At this point, Pookie was practically begging her to think straight. The slime wriggled in distress, desperate to dissuade her from walking further down this path of no return.
It may not know exactly what kind of enmity Riize held against the Zephirres, but to incessantly cause them trouble like this… Had she not thought of what would become of them once they were caught?
And yet, all the slime received from the silent demon in response was a violent, boiling rage and only even more wrath.
If it had a heart, that beating little thing would've plummeted by now. And if it were to be perhaps born with a back full of hair – oh bless the Gods it wasn't – each strand would've rigidly stood like trained soldiers, only to snap and wither upon the demon's cry.
"LET-THEM-GO?"
The slime shivered as Riize spelled out those words with gritted teeth, the indignance in her eyes flooding out like water bursting out of a broken dam.
Even the slight fleeting idea of it nearly made her puke.
Forget it? Let them go? And what?
Let them live a peaceful life after what they did to her?
"I WOULD RATHER DIE."
With her head lowered, Riize breathed out with her shaking voice greatly restrained, the movements of her hands quickening to form several afterimages.
Once she was done packing her things, she turned to face the slime with a much calmer expression, as if she hadn't just let her anger slip out seconds before.
"Pookie, if you're unwilling, you don't have to follow me. Stay here and guard our home well. Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."
Riize forced out a small smile, before turning away. Having nothing else to say, she marched toward the door with her head hung high, turning the doorknob and leaving the house with one long stride.
"Damn it!" Once the door closed shut, Pookie cursed out loud.
Riize was never a reckless person to begin with. She had a sort of patience not much of her age could ever decipher, but whenever it came to the Zephirres, she would lose all reason.
Pookie had watched her time and again make impulsive choices, drawing chaos to their doorstep and dragging them into danger for the sake of a vengeance it didn't fully understand.
It's not like the thought of leaving never crossed the slime's intelligent mind. In fact, it should've fled the moment it realized this toxic trait of hers.
The slime didn't want to die. It wanted to live, to persevere – to inch closer and closer to the better life it had envisioned a long time ago. It was precisely the reason it had chosen to follow the tiny one-horned demon in the first place.
And yet…
Whenever those harsh words reach the tip of its tongue, the image of her scarred face would come to haunt its mind, prompting all accumulated distress to be swallowed back without any remains.
It always ended the same. The resentment gave way to helplessness, the helplessness giving way to pity. And pity… was one powerful weapon to grind one's hardened heart into mush.
"So be it then," the slime muttered with a sigh. "What's the big deal anyway? If it comes to it, let's all just perish together."
When Riize heard the clicking sound of the door opening and closing, she knew that the slime had made its decision.
A touch of warmth spread through her chest. Though a stubborn little monster, the slime would forever take her side – no matter the doubt, no matter the atrocity.
"Let's go." Riize didn't say much. She scooped the slime into her arms and placed it into the inner pocket of her cloak, the flow of her action smooth as flowing water as if she had done it numerous times in the past.
"Mikhael."
That name rolled out of her tongue with unmeasurable gentleness, as if that man was still her most beloved man. But, that touch of gentleness never reached her eyes as what's clouding her gaze was none other than pitch-black darkness.
"Whatever I owed you in the past, I've paid them all back in those ten years of staying by your side, dedicating the entirety of myself to you and supporting you like the obedient dog you want me to be."
"This time, it is you who owe me."
Her hand reached out to caress the small dagger hidden under her sleeve, using the tip of her forefinger to measure its sharpness.
"It is you who owe me, Mikhael. And for that, I'll make sure you and that woman suffer for as long as I still hold a breath within me."
…
Once, there existed a legend spread across the Human World. The legend told the tale of a forbidden love that had sinfully birthed between a noble human and a nameless demon.
That nameless demon and noble human… were exactly her and Mikhael.
In the past, they were an inseparable pair of lovers that were without any doubt, madly in love with each other despite the vast difference between them.
He was the House of Zephirre's most influential heir, while she was no more than a little plaything that had stayed long enough beside him.
What's more, what stood in between them was more than just status.
In this chaotic world, humans and demons were akin to fire and ice.
They were archenemies since birth, opposites that can never be together and yet, at her darkest times, it was exactly a human boy who had offered her his hand, single-handedly pulling her out of her misery.
She was a demon, a descendant of infamous Dark Primordial Devils. Although a lesser one, demons were essentially the same conceited creatures who valued their dignity and honor more than anything else, even their lives!
But, for the human boy who had saved her life, she was willing to follow him back to the Human Realm and serve him by his side, taking the name given by him and becoming both his sharpest blade and most loyal dog.
Mikhael was the person who gave her hope, it was only in him that she saw her future. However, it was also him who had crushed the trust between them with his very own hands.
Her hope, her everything – all vanished into thin air with just one snap of his fingers.
That man betrayed her. She had pinned her trust on the wrong person. Thus, it was only right for her to bear the consequences.
Demons and humans were like fire and ice.
Fortunately, she hadn't learnt to accept it all for too late.