Chapter 3: The Demon King

I woke up from sleeping on my stomach in a cold sweat. I started to shiver and immediately, I could tell it was the afternoon because of the dark clouds and harsh winds. I sat up slowly, still in pain from the new wounds on my back. The blood had leaked through my clothes and stained my entire back's worth of cloth. I cringed while standing up on my feet and wondered why no one had woken me up. 'Well, if Mary needed me she would've slapped me awake a long time ago. So, I better just get to work.'

I walked back to the palace and into the throne room while wondering whether Mary was there, and sure enough, she was. She was sitting in her chair next to her mother and father and listening to the advisor about events that had happened recently. I was about to walk over to her when a messenger came running in. "Your Majesty! I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have urgent news!" The King looked over to him. "Proceed." The messenger caught his breath before speaking.

"The Demon King has requested an audience with you later tonight." Silence entered the room, and everyone's eyes opened wide. I step back with confusion. 'Demon king? What's a demon king?' I thought. I had heard of demons before, but I never thought that they had a king. Demons were the opposite of anything good in this world, taking the forms of monsters and goblins. 'If there was a monster strong enough to be the king of all of them, why on Earth would he want to come here?!'

I continued to eavesdrop and wondered if I would hear an answer. The King started to shake. "A-Alright. What does he want?" The messenger continued with worry in his voice. "He's been looking far and wide for a princess beautiful enough to be his bride." My mouth dropped. And then I started to giggle while covering my mouth.

I couldn't stop picturing Mary with a big ugly monster. 'A disgusting demon is exactly what she deserves. But she can't possibly marry him because she is the main character.' I thought. I was instantly proven wrong when I saw Mary's eyes light up. "This is wonderful news! I'm already getting proposals after one day of being eighteen! And I am the luckiest girl ever to become the most powerful being in the world's wife! I'm so excited!"

I froze. 'Wait, did she say, the most powerful being in the world?' This made me even more confused. 'Of course, she would only care about power and money. Maybe she will marry him after all.' I was thinking of how this would turn out when the messenger interrupted me.

"Um, beg your pardon, Malady, but he has rejected every princess he's met so far. So, now really isn't a time to get excited." Mary's smile turned into a glare. "Don't insult my intelligence, you fool. You underestimate my beauty. Of course, he would reject all the other princesses because none of them compare to me!" He shrunk back into his shell. "O-Of course, Your Majesty..." Mary stood up and walked toward the doorway I was listening by. I expected her to harm me for not working, but instead, she gave me an order. "Make me a new dress for tonight. I don't care what color."

She continued to walk down the hallway past me and I turned to head toward the seamstress inventory room. On the way there, I couldn't help but think of what just happened. 'There's no doubt that Mary will be as beautiful as the demon king hoped for, but this doesn't seem like her story has a happy ending.' I reached the room and a few servants were already inside talking as I approached the material shelves. Apparently, word had traveled fast that the demon king was coming to Ora.

The seamstresses were already talking about the engagement. One seamstress said, "I heard that the demon king is the most powerful sorcerer and master of black magic." Another said, "I heard he rules with an iron fist and is the most cruel and ugly man in the world." Then the last one said, "Then he'll be perfect for Mary!" The seamstresses laughed as they left the room, leaving me to set my supplies on the table.

'Why am I so confused? This is supposed to be a happy story, right? Why is Mary willingly marrying a demon? Is... This story... Not about her?' I decided to not think too much about it and sew the dress. But as time grew shorter, my mind couldn't help but race. I wanted to know what kind of monster Mary would be meeting tonight, and if the rumors were true.

I finished the dress later in the afternoon and delivered it to Mary's room. I walked in and once again held it out to her. She raised an eyebrow as she inspected it and rolled her eyes. "It's trash, but it'll do. Oh, and the gardener has a hundred three-foot vases outside waiting for you to deliver them to the throne room closet. I will be meeting my future husband in there so try not to be the worthless human being you are and draw attention to yourself."

I was already tired from making the dress, and now I had to carry a hundred vases from the back garden all the way to the throne room. "Right away, Your Highness," I said, quietly handing her the dress and leaving the room. 'At least I'll get to see The Demon King at all, even though I'll be carrying huge vases in and out. When I got out to the back garden the vases were there waiting for me, so I sucked it up and picked up a vase.

To my surprise, the vase was extremely heavy. From just picking it up, I almost fell twice. "Why does everything have to be so difficult?" I mumbled to myself as I walked up the stairs to the hallway. As I walked, the weight of the vase put a strain on my back, making the cuts reopen and blood drip down my legs. 'Oh come on! Can't anything go my way?!' I thought as I shook with tears starting to roll down my face.

I managed to stop them when I got to the throne room, but I had no control over where my blood went. Surprisingly, I entered right as The Demon King arrived. The palace doors opened to his arrival. The King and queen were standing in front of their thrones with worried looks on their faces. Mary was wearing my dress, a light pink shade with see-through wavy sleeves, a v-tie of ribbon around her waist, and a layer of more see-through material from the ribbon to the floor that rested over her gown. Her hair was up in a bun with pearl barrettes in the curls, and she was standing beside her parents, looking as evil as ever.

I slowed my walk in an effort to get a better look at the doors. Suddenly, a chill entered the room as The Demon King stepped in. The candles of the chandeliers flickered, and it felt like pure evil was in the room with us and as cold as ice.