Chapter 30: The Demon King’s Comfortable Air
Chapter 30: The Demon King’s Comfortable Air
I stared at him.
He stared at me.
Well—no, that’s not quite true. He tried to stare at me, but his eyelids kept sliding shut like someone had oiled them. The ruby glow of his eyes dimmed every time he blinked, as if even the light was too exhausted to stay awake inside him.
Zorathys blinked once. Twice. Then his wings shifted.
I frowned as I observed him. He didn’t answer me yet—he was busy with what he was doing, and for the love of all things possible, I could not understand what he was doing. Or rather, I understood, but it was confusing because he was adjusting himself in the air.
As if the air had lumps.
As if the air had a soft spot.
As if he was searching for the best imaginary spot to sink into.
His massive wings unfurled slightly—just enough that I felt a rush of cold air ripple past my knees—then wrapped back around him in a slow, cocoon-like swoop. The body pillow squished upward against his chest as he rolled lazily onto his other side. His leg dangled. One wing folded under him at an angle I was reasonably sure should have been uncomfortable, but judging by the quiet sigh he released...
He had found his "comfortable spot."
In the air.
Suspended like some massive, dangerous bedtime decoration.
It was only after he was done that he rubbed his eyes with the edge of a wing and then deemed my question important—but only important enough to reply with a, "Hmm?"
"What do you mean hmm? Why are you in the air when you have a very comfortable bed right there waiting for you like a king’s subject waits for him?" I asked him.
Zorathys nodded. "The bed is my subject," he said with a slow smile. "But regarding the air and the bed, both are comfortable. Very comfortable..."
His voice faded as though he’d briefly fallen asleep mid-sentence. Then he jerked—just a tiny twitch, like he’d caught himself drifting—and blinked at me again.
I frowned at him. "It’s air!"
He lifted his chin slightly. "Comfortable air."
We stared at each other again. Me, in disbelief; and him, in... I don’t even know. He just stared like he couldn’t wait to go back to sleep.
And it seemed I wasn’t wrong, because just like that, his eyes began to close. Slowly.
Just when I thought he was gone, he turned to me.
"You can leave now," he murmured. "Now that you’ve gotten your answers."
I blinked. "Answers? I..."
I wasn’t able to continue because he spoke up again.
"Unless you wish to explore more about our relationship."
"Um... by exploring more, you mean?" I asked him.
His smile—lazy, drowsy, dangerous—spread across his face like honey melting into warm bread.
"I mean, sex."
I choked.
Actually choked. On nothing.
His gaze dragged down my body in a slow, deliberate sweep, starting at my face... lingering at my mouth... dipping lower... and lower... taking in every inch of me like he had all the time in the world—which he clearly did not, given the way his head kept drooping.
His eyes rose again, locking onto mine.
"If you want to..." his wings gathered closer, curling around him like a dark throne, "I could postpone my sleep."
"I..." My voice cracked. "Get your mind out of the gutter!"
He blinked once.
Then twice.
Then gave a tiny, amused smile, as if I’d just told him the funniest joke he’d heard all week—even though he was probably too tired to remember any jokes from this week.
I spun sharply on my heel, ready to flee back into the hallway where doors, walls, and life made sense—
Except the door was gone.
There was just empty wall where a perfectly normal door had been some minutes ago.
I froze. "What the...?"
"Firefly," Zorathys mumbled.
I turned. My gaze followed the direction he pointed.
The door was now on the wall behind him.
I frowned violently at it. "How... how did the door get there?"
He yawned. "Ask Marrok. I’m too tired to answer."
"What?"
But before I could even blink—
I was outside in the hallway.
One moment I was standing in the Demon King’s bedroom trying not to die. The next, I was blinking at the hallway’s dim torches and the cool air brushing my cheeks.
I turned around to tell him exactly what I thought of his always-tired self, but then I realized there was no door behind me at all. I was staring at a wall instead. It was like I hadn’t come out of his room just now.
I stared at the wall with the expression of someone trying to decide if they should laugh, cry, or set the palace on fire.
Slowly, I turned back around.
And froze.
My room was directly in front of me—or rather, I suspected it was my room because the door was exactly as I remembered.
I said a short prayer to whatever god or magician ruled this world, then opened the door. And thankfully, it was my room. Exactly how I left it.
I quickly changed out of my clothes and settled onto the soft bed. It was only after everything that I realized one thing: I was still alive.
Zorathys didn’t kill me. He didn’t even look like he had the intention to kill me. But I had entered his room. I had disturbed his peace, and according to what Marrok and the others told me, if one disturbs the Demon King, then they wouldn’t live to see the next day.
Wait!
I sat upright on my bed.
"Could it be that he was saving me for later? Maybe he’d have his main dish first, before he kills me and uses me as dessert?" I asked myself.
I shook my head. "No, that’s not possible. It couldn’t be possible... right?"
And this was how I stayed until dinner, with my fingers between my teeth, as I tried to make sense of why Zorathys didn’t hurt me.