The Devil's Son and His Fated Bride
Chapter 143: I want to know more.

Chapter 143: I want to know more.

After hours tangled in love, Ren relished the way he now washed her gently in the small wooden bathtub. There was something almost sacred in his touch, so careful, so reverent. It was her first time bathing like ordinary people, and yet nothing about this moment felt ordinary.

"Can you always warm the water like this?" she asked, still a little stunned by the simple magic of it.

"I can," he said, dipping a cloth into the water and running it slowly along her arm. "But I don’t usually use my powers for things like this. It drains my strength. Still..." He paused, brushing a kiss against her forehead as he gathered her damp hair into a bun. "For you, wife, I’d do anything."

She let out a soft breath, trying not to smile too much, not wanting him to think she was too moved. But inwardly, butterflies were fluttering in her stomach.

"What do you think will happen in the meeting?" she asked quietly.

Kai leaned back in the tub and drew her against his chest, his arms wrapping around her as his eyes drifted shut. "I don’t know. But I have a feeling the king is planning something... big."

Worry twitched in Ren’s chest. What if he revealed the truth, that she was his daughter? The weight of such a secret could shift everything, drawing eyes and schemes toward her.

"The Fae King... Do you think he’ll rise against the humans?" she murmured.

Kai shook his head, his voice calm. "No. Your mother left of her own will. She made it clear in her letter. That truth won’t change."

~*~

After a thorough cleaning, Ren put on Kai’s loose and long black shirt. Kai busied himself in the tiny kitchen, preparing a meal of fresh vegetables and beef. Ren watched him, utterly charmed. She had never imagined that seeing him cook could be so heartbreakingly adorable. The aroma of the food made Ren’s stomach growl.

"Wife, are you eating me with your eyes?" he teased, glancing over his shoulder with a mischievous grin.

She set the plate down on the table and smiled, a soft spark lighting her eyes. "Are you trying to seduce me, husband?"

"Oh, if cooking seduces my wife, I’ll gladly do it every day," he said with a wicked chuckle.

Ren approached and nudged him lightly. "My body still aches, you know."

His gaze flickered to the mark he had left, the love bite had long healed, leaving behind only the faint imprint of his fangs, the sacred symbol of their bond, resting against the hollow of her neck.

After eating the delicious food quietly, they curled up together on the bed. Kai traced lazy patterns along her bare arm with the tips of his fingers, each brush feather-light, giving her an amazing joy.

"Kai, I need to know something," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She hesitated, but the need to ask pressed too hard against her chest.

"What is it?" he murmured against her jawline, his breath warm, his voice unbearably tender.

"What happened when Lutherieth kidnapped baby Kaisun?" she asked gently.

At her words, Kai stiffened, drawing her even closer to him, as if shielding her from memories he didn’t want to awaken. His jaw tightened, his eyes shuttering closed.

"That doesn’t matter anymore," he said gruffly.

But Ren shook her head, her hand finding his cheek. "It matters to me. I want to know he would suffer enough, that he paid for the catastrophe he caused. Please, Kai. Tell me."

Tell her, you fool. She’s ours, Shadow barked from the depths of his mind.

"He placed a demon female as my wet nurse... in the third realm of the underworld," Kai began, his voice low, almost hollow. "She breastfed me and raised me in a place drowning in filth and sin. She was a hell prostitute, brutal, cruel. And those she served... they were even worse."

His words hung heavy in the quiet room.

"I saw things no child should ever see. At five, Luther came back. He took me to the first realm of the underworld and claimed my soul as property. He treated me like a slave. That’s when he began weaving dark magic into my soul. After that, he brought me to the human world... forced me to hunt his enemies. I was nothing but a weapon to him. Every command was another order to kill. Anyone who stood against him, he wanted them gone. And somewhere along the way, I realized... I think he was shaping me to kill our father. Whatever he told me was lies."

His voice cracked, bitter with the memory. "He told me lies about him and others. Wild, twisted stories. Made me believe our father was the enemy."

He fell silent.

Ren turned toward him and wrapped her arms around his head, holding it against her chest. His lips rested just above her heart as if needing the steady beat to remind him he was still half-human.

"I’m so sorry," she whispered, her voice thick with a lump of grief she hadn’t prepared for.

Kai looked up at her, his hand brushing her cheek. "I have you now. The gods showed me mercy."

And then, he kissed her, softly, like an unspoken vow. He was glad that Ren didn’t overreact, but he could feel her rage and the scent of revenge lingering in her aura.

When he pulled away, Ren continued gently. He had opened his heart to her, so she wanted to know more.

"How did your father find you?"

Kai exhaled slowly, his voice low with memory. "Hmm... I was lucky. Azrael sensed it when my soul was forced into someone else’s. He approached me as a kind man, gaining my trust little by little. When I finally believed him, I told him where I lived. I was around ten when my father came to that cave... and pulled me out of that cage. Luther had a collar on my neck like I was a dog."

Kai’s breathing had changed, deeper, rougher. His heart pounded against her skin, full of fury he hadn’t voiced. Ren reached up and caressed his lips, her delicate fingers brushing along the hardened lines of his jaw.

"Why didn’t your father punish him?"

"He did. He sent him to the underworld prison and condemned him to work the lava mountains, shoveling beast shit with his bare hands. But it only fueled his anger. He returned to the mortal world, taunting Azrael... scheming in the shadows."

Ren sighed, the disgust curling in her chest. That demon had no redeeming part left in him.

"What is Luther’s nature, truly?"

Kai looked into her eyes, his gaze dark, endless. "Envy. It rules him. He couldn’t control it, couldn’t break free from it... and it devoured him from the inside out."

Ren pressed her lips together. Not even a flicker of pity stirred in her. That bastard deserved everything coming to him. Luther didn’t just hurt people, he delighted in their suffering.

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