Prologue
Once upon a time, in a far away land, a lord lived in a beautiful manor not that far from a quaint little town. Although his appearance was that of a human, the lord was actually a demon. He had grown accustomed to solitude and had a short temper, and so was cruel to humans other than his servants.
One stormy night, a knock sounded at the lord's door, and when he opened it, he saw a rain-drenched couple and their servant. They had been on their way to a party, but one of the wheels on their carriage was smashed when it rammed into a large rock. The husband offered his family's ring to the manor's master in return for shelter until the storm passed. Disgusted by the mere acknowledgement of humans at his door, the demon killed the man with one blow, and turned the woman and servant away. The man's wife was shocked at the sudden brutality, and so did not leave when told to do so by the lord, so he killed her as well. As her body fell beside her husband's, the demon turned on the servant and prepared to slay him too when a noise met his ears. It seemed to come from the woman's cloak, and he lifted it to reveal a crying child.
By demon law, any child orphaned directly by the hands of a demon was that demon's responsibility. Angered by the child's crying, the lord tried to awaken either parent, but it was too late. The demon felt tricked and raised his hand to rid himself of his burden. But just as he was about to strike the child, the lord was stopped by an invisible force. With a crack of thunder, a light illuminated him and the child. When it faded, he appeared as he really was; a demon. A gust of wind lifted a bit of the cloth covering the baby. There, on its left side, a strange mark was almost branded there, as proof of the bond between the human and demon. Repulsed by his form, the lord retreated to his manor, leaving the servant to pick up the child and run towards the nearest village for shelter.
The lord slammed the manor doors shut and felt something hard in his hand. Opening it, he saw the ring the man had offered him. Furious, the demon hurled it at the marble floor, but the ring did not break. It too, was a visible sign of the bond, and it would remain a constant reminder to the demon of the terms in place. The mark on the child's side would stay there until its thirteenth birthday. If it were to learn of its parents' murder, and could forgive the demon enough to see him as a father, the contract over them would be broken. If not, the demon would turn to ash to burn in hell eternally.
As the lord's anger began to fade slightly and be replaced with self-pity, his appearance returned to that of human-like form once more. But as time wore on, he would become angered very often and return to the demon form. He only had two moods; self-pity and wrath. The lord was convinced he would never see the child again, much less be forgiven. For who could ever love a demon?