♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱
"I had a bad, long nightmare..." she said and when I realized it, she was staring at that pale face that smiled as if it was an obligation - as if smiling was necessary; I knew that smile well.
The smile of: they won’t like me if I cause trouble.
My chest tightened -, how could I say no to her?
I held her hand, pale and cold and sighed deeply.
Wasn’t Elaine disgusted by that vision? The horns? The wings? I still remembered the way she cried cowering in the corner of the room when she first saw Callisto in her demonic form, so... what was wrong?
The bluish eyes met mine, but in the place of deep terror and a frightened expression, she approached and her fingers gently touched my face.
She wasn’t afraid, it was almost like... she liked what she saw.
"Doesn’t it frighten you... even a little?" I found myself asking once again and the chapped lips, which now took a little color, arched.
"No... and... her eyes look beautiful," she said so low that she seemed to be telling me a secret.
Has she always been like this?
My fingers shook her hand in mine with a certain fear that that moment would escape, that Elaine would suddenly wake up and be frightened - but this did not happen.
Instead, she pulled me to her side until we both got to the side of the bed and when we both sat down, she took her place and stared at me.
"Can you... stay... ?" He asked with a trembling voice and something that very much resembled a small child begging his parents to sleep next to him, for a moment it reminded me of Loren -the little one who looked at me the same way as he asked me to sleep next to him that night a few days ago.
"Do you want me to stay?"
The blonde-haired said with her head so fast that I had to hold on to not laugh and then allowed myself to lie down and almost automatically, my wings covered her body and my hand simply landed on her head, letting my fingers dance through the golden threads that after so many days being washed and cared for by the maids - gradually returned to being soft and silky.
I wanted to say that I waited for Elaine to sleep and that as soon as she fell asleep I got up and went to my room -, but affirming that would be a big lie when, in fact, I fell asleep with my fingers sunk in her hair.
I got lost.
I lost myself in the midst of how comfortable that situation became and for the rest of the night, Elaine did not wake up, did not scream and not even a single angel dared to approach my palace; for the rest of that night, she slept peacefully and I took her side and also fell asleep feeling the lavender scent that came from the shampoo that the blonde wore.
Two knocks on the door and my eyes opened, the demonic form had finally crumbled and I could feel in my body the consequences of having used it.
I was sore, tired, my eyes weighed so much that more seemed about to fall asleep again, but next to me I still had a sleeping creature.
A creature with golden hair and closed eyes, which even with the black sun in the middle of the crimson sky - remained asleep.
"Miss? Duchess? Are you really there?" The voice of one of my maids called me loud enough to feel as if she was next to my bed.
"For the love of Lucifer, speak lower..." I grumbled as I felt my arm numb with the weight of Elaine’s body on him.
"Through the nine hells..." the voice on the other side of the door murmured "can you please open the door?" I grunted.
"Open it yourself... I’m tired."
Too tired to move, to think and mostly - too tired to wake up, Elaine just to open a door; and she should be too, right? For so many days I didn’t sleep... for so many days I was like that... writhing and screaming.
It seemed agonizing to me.
"Duchess!" The voice seemed outraged "are you trying to play with me? No one but the king can break the seals you summon!"
My eyes burned, it was so hard to keep them open.
"Stamps?" I grumbled more to myself than properly to the being on the other side of the door.
What was she talking about?
"Open the duchess door, let us in!"
"That, you can’t be locked in there with the saint! It’s dangerous!"
Dangerous.
I wanted to laugh even though I didn’t really know why, but maybe..., maybe it was because Elaine was considered dangerous by those people.
I sunk my face in her hair as I turned my body sideways and approached the girl.
Its smell was more present, lavender. It was like being in a large lavender field.
Was this little creature dangerous? The one who was asleep with an angelic face and such a weak body?
Nonsense...
Elaine was not dangerous... - it was my last thought before again, erase.
Pointy and icy fingers touched my cheek as if there was a small button to press.
"humm..." I grunted and felt something move in the bed, as if it just moved away, scared.
Ah... right, I was in Elaine’s room - I remembered when my eyes opened and came across the light ceiling and the green canopy.
"D-sorry..." the girl’s voice sounded a bit better if she considered the day before, but still - remained hoarse (probably for how much she had screamed).
Elaine was now sitting - shrunken -, at the opposite end of the bed; there was almost no sign of the little girl who had fallen asleep glued to me.
"What exactly are you apologizing for?" I asked and the sound of screaming from the hallway made me roll my eyes.
Since my palace had become so noisy.
"It’s just..." she shook her own hands "I woke you up..., but..."
"So? She woke up?" A familiar voice came from the other side of the door, too loud.
Asmodeus.
"S-si-sim!" Elaine said trying to stay firm and failing miserably.
Right, I remembered - I had sealed Elaine’s room the night before.
My fingers slipped through my hair and I threw them back.
Had Asra always had this ability?
"Asra!" Asmodeus called me "can you open this shit please? Your palace is fucking crazy and they woke me up before 3:00 because of you!"
I snitched.
Poor prince of lust, I was really bringing trouble to him; after all... what would Asmodeus be without his beauty sleep?
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