The past couple of days have been hectic. As I stand in the guest room allocated to me for the period of time in which I’ll be staying in Tharrelan, I contemplate everything that had happened so far. From getting kidnapped at Alverona’s to being tortured then almost assaulted by a crazy princess and a trial? It’s not an exaggeration to say that my time in Tharrelan was very eventful.  

After gathering up and sorting through my thoughts about the past few days, I laid on the bed to sleep, hoping that the trial and the words I said to the princess were all a dream but when I wake up the next morning, I’m met with the sight of the princess staring me right in the face with no regard for how uncomfortable waking up to her slightly drooling face as she stared at me made me feel. Sometimes, I really wonder where all my good luck went when things like this happen. 

After making eye contact with the princess, I calmed myself and got up to reveal a smile on my face, albeit my unwillingness to. I really wanted to yell in her face and ask her why she was watching me sleep but something told me that my day would get even more troublesome if I asked, so I didn’t. 

“Good morning, princess!” I greeted her. She continued to stare, sorry, gawk at me as she continued to drool in a sort of daydream that she seemed to be in. My words jolted her back to reality and she quickly wiped her drool and answered, 

“Good morning, Hero Dave! Uh, why are you acting so distant!? We’re supposed to be friends. Call me Shalia like everyone else. We’re friends now so it’s fine. In exchange, I’ll never call you Hero Dave ever again but just Dave.” The princess smiled as she tried to get me to call her Shalia. I nodded to her without any intention of doing as she said but as she’d already mentioned, we were friends, somehow, and she wasn’t really a bad person at heart so I already felt comfortable with her, as much as I’d hate to admit it. She seemed like the type I could become actual friends with, well, if only she stopped staring at my face while I slept and never tried to seduce me ever again. 

Anyway, I decided to call her Shalia and she in-turn decided to call me Dave, my other and somewhat fake name which I feel no aversion towards if called that by others. Afterward, she left for me to change out of my pajamas, as much as she would have liked to stay and watch. I’m not assuming that. She actually looked sad and unwilling to leave when I told her to leave with the servants, she came in with. I need to change, privately.  

After changing, I had breakfast with the Ulvaris family as I had since the beginning of my stay with them after the nature-granting rituals and before I knew it, I had spent two additional days with them and was finally ready to leave Tharrelan for Nephavion. 

It’s morning on the third day since the trial and I am to leave for Nephavion with Princess Shalia apparently as everybody, with the exception being her siblings who each wanted to come with me instead, wanted her to come with me for some strange reason. It probably has to do with their rivalry with Alverona but at this point, sigh, I really don’t care. I just want to see Allan, Claude, and my other two friends again and not be stuck in this place where everyone here has some intention towards me. The Demon Lord was right! Changing my appearance to keep my identity as Marcel a secret was the right call. I wonder what would happen to me if they knew that I was connected to the mighty Demon Lord if they were acting like this just because I was a hero. 

When Shalia had prepared herself to leave on that day, Revalor and the others came to see us off and I felt a bit guilty about wanting to leave Tharrelan. 

“Be sure to eat well, Dave. I want you to get big and strong and come back soon!” Pyrrha looked very much like a mother sending her child off somewhere away from home. 

“Yes, visit again! Tharrelan will always welcome you no matter what.” Revalor’s brother, Byron nodded to Pyrrha’s words and slapped me on the back. Ouch, I think I felt something break but no matter. I won’t be coming back here for a long while so I’ll have plenty of time to heal, or so I thought, however, Phrann’s words made me feel like I would sustain even more injuries in the future. 

“Try to get along with Shalia, okay? She’s a bit rowdy like her mother but I have a feeling that you’ll get along just fine.” No, we won’t! If the Demon Lord doesn’t kill me, then this girl, sorry woman? Will. Honestly, I don’t know if I should refer to her as 'girl' or 'woman' but I’ll stick to 'girl' since she doesn’t give me the aura of ‘mature enough to be a lady’. Yes, it’s for the best! 

After the others said their goodbyes to us as well, King Revalor came forward and in his hand was a book, a very thick book with a cover shielded by leaves and vines with a bright red stone at the center of the book’s cover. He handed the book over to me. 

“Here! This is a gift from our entire race. It’s the Sun Spell Tome, an amalgamation of our various elven spells. This is the ‘Sun’ version and it’ll help with further developing a connection to our world and its gifts inside of you. When you’ve learned everything inside of it, come get the ‘Moon’ version.” I didn’t get what the Sun and Moon versions meant but from what I understood, he was giving me a book of spells, so I readily accepted his gift. 

After accepting Revalor’s gift and thanking him with a smile, he created a fire portal to the location of the telecircle out of Tharrelan, located in Thorngalt’s Luscious Forest, and saw us off, saying goodbye to us and promising to call before we teleported to Nephavion. With that, we came to the city that I now call home: Sizburn. 

The familiar streets, the air so fresh that I felt invigorated with each breath, the spirits that surrounded everything all around me, the chatter all around the city’s square, everything; they all filled me with a peace of mind and solace that I never thought I’d feel from this place I never thought would become my home. Walking through it all felt right. It was a feeling that I’ll never forget no matter how many times I came back to this place. It made me feel at ease. 

As I admired the entirety of Sizburn as we left the square for the Demon Lord’s castle situated near one of the octagon’s sides, straight ahead from the road we took, Shalia looked unsure of herself and where we’re going as she tried to figure out where we were going. Oops, I might have forgotten to tell her anything about my real identity or where I live. 

“Shalia, we’re heading towards the Demon Lord’s castle,” I told her as we walked. She looked same as before, maybe this time, trying to figure out why we were going there and she voiced her concerns. 

“It’s because I lived near there,” I answered and seemed to go back to normal. We continued to walk towards the Demon Lord’s castle, her confused expression returning when he walked past everything to arrive in front of the Demon Lord’s castle. I laughed because for once, I was the one in the know and someone else was clueless and I delighted in the fact that she looked so confused, trying to figure it out. 

When we arrived in front of the big floating door guarded by two guards leading into the castle, to my surprise, the guards greeted me politely and opened the door as if they had been expecting me. I nodded to their greeting and together with Shalia, we teleported into the Demon Lord’s castle. 

After teleporting inside, it didn’t even take a minute before Claude came to us via teleportation.  

“Welcome back, your highness!” He greeted me with the ‘your highness’ which made me highly uncomfortable. Sure, I get it but whenever he calls me that, I feel very strange and I don’t really like it.  

“Greetings Sunfire Princess! Your father has informed us of your arrival. We are honored that you’ll be staying with us for the unforeseeable future.” He looked towards my traveling companion and greeted her as well. While he greeted her, Allan arrived as well, teleporting to us. 

“You should go meet the Demon Lord now. He’s waiting for you.” Confused Shalia who knows nothing.  

“Yes, I have been away for a very long time. I don’t want to but I should at least say hello.”  

“Welcome back, Marcel!" Allan greeted. I smiled, "It's good to see you again! I was away for far longer than I had expected to be." I said. 

As I greeted Allan, Shalia began bombarding Claude with questions about what was happening.  

“Excuse me, but what is going on here? Why am I here in the Demon Lord's castle? I’m supposed to be going to my love’s home, so why was I brought here by him?” She spoke, saying 'my love' on purpose as if trying to imply that something was going on between the two of us. Claude, however, was unfazed by this and answered politely, 

“Oh... it looks like Marcel didn’t tell you.” Claude shifted his gaze towards my direction. 

“Marcel?” Shalia looked confused as she wondered who that was. She pointed towards Allan and me, guessing as to which one of us might be Marcel. Honestly, it felt strange when she mentioned my name and I ignored her by directing my attention towards whatever Allan had to say to me but, oh well, as long as I don't have to deal with explaining my identity to Shalia. 

“Yes, him!” Claude pointed at me. 

“I demand to know why you call him that! His name is Dave, right?” She asked. 

“Not quite! His identity isn’t as simple as you think it to be. To the outside, he’s Dave the newest hero but here, he’s known as Marcel, fiancé of the Lord of this castle and referred to as his highness.”  

“Wait... you don’t mean?!” She looked shocked. I could swear, I saw her break into a cold sweat. 

“Yes! You catch on quickly, princess. He’s the mysterious fiancé of the Demon Lord who hasn’t shown himself since his introduction at the party.” Claude sounded so menacing as he explained my identity to her. She listened the whole time, looking very tense and stuck in place. I honestly think she deserves this much for all the things I went through at the hands of her family but I also felt a bit sorry for her as Claude looked like an overbearing parent and she looked like a child who'd done something wrong. 

“Huh?! But I was there, he was blond-haired with blue eyes and this innocent and naive..." she suddenly paused to think about it, then she continued,"...How is it possible that he’s the Demon Lord’s fiancé?”  

“Come, I shall explain!” Claude dragged her away with the princess still in shock, wherever it was he took her; I had no idea. 

With Shalia being dragged away by Claude, I continued to speak with Allan and told him all that happened on my journey; both the good and bad. He had this terrified look on his face whenever I talked about the Dragon Empress and the Elven Kings. I wonder why? 

Like Shalia, after I finished explaining how well I got along with the Dragon Empress and even the Elven Kings, he also had the same dazed, stuck-in-place look as Shalia did and suddenly turned around to teleport and go back to work. With that, I was left alone in the corridor since everyone else had left. I guess I had to go see the Demon Lord now. What a pain! 

Now how do I get to the throne room from here again? Oh, I remembered. It's just a few turns from where the gate brought me and I would get there. Thanks to Alverona's or now I guess my Dragon Link, I would be able to easily find that place if I somehow got lost by looking through the knowledge she gave me regarding how to navigate the Demon Lord's castle.  

Following this path towards the throne room, I was reminded of the first time I came here and the unfortunate situation that I found myself in after I entered the throne room. Sure, the Demon Lord said that it would never happen again but somehow, my body finds itself scared to move towards that place. 

After a minute or so, I arrived at the entrance of the throne room and the moment I did, I heard a familiar voice that beckoned me to come in as if they were already expecting me. It was the voice of the Demon Lord and upon hearing it, I felt very strange; not that I knew how to explain what this feeling was that sent waves of, 'I have come home' vibes all across my body. 

I entered the throne room and the first thing I saw was the soft smile of the Demon Lord that sent waves of helplessness across my very being as if I had seen the best that the world had to offer when I saw the man who was probably immensely older than I was smiling so softly that my heart began to race and my face felt hot that I was blushing. 

"Welcome back, Marcel!" He said with that smile that made me helpless and unable to refute by saying anything wrong. I only nodded and continued to look at his gorgeous face until he asked, "How was your trip?" when I got closer to where he was. 

After he asked that question, He summoned a chair and I sat, entranced by him and told him everything that happened. Before I realized what was going on, I'd said everything that I wanted to, including my true feelings about Alverona, the Elven Kings, and everyone else I'd met on my trip. This guy really made me feel powerless. Oh no, if that guy had asked me to tell him my biggest weakness, I would have had no hesitation at all telling him that too. 

No, Marcel! You must not let yourself be swayed by him because, for all you know, he could be hiding his true self behind that smiling expression that caught you off guard no matter the time. He could be like Shalia, another devil draped in angel wings waiting to reveal his true nature when he ensnared his enemy, is what I told myself after what had just happened. This guy really is dangerous on many levels. I must try all I can to not be swayed by him in the slightest or at the end of the day, the one who loses will be me. 

After spouting all that to the Demon Lord, he escorted me back to my part of the castle. It was a nice but short walk and no words were said during the entire walk but all the while that we walked, I thought to myself, "This guy is beautiful!" not having any idea of what was happening to me. When we got there, however, he mocked me again like he usually did and I felt the edge to kill him right then and there, probably for various reasons. I also had this feeling that he mocked me not only to make fun of me but also for his own wellbeing, as strange as it sounds. Oh well, I don't have time to analyze his every word. Portia, Edgar, and Judith are waiting for me. It's afternoon already and I'm hungry!