Demon Prince's Forsaken Bride-Chapter 27: Rampant monsters

Within a moment, he spotted the woman standing near a stall.

Lareina had just walked up to a stall but before she could even look through the things that were presented on the racks, she felt a towering presence close to her.

She looked over her shoulder and glanced at Azrael who was standing behind her.

’’It is indeed better for you to be dressed like this. I can spot you easily even in such a huge crowd.’’

His teasing voice made her face burn a little. She had to admit that she stuck out like a sore thumb. Although some of the demons were dressed in bizarre clothing and some had huge masks on but the clothes she was wearing were the most inappropriate for marketplaces but who could blame her when he had not mentioned where they would be going and that got Rosie thinking that this was a lovers’ trip?

"Big sister, are you an angel...?"

A meek voice pulled Lareina’s attention. She had not noticed when she approached the stall before but standing behind the wooden table was a little boy who looked at her with wide eyes.

A smile tugged on her lips and she opened her mouth to respond but suddenly, she felt a drop in the temperature.

"Are you a dolt?" Azrael looked down at the boy from where he stood, his face cocky.

Lareina’s lips twitched, ’’What are you doing?" she whispered however the man seemed to glare at the little boy intensely, ’’You would scare him.’’

The boy shivered a little and clung to the edge of the table, looking at her with teary eyes, his chubby cheeks bulging.

Lareina could not resist reaching out to pat his head.

Unbeknownst to her, Azrael’s face darkened even further at the sight of it.

’’Do you make these?" Lareina asked the boy, pointing at the masks that were beautifully arranged on the racks. They consisted of many animals of all lands, spiritual creatures, ancient creatures and the highest rack had racks that resembled demon gods and goddesses Lareina had seen in books.

The boy nodded eagerly, ’’The ones on the higher shelves are all made by my father and mother. But I have made the animal masks here. Big sister, which one would you like to buy?"

’’Bring me the...’’ Lareina paused and turned to look at the man who was standing silently by her side. He seemed a little grumpy but other than that, there was not much of a reaction she could gauge from his face. She leaned towards him and whispered, ’’People have been staring at us since we stepped in. I am uncertain if it is good for us to have everyone’s attention. So, I think we should get these masks for now...’’

However, after she spoke, she did not get a response from the man for a long time. He seemed to have turned into a statue.

Azrael could partially hear what she was saying but his sensitivity seemed to fail him for once, her words barely wrapping around his head since she leaned in towards him on her own accord.

Lareina took his silence for rejection and her face dropped a little. She gave an apologetic smile to the little boy who was looking at her hopefully and then sighed, ’’If you do not want to...’’

’’I want to!" The man snapped, his raised voice gathering a few looks from the onlookers, ’’Buy them all.’’

Lareina blinked, slowly coming back to her senses, ’’We are not in need of many. Two will suffice.’’

In the end, Lareina brought two masks, one was a white fox mask and the other was an adorable rabbit mask. While fetching the masks, the boy knocked over a couple of masks in that shelf and immediately bent down to pick it.

A garish claw mark was revealed on the boy’s neck. Both Azrael and Lareina looked over at the same time.

’’What happened to your neck?" Azrael questioned, his voice low as his gaze scrutinized him.

The boy got up and touched the back of his neck, his eyes squirmish, ’’It was those monsters, My Lord. They are running rampant.’’

’’What monsters?"

Under Azrael’s piercing gaze, the boy broke out in a cold sweat.

Lareina had no intention to meddle in the conversation but seeing the boy shivered, she reached out to pat his head again and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

The temperature dropped even further as Azrael watched her doing that but once he heard what she was whispering, he perked his ear quietly.

’...Yes, he is not as scary as he looks. Just answer his questions and it will be good.’

And it was as if somebody poured a big jar of patience on the demon prince who looked at the child a little more kindly than before.

The boy’s expressions smoothened as he spoke, ’’It’s those monsters again. They have turned this place into a ghost town. They appear when it’s nighttime and wreak havoc everywhere.’’

Azrael’s brows furrowed slightly.

The boy did not seem to know clearly what was going on but from what he explained incoherently, the town under which this marketplace was situated used to be a prosperous but isolated place until a few months ago since weird events started transpiring as strange monsters appeared and created chaos. Many of those who had encountered those creatures lost their lives.

’’...But I can be considered lucky. They found me around the crack of dawn. Once it was day, they disappeared. Ever since then, my father and mother have been locking me up when it’s night so such incidents never happened again.’’

"How did they look?"

To Azrael’s question, the boy earnestly shook his head, ’’I do not know. I just remember someone dragging me up by my shoulder. After that, I fainted..’’

Azrael nodded and placed a crystal on the table.

The boy gladly accepted it but then his eyes sparkled, ’’A soul crystal?"

Crystals were the currency of the demon realms. Ordinary to rare crystals were equivalent to that of bronze and silver coins of the human realm.