I Just Wanted A Soft Life, Not A Demon Husband

Chapter 193: Of Kidnappings, Courtship, and Other Luncheon Disasters

Elyn’s POV

I had no idea what was going through the minds of the nobles seated before me. It was like it was the first time they were seeing me... oh, I think I knew why they were behaving the way they were.

I mean, it’s not every day one sees a human queen-to-be with her hand over the demon King’s eyes.

Said demon king whose eyelashes brushed faintly against my palms. Again, my traitorous heart skipped a beat, but I chose to ignore that.

"Caleth," I said as calmly as one could while physically blinding a ruler, "please ask your question. Zorathys will not be able to glare at you."

There was a pause.

A long one.

Caleth stared at me.

Then he glanced toward Zorathys.

Then back at me.

A frown slowly formed on his face.

"Your Highness," he asked softly, almost cautiously, "do you truly believe that would stop him from glaring at me?"

Behind my hands, Zorathys scoffed.

"Instead of questioning the queen, you should ask your bloody question," he said grumpily.

Caleth swallowed visibly.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good," Zorathys replied flatly. "Proceed."

I felt the faintest shift beneath my palms. He was absolutely still glaring. I could feel it somehow.

Caleth inhaled.

And then, with the bravery of a demon who had apparently lost all sense of self-preservation, he asked:

"Did His Majesty force you into marrying him?"

The temperature in the room dropped.

The lights flickered, and I swear I heard thunder rumbling just outside. The bright sky was filled with darkness, and it was like the air in the hall was sucked thin.

Ignivar shook his head once in quiet disappointment.

"Bloody fool," he muttered as he continued eating.

Draeven’s eyes widened so dramatically I thought they might detach from his face.

Caleth made a small, strangled sound.

Then yelped.

"Why did you hit me?" he snapped, glaring toward Draeven.

Draeven sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I did not hit you."

"I know your hit, it’s like rocks. And I felt you hit me with your elbow," Caleth told him.

"I’m sitting opposite you. Do tell, how then does my elbow hit you?" Draeven asked him.

"You are a high-ranking demon. That’s easy for you to do," Caleth told him.

"Rather than say I hit you, it will be more accurate to say I’m trying to save your life," Draeven told him through gritted teeth.

I lowered my hand slightly from Zorathys’s eyes.

The air grew colder.

I quickly put it back.

Caleth straightened, clearly indignant. "I was merely asking."

"You were inviting your own funeral," Draeven muttered.

Caleth looked back at me. "Your Highness, I simply wished to know. If perhaps... you were taken against your will."

The nobles collectively leaned forward by the smallest fraction.

"I mean no disrespect," Caleth rushed to add. "But it is not unheard of. Some unions are forged through... force. And they last a long time too."

The darkness thickened.

"Caleth," Draeven hissed.

Caleth pressed on anyway. "In fact, I met my wife because she kidnapped me."

Honestly, I remember that tale. Rin did say Caleth and his wife were her favourite couple.

The silence that followed was so profound I heard Seraphielle’s fork stop mid-clink.

Caleth nodded as if this were perfectly reasonable. "It was the best thing to ever happen to me."

Draeven stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"You are not helping," Draeven muttered.

"I am explaining context."

I could not hold it in any longer.

I laughed at the whole scenario.

The darkness receded slightly.

"I assure you," I said, trying to compose myself, "Zorathys did not kidnap me."

I slowly removed my hands from said kidnapper’s eyes.

Zorathys blinked once, slowly, as though adjusting to the light after an inconvenience.

"Our situation," I continued, "is... different from yours and your wife’s."

Caleth frowned thoughtfully but nodded.

"So no chains?" he clarified.

"No chains."

"No coercion?"

"No coercion."

"No dramatic capture beneath the bright morning sky?"

"No."

"Ah."

Zorathys leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on Caleth in a way that was impressively restrained but still deeply unsettling.

Caleth cleared his throat immediately.

"I apologize, Your Highness."

I waved a hand. "It is fine."

He turned to Zorathys, visibly bracing himself. "And to you, Your Majesty."

To my surprise, Zorathys smiled.

"It was curiosity," he said lightly. "You need not apologize. Most demons are curious creatures."

Caleth blinked in confusion.

Draeven immediately cleared his throat loudly.

The message was clear: stop talking.

Zorathys’s smile did not fade.

For a moment, I truly wondered what he was planning.

Then Draeven leaned forward slightly, clearly attempting to redirect the conversation away from dangerous territory.

"Your Highness," he said, addressing me carefully, "we are aware that you are from the human realm."

I perked up immediately.

"Yes."

"It has been over a hundred years since I last visited," he continued. "Tell us... what is it like now?"

The question shifted the air entirely.

Curiosity replaced tension.

Even Seraphielle leaned in, her expression sharpened with genuine interest.

"The human realm," I began, "is very different from the demon realm. At least there, no one kidnaps their spouse and makes them fall in love with them."

Caleth chuckled at that, not offended in the slightest.

"Their way of dressing is different too, right? That’s why that human maid of yours was dressed ugly," Seraphielle said.

Aurelixa gave Seraphielle a look. Draeven sat between Aurelixa and Seraphielle, and I was certain it was because if they were next to each other, there would likely be a fight to be stopped.

"You speak as if you’ve met the maid and even the queen before now," Aurelixa said to Seraphielle.

Seraphielle smiled smugly. She flipped her hair, and yes, it hit Draeven in the face.

"Perhaps I have," Seraphielle said to her.

Before it could escalate, I jumped in. "There are different kingdoms in the human realm. The one I come from is just one of many. And our foods are different. Magic is used differently too..."

The conversation shifted naturally after that. They asked about everything and anything they could ask about.

I did not realize how much time had passed.

At some point, the third course had been served.

Then the fourth.

Plates had been replaced. Glasses refilled.

The servants moved quietly around us.

But the tension that had gripped the beginning of the luncheon was gone.

And before I knew it, the luncheon was over.