Who's Coming?

**Natalie POV**

All around me the castle was in chaos. I hadn't seen things so messy here since when I was first brought to this dimension. All of us under an unwanted demon's mark were freed by the DSS that day five years ago. King Ulrich offered us sanctuary here in this dimension; far away from any of our previous masters. Far away from Diana.

Glasses were clashing from nervous fingers moving too quickly, maids collided with each other while cleaning, the knights were training extra hard in the courtyard, and a tub of water had just spilled near my feet. Water seeped into my torn cheap shoes.

A half demon ground elemental shook in front of me. Her platinum hair was tied into a messy bun and her shoes were on the wrong feet. Izzy was her name. She had been given and sexually abused by many of Diana's men. I had been forced to witness as so many men used her at the same time. All the while Diana would talk about the day she would watch me take on several men at the same time. Her and her Father had too much fun tormenting me with what was to come. Thankfully, the DSS saved us before that day came to be. I was truly blessed to keep my virtue through all the tortures.

Both of us still had nightmares about it though.

Finally, I understood why my Mom became an assassin. Those men were disgusting monsters deserving of death.

Unknown to Izzy, I had hidden in the shadows of Demon Lord Darren's hideout and killed many of her abusers. As there bodies were found and the assailant remained at large; they stopped sexually harassing her. I should have done something sooner, but I had to make sure I wasn't caught, or suspicious; along with my old died away fear of blood.

Funny, after witnessing the horrors Diana and Demon Lord Darren caused, I became more like my Mom in the end. I was able to kill, something I never would have imagined being able to do. Those disgusting men caused me to become like an assassin myself; someone I never wanted to be. I used to respect life too much; before meeting those monsters. True monsters.

Diana, Darren, and their high ranked demons turned me into a different person. They shaped me into who I am now; a blank emotionless slate capable of committing murder.

During our captivity I was happy to be able to relieve some of the pain from her. At least with those monsters started leaving her alone sexually with their friends' bodies piling up.

Izzy had lost the glow from her face and was unable to speak a word for years. Once the Final Guardian broke our marks, she started the healing process. Five years later she was mostly healed. She talked more than me.

Her face went pink while she got to her knees and cleaned up the water. "I'm so sorry, are you hurt? I swear I didn't mean to spill boiling water on you."

Boiling water? Huh, I guess Diana forced me to crawl on burning coals too often. It was one of her and her Father's, Demon Lord Darren's, favorite tortures for me. All I felt was wetness.

"Clean that up immediately, elementally blessed woman!" The head of kitchen staff ordered.

I got down to help her clean up the mess. We were all 'elementally blessed' here. King Ulrich knew his dimension wasn't ready to accept demons. We would all be considered evil and hung by the church. We didn't want to hide our powers, so he said we were blessed assets to the community. He also declared any violence towards us was considered treason.

King Ulrich was doing an amazing job for us. I didn't trust him at first because he was that evil woman's Father.

Princess Aileen Lutz-Vernen, the woman who takes pleasure in watching her fake 'brother' fuck and torture women. How a King like him could give birth to someone like her was beyond my understanding.

"Natalie, how are you not all crazy right now? Seriously! I have no idea how you stay so calm and quiet all the time. Especially today!" At least she was back to her bubbly personality.

I finished wiping up the 'hot' water and stood back up. There was no reason to get so anxious about a random princess of another country coming here.

"Maybe when he gets here, he'll notice me."

He? Was a prince coming here as well? From the stories I heard, their Prince Roy disappeared years ago and had never returned. Did they find him? None of that explained when Izzy could have met him.

She gave me an innocent smile. "You haven't heard yet huh?"

Behind us someone else dropped a piece of glass. The head maid had an angry red vein throbbing on her forehead. The perfect glass plate belonged to the royal family and was irreplaceable. I would never comprehend how a dish was 'irreplaceable'. It's a thing, not a human life.

I'd give the head maid a bit of a break. The King would blame her for anything to go wrong with his visitor. His Queen should be returning today as well; just to add to our stress.

"Natalie, to the kitchens now. You are in charge of baking a cake fit for the royal family today."

A jolt of happiness made me grin. I hated cooking, but loved baking. I hurried to the kitchens and started gathering ingredients and bowls. My hands went on autopilot while my mind wandered back to the past.

Oftentimes, my pay came from working in the kitchens to make desserts. Thanks to my Mom, I was able to create the perfect textures every time. Mom didn't only teach me to defend myself; we made sweets all the time to enjoy while we watched a movie together. My heart warmed further with the memories of Mom and I. Part of the reason I wished to own a baking company one day was because of the times we spent together. A simple life with a job I loved! That was the perfect dream for me. Mom would be proud and happy for me too.

She really was an amazing woman, but I had only seen her once after becoming Diana's property.

When I saw her, she was still killing for Demon Lord Shiuku. The DSS was able to save so many of us, but not her. No one knew she was still suffering under his control. I pray every night to God she's still alive. Mom deserved to free more than me.

"You're so lucky! I wish I knew how to bake. I'd love to surprise my crush when he gets here with something sweet."

*Sweetness.* Why has he entered my mind so much lately? I could still perfectly visualize his naughty heart melting smile and captivating green eyes. Had I not seen what he did to Diana and how he broke her; I would have fallen for him on that very day ten years ago. Or when we reunited five years ago.

I don't think he recognized me. He forgot about the graveyard when my life was taken from me. Instead of calling me sweetness like the first time we met, he called me cupcake; because I was so cute and sweet. When my eyes met his, after years, I realized something horrible.

For so many years I told myself I would kill him and his sister for their evil deeds. I would become an assassin like my Mom long enough to end them. When I looked at him and felt the bond we were supposed to share, there was no way I could kill him. But he would torture me without hesistation. Just seeing his face made me terrified.

The only man I could never defend myself from was cruel and deserved death. He was also my true love.

A mixing bowl full of flour, water, oil, and eggs dropped to the floor. My simple green dress was splattered all over with sloppy white goo. Great, now I was the one with butterfingers. Izzy dashed out of the room to grab a wet towel. We needed to get this mess cleaned up before the head maid through a fit. I could hear her shrill voice scolding me for wasting the product.

We both got to work crawling under the counter to find any speck of the spilled mix. My brain decided on its own accord to flashback. No longer was I in the kitchen cleaning up a stupid mess; I was in a hospital bed in the same room as my true love's disturbing 'sister'.

As much as I itched to, there was nothing I could do to end her life back that day either. Several others were injured in the same room, so I would have many witnesses. I had no chance at blending in if I killed the woman in front of an audience. Maybe I could have come up with a plan regardless of the others, but the woman was also heavily pregnant. Her child didn't belong to her so-called 'brother', even though Diana said they were a couple. No, the power hungry bitch got knocked up from the evil demon lord who took my Mom. I heard she even got married and convinced her husband the child was his.

She got lucky. I would never kill a pregnant woman. Her son didn't have to be evil just because of his parents. He deserved a chance at life, so Princess Aileen lived on.

While she had begun to wake up from her own exhaustion, I remember her limping over to Trevor. My instincts told me to kill her again. She was getting too close to my true love. Stupid, since he would only hurt me, but demons are possessive over their loves; no matter how wrong.

He was still trying to talk to me and get me to eat the cupcake he had brought. My skin crawled and my body trembled horribly. All I could think about was how he had stabbed and burned Diana so badly when she loved him. What would he do to me?

Aileen scolded him just like she had back then. The two really didn't remember me from the graveyard at all. When Trevor finally gave up on flirting with me, he was going to eat the cupcake himself. Aileen got a wicked smile and stole it from his fingers. She joked her baby was craving it and he should be nice to his nephew.

The two of them really played the bickering loving siblings well. I had to remind myself of the truth before I fell for it again. Some hopeless part of me really wanted to believe in both Trevor and Aileen. In their act, I liked them.

"Seems you're excited as well!" Izzy held a hand out and helped me to my feet.

I blinked several times coming back to the present time. "For some princess?"

Izzy brightened further. "Yay! I got you to speak!"

In her pure joy she squealed, gaining the attention of the head maid again. "Sorry!" She yelled to the old crone. "And no. I don't care about that princess. I heard her family are all jerks."

"Who then?" I asked genuinely curious.

She grinned, "Our saviors. Trevor Hemmer and Princess Aileen Lutz-Vernen are returning to the castle. I heard the adorable heirs will be with them as well!"

Everything froze like I was being swept up in Trevor's typhoon once again. Goosebumps ran up and down my arms. I gripped the edge of the counter, unable to control my panting. Just hearing his name struck this damn fear in me.

"Are you okay? No reason to make yourself sick. They risked life and limb to free us from Demon Lord Shiuku, Darren, and Diana."

*No, they are just actors. The DSS saved our lives; not them. It was the squad leaders with them. Squad Leader Lena broke our marks. Why did everyone here give so much credit to them? They even felt bad for Aileen! She's the one who spread her legs for the demon lord. It's her own fault for craving power over everyone else.*

Izzy beamed, "and I heard Trevor is still single! I really might have a shot with him."

He even tricked my friend with his charm. Izzy was literally swaying back and forth while helping me whip up a new cake mix. Should I tell her how evil he is? No, it would invite too many questions. Especially if I got revenge for everything Diana did to us because of her. Maybe I should have told her he was my true love, so she stayed away. But then, again, would come the questions of why I wasn't with him.

I chose to keep my mouth shut. Any response would take more words than I could spare without going off in a blabbing rant. While losing myself in the task at hand again, I hadn't noticed the doors sway open.

At the entrance of the kitchen, the most enticing voice I had ever heard called out in front of the entire staff, "I'm back Cupcake!"

My evil true love was back.