A/N: I own the plot. Enjoy!
As soon as he went back to the demon realm, the demon prince reported to his father what had occurred. A secret commission was formed with the demon prince taking the lead to root out the demons that were participating in the coup. It was soon discovered that about a third of his cousins whom his father had pardoned were participants in the coup.
The demon prince scoffed. His father had been generous, but his relatives had taken the generosity and tossed it aside. They should have counted themselves lucky but they wasted their good fortune. Well, he, the demon prince and the true heir to the throne, would not be as gracious.
Moving as quietly as possible, the demon prince and his advisors used political and legal schemes to eliminate the rebels' sources of monetary funds and military power. One cousin was caught in tax fraud and had his investments and property taken away. Another had his dirty secrets of having many mistresses exposed, and his legal but powerful wife divorced him, leaving him with barely any assets.
All this had to be done in secrecy and slowly, as to not expose the fact that the rebels' plans were discovered. Every day the demon prince could not see the Saintess was like a knife to the gut.
On the Saintess' end, the plagues mysteriously vanished. The demon prince had slipped textbooks of what demon diseases the demon rebels were supplying the Temple, and so the priests on the Saintess' faction easily eliminated and prevented the commoners from falling for the plague.
Throughout the three years, the demon prince and Saintess were still able to meet up, though in far fewer occurrences than before. The demon prince sighed. The last time he had seen her had been three months ago. The battle for the throne had now moved away from legal courts and into the battlefield.
And then there was the problem of ascension. His father had mentioned that he had plans to abdicate the throne once the fighting was over. The demon lord had plans to retire and spend more time with the demon prince's mother, so the demon prince would soon be crowned the demon lord once he unified the demon realm.
The demon prince realized that it would be much easier to bring in the Saintess as his queen once he had the full authority of a demon lord. He immediately began to work much harder with that tantalizing goal in mind.
In another three months, the demon prince faced his eldest cousin on the battlefield. Those who survived in the experience would tell the tale of the legendary demon prince who fought like a true devil, using magic and swordsmanship to obliterate enemies in his path. He managed to stab his eldest cousin in the heart, effectively vanquishing the leader of the coup. The demon prince left his mark on the demon realm history for his military feats. In truth, the demon prince just wanted the war to end faster so he could see beloved.
Sighing in relief, the demon prince motioned his soldiers to take care of the corpse on the battlefield as he rushed back to the royal castle. True to his father's words, his father abdicated and handed over the throne to the demon prince. Then the former demon lord whisked his wife away for a much needed vacation.
"Irresponsible bastard," the new demon lord muttered under his breath. He was now left alone in the demon castle/
Though he should have been happy about his coronation, the newest demon lord still felt like a part of him was missing. He hadn't been able to see the Saintess for nearly half a year now, though they communicated through secret messages in order to coordinate their attack and defense strategies.
It was time to bring the queen home.
There were still the troubles of untangling the Temple's interference with the demonly affairs, unfortunately. Negotiations were not going well. Unfortunately, the Saintess did not appear at any of the negotiation meetings, and the demon prince severely missed her presence.
He sorely missed her even more when the succubi queen started pestering for the seat of the demon queen. The demon lord did much to escape the clutches of the succubi queen, whom he knew did not love him for what he was but for his power. Briefly, the demon lord wondered if he could just usurp the succubi queen's throne and give it to the Saintess. Pity, but the succubi and incubi clans did give the demon lord the support he needed in the battle for the throne, so he would have to reward their loyalty somehow.
And so, the demon lord promised a heap of money and wrote a contract he would marry someone powerful descended from the succubi clan. While the current succubi queen preened as she thought she would be the future bride, the demon lord called up his demon lawyers to draft the contract in a way that he could use a loophole to bring in the Saintess. After all, the demon lord was going to marry someone with succubi blood, and he could more than afford a chestful of gold coins.
That day to bring in the new queen had finally arrived.
The factions inside the Temple quietly waged war against each other, with the faction that had been supporting the demon rebellion soon exposed. The Saintess soon united the members of the faction supporting a peaceful co-existence. But the Temple would never let go of their Saintess for her to become the next demon queen, nor would they ever accept that she was half-demon.
In fact, in the fight inside the Temple, the secret of the Saintess' birth had been revealed by the head of the faction supporting the demon rebellion in a last ditch effort. Although his words were largely treated as lies and slander as the Saintess had her faction suppress the gossip, those words would soon sow seeds of discord unless they were uprooted. And there were others hiding in her faction, wanting to use her for their own gain. The Saintess had to leave her role behind.
On the goal of exterminating the demon lord once and for all, the Temple gathered its holy knights and priests and marched into the woods bordering the demon and human realms. The Saintess would lead the army.
Meanwhile, the demon lord busied himself and his castle staff in preparation for welcoming the new demon queen. Anyone who opposed the candidacy of the demon queen was threatened into silence.
The castle staff quickly refreshed and remodeled the castle according to the tastes that the demon lord thought his future bride would like, such as implementing a study for the Saintess and expanding the library. The demon lord himself actively planned how to receive the Saintess.
The meeting point would be the lake where they first met. With the help of his staff, the demon lord cast a specific magical boundary that blocked anyone but the Saintess from entering the vicinity of the lake. On the day of the "battle", thick mist would cover the woods so the Temple's army would find it hard to track the Saintess down. For aesthetic purposes, the demon had the land around the lake weeded and free of even a single fallen twig or leaf. The flowers in the lake would bloom when the Saintess arrived on the scene. The demon lord would make sure everything was absolutely perfect for his equally perfect bride.
On the day in question, dressed in his best finery, the demon lord was standing in a boat in the middle of the lake. Soon, he detected. It took everything in his being not to jump boat and run to her immediately.
A tall figure dressed in the livery of the priests emerged from the misty fog surrounding the small lake. With a flick of his wrist, the demon lord sent out a small gust of wind that lifted the hood of the figure. Her curly hair was revealed, in her classic ponytail. Her grey eyes sparkled as the water irises in the lake bloomed at once. In that small gust of wind, the boat moved forward towards shore where the Saintess was, propelled by the breeze.
The Saintess stood there, the corners of her lips lifted up in a smile. The boat smoothly made its way, landing right in front of her.
He outstretched his hand, fingers and palm facing up
"It's been a while, my Saintess."
A hand reached up, her slim fingers meeting his gloved ones. The demon lord grinned back, his smile more goofy than the sauve exterior he intended to uphold.
"So it has, my lord. But you're late."
The demon prince lifted her hand to his lips, savoring her soft skin as he pressed his feelings into the back of her hand. They had intended to meet a month earlier, but the remnants of the demon rebellion had made a desperate attempt before the demon lord completely exterminated the rebels. The demon lord was thoroughly pissed off that he had to put off his wedding date to take care of the rebels. It now had been ten months since he had seen the Saintess in person.
"Forgive me, my love. I'll accept whatever punishment you have."
"I'll hold you to your words, my lord."
"Then, if you are ready, Saintess, I would like to welcome to
As soon as the Saintess stepped into the boat, the boat picked up speed into the lake and was magically teleported into the demon realm. With another flick of the wrist, the boundary around the lake was dropped. When the army of the Temple had arrived, there was no trace left of the Saintess or the demons.
For the demon lord, the rest of the day became a blur, probably because he was too focused on his new bride. The coronation ceremony for the new demon queen was just a whirl of faces and speeches in his memory. Even the succubi queen making a fuss was just a blip after his lawyers and staff dragged the succubi queen out of the ceremonial hall. (The succubi queen threatened to sue but forced to give up as the contract was airtight)
Finally, the whirlwind of festivities came to an end as the new demon lord and queen found themselves in their new bedroom.
The Saintess pushed her new husband onto the bed, smirking as she snapped her fingers. The demon lord had always worn the leather corded bracelet around his wrist felt the bracelet transform into chains as it had that night at the Temple. The chains weren't tied tightly, and he was pretty sure he could wiggle his hands out if he wanted. However, the image of the Saintess over him and his hands tied above his heads was somehow...stimulating. A shiver ran through his spine as he felt the excitement build up.
The Saintess brushed her hands against the opening of his velvet bathrobe, widening the V of skin showing. Her fingers paused as they traced a few new scars that had not been there.
"I do believe that you made a promise to take better care of yourself," she cooed.
The demon lord swallowed. "There were some...complications."
There had been an ambush in the demon castle, and the demon lord had been caught without his armor. Still, his sword fighting skills combined with his guards quickly put down the assault. It was unfortunate that a dagger had just slightly pierced through his shirt.
"Nuh uh uh," the Saintess said, sing-songingly. "Do you know what happens to people who break their promises, my lord?"
The demon lord watched as her hand slid and loosened the belt of his bathrobe. Her grey eyes sparkled as she peered over him.
"I-I'm not sure."
Her red lips smiled as she licked her bottom lip. "They get punished. Are you ready to be punished?"
A/N: Don't worry ya'll, ya'll aren't putting too much pressure on me for updates. I just wanted to give you guys an explanation for why updates are slow for my other stories. I'm sure COVID's hitting everyone pretty hard here, especially for those in school adjusting to online learning. (If only people here would actually put their darn masks on and stay inside for a few weeks, then maybe the pandemic wouldn't have lasted nearly 9 months here. As a researcher and future healthcare provider, it frustrates me when I hear people say the virus is a conspiracy. Gah!.) So I hope you all are staying safe and my writings can offer what little solace and escape they can.
To that one guest review, does EE stand for electrical engineering? I've always thought engineering majors were so tough, especially since I hate physics, especially electromagnetism, to the core. So props to you engineering majors out there! Thank goodness, there was only one physics passage on the MCAT and it was about hydrodynamics.
Well, this is the end of the short story, my loves! If enough people like this, maybe I'll write the Saintess' POV which will include different scenes and her side of the story. So let me know! Meanwhile, I've got a couple of interviews to prep for, and I'm working on the next update of "Revenge of the Duchess." Ta, ta, my loves!