora asked, confused.
"Come on, be my friend," Axe said with a charming smile, "If I become your friend, at least I can continue to be a good listener who can reduce your sadness,'" he continued.
Siora looked hesitant to accept this demon's invitation to friendship. Her mind quickly thought, what if Cliff's invitation was a covert demonic alliance agreement? This is what people do to ask for wealth by paying for souls or sacrificing lives when the human is already rich.
Axe smiled at Siora's doubtful inner voice, "Come on, I'm not a demon who will ask for your life as a sacrifice. I'm the King; why would I do that to you? If I wanted to, I would have taken your soul from the beginning when you dared to come to the Black Gold Forest,"
"That's right. You haven't done anything to me until now," Siora murmured in confirmation.
"Siora, I just want to be friends and help you. I'm sincere, believe me…"
Hearing Axe's soft words and sincere expression made Siora move. Her hand slowly welcomed Axe's helping hand, which had been waiting. The moment the hands touched each other, the feelings of both of them merging, the sound of lightning boomed so large in the human world at this time.
'Jdaaar!!!'
The huge sound of lightning startled Cliff, lying on the terrace of his rickety house.
"Ouch, my chest hurts so much. My neck is also very tense; what's going on?" Cliff asked himself.
Cliff rubbed his painful chest, and he lay back down on the broken wooden chair. His mind and heart kept replaying the insults that neighbours had said to him and insulted Solana the other day.
Not knowing what Cliff thought, he remained silent even when Siora returned from the forest. The lightning seemed to bring something big to a man who had barely done anything good for anyone.