Demon Prince's Forsaken Bride-Chapter 22: Terms and conditions

"I had no intention of saving them, if that’s what you were expecting from me. The moment they were captured and brought here, they were bound to die. That is the rule of war. And even the human realm, despite being defeated, have taken a large number of demons as captive over the years, whom they would vent their frustrations on for who knows how long,’’ His voice was calm and his words were unhurried.

’’If not for the demon army being exhausted after this battle, the lord would have declared another war just to free those thousands of demons.’’

’’It’s not... Demons are way more powerful...’’

’’Not all. Low level demons are weaker than humans who are trained in swordsmanship. Mid-level demons are weaker than human master who are proficient in using any weapons.

A grandmaster or slightly lower levelled human, even without any magical powers, solely on his skills of handling his weapons would be slightly weaker than me as he would be able dodge my attacks and bide his time in a confrontation.

If demons were as invincible and fearsome as you said, the war would not have lasted for years. The entire human race would have perished ages ago and despite being in denial, you should know it as well,’’ Azrael explained patiently.

Lareina understood that humans were at disadvantage in this long standing confrontation but what he said was true. Had they been entirely vulnerable then this battle would have long been over.

"The imprisonment of the demons had been a sore spot for the lord and the commoners all alike. So, before those prisoners tried to break out of the prisoner, they should have known of the consequences if they get caught,’’ Azrael did not dwell on that situation further but he made it obvious that the general and his friends would have been tormented to death regardless.

There was no escape from this unless they had a foolproof plan but their actions only advanced their doom.

Lareina did not easily trust all his words but some of these matters were obvious to anyone’s eyes. She had spent years here, even though she was mostly isolated in her room, one remarkable thing she knew about the demons was that they worshipped their lord. The man was hailed as a saviour and god of demons because of his dedication in serving the demons. Even though his ways and actions were questionable, he was hailed as a hero.

When Azrael moved to get up, Lareina straightened on the bed, ’’This marriage...’’

He paused and turned to her.

’’cannot be broken easily, like you said,’’ It can be, actually. And she knew that. If Azrael abandoned her then she would be like a discarded chess piece with no real value, neither to demons nor to the humans. She would be caught in a limbo, in a more desperate situation than the one she was in now, not knowing where to go.

His eyes seemed to have a twinkle when he met her gaze.

’’For the time being, we would be husband and wife,’’ Lareina licked her bottom lips as she lowered her gaze.

Azrael’s eyes trailed down to her lips and then the side of her fair neck that was exposed to his vision, strands of her red hair creating a contrast with it. He was momentarily distracted until he heard her continue. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"But if you marry another, then I would end this marriage, no matter the consequences,’’ Azrael looked at her for quite some time. She had spoken those words very softly and almost with hesitation but she looked at him with determination as she uttered each word.

’’In humans, the men tend to have three wives and four mistresses. When it comes to demons, men have only one wife...’’

A brief pause. Lareina looked at him with a hint of surprise and disbelief.

And then he continued, ’’and endless mistresses.’’

Her face ashened.

Azrael hated the audacity of this woman to look at him like a pest everytime they met but again, he found her amusing.

"You want me to refrain from indulging with other women?" he squinted, his gaze teasing as he looked at her, ’’Is that because you are jealous?"

Lareina slowly looked away from him, her gaze distant, ’’Your Highness, I don’t want my dignity to be trampled more than it already is.’’

Azrael looked at her for a long time before he walked past the bed but halfway through, he stopped, ’’Moira is someone I have promised to protect. Other than that, there is nothing between us.’’

After he spoke, he walked away without waiting for her to say anything.

Lareina smiled bitterly and touched her neck. The marks on her neck had yet to fade and the marks that Moira had flaunted in front of her remained in her memory as well.

Perhaps if it was a few days ago, she would have cried herself to sleep but after today’s incident, she realized that this marriage was not a matter of getting her husband’s love and having a warm future with him as she had believed it was years ago when she came here. But rather, it was a matter of the survival of a human princess in the demon realm.

For the next few days, Lareina did not get to see Azrael again nor was she summoned to places.

Lareina mostly stayed in her room, reading books that Rosie would smuggle in for her every once in a while. And this was one thing she had been grateful about in the four years she had spent in the demon realm.

Just like humans, the upper class demons, the aristocrats were well read, knowing matters of heaven and earth and all the realms and powers while lower classes were neither into books, nor did they have the access or privilege to read. Nevertheless, the markets had huge collections of books, albeit ordinary ones whereas the palace also contained huge libraries in all wings.