The Werewolf King's Bride

"What\'s wrong?" Dem asked.

"I... I don\'t know. I\'m feeling weak all of a sudden," I muttered. "I don\'t know if it\'s something serious, I mean..."

"We\'re going back, Luc. You can be with her starting tomorrow," he told Luc who nodded. Luc looked like he was thinking about something serious.

"Don\'t even think about something so weird," Dem warned.

"How do you know what I am thinking?" Luc asked.

"It\'s written all over your face," Dem said. "We\'re leaving now."

Before I could understand, Dem picked me up in his arms and started climbing down the stairs.

"Dem..."

"What?"

"It\'s... I can walk," I mumbled, being flushed. No matter how many times he touched me, I never could entirely get used to it.

He looked angry again. I did not know why he was angry this time. I did not do anything wrong, did I?

"What kinds of baseless nonsense was he thinking, that idiot? It can never be true," he muttered to himself.

I wanted to ask him what he was on about. But something about his face made me change my mind. Perhaps I should not ask him just yet.

He looked scary. I hid my face in his chest and grabbed the front of his shirt tightly. I was feeling worse than I thought. Blood was not something I feared and cuts did not affect me much as well. But then why was I feeling like that?

My heart was beating faster, but this time, it was not because I was flushed or something. Rather, it felt like something was trying to come out of my body, tearing me apart. My chest was hurting and I felt light-headed.

"What\'s wrong?"

"I... I feel bad," I managed to mumble. "My c-chest hurts."

"What? Is it too bad?"

I nodded. I wondered if I had a heart attack or something. After all, I had the symptoms.

I did not know what happened after that. I only remembered thinking of the symptoms of a heart attack and wondering if I was suffering from that.

When I woke up, I was in the bedroom and Dem was sitting beside the bed on the floor. He had his head on the bed and he was sleeping.

\'Ack, so cute!\'

I hovered on his sleeping face, observing as if it was the most beautiful thing ever. And I knew it was. He truly was beautiful.

He had long eyelashes and his lips were thin and sharp. They were of a mixture of pink and brown. Even his nose was in good shape. I could not help but admire his features.

\'This is my husband. This handsome man is my husband. Yes! This man is my husband and if anyone tries to take him away, I will do something more impressive to them!\'

But I had no idea what was something more impressive that I could do. I was not even strong. Perhaps I needed to work hard to make some muscles or something. Though I had been practicing swordsmanship for a month already, I did not look much strong, even though my ability increased at least a bit.

I clenched my fists and promised myself that I would save this handsome man forever no matter what.

I tried to poke him lightly on his nose. But I was too anxious. Then I thought perhaps I should not disturb his sleeping. He looked very peaceful while sleeping.

\'He is so cute! I will just give a peck on his forehead and then I will sleep as well.\'

It was easier to do as he had his eyes closed. I did not have to feel his eyes on me. I gave a peck on his forehead and on his nose. But as I was about to pull back, a hand grabbed me from the back of my neck.

His black eyes looked deep into my eyes and I felt like my soul just got exposed to him. I tried to pull back, but his grasp was strong.

"You\'re being cute at a time like this," he said.

"Eh? I was just..."

\'How can I say that you\'re so good-looking that I could not help it? So, that said, am I an official pervert now?\'

"I\'m sorry... I woke you up, didn\'t I?" I mumbled guiltily.

"No, I was awake since you woke up," he said. "My senses are quite sharp being in wars."

"Oh?"

"So, how are you feeling now?" he asked.

If he had not asked, I would not even remember that I was sick just a while ago. Now that I remembered it again, I could not help but wonder what was wrong with me.

"I\'m fine. But what happened to me?"

"Don\'t you remember? You were feeling chest pain and then you fainted," he said. "The doctor did not find any problems though."

"Is... is that so?" I muttered. "Perhaps I was just weak. I mean, I am always weak, so..."

"It can be. You need to eat properly," he said.

As he was not here, he did not know that my eating habit had improved greatly. Since I was practicing swordsmanship, my body needed more food.

"Yeah," I muttered. I did not want to argue about this. There were more pressing matters to be focused on. "By the way, what time is it?"

"Ah, it\'s midnight," he said.

"I... I disturbed your sleep," I exclaimed sadly and cupped my face with both of my hands. "I feel awful now..."

"It\'s alright. I don\'t need much rest anyway," he said and pinched my nose lightly. "It doesn\'t seem like you are sleepy anymore."

"I\'m not."

"Then will you tell me what you wanted to talk about before?"

"Ah, that... Well, it\'s not that important..."

"But that doesn\'t seem the case, right? And moreover, you wanted to talk about it, so it doesn\'t matter if it\'s important or not," he said. "Go ahead."

"Well... It\'s... it\'s about your eyes..."

"Who told you about it?" he asked firmly as if he could guess what I was about to say.

"M-Mother," I said. "She told me about, um, cursed eyes."

"So, you know all about it, huh?"

I nodded. He started laughing all of a sudden. The sound of his laughter was not pleasant at all, rather, it was shivering. It was as if chills were spread throughout my body.

"Dem?"

"So, you hate me now?" he asked as he stopped laughing.

"W-Why... why would I hate you?"

"Of course, you would hate me. Demons are supposed to be hated after all," he grinned. "Don\'t you know that cursed-eyed werewolves possess demonic power? Their nature is demonic. Why would someone like demons?"

"But you\'re not..."

"Don\'t say that I\'m not like that! Don\'t say I am not evil! I am not normal! What kind of normal person can read others\' minds?" he asked angrily, grabbing me by the shoulders. "And you know what? It\'s all true!

The things I said in your dream- they are all true! I do want to bind you to me forever! I want to lock you up! Tell me now- don\'t you hate me now?"

His eyes seemed to have locked me with his gaze. I could not move. I opened my mouth, but no words came out of my mouth. It was as if the words stuck in my throat.

"Huh, I knew it! This is why I didn\'t tell you about it. I didn\'t tell you about my desires," he chuckled. "Because I thought you would hate me. Now, others are doing the same, aren\'t they? I can\'t even keep a secret, it seems."

"Dem, I... I don\'t hate you," I managed to mutter at last. "Before everything else, you\'re my... husband. And it\'s not like you hurt me or something like that... so, it\'s fine even if you\'re a demon.

Perhaps I like to be with a demon."

"You won\'t take it back?" he asked anxiously.

"No... No, I won\'t," I smiled even though my lips trembled. I put my palm against his face, feeling the warmth of his skin. "I love you after all."

He hugged me tightly. It was hard to breathe. But I did not stop him. If it reassured him, then it was fine. I did not want him to doubt my feelings after all this time when I finally realized them.