The Damned Demon

"Master, I hope everything went well for you," Merina said with a deep bow as soon as she saw his eyes open. Since it was his first reaping quest she was concerned how it went for him.

Asher nodded with a slight grimace as he felt dizzy, and everything seemed to spin around him. He tried to get up, but his balance was off.

However, Merina rushed forward and supported him as she helped him get up, "I think Master will get used to this after doing a few Reaping quests. That is what I heard from others."

Asher nodded as he was able to stand straight with her support.

"I have one important message from the queen to convey to you," Merina said as she gently let go of his arm after making sure he was able to stand properly.

"An important message? What might that be?" Asher asked as he massaged his head, trying to reel in his senses.

Merina disclosed, "It's about the celebration you had planned to be conducted within this House. But the queen got a message that Oberon wouldn't be able to attend since he ended up getting injured during a reaping quest and needed rest for a while since the injuries weren't light. So the queen wanted to let you know that the celebration cannot be conducted with a royal member injured—"

"When was the last time Oberon got injured?" Asher asked as his lips began to curve.

Merina was slightly surprised by his question, but after thinking for a bit, she answered, "I…I think he didn't suffer any injuries of this level for at least dozens of years. Nobles like him try their best to not get injured during reaping quests by being careful and not taking up any quests they can't handle."

"Hahahahaha," Asher let out a burst of thunderous laughter, startling Merina as she wondered why he was suddenly laughing like this. She was sure she didn't say anything funny.

"I don't know if I should even feel surprised, hahaha…" Asher couldn't stop laughing since this was just too amusing. 

How could he not realize that Oberon purposefully got himself injured so that he could come up with an excuse to not come for the celebration.

That son of a bitch must have been traumatized after seeing him and Rowena together in the courtyard and what followed.

He probably thought he might see even worse things during the celebration and thus resorted to desperate tactics to avoid going to the celebration. Simply turning down the invitation wasn't possible for people like him as that would seem like an insult to Rowena.

Asher felt that Oberon was truly loose in the head, not that he had any complaints. The more fucked up he was inside, the easier it was to fuck him up.

Merina didn't fully understand, but she could guess that this had something to do with what happened to Oberon.

"It's fine. You can tell her that I also don't want to hold one. I have to be considerate for the injured royal member," Asher said as he smiled. He knew that celebrations or any formal events like this had to be conducted on the same day as planned. It can never be postponed since it would inconvenience the invited guests.

And as per the custom here, no celebration can be conducted when an important member of the host House gets injured suddenly. It was a courtesy extended towards the one who got sick or injured to not make it seem like they were enjoying their absence.

Merina knew Asher wanted this celebration to get back at Oberon somehow. But now that Oberon has managed to avoid the celebration, will her Master get another chance? She also wanted Oberon to pay for what he did to her Master when he was helpless. Even if she didn't see, she knew the kind of man Oberon was, and thinking about how much her Master must have suffered made her eyes warm.

"I have to thank him for this," Asher smirked as he realized that stupid fuck just made things a lot worse for himself.

He looked at Merina and said, "If a royal member of the House gets injured, we shouldn't sit still, right? Tell my wife that we have to…" Asher instructed Merina on what to say to Rowena, making Merina's brows raise the more she heard it and guessed what her Master was planning to do, though she couldn't help but feel nervous about it.

…

"Son! What is this?? How did you end up getting injured like this? I know you are capable enough to not get injured like this," Rebecca rushed towards her son with tears in her eyes after seeing him lying on the bed in a miserable state. She knew her son was strong enough to not fail a quest. Even if he gave up on a reaping quest, he would never get injured like this.

Oberon's figure seemed weak, and even though on the outside, there were no physical injuries, he was unable to move his body for the most part. All he could barely move were his eyes and lips.

​ His entire body was bandaged with a special wet fabric that was supposed to heal the connection between his mind and body.

Oberon languidly turned his dark red eyes towards his mother as he weakly mumbled, "M-Mother…Don't get upset…I let this happen on purpose…" As he said this, Oberon felt his face itch with humiliation. 

"What?! Why??" Rebecca felt even more confused, but she knew her son wasn't crazy enough to get himself injured for no reason.

"By no means am I…accepting the invitation of that…vermin…He is doing it only to…insult us before Rowena and the others…We won't give him that satisfaction," Oberon said as his dark red eyes glowed with a murderous light.

"Oberon…" Rebecca mumbled with an unfocused gaze as she felt her chest ache upon seeing how her poor son inflicted harm on himself to save himself the pain of seeing his woman with another man. She wondered what happened for him to suddenly take such desperate actions when previously he was okay with putting up with it.

But then her lips curled as her gaze became intense and fevered, realizing how all this was the fault of that arrogant bastard. Her eyes glowed with killing intent as she wished the Devils would simply make him drop dead. She didn't like how her usually calm and patient son was losing his mind because of him.

*Knock*

"Who dares to knock at this hour?!" Rebecca snapped as she looked at the door with a sharp expression.

"M-My apologies, Your Highness. I-I come bearing news from the queen," The servant outside the door said as he cowered in fear.

Rebecca and Oberon glanced at each other as if they didn't expect to hear from Rowena at this hour. Rowena's people had already extended their sympathies and even sent a few items to help Oberon recover just like anyone else. So what more would she have to say? 

Oberon's eyes regained some light as he felt hopeful, wondering whether Rowena was feeling sorry for him and realized any hidden affection she had towards him.

However, Rebecca had a bad feeling and snapped her fingers together as the doors opened, allowing the servant to walk in, "What is it about?"

The servant fell on his knees as he unrolled the paper in his hand and was about to read aloud.

"Don't waste my time by reading the whole thing, and just tell me what matters," Rebecca sharply ordered.

The servant gulped as he lowered his hands and said with a shivering gaze, "T-The queen wants to shift Prince Oberon to her castle until he gets better. She believes he will get healthy faster if he gets treated by the royal physician, and she also added that she insists on this for the good of Prince Oberon."

"S-She really did?..." Oberon mumbled weakly with a look of disbelief. He felt as if he was in a dream since this was the first time Rowena seemed to be so concerned about him.

He was starting to feel that he should have got himself injured like this earlier if it would succeed in evoking such feelings within Rowena.

However, Rebecca still felt something off since Rowena usually wouldn't insist on this. It was not as if Oberon was dying, and she already had enough physicians to nurse Oberon back to health successfully.

Something definitely felt off about this, but no matter what she felt, she knew she had to transfer her son to the Demonstone Castle, especially since Rowena insisted.

…

It was the middle of the night when most of the people were asleep in this kingdom. However, Rebecca entered the Demonstone Castle along with dozens of servants behind her, some of which were carrying Oberon's bed as they carefully brought him inside while making sure he didn't get disturbed.

Oberon was feeling better already, especially when he was expecting to see Rowena's face and probably even get to spend some time alone with her since she seemed to be so concerned about his health.

"Where is Her Majesty? If she's sleeping, it's fine. Bring my son to the best room," Rebecca ordered the servants with her hands on her hips, though she thought Rowena would be here to receive them, considering how she insisted on this.

Oberon twisted his neck around and was disappointed to see that Rowena wasn't there. But then he could understand since it was late at night.

"Ah, you all arrived sooner than I expected," A man's enthusiastic voice boomed from the side, making Rebecca's eyes subtly shake as she immediately turned around to look at him, "You…" She softly mumbled with a confused look, wondering what this brat was doing here at this hour.

Oberon clenched his fists upon seeing this alien's face, especially since he felt like he lost face upon letting Asher see him in such a pathetic state.

Asher curved his lips as he said, "I will be helping you all settle down for now. So I can assure you that Prince Oberon is in good hands."