His name

"But, first get off my body, will you?" Erica comments, drawing his attention.

"I can't move while you are on top of me like that."

He glanced down at her and chuckled. "You are right."

He got off from her in a split second and held out his hand in her direction.

"Get up."

Erica reached out hesitantly and placed it on his palm.

When she did that, his eyes widened for a second.

She got back on her feet and sighed staring down at her hand keenly.

Erica became puzzled. "Hey."

"What are you looking at?".

"Your ring."

He brought her hand closer to his eyes and observed it for a few minutes.

It was a turquoise-blue stoned ring made with silver. It matched the color of his eyes.

"Where did you get it from?" he asked, as his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Or more like, where did you steal it from?".

Erica became offended to hear that, snatching her hand from his hold.

"How rude of you to claim that I stole it!" she retorted.

"It was a gift, given by my mother."

"I treasure it very much."

"Your mother?" his jaw dropped for a second to hear that.

"Who's your mother?" he asked, stepping forward.

"My mother?".

"Are you asking for her name?".

He nodded. 

"Uh…well…it's alright to tell you as you are now my contracted demon."

Erica turned to him with a smile and replied, "Anabella Rusell."

"Anabella…..".

He went silent, lost in thoughts.

"What? Do you know her?".

He snapped back to reality and looked at Erica.

"Uh, no…I don't think so. But, maybe if I see her I can recognize her."

"I see….".

"But, it's pretty. That ring." He added with a smile.

"Make sure not to lose it ever."

Erica nodded, glancing at it.

"So-".

"Let's go then."  He said, grabbing her by the wrists.

She became puzzled.

"Go where?".

"What? You plan to spend the night here in the mountains with me?".

"Uh…not exactly-".

"Or did you fall in love with me at first sight, that you have forgotten you made a contract with me?".

"I know, I'm so handsome after all."

"You can't help falling for me."

"Huh?".

"What is he saying?".

"I know he looks unreal but that doesn't mean-".

"But, If you do want to spend the night here with me. I have no problem," he added in a seductive tone.

"I'm kind after-".

"Stop with your delusions!" she yelled, snatching away her hand.

"I'm not in love with you, got it!".

He gave a dumbfounded look back to her.

"You are not?".

"No! Why would I be in love with you anyway, you perverted demon?".

"I made a contract with you ''cause I need to go and save my mom."

"I have no time to be in love with you."

Her face became a bit saddened when she said that.

His eyes narrowed. "So, you woke me up to save your mom? What happened to her anyway?".

"I'd let you know first, I'm not a doctor, you know?".

"I can't treat-".

"She was taken by the royal soldiers in the Capital city prison," Erica spoke, lowering her eyes.

"By Royal soldiers? For what?".

"Did she commit any crime?".

Erica clenched her fists out of anger.

"They accused her of being a demon. That's why she's taken to prison for living with humans disguised as humans."

He went silent suddenly.  Then, spoke after a few seconds.

"I see…..".

"Demons aren't allowed to live among humans I guess." He added, moving to her side.

Erica nodded. 

"But, my mom isn't a demon. I'm sure of it!".

"The soldiers who claimed she's a demon are wrong!".

"My mom is…mom is….".

Tears overwhelmed her eyes, threatening to fall any moment now. 

He placed his hand on her head, patting it.

"It's alright." He spoke with reassurance. 

"I understand what you are trying to say." 

"They must've taken her away mistakenly under false information."

"So, you plan to bring her back, right?".

Erica nodded.

"Hm…..it's okay."

"I'll help you out."

Erica looked up at him with a surprised face to hear that.

"You will?".

"Yeah…I mean….your contracted demons are supposed to listen to your orders. Didn't you know that?".

"Uh…I don't know so much about them. You are the first contracted demon I have now."

His eyes narrowed on her. "I see….glad to be your first."

"Guess, I don't have too much competition." He mumbled to himself.

"What?".

"Ah…nothing."

"So, when do you want to go and save your mom? Right now?".

"Well….I do want to go now. But, we need to make the preparations for it, like a map of the kingdom, and weapons, etc. if we get into danger, food and supplies, change of clothes-".

He gave a bored look at her. "Do you…plan to go on a trip or something?".

"Why do you need so many things?".

"What? We will need them. For the time being, let's go back to my house, and then we can make preparations in the morning and leave."

He sighs. "As you wish."

"So, where is your house?".

"My house?".

"It's two kilometers from here."

"Let's start walking, we'll reach there in 30-40 minutes or so."

"We have to walk?" he became disheartened to hear that.

"Don't tell me you came here by walking?".

Erica nodded. "Yes, 'cause no one wanted to come here no matter how much money I offered."

"So, I had to walk all the way and climb the mountain also."

"It was so tough. Still, I didn't give up and met you finally."

He sighed facepalming himself.

"Life seems tough for humans."

"Anyway, let's get going then." She added, grabbing him by the hand.

She stopped in her tracks and glanced at him.

"Hey, I forgot to ask something important."

"Important?" he became puzzled.

"What's that?".

She turned around to face him.

"I forgot to ask your name."

"You may already know mine, but let me introduce myself."

He watched her with a surprised face.

"I'm Erica Anabella Russel."

"What's your name?" she asked with a smile.

His eyes widened for a second, as he recalled something.

Erica became confused about why he went quiet suddenly.

"Are you alright? You remember your name, right? Or else I can give you one."

  "Hey, are you alright?" she called, drawing his attention.

"Are you listening or what?".

"Castor," he mumbled, snapping back to reality.

"Huh?".

He raised his head, and replied, "It's Castor."

"Castor….sounds like a good name," she replied with a smile.

He got onto his knees suddenly lowering his head.

Erica stepped back out of surprise.

"Hey, what are you doing?".

"Raise your head."

"I hadn't introduced myself properly." He asserted.

"My name is Castor Sol Lawrence."

"And from today onwards, I'm your contracted demon as you have woken me up from my slumber."

Erica stared at him, then placed her hands on his shoulders.

"You don't have to be so formal with it."

"Raise your head."

He raised his head and looked into her face.

"Why? You didn't like me pledging my loyalty to you?".

"Well….kind of."

He got up on his feet, staring at her face-to-face.

"I mean….".

Erica glanced at him and averted her eyes.

"You are my contracted demon. But, that doesn't mean I want to make you my servant or something."

"Instead of being master and servant, can we be friends instead? I think that'll help us get along better than anyone."

He became surprised.

"Yes, I know some humans think differently than I do that's why they keep demons as servants and make them do their work."

"I don't want that."

"I want you to be my side from now on, and help me out in danger as friends. That's all."

"Do have any problem with it?".

Castor remained silent, this made Erica think he didn't like her proposal.

"You are weird." He comments, breaking the silence.

Erica gave a surprised look back at him. "Weird? How?".

He took a step forward with a chuckle, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her close to him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked, struggling in his hold.

The next second he sealed her lips with a kiss.

Erica became stunned.

Her cheeks started to go red out of embarrassment.

He broke the kiss a second later and glanced at her.

"Yeah are surely weird." He remarks in a playful tone.

"That's why you can come up with these ideas."

"Y-you…you….k-kissed me?" she stuttered, blushing hard.

"Yeah."

"Anything wrong with it?".

Erica became even more confused than she was already.

"H-how can you go around kissing people without asking for their consent!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"You pervert demon!".

He was surprised.

"It was my first kiss….and taken by a demon I just met. Why was I so careless?" she started mumbling to herself.

"Yes, I know no boy will ever come to like me. But, losing my first kiss like that….I wasn't prepared. And it was too sudden."

"I couldn't feel anything. It was such a waste."

"Uh…I think you are mistaking something." Castor added, drawing her attention.

"Mistaking? What?" Erica retorted with a glare.

"I kissed you to let you know I'm agreeing to your terms of becoming friends and protecting you."

"Not for any other reasons."

Erica's jaw dropped the next second.

"What?".