His Demoness

50 ⚔️ The Hidden Village

- Xiaoyu -

Nothing ever felt right in her life, but with Zhijian, it was different. He made her forget about her fears and the Jiang clan. He made her feel that the world was beautiful, that everything was going to work out.

Even when she revealed the ugly side of her, he had looked her demons in her eyes and smiled at her. As if she was the most beautiful girl in the universe.

What did she ever do to deserve him? She wasn't worthy of him, but not once did he seem to mind.

After spending the night in a small town, they left quickly at sunrise. They sat in the carriage in silence, feeling the rocking motion beneath them. As for the Legendary Enchantress, she sat at the front to lead the horse to their next destination. There was a curtain that separated the pair from her.

For some reason, the sorceress refused to tell them where they were headed. All she said was that it was a surprise and that was it.

When she first appeared, Xiaoyu was shaken to the core. Seeing the Legendary Enchantress again reminded her of the past, bringing up the dreadful memories of the massacre and letting it run through her mind. The bone-chilling screams started once again and resonated in her ears. She felt herself go under the cold waters, deeper into the darkness and away from the light.

"Sleep." She remembered a voice as gentle as the spring lulled her. "The pain will stop."

But when the image of Zhijian flashed through her mind, she was pulled back to reality.

He sat opposite her with his arms folded. His jaw was set, his eyes were as grey as the morning fog. He was probably deep in thoughts with all the happenings in the past week.

When his gaze flickered towards her, he caught her staring at him and his eyes softened immediately. He leaned forward to take her hand, rubbing circles at the back with his thumb.

The shadow in her eyes was impossible not to be noticed. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Throwing a glance in the direction of the Legendary Enchantress, she made sure that she wouldn't hear her.

"It's nothing," she assured him. "Everything still feels kind of surreal. To know that you can hear me talk and not get enchanted... A part of me is waiting for the moment where I'll wake up and realise that all of this is actually all a dream."

He swept her raven locks away from her cheek. "How many times must I say this? I'm not going anywhere without you."

She relished in the warmth of his hands. "Can you promise me something?" she asked quietly, looking at him warily through her lashes. "If I'm caught again, promise me that you'll leave me behind and go."

The look on his face instantly hardened and she saw the angry lines forming between his eyebrows.

Just like she had expected, her words enraged him.

"No." There was a roughness in his tone when he answered. "Never say that again."

Xiaoyu bit her bottom lip. She knew that Zhijian was a stubborn man, but once his mind was set, he would stand by his beliefs. His determination was one thing that she didn't possess and for that, she looked up to him with admiration.

"I know how much you care about me, but your life shouldn't be centred around me. Think about your little brother – if anything happens to you, what's going to become of him?"

Zhijian pulled away from her and she felt her heart sink. They both knew that she was right, but he was being stubborn as a mule and wasn't hearing the end of it.