My Demon, My Love...

Dalair Vivek was a handsome, young noble demon of twenty years. He had been wandering aimlessly around his family’s estate for several hours. His mother was a kind and wonderful demoness, however, recently she had been putting pressure on him to make some decisions in regards to his future. She had grown excited at the prospect of grandchildren after a friend of hers had become a grandmother.

Dalair’s father was not much better. Though he did not share the same strong desire as his mother for grandchildren. He was constantly pressuring Dalair to make more contributions to the family’s estate. He had yearned for Dalair to join the King’s Army, but Dalair did not have a taste for that kind of violence. He was a gentle creature and found more pleasure in intellectual pursuits, something that most demons would not understand. His father was much kinder than most demons, however, he still desired many of the same accomplishments from his son. Nonetheless, Dalair had no desire to die for a king whose laws and behavior he did not respect.

“This way, ladies. Welcome to your new home.” Ubert called out.

Dalair’s quiet contemplation was interrupted as Ubert’s voice echoed down the hallway. He looked up and saw that Ubert was leading in the servants that he had just collected for work from the slave traders.

“Poor, sad humans. At least, they’ll have a better life now that they are here.” Dalair thought as he looked over their new human servants.

Suddenly, a young woman with pale skin and strawberry blonde hair came around the corner with the group. She was the most beautiful being that Dalair had ever seen. He was immediately captivated by her; he had never been so attracted to anyone in his entire life.

Over the next few weeks, Dalair tried not to think too much about the slave he had seen. However, he found it harder and harder to do so. Her image had been burned into his brain. If that was not enough, it appeared that everywhere he went around the estate, she was there performing her assigned duties. He would find himself staring awkwardly at her; luckily, he would notice before she would, and he would quickly adjust himself to avoid the embarrassment that would result if someone were to witness him.

On one such occasion, someone did notice Dalair staring at the young servant with a dreamy look in his eyes. Umay had just come home from a trip to the countryside with some fellow nobles. She was excited to be home and was looking forward to seeing her family and her best friend, Netis, whom had to stay behind due to illness. When she, unexpectedly, stumbled upon her brother carefully watching the new servant girl.

“Why don’t you just go talk to her?” Umay teased; startling Dalair.

“Shh!” Dalair quickly hushed her as he ducked out of sight.

Umay followed Dalair, giggling as he reassured himself that he had not been seen by the servant. Once they had put some distance between themselves and the servant, Umay decided to question Dalair again.

“Do you like that servant girl? Why don’t you talk to her?” Umay pressed.

“Didn’t you just get back from a trip? Why don’t we talk about that?” Dalair attempted to change the subject.

“I don’t want to talk about my trip right now. I want to talk about your crush on the new servant girl. Do you even know her name?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Umay. I don’t have time for this.”

“Well, then make time.”

Dalair attempted to walk away. Umay determined, persisted by jumping in front of him before he could go any further.

“Seriously, Dalair, if you are interested in her you should talk to her. You are a charming, young demon with a lot to offer. But she will never get a chance to see that if you don’t speak with her first.” Umay insisted.

“Right, Umay. Because that poor girl, who has suffered through, darkness only knows what, at the hands of our kind, would really be interested in me.” Dalair responded, sarcastically. “She probably hates all demons and certainly would not want to become romantically involved with one.”

“You seem to forget though, brother, that you are member of the noble family that is now providing her with the best possible existence for a human in this realm. She may be grateful for that and take the time to see you for who you really are.”

“I highly doubt that a few weeks of kindness would ever make up for the years of pain that she has, likely, endured.” Dalair moped.

“You never know unless you try.” Umay shrugged before turning and walking away.