I Just Wanted A Soft Life, Not A Demon Husband

Chapter 114: Of Beasts, Mirrors, and the Horror of Seeing Yourself

Elyn’s POV

I frowned and looked at Rin, my confusion sharpening into something closer to concern.

"What do you mean," I asked slowly, "Vaelory fainted because of me?"

Rin gestured at me with one finger, her black eyes scanning me from head to toe in a way that made my skin itch. "Because you don’t look like yourself, my lady."

I blinked. "What does that mean?"

She tilted her head. "You look like someone from the Beast Territory."

Okay... how does that result in making Vaelory faint?

Slowly, I turned toward Zorathys. He was already watching me, his expression unreadable, shadows curling lazily at his feet. Without a word, he lifted his hand—and a mirror appeared in it.

He held it out to me.

I hesitated, then took it.

The moment my eyes met my reflection, my entire body froze.

For a heartbeat, my mind refused to accept what I was seeing. It felt wrong—like my brain had been handed an image it wasn’t meant to process.

I... looked horrifying.

My head was long. Too long. Elongated in a way that made my neck look stretched, my skull tapering unnaturally toward the back. My hair—my beautiful red hair—was gone, replaced with a dull, oily black that clung to my scalp in uneven strands.

My skin was deathly pale. Not luminous. Not porcelain. Pale in the way something buried too long underground might be pale. It even looked slightly slimy, as though light slid off it instead of settling.

My eyes—

I swallowed.

They were wide and bulbous, compound eyes, segmented and glossy like an insect’s. They reflected the light in fractured pieces, giving me a warped, distorted stare no matter how still I held my face.

My nose was barely even there. Just two small holes where it should have been.

My hands trembled as I lifted them into view.

They were wrong.

Elongated, the fingers too long, the joints too sharp. They reminded me of Rin’s hands, just that hers were not as long as mine were.

I tilted the mirror, taking a better look at myself, and noticed that I had no ears. It was just smooth skin where they should have been.

And my mouth—

I gagged softly.

It looked folded inward, like it didn’t fully belong on the outside of my face. When I moved it, the motion felt delayed and unnatural.

I looked worse than Morthen and Versha combined. And that was saying something.

Slowly, I lowered the mirror and turned to Zorathys, my voice tight. "Why," I asked, "did you make me look like this?"

He shrugged. "You asked for a disguise suitable for the Beast Territory."

"This?" I snapped, gesturing wildly at my face. "This is suitable?"

"You look like someone from there," he replied calmly.

"What kind of demon even looks like this?" I demanded. "I look like I crawled out of a swamp and lost a fight on the way."

Rin cleared her throat. "Actually... this type of demon is highly sought after in the Beast Territory."

I blinked and looked at her.

She nodded seriously. "My cousin’s husband is one."

That did not make me feel better.

"What type of demon is it?" I asked flatly.

Rin smiled—wide and sharp. "A Mirekin Scarab-Beast."

I stared at her.

She continued, clearly enjoying this far too much. "They’re adaptive marsh beasts. Extremely resilient. Resistant to poison, decay, and most magic-based diseases. Highly valued for trade routes through toxic lands like the Succubus Territory and the Hellfire Territory."

"...I look like a bug," I said weakly.

"A prestigious bug," Rin corrected.

I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Wonderful."

I handed the mirror back to Zorathys and turned to him. "Then why are you still yourself?"

He raised a brow. "I’m not."

I scoffed. "You absolutely are."

"No," he said calmly. "I’m in disguise. I simply made sure you couldn’t see it."

I stared at him. "You’re lying."

"Am I?"

I crossed my arms. "Remove it."

He sighed like I had just asked him to do manual labor. "The veil?"

"Yes," I said. "That. Remove the veil."

Zorathys rolled his eyes. "You’re difficult."

Then he blinked.

Just once.

And the world... shifted.

My breath caught.

Zorathys was no longer Zorathys.

What stood before me was something massive and imposing. His head resembled that of a lion—but not quite. The muzzle was longer, the jaw heavier, lined with sharp fangs that glinted faintly. A thick mane of shadowed fur framed his face, dark and streaked with ember-red strands.

His eyes were different too; they were brown in color.

The rest of his body was almost human, but not enough to be comforting. His limbs were longer, broader, the muscles denser. His hands ended in clawed fingers, and his posture carried the unmistakable weight of a predator that knew it was at the top of the food chain.

He looked similar to Morthen, but more handsome.

"...That’s better than mine," I muttered.

Zorathys smirked. "Naturally."

I turned slowly toward Azerion.

He, too, was different.

His normally blue eyes were now green—bright and slitted like a cat’s. Cat ears protruded from his now green hair, twitching slightly, and a long tail flicked behind him in visible agitation.

"...Why didn’t he just go as himself?" I asked Zorathys. "It’s his territory, right?"

Zorathys nodded. "It is, but his kind are not allowed to enter the cities freely."

"What do you mean?"

"They are considered chaotic," he replied. "If one is seen wandering openly, others tend to send them away. And I don’t mean kindly. It is... safer that he looks like something else."

I glanced at Azerion. He was frowning, tail swishing.

"That’s rude," he muttered.

Zorathys ignored him.

He straightened then, his posture shifting into something more commanding. With a sharp snap of his fingers, the air in front of us tore open.

A portal bloomed into existence.

Dark, swirling, edged with faint gold runes.

"It’s time to go," Zorathys said.

Before I could react, he grabbed Azerion by the back of his collar and tossed him into the portal like a sack of grain.

"Ack—!" Azerion vanished with a yelp.

I shot Zorathys a glare as I stepped forward. "You didn’t have to throw him."

"He’ll survive," Zorathys replied, stepping in after me.

The world twisted.

And then—

We were there.

The Beast Territory.

Azerion landed on his butt with a thud and immediately glared at Zorathys, who pretended not to see him.

Meanwhile, I was taking in everything around me.

We stood on a wide stone slab etched with glowing runes. Around us, demons walked past in steady streams, barely sparing us a glance. I turned slowly, realizing we were standing in what looked like a transportation hub.

A massive portal structure rose behind us—two enormous stone snake-beasts with their heads pressed together, jaws open to form a circular gateway. Demons of every kind stepped through it, arriving and departing in constant motion.

The air smelled different. Earthy. Wild. Alive.

I was taking it all in when a sharp, rude voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Are you going to get out of the way so others can pass," the voice sneered, "or are you going to just keep on staring with your mouth ajar?"

I stiffened.

And slowly turned toward the speaker.