A Demon's Journey

When Laura heard Azaroth's words, a distressing feeling enveloped her heart.

She had more or less guessed this already. However, deep within her heart, she still wanted to be proven wrong.

If Azaroth was a Celestial and merely utilized the demonic ardor, Laura wouldn't feel so distressed.

However, it was completely different when she heard that he was originally a demon from his mouth.

"…You are distressed. What is it? You should share it with me," Azaroth's soft voice entered Laura's ears.

Laura spoke as her voice trembled with pure emotion.

"Master, since I have lived with you, I understand that what I have been taught about the demons in the Elven Kingdom has been inaccurate. It's not all the demons who are bloodthirsty monsters who would just think of killing at all moments. At least, I have never seen Yrellea, Sargan, or Master giving such an aura."

"You have a cruel method to teach, but you are really kind. Before allowing us to fight against these demons, you prepared such precious arrays that would teleport us as soon as our vitality is low."

"I…I feel good when I spend my time with you. My heart beats crazily when I see your smile. Your voice drives my thoughts crazy. Even when I am following your orders, it makes me want to perform my best to hear your praise. You are really reliable as you can deal with any situation."

"You allow me to do what I love the most. Raising the herbs…Even though you know of my true identity, you have never asked or done anything bad to me. Unlike those humans who captured me and intended to sell me, you give me such freedom and trust me so greatly."

Laura continued to reveal all she thought about him.

"Master, recently, I came to a realization that I am in love with you," Laura confessed with a serious voice.

Laura wasn't just getting caught up in the moment. She had actually thought a lot about this thing.

She didn't wait for Azaroth to reply before adding, "However, I also know that my mother would never approve of a demon as my husband. Nor would the Elven Race. They won't hear or care about my explanations. They will try to kill you as soon as they realize the connection between us, master."

Laura spoke, "I am confused, master. I don't want them to harm you. But I also don't want to break this connection we have. I want to continue to remain here, talk to you freely, follow your orders, and stay away from that boring life back in the Elf Kingdom."

Once she confessed all that, she became silent.

Azaroth concluded that she had finished all she wanted to say. He thought for some time about how he should deal with this situation.

'She has surprisingly informed me about her thoughts and feelings honestly. Her resolve is impressive.'

Azaroth knew that the calmness Laura displayed was fake bravado. He felt that he needed to take care of this situation a little differently.

A smirk appeared on his face as he responded to Laura, "I am happy to hear your honest feelings, Laura."

His voice grew solemn as he added, "However, you were wrong on so many points."

"I am kind? You should throw that thought out of your mind immediately. You will sooner or later receive my orders to commit slaughter. I don't want you to be weak-willed at that time. All this training is for you to accomplish those tasks."

Laura actually knew that he was very cruel as well. When she mentioned he was kind, she meant he was kind to his subordinates.

Even Laura believed in showing no mercy to the enemy. When the Silent Death Organizations' warriors had killed all her guards even when they didn't provoke them made her understand the cruelty in this world.

If you don't kill, you would be the corpse on the ground. If Laura became stubborn in her pursuit of the lovely ideals, she wouldn't even realize when she was captured or killed by a human.

"You love me? Perhaps you do. I won't comment on those feelings. How you feel is none of my business as long as you don't expect me to reciprocate. Don't let the emotions affect the tasks I assign you. The day you decide to disobey my order is your final day as my retainer," Azaroth's voice became colder as he uttered this sentence.

Laura had prepared her heart for those words. However, she still couldn't help but be upset upon hearing it from Azaroth's mouth.

"Lastly, you shouldn't worry about your mother killing me. Even if the entire Elf Race wants to kill me, they still won't succeed," Azaroth confidently stated.

Before Laura could ask a question, Azaroth added, "To protect my life from them, I don't need to harm the Elf Race. I just possess some very secret information that your Elf Kingdom urgently requires. She won't dare to kill me once she knows about it."

Laura was surprised to hear Azaroth's words.

'A secret information that the Elven Kingdom needs? Master even has something like that?!' Laura thought.

Laura had tried to overestimate Azaroth as much as she could, but she realized that she still ended up underestimating him.

"Now, one of your worries should be resolved," Azaroth stated at the end.

Laura nodded in agreement. She was truly relieved to know that the Elven Race won't harm him despite his identity as a demon.

She trusted Azaroth so greatly that she didn't doubt his words for even a single second.

"…Master, you mentioned it won't matter how I feel as long as I don't ask you to love me.  And don't allow my emotions to affect the tasks. But I feel that it would be impossible for me to control my emotions like that," Laura spoke seriously.

"It's not that I wish to go against your orders or your tasks, but if I suppress my emotions, won't I be sealing myself off? My mother told me that I must never seal my heart or else I won't ever reach a high rank in the future. You don't want me to stay weak, right? You want a strong retainer, right?" Laura asked while staring at Azaroth.

Azaroth didn't even bat his eye as he heard those words. He was aware of this fact.

He knew that suppressing her feelings would just destroy her future potential. It would create a heart demon in her mind, which would restrict her cultivation from now on.

There were methods to destroy the heart demon, but another would form if the root cause wasn't dealt with. The second heart demon would be even stronger and more terrifying.

Azaroth spoke with a chilly smile, "You are unexpectedly bold to think about negotiating with me."

Laura immediately shook her head, "No…I didn't mean like that, master. Please forgive me if it sounded insolent. I am sincerely begging you. I won't ask you to love me or be kind to me. J-Just allow me to display these feelings to you."

An amused smile appeared on Azaroth's face as he heard those words, "Interesting, so you are begging me. I have heard that the person kowtows while begging, and yet you...."

The words spoken by Azaroth could completely infuriate the entire Elven Race. Azaroth was actually asking the Royal Princess of the Elven Race to kowtow in front of him!

Laura was startled to hear Azaroth's words. But she felt they did make sense… If she was begging him, she had to be sincere about it.

She slowly got up from the bed and soon walked some steps away while falling on her knees. Just as she was about to lower her head, Azaroth walked over to her side and placed his hands over her shoulders, preventing her from lowering her head.

"Alright, that's enough. I have seen your resolve, and you have indeed pleased me," Azaroth whispered in her ears softly.

Laura couldn't stop herself from having wild thoughts when that hot breath touched her skin.

One of Azaroth's hands slithered around Laura's waist as he slowly lifted her up till she stood on her feet.

The two continued to look into each other's eyes. They slowly leaned their face and titled their face as their lips touched.

The two began to kiss passionately. Their tongues were having a fierce battle against each other. It was Azaroth who took the initiative since Laura was pretty inexperienced as this was her first kiss.

After a couple of minutes, their lips parted. A few seconds later, Azaroth spoke, "The only thing I can offer you is a physical relationship with me."

Laura, who had previously settled for nothing, was overjoyed with this offer.

To express her happiness, she immediately kissed Azaroth once again on his lips.. Azaroth slowly moved his head forwards, and Laura's body fell on the bed with Azaroth on top of her, still kissing her lips.