Chapter 13: Bridal ballad
He hesitated a bit, then reached for the bell and called for Rika.
Without even realising it, as if it was teleportation, Rika stood in her humanoid form in front of him. Only a few flying papers were the evidence of her speed.
Xuan quickly came back to his senses. He really liked her hair, although he had no idea what the hairstyle was called.
He started the questioning:
„Rika, can I ask you something?“
„I was ordered to answer your every question and to serve you, of course you can.“ Rika replied and smiled.
„Then... Is there a way for me to see my family?“
„As I’ve been informed, your family was killed by monsters that, immediately after their deaths, absorbed their souls. So, it’s basically impossible now.“ Rika said.
„Didn’t Hon absorb those demons who absorbed my family’s souls?“
„He did.“
„So he...“
„Technically, his highness is now possessing all the magical powers your family contained.“ She finished and Xuan nodded.
He had no idea what to think about it all. Does that make Hon bad? But he didn’t have any other choice.
If he didn’t kill those demons, they could‘ve killed more people. It just happened to end up with Hon now possessing Xuan family’s souls.
They were dead anyways. There wasn’t really any point in thinking about it any further, Xuan just felt somehow hurt, because he didn’t think about it all before.
Doesn’t that also mean that Hon is, somehow, his family now? He had no idea how demon powers worked, but he liked the idea.
And then he remembered something, about someone from many years ago, who certainly wasn’t killed by demons. This tragedy was caused purely by Xuan’s misfortune.
„There is one more person... My brother, who died many years ago... Mei Wu Ming?“
Rika listed through her memories and replied: „I have never heard of him, but I’ll look into it and inform you soon. Is there anything else I can do for you?“
„No, just try to find my brother, please. It doesn’t urge, so... Take your time.“
Rika nodded and wanted to leave, but she noticed Xuan’s finished dish and wanted to take it to the kitchen.
Xuan stopped her.
„There’s no need, I’ll do it myself.“
„You don’t even know where the kitchen is, do you?“
„I don’t... But I can’t let you do everything alone!“
Rika laughed. „It seems like you don’t understand my place here. My entire soul and being belongs to Yumeno, I am his servant, bodyguard, accountant, chef and anything he wants me to be. His orders are absolute. And right now, he ordered me to be your servant and to fulfill your every wish and to treat you the same way as his highness.“
„...Then, I order you to let me do it.“ Xuan replied and looked at her with a smile.
Rika smiled back and nodded.
„Then, let me show you the kitchen.“
She said and they both walked out of the room and made their way to the kitchen, where Xuan carefully and precisely did the dishes. After Rika showed him around a bit, they walked back to Xuan’s room.
They never met Hon on their way.
After Hon accidentally choked Xuan a bit and rushed out of the room, he assigned Rika to cook something good for Xuan and so she did.
He wanted to give it to him personally, but when he noticed that Xuan fell asleep, he wanted to just silently put it on the table.
Then, Xuan woke up and Hon panicked and rushed out of his room once again.
He closed the doors and sighed.
„What happened?“ Rika, who stood next to him, asked.
„H-he woke up.“ Hon said, panicky, and Rika laughed.
„Your highness, it was not your fault. I know how hard it is to control your power, and it’s even harder when you’re with a human. He is, indeed, very fragile.“
„Fragile, small and so soft... I lost my mind there for a moment.“ Hon sat down and leaned against the doors.
Rika laughed again and sat down next to him. She gently patted his head and they remained like that for a bit.
Hon’s and Rika’s relationship was very deep and honest. Rika was a few centuries older than Hon and when he massacred multiple demons in order to become a demon king, she was the only one he spared.
He didn’t have any reason to spare her, in reality, she already accepted her death when Hon pointed his katana at her, but, exactly that reaction made Hon not want to kill her.
And that Hon’s reaction to her reaction, surprised her so much that she wanted to stand by his side and see what he’s able to do.
When he was able to spare one life on the battlefield, where everyone tried to kill each other, he was surely able to do much bigger things!
Many assumed that she stayed with him just out of fear, but that wasn’t true at all. She just had an interesting way of thinking.
And so, she began serving Hon, they got to know each other better and Rika started feeling like she wanted to protect him.
And, through the years, they shared the very same relationship as a mother and a son.
They could’ve talked about anything, without either of them getting embarrassed. Hon never met anyone like this before, same for Rika with Hon.
And when he left, Rika was the only one who truly understood how he felt and didn’t mind it at all. She still stayed loyal to her king.
Neither of them had the same relationship with Moka. She was in Hon’s services only for about 150 years when her powers got suddenly much stronger, but she wanted to be more than just a street fighter, which she used to be before, so, Hon took her in as his assistant and bodyguard.
When Hon left, she didn’t see any purpose in staying and wanted to leave a few times too, but Rika stopped her from doing so.
They spent the nights talking about Rika’s days with Hon and, eventually, even Moka grew to understand Hon’s reasons and decided to stay after all.
Rika sometimes wondered if she said that only to comfort her in those days.
Hon wasn’t a bad person and he cared about his kingdom, but his mental health was fastly decreasing, together with his powers because of it.
He was getting confused about everything that people wanted from him. All the inner conflicts soon made him angry and grim all the time, closing himself in his room for days and refusing to talk to anyone, even Rika.
This made her worried and she was actually the one who planted the idea of leaving into his head.
She cared about Hon more than about the kingdom and was willing to sacrifice everything for him. And no one could blame her after all.
Back to the present, they were sitting like that for some time, but, suddenly, they both looked at each other at the same time, concerned.
„Stay here and protect Xuan. I’ll go take a look.“ Hon said, but Rika disagreed.
„I can’t let you go alone. This person seems to be quite strong, perhaps it’s another demon king. You’re not used to your powers yet, so what if they attack you?“
„Could it be that Ethan forgot something and came back?“ Hon asked.
„It’s not Ethan. I’ve been seeing his aura for 50 years every day, it’s surely not him.“
„It’s not Florence either... Well, unless it’s The butcher, I have pretty good relationships with everyone, so, it doesn’t matter.“ Of course he didn’t have good relationships with everyone, but he wasn’t really aware of it.
„Be careful.“ Rika said and Hon just nodded and left.
As he walked down the corridor, the scent of power was getting closer.
He felt like he knew it from somewhere, but couldn‘t really remember from where.
He would ask Moka to check it out, but she wasn’t present at the time, god knowing where she went.
Very soon, the scent got so close, it felt like it was right in the place where Hon stood and he felt something touching his back and was immediately forcefully pressed against one of the walls.
He silently gasped and felt two hands, one touching his throat and forcing his chin up, and the second one sliding down his chest.
He heard a slick voice whisper in his ear: „Did you miss me?“
He knew this voice very well.
„Dante... Stop it.“
This person named Dante laughed, turned Hon around and pinned him to the wall.
He was a bit lower than Hon, with a very handsome and soft face with a purple undertone, four pairs of piercing yellow eyes and long and sharp ears. His long purple-white hair resting on his chest and bangs covered one of his multiple eyes.
His whole body was smaller from Hon’s, but not that much, their postures were pretty much the same.
He wore a purple sweater made of a very comfortable fabric which had a white spider web texture all over it, and baggy jeans.
He was still pressing Hon against the wall and held his wrists above his head. Hon felt way too uncomfortable.
„What do you want?“ Hon asked, annoyed.
„You~“ Dante teased.
„You are a king of Lust, you have an entire kingdom full of whores.“ Hon said, coldly.
„But, I’ve been waiting for you for over 50 years~“
„Then wait another. Why did you break in here anyways?“ Hon was trying his best to stay calm and ignore his filthy words.
„Well, it was because of you, of course.“
„Just let my wrists go and we can talk.“
„Then, can I hold something else?“ Dante laughed and gave Hon a lustful smile.
„Are you fucking serious right now?!“ Hon was disgusted by his words and even more uncomfortable now.
„Come on~ Or, did you find someone else in the human realm? I heard you brought a pet with you, can I see it?“ Dante asked and got even closer to Hon.
„Not like this. Get back to your usual self! What even is wrong with you?!“
„Isn’t this my usual self? I’m always myself, am I not?“
Hon saw that there wasn’t any point in trying to argue with this guy, so he just sighed and looked at him, his eyes shining with bright red.
„Oh, did I make you angry?“ Dante released Hon’s wrists and lifted his chin instead.
His face was getting closer to kiss Hon, but he quickly reacted and dodged it, kicking Dante between his legs.
We can’t deny that Dante was a masochist at some point, but he didn’t really enjoy this kind of pain and stunned fell down on the floor.
Dante was, soon, kicked back into reality, grinned and admitted: „Fine, fine. I’ll let it go for now, but you can’t just spend a night with me and then leave for 50 years!“
„We didn’t do anything?? What are you talking about? What night?“ Hon stood on Dante‘s back with one of his legs, confused.
„Well, it was circa three weeks before you left, you were feeling so down~“
„But I didn’t sleep with you?? We just spent the night talking and drinking some tea.“ Hon argued.
„And then you kissed me.“
„I DID WHAT?!“ Hon yelled.
„Well, what if I told you that that wasn’t tea...“
„ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?“ Hon yelled once again. He wasn’t used to swearing and only thing he was able to say were multiple forms of „fuck“.
„...So, you really don’t remember?“
„I don’t!“
„So, that’s why you got yourself someone else!“ Dante yelled.
„Do you mean- Wait! Did you try to kill us back then because you were jealous?!“ Hon asked.
„I wasn’t trying to kill you...“ Dante said silently, highlighting the „you“ in the sentence.
„Then, why did you kill the crow?“
„Well, if I managed to kill that boy, there wouldn’t be any reason to know how to get humans through the gate. Because I wasn’t able to do that, I needed to cut off your way of communication.“ Dante explained.
Hon sighed. „But you forgot about Florence.“
„But I forgot about Florence.“ Dante repeated.
„You know you’re in a war, don‘t you?“ Hon asked.
„Yes and what?“ Dante got confused about what he meant by that.
„Do you really have time for such small matters, such as stalking me?!“ Hon yelled.
„You’re wrong. I wasn’t stalking you. I was stalking Rika, because I knew she was in contact with you.“
„You’re so stupid, you know that?“
Dante laughed and turned his head to look at Hon.
„Promise me you won’t do anything weird and I’ll lift my leg.“ Hon said.
„I promise.“ Dante nodded and smiled.
Hon sighed and lifted his leg that stood on Dante’s back. Dante stood up, dusted himself and looked at Hon.
„So, I have spent those 50 years waiting for you and you don’t even remember. Can I, at least, hug you?“
„Be glad I stood on you.“
„Oh I am~“
„You and your constant flirting was one of the reasons I left.“ To be honest, it actually was. He wasn’t bluffing. He was fed up with this guy and never wanted to see his face, together with some other faces, ever again.
„I am honored.“ Dante bowed.
„Are you sure you can be here?“
„We're at peace for 3 days since today. Styx will probably kill me at the banquet but, oh well.“ Dante swung his arms and awkwardly smiled.
„Why even are the two of you in a war?“ Hon asked, holding his head.
„I wanted him to compliment me, you know, my praise kink, but he got angry, as always, and started yelling at me. I don’t really like that way of yelling, so, I kinda burnt down his palace the next day... And you know him and his anger issues...“ Dante explained. He really didn’t think of it as anything that serious.
„Honestly, I would start a war with you too if you burnt down my house.“ Hon admitted.
„Well, you know me~ I couldn’t help it.“ Dante laughed.
„Burning down somebody’s house just because they yelled at you... That is very stupid.“ Hon admonished him.
„I know, I know, but you can’t change the past, can you?“ Dante asked and laughed again.
„Past literally doesn’t exist in this place.“
„And you’re wrong again! It does, but it’s not the same past as the human past...“ Dante explained. „Felt like reminding you, you spent too long among humans, after all.“
„Fine... You’re right... Are you going to leave now, or do you want something else?“ Hon asked. He just wanted him and his disgusting face to disappear.
„I want to meet your human!“
„No.“
„Why?“ Dante got sad all of a sudden.
Hon already knew that every demon king is sick in their brain, but this guy was so hard to deal with, he just thought he was stupid at this point.
„Because I don’t want you to hurt him.“ Hon said and his eyes burnt with how much he cared for Xuan.
„You really like him, don’t you?“
„I guess. He’s just so small and fragile and... Soft...“ Hon said and got lost in thoughts.
„Just like you~“
„Why am I even talking about this with you?!“ Hon yelled again.
He didn’t like yelling or talking at all, but he was really pissed off at Dante and his constant teasing.
„I don’t know~ Maybe you just want to start your own harem and add me into it~ I would be honored!“ Dante yelled, got closer to Hon and touched his chest.
Hon immediately smashed his hands and backed off.
„DON’T SPEAK ANYMORE.“ Hon yelled and got even angrier.
Harem? He never thought about starting one in his whole life. He actually found it disgusting and disrespectful, there was no way he could ever do anything like that.
Dante, on the other hand, seemed like he already owned multiple ones.
Dante signified his mouth as locked and smiled again, hooding his eyes a bit.
„I’ll walk you out.“ Hon said and they moved towards the entrance of the palace.
„Anyways,“ Dante broke the silence „Sorry for breaking my silence but... I’ve heard you met some interesting people lately...“
„Who exactly do you mean?“ Hon asked.
„Florence’s long lost family and one certain crow...“
„Don’t tell me you even stalked Moka.“
„...“ Dante didn’t reply and just smiled.
„How are you even able to stalk us?“
„I have some great contacts. Anyways, you brought them here, didn’t you? Where are they? Have you already absorbed that woman’s soul?“ Dante asked too many questions.
„I don’t know where Moka put them, so, no. I haven’t absorbed her soul yet. Don’t you want to know about that crow?“ And even if Hon knew where she was, he wasn’t planning to do it without talking to Florence again and making sure she didn‘t change her mind. It was about her sister, after all.
„It’s Stroke, isn’t it? To be honest, I don’t care about that guy anymore. Nikolai is much better in everything~“
„Nikolai? Is that „The butcher“?“ Hon wondered.
„It is! You’ll meet him at the banquet and see for yourself. Such a funny little person.“
„If you say so...“
They reached the entrance, in this case, the exit, and Hon sent Dante off.
He didn’t really care if he had any way of getting to the Lust kingdom and closed the doors immediately after he got out. Dante even turned around and wanted to wave at Hon, but he got to high-five the doors with his face instead.
Hon only heard Dante saying: „Bye bye babyboy~“ from far away and rushed further into the throne room, trying to immediately forget what he had just heard.
When he turned around, Rika stood right in front of him.
„Your highness, did he hurt you?“
„He didn’t. He was just... Messing around...“ Hon said and strayed with his eyes.
„I’ve seen everything, it wasn’t just messing around.“ Rika said.
„You’re right... He wanted to...“
„It wouldn’t be the first time, would it?“ Rika wondered out loud.
„WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!“ Hon yelled at her.
„Well, back then, it was wild.“ Rika cleared her throat.
„Did I actually sleep with him?“
„I can’t say for sure...“
„Oh, god...“ Hon sighed and fell to the floor. He leaned against the door frame of the hallway and ran his hand through his hair.
„Well, at least Xuan didn’t-“ Hon started, but soon noticed Xuan awkwardly standing behind Rika, his face burning with red.
Hon’s eyes widened and he got red too and quickly covered his face.
None of them knew what to say.
Xuan was aware that he didn’t know many things about Hon and that he’s 300 years old, so, he’s, most likely, not a virgin anymore, but it still shocked him a lot.
And Hon just felt so embarrassed and bad for not even remembering it.
„Dramaaaa.“ Ortel said lazily from behind them. He was sitting on Hon’s throne, eating popcorn and playing on his phone this whole time without sparing a single look for them.
Everyone just silently looked at him and without saying another word proceeded to ignore him again.
Hon stood up, looked at Rika, nodded and walked away without even sparing a single look for Xuan.
Rika understood that he’s going to his room and she sighed and turned to Xuan.
„Shall we go back now?“ She asked and Xuan looked like he wanted to say something, but, in the end, he just nodded.
„Don’t worry, he’ll be okay.“ Rika smiled and walked forward.
But, will he be okay? The last time Hon started locking himself in his room ended up with him not leaving for a few weeks and then leaving for good.
Xuan just followed her and admired some of the paintings on the corridor’s walls. He still thought about what he just saw and even though Dante looked very controversial, he liked how Hon’s eyes shone when he talked about Xuan.
He returned to his room and lay on the bed. He waited for a while, maybe for Hon to show up, but after he wasn’t coming, he closed his eyes and, soon, fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Hon was lying in his bed, in his room, which was, unlike the one Xuan was staying in, filled up with everything Hon could imagine.
From random statues that he used as book holders, to a really weird furniture with way too many legs.
It was all exactly the same as when he left it 50 years ago.
Big black curtains covering the windows caused a somewhat dark and melancholic atmosphere, the one that would make anyone in the room sleepy right away.
But, he wasn’t able to fall asleep. He didn’t have to sleep, so, what was the point of it anyways?
He hugged one of the pillows and tried to remember that one night.
He found sleeping with someone in that way very weird, unnatural and disgusting, so, would he actually ever sleep with someone?
And to add to that, would it ever happen with Dante? Even if he was drunk back then, the most that could’ve happened was a kiss, nothing more.
He found even kissing that guy disgusting! His drunk self would probably kill him instead!
What in the world happened back then?