The Devil's Temptation!

His hands, clothes and even his face where she had touched him were smudged with her blood, hitting him with the hard realization that she was really dead.

“She....she doesn’t deserve this.” When he said it, a lone tear descended from his eyes as a sign of his heartache, rolling down to his cheeks and he instinctively hugged her cold body, finding it difficult to accept that his Anna was really gone.

How can she leave him after saying she loved him? Who does that to the person they claim to love??

Seeing his brother so down to the point of tears, Azazel opened his mouth to speak, but there was not a single word that came out of it since he had no idea how to even begin.

There was absolutely nothing he could say that would bring comfort to Roshan. He had to admit that he was equally saddened by Anna’s death, she took a big step by sacrificing her life to save Roshan’s and to think a human was capable of doing something like this, despite knowing there was no turning back earned her his respect.

He placed a hand to Roshan’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly in a brotherly manner as it was the only attempt he could take to comfort the devastated being, but Roshan didn’t need the comfort, he needed his Anna back.

“She can’t die like this, she’s not allowed to just die like this.” He kept saying, but even the thought of it was too good to be true cause each time he looked at her face, it was deathly pale, and her skin, it was icily cold as death, leaving not even a single feeling of life form inside of her.

She was gone, forever.

.....

He touched her face, letting his thumb graze through her cheek affectionately before placing a tender kiss on her forehead. The sky above had darkened immensely, indicating Roshan’s current mood as the crackling sound of thunder startled Azazel himself.

“We should head back.” He suggested, he didn’t see Luderick anywhere in the forest, which means the demon had already fled, but whether he was able to get Anna’s blood or not still remained unknown to him.

If only they knew his hiding spot, he would have stormed in there himself to see what he needed the blood for.

Letting out a deep sigh, Roshan’s gaze trailed the visible damage he had done to the ground, and he no longer sensed the presence of those responsible for taking his Anna’s life.

Why did Anna stop him from killing them??

Although it wouldn’t bring back his Anna, it would have brought him some satisfaction that he was able to get rid of the people who killed her.

He wanted to give them a slow and painful demise but even at death point this woman still wanted him to show mercy to them.

Getting to his feet, he carried the Anna in his arms before vanishing along with Azazel

~

In the Viscarrian palace, everyone was still wide awake, and the demoness who stood at a corner, couldn’t help but whisper to themselves.

“I’m a bit worried about everything happening, Gemma is back safely, but what about Anna and his Highness’s?” Melrose asked, the concern etching to her tone as she looked at the rest of her fellow demoness, but Lady Iris just took her seat, unsure of what to make of the situation.

“I’m just as clueless as you, that sister of yours really crossed the limits tonight, but I’m heartened that she gets to spend a few days in the dungeon for her crime.”

Lady Laura couldn’t help but agree with satisfaction, “she’s been pampered a little too much by her parents now, at least his highness was able to deal with her, hopefully she’ll learn from this once she steps out of there.”

As saddening as it was for Melrose, they were all right. Her sister always loved to bring chaos wherever she went, but their parents would always find a way to put the blame on her cause she’s the eldest, which is why she’s hoping greatly that the news of Roseline being locked in the dungeon doesn’t reach her parents ears.

She was about to say something else when Roshan unexpectedly showed up in the ballroom where they were all waiting.

Everyone instantly maintained themselves the moment he showed up, including Evan and the rest, but what they weren’t expecting was for Roshan to return with a bloodied Anna in his arms, leaving their eyes to widen at the sight.

“My goodness!”

Several shocking gasps could be heard as Roshan gently dropped the body before all of them so they could see.

“Anna?!!” A look of mortification plastered itself on everyone’s faces, even the face of lady Odette as the dead body was dropped on the ground for her to see, and to her shock, the lady was no longer alive.

“She’s...dead?” Letitia had to fix her glasses properly to ensure she wasn’t illusioning the scene before her, but to her visible shock, it wasn’t her imagination at all.

“What happened to her?” Asked the elder lady of the palace who was horrified by the sight before her. She’s really dead!

Roshan said nothing, the grief in his eyes and his devastation didn’t let him speak, even the rest of the family were frozen by the dead body he had dropped before them, and they nearly asked if he was basically pranking them or if this is something serious.

“She died while trying to save me.” Roshan uttered in a weak tone, his eyes gloomy with many regrets as he stared at the body of the woman he couldn’t even respond his feelings to.

He hates himself more cause he couldn’t even save her from this.

“I brought her here so you all can see that the lady you’ve been holding unnecessary hatred for is laying dead before you, ” after a long silence, a mirthless chuckle escaped his lips, “she went out there in the dead of night to bring Gemma back, something most of you standing here aren’t even capable of doing, she’s the reason why Gemma’s back and she’s the reason why I’m unharmed.”

His voice was starting to rise as the anger in him was starting to break from his retrain, “when Gemma was brought back I’m sure not everyone had even gone to see her, but this woman here still asked about Gemma’s safety despite having her life hanging on a thread. How can you possibly still hold so much hate for someone who has helped you all?”

There was a look of disgust in his tear-filled eyes as he stared at everyone, as though their presence irritated him to the very core and he was just going to let it all out today,

“You all care about the name and status you build, but do you even have the tiniest clue of what’s happening in the land you so claim to hold a proudful status from? But then we’re all demons so why should I hold a grudge, is that it??”

There was this heavy brooding silence that filled the ballroom as everyone heard him speak. He was boiling with rage and no one dared to open their mouths and oppose him, except they wanted to have their own caskets in the making.

“She’s dead, I’m sure everyone is happy now, you all can celebrate. You wanted to get rid of her but I brought her here to calm your hearts cause there won’t be any need for more evil plottings.”

“I admit I never liked her,” Odette spoke up while maintaining her composure, “but I won’t accept the way you speak to all of us, most of us here are still your elders. To be more precise, I never intended to take her life in any sort of way, but I did have the intention of throwing her out of the palace and–”

“And now you don’t need to do that anymore,” he interjected matter-of-fact, “we’re still heading towards my point in the end so that silly excuse of yours won’t be tolerated.”