I sat in the shower. I couldn't handle this anymore. Tears fell down my cheeks and made no attempt to wipe them away. The shower rained down on me, washing nothing but dirt and blood away. The pain stayed. It had locked in my bones and was engraved in my skin. No shower could rinse it clean. My forehead fell on my knees. My eyes were shut and the blackness felt comfortable. Safe. My arms encircled my legs. I wanted to scream. To shout at the sky, pour my heart out. But my lips stayed sealed. I couldn't even utter a sigh. I wanted to go home. Loneliness never felt so desperate as now. After what felt like hours, a hand touched my naked back. Levi came to get me. I was naked, but I didn't react. I wanted to stay in this shell I created for myself. "Dove." I whipped my head up and stared in the eyes of Adrian, who stood in front of me. I didn't say anything. Adrian stood in front of me. Alive. Breathing. He bent down and sat on his knees in front of me. "Don't go all depressed on m

Waiting once again by Asta, I looked around at all the demons gathering their stuff to head back to the list realm. Warrior was by my feet, and he was big enough that I could pet him whilst standing. His big black head rested against my leg and he panted softly. "You're a good boy. You want to live with me from now on?" I whispered to Warrior, who looked up at me with cute folded ears. I didn't see Levi or Micah anywhere. Scanning the crowd constantly, I felt safe with Asta and Warrior. What if Levi came back? Luzo was nowhere to be seen. I wanted to hug her, comfort her, cry with her. The sound of stamping hooves alerted me. I looked up and saw Adrian coming towards me with the reins of an enormous black horse in his hand. The horse was beautiful, it looked manly and had one snow white right foot. I looked at Asta. Was he getting rid of her? "Is Asta not manly enough for you?" I joked when he reached me. "Asta is very manly. This however, is not my horse." He responded whilst poin

After a few hours, we stopped to camp and had some food. Everybody eyed Adrian like he was some god and they all bowed lower than normal. Some even came to him to hand him gifts they made or bought. "Hey, Elle." Someone softly said next to me. I turned around to find Luzo looking at me with a regretful expression. "Luzo! Oh my god, are you okay?" I hugged her fiercely. Her arms encircled me in return. "Did you save Adrian?" I whispered to her. She froze a bit, presumably because I didn't say 'the king' but after a second, she nodded against my shoulder. "I didn't think he was going to make it. Nobody knows, Elle. Tell no one. If someone figures out he was very sick, it might start an uprising." She whispered in my ear. I nodded at her. A weak king is a dead king. "Thank you, Luzo. For a moment, I really thought my life was over." I said to her with my hands around hers. She nodded and smiled. "Aklan?" I asked her. Sadness overcame me. She shook her head. "He didn't make it. I took

Two weeks. Two weeks to make her mine. To hear her say the words I wanted to hear from her. No matter how many times I had ordered her to say that she is mine, she never did. She only said it in the jacuzzi, but she didn't mean the words. It was for a bet. The words were whispered against my lips, and it was like they had ignited a fire inside me. She lit a match close to my heart but my heart was full of gasoline. It exploded. A dangerous fire was lit that only she had control over. In one hand, she held wood to keep it alive. In the other hand, she held a bucket of water, ready to kill it with one splash. I would drown if she left me. Her anger directed at me already hurt me more than enough. "Okay. Two weeks." I conceded. She nodded at me. "And, also, Luzo saved your life. You would be dead if it wasn't for her." I widened my eyes at her confession. Nobody was in the room when I woke up, but there were clothes folded and ready for me. "She will be rewarded." I said to her earnes

After what felt like a long time, I shifted away from Adrian, who pulled me back with a huff. "I'm tired." I said over my shoulder. His face was close to me, his eyes open and clear. "You can sleep here." He said back to me. "No, I can't. My ass is hurting from the hard ground. And I want to brush my teeth." I explained on a whisper. "I can massage your ass, turn around." He said in a serious tone. "Do you want another slap?" I responded seriously, but I couldn't help the roll of my eyes. He stared at me for a second before his arm left my waist slowly. "Fine. Your pyjamas are on the bed in that tent." He pointed to a big tent. "But my offer for the ass massage still stands." He said next. "My ass is fine with my own hands." I responded while getting up. "You don't know what these hands can do." He joked back and I flipped him off graciously.The rest were talking, so I didn't say anything to them but instead nudged Warrior to come with me, who was sleeping in a ball on the cold, hard