Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Diana’s P.O.V.

I and Zachary were strolling in the garden enjoying the serenity of nature quietly. After our little fight, we didn’t talk much. Although Zachary kept asking me about myself I replied to him in only one or two words as I was still a bit uncomfortable with him. The thick air of awkward silence was increasing the gap between us more and more while we made our way to Mount Moon which was the northernmost point of our territory.

I don’t know why he was so interested in me but to be honest I don’t want to give him any false hopes. You can’t just develop feelings for someone all of a sudden. It takes time to develop a bond between two souls. A bond of trust, loyalty, care, and faith. We can’t just develop any relationship in just one meeting so why are he and my family are so adamant about making me marry a stranger whom I had met only once that was also to treat him? It was an act of kindness as he needed help at that time but that doesn’t mean that I love him. I had treated numerous people in the past but that doesn’t imply that I have to agree to their marriage proposals as well. This is just ridiculous.

Suddenly Zachary halted in his steps making me freeze on my spot as well. His eyes were pinned to the ground but his posture abruptly turned rigid.

What happened to him?

I glanced at him through my peripheral vision. His eyebrows were creased together but his expression had turned stoic. I was baffled by his sudden change in demeanor but kept quiet.

I was startled when all of a sudden, he turned his face towards me, his eyes looking at me deeply. I gulped in fear and clutched my gown tightly with my fingers. We both kept staring at each other in silence. The birds also stopped chirping as if they were also waiting impatiently for the next words of the brunette Prince who was staring at me through his mesmerizing black orbs that were dazzling in the bright sunlight.

After a long awaiting silence, he finally decided to cut the thick air and spoke in his deep husky voice.

“So, what’s your answer?”

Excuse me?

My eyes widened. How can he expect me to answer this when we both had only exchanged a few words that were also completely off the topic? Yes we did introduce each other and he did ask about my likes and dislikes but all the inquisitions were made by him, not by me. He smiled at my quizzical face and wiggled his eyebrows.

“No need to be afraid Angel. You can tell me your answer without any fear or hesitation”, he said.

I looked at him nervously but it was now or never. I heaved a deep sigh.

“I am afraid that my answer will break your expectations Demon Prince”, I murmured. His smile faltered as soon as he heard my answer. But still, I continued.

“I-I am sorry Zachary but it’s just that I know nothing about you. I don’t want to give you any false hope neither I want to keep you in dark. I don’t want to shatter your heart nor do I want to play with it. But it’s just that I can’t marry a devil. We both are from entirely different worlds and have nothing in common”, I averted my gaze down as I know my words will hurt his feelings. I can’t see others in pain and the reason that I am behind it is making me feel too guilty. I just want to wind up this matter here itself but I am also scared. I am scared to tell him the exact reason for my rejection.

“What is the difference between us? Explain it to me.”

Please no!

I shut my eyes tightly and bit my lip.

I can’t tell you this, Zachary.

I can’t share my ideology with him of Hell. I have been taught since I was small that Hell is nothing but an ill-fated voyage of unending tortures, a world resonating with cries and screams and a gateway to excruciating pain that ultimately leads to a pitiful death.

I look up and stared into his eyes that demanded an explanation for my rejection. But I have no courage nor have the guts to tell him the truth. I may be slow as a snail in understanding people but I am not that dumb. I am well aware that his anger will explode the moment I’ll explain to him my perception of his world and his fire of wrath will devour me alive.

No, I can’t take such a risk. Just that mere thought scares me to my core. I quickly looked down and shut my eyes in fear.

All of a sudden, I felt a soft grip on my chin. Zachary slowly lifted my chin with his index finger. I looked at him in fear and nervousness but he smiled and stared at me softly.

“You think I am a beast, don’t you? You have been told that we Devils are vicious scourges with no heart. We love to kill and find immense pleasure in others’ pain. We love to torture poor and innocent people. You’ll find it funny and hard to believe how can such barbarous demons fell in love with Angels against whom we only have a feeling of rancor. Isn’t it Moon Princess?“, he said, his voice was deep.

My eyes widened and a cold shiver ran down my spine hearing his deep spooky voice. His eyes all of a sudden turned to the darkest shade of black and the softness and love in them dissolved into that dark abyss. My heart jumped in fear and I immediately tried to back away from him but he was quick enough as he immediately coiled his other arm around my waist and pulled me to himself. I quickly placed my hands on his rock-hard chest in fear and tried to push him but he cupped my right cheek in his palm and leaned toward my face.

“Am I correct my Rosebud? The monsters who are obsessed with bloodthirst and giving pain, how can people find forbearance, kindness, and grace in them? You have this perception of me. Right my Love?“, he whispered in a husky voice. I immediately shooked my head in denial.

“N-No, not at all. You are not l-like them. N-no one is like this. You all are v-very nice. I am extremely sorry. You are better than all, you are above us too. I am sorry-“, I babbled in a broken voice as my heart started hammering in my mouth.

"Wrong answer Princess“, he spoke in a raspy voice. I looked at him with helplessness as I was beyond terrified.

“N-No, you are very good. Please leave me.” I kept squirming in his hold. But he only tightened his grip. What happened to him all of a sudden? I didn’t even say anything.

Wait! Did he read my thoughts?

Oh, God!! Have you blessed Demons with such power?

Oh No!! I am doomed. What will I do now? My inner self slapped me hard at my stupidness.

‘You should have kept your mouth shut if you didn’t know anything Diana. Now whom will you call for help?’

I looked up at Zachary but it seems as if he was enjoying me struggling in his death grip. Where did that caring soft Prince go? Did he disguise himself? Did he pretend all caring and loving? Did he-

“Nope.”

I flinched after hearing his dominating baritone. I looked up at him but he only smirked in return. His irises kept turning darker and darker making me shut my tightly as I couldn’t see in those scary orbs anymore.

Zachary kept pulling me closer and closer. I could feel his hot breath on my lips. I was feeling so scared. I don’t want to be near him anymore.

Arthur!! Help me!!

I prayed silently. Tears started collecting in my eyes.

‘Rose, where are you? Come fast. Why did you leave me alone?’

I prayed to Lord to send Rose for help as I can’t shout her name in front of him. I was so scared that I started shivering in his hold like a dry leaf.

“I didn’t pretend anything. I meant whatever I said to you Angel”, he growled, his face turning darker.

Oh, Lord!!

That means he can hear me.

He heard everything. He can listen to my thoughts. He will kill me because I disrespected him. I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place. But it isn’t my fault too. All these theories about Demons were taught to me by my elders. And devils are called a curse to the universe by Angels. But this opprobrium must have hurt the Demon Prince deeply and had made him infuriated. If he can read my mind then he would have deciphered all my thoughts about him and his world.

Then that means... He is here for revenge. He stated that he despised Angels. So is he here too.

Kill us?

But I don’t want to die, Ariel!!

Tears brimmed in my eyes. I quickly looked down and sealed my lips into a thin line to control my sobs. But Zachary kept talking to me unbothered by my trembling state.

“Well, your thoughts about the Demons are right but not about me. Because my sweet Angel I am the King of Hell so it’s obvious that I will also inherit those qualities. In fact...” He immediately raised my face making me look into his dark orbs. Tears started rolling down my cheeks as his next words stopped my heartbeat.

"I am the worst“, he spoke with a complacent smirk as he ogled my weak figure with his devilish eyes.

That’s it. I am going to die.

Loud sobs escaped my lips as I finally burst into tears.

End of Diana’s P.O.V.

Zachary’s P.O.V.

My temper shot up the very moment when I heard Diana refusing my feelings. But I controlled my anger as I didn’t want to scare her so I decided to play with her.

I found it too amusing when she looked at me in shock when I started narrating her thoughts which took her off guard as she didn’t expect that. She is so innocent because I can tell her by her frightened self that whatever I had said was true. She may be thinking that I read her mind but the truth is I knew her perception about me beforehand which isn’t anything new even.

There is no doubt that the Devils and Angels have been at daggers drawn for years and this mutual animosity is one of the major reasons why my parents were strictly against this marriage. The preachings which have been given to Diana had also been given to me. We both have been taught about the bitter enmity between our worlds and there is no way we can let each other live in peace ever.

Diana is like an open book so it wasn’t difficult for me to decode what was going inside her pea-sized brain. But I just wanted to play with her so I decided to put up a little act in front of my cute Kitty. The way she looked at me with her scared blue doe-eyes when I told her that I read her thoughts, the way her lips started quivering as she stared at me petrified increased my urge folds to make her mine about ten folds. I just wanted to kiss her so hard at that moment but I decided to enjoy myself a bit more so I changed into my dour appearance. But I never intended to make her cry.

She kept crying uncontrollably. Her palms were still resting on my chest and she made no effort in wiping the fat tears that were staining her pink cheeks non-stop while she hiccupped like a child.

Aww, my poor baby!

I couldn’t see her like that anymore. I immediately enveloped her into my warm embrace by wrapping my arms around her waist and started patting her head to calm her down.

“Shh, don’t cry love. I was just playing with you, my Baby. I didn’t mean that”, I cooed sweet words in her ears and started caressing her back. I was surprised when she wrapped her small arms around my torso and hugged me back. She dug her face into my chest and started crying her heart out.

A smile got plastered on my face but my heart ached badly as I heard her painful whimpers.

“Stop it love”, I kept consoling her but she was hell-bound to shed all her tears today itself. After bawling her eyes out, her hiccups stopped and only soft sobs escaped her lips. I looked around and found a medium size rock that was embellished with wild but beautiful pink flowers.

I lifted my sweet Angel off the ground and hoisted them up in my arms like a baby. She wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my right shoulder. She was so small as compared to my giant self. I chuckled internally and walked to that spot. I sat on that rock and placed Diana on my lap. I unfolded my wings and draped my Baby in them to keep her warm from the chilling breeze. I laid her head on my chest and rested my chin on her head while pulling her closer to me.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just playing with you but I think I went off-limits. My intentions were never to make you cry my sweet Baby”, I spoke softly while playing with her silky hair. She didn’t speak anything and kept listening to me while sniffing silently. I sighed.

“I know you don’t love me but I love you very much. We all have been fed up shits about each other that Devils and Angels have had bad blood amongst them for decades and this vendetta won’t ever come to an end till we both live. Isn’t it Princess?“, I looked down at her. Her eyes were stuck on my wings. I slowly cupped her face and made her look at me. My heart squeezed with pain when I saw her swollen eyes and cheeks dampen with tears. I wiped her tears with my thumb and pecked her forehead.

“Answer me, Princess. You think that I am here for that rivalry, to shed blood, to kill you and your family. My purpose is vengeance, not love isn’t it?“, I asked her gently. She weakly nodded.

“I can understand. After all, we both have been taught only this since our childhood so your answer is a well-stated fact and also the truth. But this isn’t your fault, Love. If the same thing would have happened to me, my answer would also have been the same. You don’t have to get scared for that”, I smiled and caressed her cheeks. She stared at me innocently with her doe-eyes while listening to me like a child. I pecked her lips making her eyes widen. She touched her lips and looked at me confused.

“Then why?”

Only two words escaped from her mouth but I could understand the depth behind them. So, I decided to finally make everything crystal clear.

“Because I fell in love with you the moment, I saw you. I don’t care you’re an Angel, I don’t care you are my worst enemy, I don’t care about all the blood feud between our worlds, all I care about is you and how to make you mine. I crave your love Angel; I want your support and your happiness. I don’t want to force you but I want your full consent in this relationship without any hesitation and burden. I only want you my Angel and I am ready to wait for your answer as long as you want”, I spoke with full sincerity as I meant every word. She stared at me for some time with her doe eyes as she searched for the truth in my eyes. After a small staring competition, she finally spoke in her soft voice.

“I am ready to give you a chance but only if you agree on some conditions of the Moon Princess”, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me sternly. Although she looked too cute at the moment still, I smiled and nodded.

“I agree”, I replied quickly.

Her stern facade immediately got dropped off after hearing my response.

“Huh? Like that only”, she looked at me in shock. I chuckled.

“Yep. I told you I want to marry you so I have to agree to your conditions”, I said and shrugged my shoulders. She grabbed my right hand quickly.

“B-But you didn’t even listen to them”, she whined. I rested my left palm on the rock and leaned back on it while enjoying the puzzled look on her adorable face.

“There’s no need to Angel”, I replied gently.

“No, it doesn’t work like that. You are ruining the fun”, she groaned. I raised my left eyebrow.

“Fun? What fun?“, I looked at her with a frown. Diana huffed in frustration and glared at me.

“You know nothing. It would be so good. You would have asked my hand for marriage but then I would have put some difficult tasks for you to fulfill. You wouldn’t have been able to complete my tasks and then would cry and beg me not to do that. Then I would laugh evilly and say ‘If you don’t fulfill my wishes, forget about me’. Then you would plead to me to show you mercy and I would start chuckling darkly. Ha! Ha! Ha!“, she spoke while staring in space with a smirk plastered on her face as she started planning the entire scenario in the air itself. I furrowed my eyebrows and an expression of helplessness painted on my face as my conscience mocked me.

‘Are you going to make this child the next Queen of Hell?’

What should I say when I am confused?

*****