She Belongs To The Devil

"Ariel, did you know that your father killed my father?"

Ariel felt a hammering in her chest after hearing that dreadful question from Damien. The colors from her face faded away. And a chilling coldness ran throughout her body.

She also finally realized that the Vampire King mentioned in her history book, the King who was killed by her father, was none other than Damien's father.

"What? She is that Devil's daughter?" that vampire shouted in utter shock. Even when he hadn't completely healed yet, he was ready to get up and strangle that Devil's daughter.

Damien raised his arm gesturing for that vampire to stay quiet.

Damien's gaze had turned into a glare. His irises looked like a replica of Reginald's eyes. And the intensity with which Damien was glaring at that vampire made him sit back down without making a sound.

Damien turned to look at Ariel. And he asked again, this time without even trying to control his rage, "Did you or did you not know?"

Ariel flinched upon hearing his harsh voice and seeing his deadly red eyes burning with rage. She tightly clasped her hands together and looked down. She couldn't even look Damien in his eyes.

She replied in a guilt-ridden voice, "Damien, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that he was your father."

Damien had thought that he would acquire peace after finding out about his father. But now that he knew who his father was, he felt as if his life had been turned upside down. He had other hundreds of questions in his mind now.

He glared back at that obedient vampire and asked, "Tell me how he died."

That vampire widened his eyes as if he was waiting for Damien to ask that question. He quickly lowered his head and began to tell the tale, "Mihir had already surrendered. All of our soldiers, including our late King, were returning back from the battlefield."

His voice was filled with rage when he further retold the story, "However, that Devil came flying out of nowhere and started attacking and killing our fellow brothers. And he attacked our late King. He beat him until he couldn't move. And finally he…"

That vampire took a deep breath in and looked up. "And finally he killed our King… No… He didn't just kill, he destroyed our King's soul as well."

Damien felt enraged to his core. He clenched his jaw and mumbled, "Prince Theodore destroyed my father's soul?"

"Yes." The Vampire nodded and said with a devastated look on his face, "He wiped our King's existence in the most gruesome way possible... I still get nightmares to date. I can see our King's charred body and hear his last plea for help."

Damien felt so frustrated that he felt like tearing his hair off. He clutched his fists so tightly that he pierced his own palms. His blood trickled down to the ground, making small pools of blood below his fists.

Ariel's gaze happened to fall on that pool of blood. She felt a searing pain in her heart upon seeing that sight. And the pain kept on multiplying when she started to process everything that the vampire had said.

"Why would my father destroy someone's soul? But even if he did, he must have had his reason… He's not someone to act recklessly." Ariel's head was about to explode just thinking about it.

But then something struck her mind. "What if this vampire is lying in order to make us fight?"

She glanced at Damien's blood-red eyes and thought, "Red eyes don't necessarily mean that he is a vampire, right? Even my father's eyes turn red when he is angry. Maybe this vampire is trying to take advantage of Damien's vulnerable feeling."

Ariel glared at that vampire and picked up the courage to break the deafening silence, "Dame, let's not believe what he says. He could be lying just to get to us for hurting him earlier or keep us from going to the Mihir Palace. He could be lying about who your father is, to begin with. And he might be trying to manipu–"

"What? Why would I say that some random kid is our King's only heir just to 'get to you'?" That vampire suddenly shouted in rage.

He bowed to Damien again and asked, "My lord, just give me an order." He suggestively scowled at Ariel and said resolutely, "And I will make sure that that Devil pays for what he did to your father and to this Kingdom."

"Go home," Damien suddenly spoke. He turned to look at Ariel and said in a rather threatening tone, "Go home before I lose my mind and start doing the things that I will regret."

However, Ariel wasn't going to leave her friend alone. She didn't even want to think about what he would do in his rage if she left him alone.

She lightly touched Damien's blood-laced hand and asked in a loving voice, "Dame, let's go back. Let's think over this matter when your anger subsides."

Damien suddenly sprung up and looked down at Ariel. And he shouted, "You still expect me to go back? Where? Where the murderer of my father lives?"

Ariel also got up on her feet and spoke as if she would break down into tears at any second now, "Dame, you know my father cares about you. You know how much everyone in the Palace cares about you. Let's go back and ask my parents what really happened. And then you can decide what to do next."

Ariel held Damien's hands again. She looked at Damien with eyes full of tears and pleaded, "For now, let's just go back. Please do this much for me."

Damien swatted Ariel's hands away and mockingly asked, "Why would I do anything for the daughter of my father's killer?"

Ariel couldn't hold back her tears anymore. A stream of hot tears rolled down her eyes. She couldn't believe that Damien had suddenly stopped addressing her as his friend.

She looked at him in disbelief and asked, "Is that what I am to you now? The daughter of your father's killer?"

"Yes, that's what you are," Damien shouted without missing a beat.

He then suddenly spiraled into suspicion. He narrowed his eyes at Ariel and asked in a harsh tone, "And why are you even friends with me anyway? Did that killer ask you to wrap me around your fingers so that I would not come back for revenge when I grew up?"

Damien grabbed Ariel by her jaw and stared at her tears without being affected by them. And he asked in a whisper, "Or did that Devil want you to befriend me so that he could kill me as he killed my father?"

Ariel felt sour in the pit of her stomach after hearing baseless accusations from Damien. She wanted to smack the sense into him.

But she controlled herself. She grabbed Damien's wrist and threw it away from her face.

And she shouted in frustration, "Look, I don't know what happened between our fathers. And neither do you. You cannot take some stranger's words at face value and put the whole blame on my father. Did you ever think why your mothe–"

"I knew it!" Damien snickered at Ariel. And soon his face as well as his heart was filled with hatred. "Of course… of course, you would take your father's side even after hearing that he wiped my father's whole existence."

Damien glowered at Ariel and said, "Put yourself in my shoes. Would you be able to tolerate it if it was my father who killed yours?"