Even after saying her piece, the Demon kept glaring at him with those sharp, red eyes for a second. Himanshu had both his hands up in the air, just trying to stop her from falling on him somehow. The fear in his pupils was clearly visible.
Steadying himself, he tried to step back. Looking into the Demon’s anger-filled eyes, he repeated her words in his head.
Stuff like love and care... it just turns you humans into slaves.....
A sudden wave of anger rushed through him. Since childhood, he had seen his mom forgive his mistakes every single day; he had grown up watching that endless love. This line from the Demon was trying to prove all those days, all that love, completely wrong.
He clenched his fists tight. He was just about to snap back at her with a harsh voice, but right then he saw a person in her eyes... someone who had feelings, but no name or identity to explain them.
Himanshu’s clenched fists slowly started to loosen up. And just then, he felt the pain of that bite on his neck, which completely put out whatever anger he had left.
Man, her luck is probably worse than mine. At least I know what that feeling is called.
Thinking this, a hopeless, faint smile appeared on his face. Maybe it wasn’t even right to call it a smile, seeing someone else’s misfortune. Himanshu was honestly just feeling pity for her state right now.
And then Himanshu chose to say something that could probably make the Demon understand in her own language.
"That’s exactly what caring is. Helping your people, fighting wars for your kingdom... that’s literally what you call caring."
"That’s my job, not caring," the Demon instantly shot back in that same sharp voice.
"Doing things for someone without any selfish reason is exactly what caring is," Himanshu said calmly.
"What crap are you even talking about?" the Demon said in frustration.
"Alright, then tell me," Himanshu asked, looking straight into her eyes. "Why do you even save people? Just because you’re a queen? Or is it because you actually can’t stand watching them die?"
The moment he said this, a heavy silence fell between them for a second. Both of them were breathing at the same pace. The Demon’s red eyes slowly started searching for the answer to this question in her 8000-year history. But she couldn’t find the answer anywhere. Confusion and the anger of not being able to answer the question were clearly showing in her eyes.
"Shut up with your nonsense. You don’t know any..." After this, the Demon had no words left to speak. Her voice just got stuck in her throat.
She just kept staring into Himanshu’s eyes with that same confused look for a moment, and then, getting terribly frustrated, she stomped her foot and walked ahead.
Himanshu just kept watching her walk away into the crowd. It was as if he had seen a completely different side of her today. A side where she wasn’t some cruel queen, just a lost demon who didn’t even know the meaning of her own emotions.
For a few moments, the Demon kept walking ahead with fast steps, carrying that same awkwardness. Himanshu just kept walking behind her, until the Demon took a wrong turn on the street. Himanshu called out from behind to stop her, but maybe the street noise, or the mess of her own thoughts, made her refuse to hear him.
He pushed his feet to go after her. But because of bumping into people’s shoulders in the crowd, his speed was getting way slower than the Demon’s. Now he had no other option left except shouting her name in the crowd.
He shouted in a loud voice two or three times—
"Veloria!"
"Veloria!"
"Veloria!"
But maybe the Demon wasn’t used to this new human name yet. She didn’t stop.
Himanshu’s heartbeat kept getting faster for some reason with every step the Demon took away from him. The fear of losing her in the crowd started eating at him.
And right then, controlling his breath, Himanshu called out that same name in the crowd again... the name that had saved his life.
"Eargel!"
Of course, that was her mother’s name.
Exactly what Himanshu thought would happen, happened. That name put chains on the Demon’s feet. That was the one childhood bond she actually remembered. The moment she heard this name, someone’s calling voice echoed in her mind. She stopped with a jerk, like someone had just touched her 8000-year-old wound. She quickly turned around to look.
Himanshu quickly threw his hand up in the air and waved. Then, pointing towards the left direction, he yelled.
"Hey! We gotta go this way! Over here, on the left!"
Walking together without saying a word for a while, the two of them reached in front of that cafe.
The cafe was built on a street corner. Its main door was right at the corner where both walls of the building met. Both walls around it were made of huge vintage-design glass, from where the whole outside view looked really beautiful. The place wasn’t too big, nor was it too small. Looking from the outside, the cafe gave off an old but luxury vibe. The crowd inside was so massive that they easily needed at least two or three waiters. And maybe that was the exact thing this cafe lacked.
The moment they stepped inside, the smell of fresh coffee lightened the heavy awkwardness between them a bit. A slow song playing in the background was pretty relaxing.
Looking at the people sitting around, Himanshu looked at the front counter. No one was there. He tried looking around the cafe, but apart from the customers, there was not a single staff member in sight.
"Why is there no one here? Where did everybody go?"
Saying this, he walked towards the counter. But just then, a girl walked out from the side door behind the counter. She was wearing the cafe’s apron and was holding a massive coffee tray with both hands, loaded with several coffee cups. Taking long strides, she was walking straight to the front.
Even with so much crowd and work pressure, there wasn’t a hint of exhaustion on her face. Instead, she had this weirdly sweet smile on her face... as if she considered this cafe her whole world.
Looking at her working speed, it felt like she had been working here for years. She served coffee to all the tables in a flash, and that too while welcoming everyone with a smile. Standing right next to Himanshu, the Demon was also watching the girl really closely.
Right then, the girl walked up fast to them to welcome them.
"Hey there! Welcome to ’Your Cafe’!"
"Thanks..." Himanshu asked, hesitating a bit. "Wait, are you... Meera?"
The girl’s smile got a little wider.
"Oh! So you must be Himanshu?"
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