After Oriana had rested for a while, both of them dressed in fresh clothes, dark garnts that seed to be the preferred color of the demon realm.
"Are we going sowhere?" Oriana asked.
"Don’t you want to look around the realm you belong to?" Arlan replied. "Also, everyone is excited to see their princess after you killed their ruler."
"Do I have to be the princess of this realm as well?" she asked, clearly reluctant about the idea.
"You don’t want to?" he asked. "This is where you belong."
"I belong where you belong," she replied. "I will follow wherever you go."
He was delighted to hear it but at the sa ti, seeing her lack of attachnt to her own ho, Arlan, who had been contemplating this for so ti, finally decided to ask. He took her hand. "Oriana?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you not rember anything about your past life here as a demon princess?" he asked, his gaze fixed on her face to observe her reaction. "Esray has finally shown her stronger presence. Don’t you have her mories now? Don’t you want to rember anything?"
Oriana looked conflicted and confused. "I’m not sure..."
"So you do rember?"
"What if I say I don’t want to talk about it at the mont?"
"Alright."
The two then disappeared from the residence and reappeared in the throne hall, where all the powerful figures of the demon realm were waiting for their princess. Oriana was guided to sit on the throne where the ruler once sat. It had belonged to Tharzimon, but now it was hers.
Arlan stood by Draven and Drayce’s side, the guests of this realm.
All the demons bowed to the princess according to the customs of the demon realm, dropping to one knee and lowering their heads.
As Oriana had already discussed with Arlan, she made the announcent to everyone.
"Though I am your princess, I cannot stay here permanently, as my ho is now elsewhere. However, I will not abandon my responsibilities toward this realm. I will continue to be your princess and visit from ti to ti. In my absence, Demon Xyron will take charge of this realm, and you all must obey him.
"As for the shield around this realm, I want to make it clear that I have no intention of removing it. This realm will continue to exist in peace, without the threat of war with the Heavenly realm. We do not need to be greedy and conquer other realms. Be content with what we have here."
The demons obediently accepted their princess’s decree. Once everything was discussed, everyone was dismissed, except for Xyron.
"Xyron, do not disappoint ," Oriana spoke to him with authority as she sat on the throne.
"I do not dare, my Lady," Xyron replied, continuing to kneel with his head lowered.
"I know you have dared beyond what you should," Oriana said, her voice displeased, her intense gaze fixed on him. "I have not forgotten what you said to that day when I asked you to help Arlan fight against Tharzimon. You looked down on my husband’s abilities and questioned my choice of partner. How dare you?" Her voice echoed in the throne hall, her eyes flashing with darkness, clearly showing her anger.
The three Dragons had not expected Oriana’s temper to shift so suddenly. Indeed, the demoness held grudges.
Xyron remained in his kneeling position. "I will accept any punishnt you decide for , my Lady. But before that, I wish to clear up a misunderstanding. I had to provoke you, to make you feel helpless and angry. Only then could your dark side be awakened when you saw that no one was there to help Prince Arlan. It was part of the plan. However, that does not excuse the way I spoke to you, my Lady. Please punish for my behavior."
Her anger didn’t seem to lessen, so Arlan spoke up. "He was simply following my instructions. It was all my fault."
The angry demoness, as if she could only see her husband, began to calm down but said, "You will be punished for putting your life at risk once more. I told you before never to do that."
Her words left Arlan speechless, as she seed determined not to spare anyone today. Her fondness for holding grudges didn’t co as a surprise to them.
She then turned her authoritative gaze to Drayce and Draven, as if these two Dragons were insignificant before her. "You two, I haven’t forgotten how you refused to help save your friend," Oriana said angrily.
Draven and Drayce remained silent, recognising the powerful aura emanating from the demoness, looking like queen of the demon realm. It was a blend of Oriana and Esray, darker and less human. They left it to Arlan, knowing they were guilty in her eyes, even though it had been part of their plan.
"If it hadn’t been for Arlan showing up, I swear I would have killed you all. You and every demon in existence here," she growled in anger, her eyes darkening as she glared at the two Dragons.
Arlan walked towards her and knelt in front of her. He gently took her hand in his, and she allowed it. Her dark gaze could only recognize him, only allowing him to be close to her—he could be the only one spared from her wrath.
"That was the only way to protect all of us, as only you were powerful enough to defeat Tharzimon. If there had been any other way, I would never have done it. I don’t want to die either—I want to live with you for as long as I can. You can punish us all, but trust , we all care for you, and they care for us. That’s why they agreed with my plan, and now, here we are with no threat to part us ever again.
"So, I ask you to calm down. You know how much I love you and how I couldn’t bear to see you taken away from ." He planted a gentle kiss on her hand and placed it against his cheek, reminding her of the bond they shared.
Oriana stayed quiet for a while, gazing into his familiar eyes. Her eyes gradually cleared, the shade of darkness fading to reveal her hazel eyes once more.
He stood up and pulled her up with him, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug. "Everything is fine now. We’re always going to be together from now on."
He pulled back and looked at her face. "Understood?"
She nodded, all her previous anger fading as if it had never existed.
"Shall we leave now? Seren and Ember must be waiting for their mates."
She nodded and glanced at the two Dragons she had shown anger toward just monts ago.
In response, they offered her silent assurance that everything was alright and that they understood her anger. Snowflake was nearby, and walked forward, sensing that her master needed her.
Oriana turned to Xyron, who was still kneeling. "You can rise."
Xyron stood up, only to hear her say, "I am leaving everything to you. I will visit here once in a while."
"Yes, my Lady," he replied. "I hope for you and Celeste to always stay safe."
At the ntion of Celeste, Oriana rembered sothing. "Can you tell about Celeste, the past of my pet?"
"Celeste was the spirit beast of the heavenly realm that belonged to your mother, the previous Queen, who was also an angel of the air elent. When she married into the demon realm as part of a peace pact between the demon realm and heaven, she wasn’t allowed to bring anything with her here. But she requested permission from the demon lord to bring her pet, and our lord approved it. After we lost our Queen during the hellfire breakout, the pet, who should have disappeared with her as her spirit beast, survived and beca Princess Esray’s companion.
When the Princess was gone, Tharzimon decided to throw Celeste into the valley of eternal abyss so her soul would never reincarnate. He feared that if the Princess returned, this spirit beast would also return and beco her strength. Tharzimon wished for the Princess to return, but only to use her as his toy, a source of power by turning her into his demoness. When he threw Celeste into the valley, I managed to protect her before her soul could be entirely destroyed, but it was almost too late. I wasn’t sure if I had succeeded, but now seeing her, it seems I did manage to save her."
"For saving my pet, I won’t punish you for anything," Oriana declared and then turned to her pet. "Snowflake."
A white wolf was ready to follow her master’s order.
"Snowflake, take , Arlan, King Drayce, and King Draven back to the palace of Agartha."
The next mont, a soft glow emitted from Snowflake, enveloping all of them, and they disappeared from the throne hall to return their ho.
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