The Demon's Bride

Esther looked closer to the mirror. The sight of the woman's beautiful face was mesmerizing but once one would see her wounded face, they would be taken aback. It seemed the woman knew this and didn't bother to hide her interest in eliciting response from Esther's and Beelzebub's expressions.

Esther could see it by the woman's grin when she had shown her harmed face.

But in turn, she had received a rather lukewarm response from both Esther and Beelzebub. Since they were young, Beelzebub and Esther lived in the worse part of Hell. They had seen what people would call ugly and the woman's scar barely bothered them.

Esther watched how the woman sighed in disappointment at their response.

"What do you want from us?" Beelzebub questioned at once. His eyes narrowed. He didn't noticed but the demoness seemed to have noticed with her red eye how his hand was constantly kept over Esther's front as if to guard her when she ever attacked them.

"No," Beelzebub who assessed the situation faster than anyone else then said, "You seem to only have business with me." 𝒇𝚛e𝘦wℯ𝑏𝓃𝑜νℯ𝒍.co𝗺

"Correct!" The woman clapped her hands. Esther had many questions but one of it was why the woman was inside the mirror instead of being in flesh in front of them.

"What do you think I am?" The demoness took fun to ask them.

"The woman from that children's tale?" It was a wild guess but after hearing Beelzebub's story and the demoness appearance that was similar to the character of the story, she didn't see how it was a wild guess.

"Not wrong but not right," the demoness with her wide grin curved her smile. "You see. In the story I am described as the most beautiful, the most knowledgeable, and the most wise. But from that three description I only fit two of them. My face is one thing that tale never expressed about me."

Esther noted how Beelzebub didn't tell her about the demoness's in the tale having any severe wound and concluded it was the case.

Beelzebub who should be rejoiceful to find the demoness whom was told to have the knowledge in breaking curses— his curses, instead looked tense at this revelation.

"What happened to your face?" It should be a sensitive topic but Beelzebub didn't hold back his tongue on his question.

"Humans," the demoness answered, "Humans are so fickle. They didn't only destroyed my face and took my heart but also push me into the situation I am. I suppose those tale was made by my friend who took pity in me."

"Friend?" Esther inquired.

"Ariel," the demoness answered for Esther's eyes to widen. "Satan's wife. She must had been the one to create that tale about me. I did once asked her to make me a tale and I expressed to her my desire to be a beautiful and revered person. She succeeded I see." The woman pulled out the children book tale that was known to almost if not all children in Hell.

"The snowy mountain too, was it your doing?" Beelzebub could comprehend those tale that was written wasn't full of only lies. There was also truth which he now could confirm with his eyes.

"Yes, I was suppose to wake up later but I thought I should finish a few of the promises and contract before I go back to slumber," the woman yawned. "And I just noticed a certain someone tried to summoned me. It is you, isn't it?"

Beelzebub recalled the moment when he was younger. He was desperate to find a cure for his own curses. After seeing the demise of the previous Beelzebub, he swore not to have the same end. He would rather obtain eternity.

How naive, he now thought. In the past he trusted that eternity stand above all other things. In seeing Ian, he learned that his thought was far too naive. No one has it easy whether their lifespan was short of long to the point unending.

But he didn't want to give up and succumb to death either. If in the past he wished for a way to break his curse to defy destiny that was forced to him. Now he didn't want to die and leave Esther all alone. Not when now they are united together.

"I never thought a simple tale of the children could actually summon you. Considering you never come for centuries, I thought it was a fake spell," Beelzebub remembered, however, that despite believing the spell to be fake he realized how authentic the spells were.

"I suppose Ariel forgot to omit that part. She tends to speak everything she knows of, of course, not those that could put me in danger. Tell me what you summoned me for," the woman asked. It was one of her duty to face the call of those who summoned her. It won't be for free that was for sure and both Esther and Beel knew this well.

"The Beelzebub's curse," Beelzebub said, "I want you to break that curse of mine."

"Beelzebub's curse?" The woman narrowed her eyes as if squinting it could help her remember what she had read in the past. "I remember, it was Greed."

Beelzebub nodded his head firmly.

"Do you know how to break the curse?" Esther quickly inquired.

"Calm down, little witch," the demoness stopped Esther from getting up off her chair. "Was it written in the tale that I could break other's demons curses?"

"Is it wrong?" Beelzebub asked.

The demoness shook her head, "Not wrong but not right. I am able to break all curses of all demons. Of course your title won't be affected and you can still have your title. But I won't be able to stop the curse from being inflicted to your descendants. Also, unfortunately, the only option to break the curse is very dangerous."

Esther didn't pull herself away even as danger was mentioned, "Danger to whom? You or…?"

"Not me, but your beloved man next to you," she answered. "The way to break the curse is never on the book of any spell or magic books in this world. That is because our curses are given to us by our birth. Simply existing in this world caused us to be cursed. Those are we, the demons. Avoiding it is impossible as impossible to break the curse. That was when I came up with an idea. I can simply rewrite your destiny."

Skeptic, Esther tilted her head, "Rewrite as in?"

"Rewrite as in, you have to die and come back to life again. It's a simple, three-second-rule," said the demoness speaking as though death was a normal occurrence. "First I would have you to lose your life. Only by that time can your curse end as it is well known to all of us how curses only ends the moment when you die. What's next is bringing back your soul to your body in a short time interval."

"Before that," Esther felt her heart heavy when she learned Beelzebub would have to die before he could end his curse. "How many times have this experiment of your worked?"

"Let me count, Lala," she called to her maid who had been holding the mirror.

The maid only brought her face to the side and spoke, "Three." 𝘧𝗿ee𝚠𝙚𝙗𝑛o𝚟𝐞l.𝐜૦𝗺

"Out of?" Beelzebub inquired.

"Seventeen," the maid, Lala, answered again without hesitation. It was clear by the sloping success possibility that the maid didn't lie and doesn't know how to lie.

"That doesn't sound promising," Esther stared at the demoness askew.

"You have to understand, that not everything can be successful," the demoness pointed out. "Think of this. Out of seventeen I can succeed three and one of the three can be you. You have a chance why not take it?"

Beelzebub pursed his lips he was about to answer when Esther who held his hand said, "We need time to think through this."

The demoness opened her hands, "I need to remind you, however, I don't have much time here. I have to return to my slumber around a week or less."

Esther nodded at the woman and had Beelzebub leave with her.

"She speaks the truth?" Esther questioned to Beelzebub who nodded.

"But I have seen someone passing lies undetected but my power can reveal all their lies. Yet, I can feel she is lying about something. She didn't even mention her payment in exchange for my request," Beelzebub said, and Esther seconded the opinion.

While they made their decision, they decided to stay in the mansion where they could oversee the demoness and her intention by their own eyes.