He miss her.

Christal had just spoken that she already walked away under Claude's look, both hurt and angry.

Why should that damn demon always have to torment him? Sometimes she was there making his life a real hell, sometimes she decided to free him and still made his life a real hell.

He was exhausted by these games, he was fed up so if she wanted to hurt him, he wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

" And what tells me that it's not the other way around? What tells me that suffering while you're gone won't mean you've bewitched me? It's more plausible as an explanation, don't you think?"

Christal froze, what Claude had just told her was both painful and pleasant, and she found a kind of comfort in it...

She seemed perverse about it, she was a demon so it was normal for her to have these kinds of thoughts.

She was hurt that the man she loved, whatever her nature, trusted her so little.

But she reassured herself that he hadn't lost what made him unique among other humans of his species...he always wanted to stay logical no matter the desire in him.

" Claude Von Hosten, Well I'm going to free both your children and you from my manipulation… You're right, you don't love me, I bewitched you but the enchanting was far too weak, in addition, you were no longer useful to me having taken what I wanted from you…"

She bent down to his children's level and put her hands on their foreheads... Claude wouldn't know what she did but Karl and Edward seemed to come out of a split second then turning to Christal, they began to blush.

" He ... hello madam you are very beautiful."

Karl spoke while Edward just shook his head in agreement. Claude called them and when they turned towards him, they saw Eléonore and without waiting jumped on her.

" Mother…."

Eléonore didn't know what had just happened but what was important for her was that she had found her children. She wrapped them in her embrace and threw a hateful look at Christal who however paid no attention.

" Well, Claude Von Hosten, will you bend down so that I release you?"

" Are you going to stop your merry-go-round? I want to know why you are so..shit you seem to give up on, you who have always been so annoying."

" I can't fight the disdain you have for me so I'd rather leave you alone...I got what I wanted from you so I can go."

" Stop that…"

" Human, lower your tone otherwise I will not hesitate to kill you but before I will take the souls of all your staff, your loving wife, and especially your children whom you cherish so much. So, human, when I still have an ounce of generosity, do not tempt me."

Christal did not wait for Claude to be able to speak and left, suddenly disappearing to the great amazement of everyone present.

Claude fell on his knees, had she abandoned him this time? No, he just wanted to push her just a little over the edge, not make her leave him... The feelings of abandonment he had felt earlier resurfaced as he writhed in pain on the grass clutching his chest. He rolled into a ball and clenched his teeth, the butler quickly came to carry him with other servants and finally, he found himself in his room looking for a way to normalize his breathing which was now jerky...Christal had abandoned him ...it was the only thought he had in his head like a mantra. She had to come back. He needed her; it was a necessity.

Eléonore was sitting at his bedside putting towels on his forehead to lower the fever that had taken hold of him… It was far too strong to be normal.

What had this vulgar witch done to him? Why was her husband that bad?

She was in pain, her eyes were itchy and her chest was heavy with an agonizing feeling but she kept thinking that when her husband will be better, she would ask him what happened with this woman, had she bewitched him?

It was the only explanation, he would never have fallen in love with another because she was far too precious to him.

She was the mother of his two sons, so against that, even the greatest beauty on earth could not compete.

Claude squirmed in his sleep before suddenly straightening up with a sweaty face and panicked eyes...he was so tired, no he was desperate.

He believed in a dream and once he woke up, he started looking for her. He had to find her. He felt a presence at his side moving slightly and he turned quickly imagining that it was her.

His eyes were full of passion and hope, hope that made his eyes shine in a way she had never seen. Eléonore found him magnificent and she blushed but immediately this gleam appeared in his eyes, it was gone.

It looked like he was waiting to see something and finally missed it...she felt deeply hurt when she saw his bright eyes turn dull just by looking at her.

What else was going on? Had that witch manipulated him so much that he had become such a cold monster? At least before he took the trouble to be courteous but for some time, he had become an emotionless boor who didn't hesitate to break her heart without warning.

Claude was now looking at Eléonore with some revulsion, why was she there and not Christal? Ah yes, he knew, he had insulted Christal and she had had enough of him.

" My dear?"

Eleanor's hesitant voice brought him back to reality and he returned his dull gaze to her, almost making her stagger.

" I...I wanted to know if you wanted to eat something..I can…"

'' I want to be alone... please come out."

It wasn't a request but a command and even if she wanted to balk, the only tone used by Claude to tell her to leave was far too enough for her to insist.

She got up and slightly unfolded her dress, bending down to kiss Claude, but the latter was even more obnoxious.

" Please do not touch me... from today I will even ask you not to try to maintain a spouse's relationship with me. The only thing that binds us is the children and I can see them without you around. So, no need for you to organize family snacks."

After saying that, he turned to the window telling her clearly that she could dispose. Eléonore began to cry but her sobs did not reach Claude who remained cold. She left the room and Claude left alone, began to cry.

Please come back.

The days passed like this while Claude withdrew more and more into himself, refusing at times to eat, he used to look around him trying to smell her shadow or her particular perfume.

He wanted to think about the fact that she was hidden somewhere without his knowledge.

It was really weird to think that she was gone...no, not weird. It was even a punishment to think, it hurt so much. The fever came and went but the feeling of his heart breaking into pieces didn't make him very happy to live.

After almost twenty days without seeing her or smelling her, he still hoped to see her. So, he decided to go to the edge of the forest of nightmares but had come back empty-handed. He knew that she would surely have seen him but was so mad at him that she just ignored him… He just wanted to make amends

His world seemed so much grayer without her by his side. He felt like there was a hole in his chest. Could this be how it feels when we've lost everything? Is it a kind of feeling that turns people into human carcasses? This feeling of emptiness inside.

It drove him crazy when he asked mages questions about demons and they didn't even know who they were. Their explanations came out of nowhere, even though he knew more about this race than those so-called scholars of occult magic.

It often gave him the impression that maybe it was all in his imagination. She had never been there and he was so lonely and bored with his life that he had to make it up but the scars on his body kept reminding him otherwise.

She had been there..very present by his side, tempting him, tormenting him to end up making him fall madly in love with her. In a sense, he can say that she had saved him from his monotonous life which seemed like a hell that was suffocating him slowly.