Jurao didn’t think much of his new, official gardener throughout the few hours before dinner. He trusted Hujur and Minaz explicitly, and after all, he was the Demon King.

Sitting at the head of the table for dinner, he looked around at his heads of staff. They were casting glances his way and whispering between each other, which meant they had likely heard about Braelin already. He expected nothing less - gossip spread quickly in the palace, especially gossip concerning important figures.

Hujur poked his head in and glanced around the room, finding Jurao’s gaze and nodding once.

Jurao inclined his head back and knocked on the table twice.

The room went silent as everyone took their seats at the U-shaped table, all eyes turning towards the door to the room expectantly. Minaz walked in to take her own seat - though rather than sit directly next to Jurao as usual, she took a seat one over.

Hujur stepped inside and cleared his throat lightly before holding out a hand and saying, “May I introduce his highness’s choice of Royal Gardener, Braelin.”

It took a few moments before the human poked his head into the doorway, but almost as quickly retreated.

Hujur sighed and gave the Demon King a pleading look.

Jurao rose, and gestured for the steward to take his seat.

Hujur passed him gratefully, taking his seat on the other side of Jurao’s chair.

The Demon King poked his own head out of the room, and looked down at his gardener.

Braelin looked back up at him silently, back pressed close to the wall. His hair had been cut up to his chin, and his beard and mustache had been neatly trimmed. He wore plain but fine clothing - a long jacket over a simply cut shirt, pants, and sturdy boots. All in all, much more like someone in the Demon King’s employ.

“You have to come in,” Jurao said gently.

Braelin grimaced, “I do?”

“You do,” Jurao confirmed.

Braelin sighed, then peeled himself off the wall.

Jurao stepped back, giving him room.

Braelin poked his head into the room again, then bit his lip and looked at the floor.

“Would you all look away,” Jurao said, waving a hand at them all.

Minaz slapped a hand over her eyes and sighed, while Hujur closed his eyes to count to ten again. There were similar reactions around the table - people grumbling but compliantly looking away.

Jurao held out a hand, gesturing for Braelin to enter.

The human glanced up, and seeing that the eyes in the room were no longer fixed on him, was able to step inside and shuffle around the room.

Jurao guided him to the chair next to himself with a gentle hand against his upper back, taking his own seat once his gardener was situated.

Of course, everyone’s eyes returned to the human once he was seated.

Braelin kept his gaze down at the table.

“My lord,” Festi, the quartermaster, said patiently, “Could you please explain the meaning of this?”

Festi had just one horn sticking out from their forehead, and hooved feet like Minaz. They had brown skin and four purple eyes with black sclera. Like the rest of them, Festi had short tusks. Their cloud-textured black hair flared like a halo around their head, and their tail ended in a small tuft of hair in the same style.

“Braelin has been caring for the garden for the past ten years,” Jurao said, “I see no reason for that to change when he’s done such a good job of it.”

“That’s impossible!” Gnori, the captain of the guard, said, slamming a fist against the table, “There’s no way my guards missed a human trespasser for ten years!”

Braelin flinched and shuffled on his chair a little closer to Jurao.

“The garden hid him,” Jurao explained simply, “It only allowed me to find him because I ordered it to.”

Gnori ground his teeth, but withdrew his fist. His skin was cobalt blue, and the two of his visible four eyes were pink. His left horn was broken, and he wore an eyepatch on that side. His right curled back over his head. He had green swirling markings over his body, and only two arms. His black hair was cropped short and flew away from his head in every direction, and he wore gold rings on his short tusks. He had reptilian legs, and his thick tail was covered in rounds of spikes.

“There’s no point to this,” Jouvi, the palace’s Head Groundskeeper, sighed, “If the garden wanted to hide someone, it very well could - and it has gotten healthier over the past decade. Besides, if his highness has made a decision, we all know it will not be changed.”

Jouvi had pink skin, her four eyes green. Her matching green hair grew in a mane down the middle of her head, with hyena ears and a matching hyena tail and legs.

“That’s true enough,” Gavven agreed, an amused smile on eir face. E grinned a little as e asked, “But how do you intend to inform the court when this little bird can’t even walk into the room with all of us looking at him?”

Gavven was the head of staff, and e had gray skin and horns that flowed back from eir forehead. E was fat and had black circle marks across eir body. Eir long pink hair was curly and fell around eir shoulders and four golden eyes with black sclera. E had hooved feet, and eir tail wagged happily behind em.

Jurao hummed, cupping his chin in his hand as he considered.

“… it’s not that serious,” Minaz sighed, dragging her hand down her face.

“But the court needs to know he’s here officially,” Jurao countered.

Minaz rolled her eyes again, jerking a thumb at Jouvi and Gavven before saying, “Just give him a fucking staff badge and tell them the ‘Royal Gardener’ is a human - it’s not like there are any other humans here to confuse him with… ”

“Ah, yes, that should work,” Jurao nodded, and looked to Braelin.

The human caught his gaze and nodded a little.

Jurao nodded again, then hummed as he started considering something else.

“The meal, please,” Hujur said in the meantime, gesturing to a servant standing nearby.

They nodded and darted out of the room, and soon several more servants carried in trays of food, setting them before the gathered inner court staff.

“We should have human food imported,” Kloy said offhand, glancing between his food and Braelin, “Demon food isn’t healthy for humans long term - have you experienced any fainting spells?”

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Kloy was the Royal Physician, and the oldest person at the table. His skin was seafoam green, his eyes golden, and he wore small round four-lensed spectacles. His horns swept back over his head, his lilacing dark purple hair wavy and tied back. He had hooved feet and a spade-ended tail.

Braelin didn’t look at the demon physician, but nodded in response.

Jurao felt a little alarmed at that, but supposed there wasn’t much he could do about it now.

Kloy nodded to himself, “You should have a physical later, to check for any other problems.”

Braelin made a noncommittal noise in response.

“I’ll handle the food,” Hujur said, pulling out a notebook and scribbling in it, then added, “Ah yes - my lord, he says he doesn’t want a room in the palace.”

“That’s fine,” Jurao said, “Jouvi-”

“A small cottage is no big deal,” she said, sighing, “Just need to find a place for it…”

“I don’t…” Braelin started, then paused and added in an even quieter voice, “Need… anything like that…”

Fortunately, demons all had excellent hearing.

“A royal official can’t just sleep outside,” Jurao said calmly, then looked to Jouvi, “Just keep it as simple as possible.”

“It’ll still take a few days to complete,” Jouvi shrugged, “You’ll just have to endure the palace in the meantime.”

Braelin made a strained noise.

Jouvi snorted in amusement, “You found a weird one, my lord.”

“What normal person would spend ten years living in a garden that didn’t belong to them?” Minaz replied.

Jurao looked at Braelin at that comment, but it didn’t seem to cause him more distress than being in the room was already causing.

As the meal went on and the focus shifted away from Braelin, the human appeared able to relax enough to eat and quietly observe the table.

Jurao glanced at him from time to time, amused by his gardener. Not afraid of demons in general, just too much attention.

Once the meal was over, Kloy rose first and said, “Please come with me, Braelin.”

Braelin jumped down a little from his chair and seemed uncertain.

Jurao stood as well, “I’ll go with you. Kloy is the Royal Physician.”

Braelin nodded, and seemed a bit relieved at that.

“It’s like…” Minaz scratched at her chin, considering, “Ah, yeah. Kindred spirits, eh?”

Jurao looked at her blankly.

She rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Hey!” Gnori said, jumping to his own feet.

Braelin jumped, and shuffled behind the Demon King.

Gnori scoffed, then pointed at the human and said, “I’m going to patrol the gardens personally for the next week, and you better keep hiding because I’m going to prove you couldn’t stay hidden that long!”

“Wouldn’t he hide from you anyway…” Jouvi snorted.

Gavven giggled, eir tail wagging again as e said, “Gnori is scary.”

“I’m not scary!” Gnori argued, turning his attention back to the table by slamming his hands on it.

Kloy sighed, and waved ahead before leaving the room first.

Jurao put a hand against Braelin’s upper back again, gently ushering him after the physician.

Braelin walked at his side like before, even after the Demon King’s hand was removed. He looked at the splendor of the palace around him with mild awe - a look more suited to admiring a familiar scenic vista than an unfamiliar castle.

It made Jurao smile despite himself.

Kloy led the way to his private office rather than the palace medical ward. He did a brief physical examination behind a curtain in the room, then drew blood for some more basic tests before sitting at his desk with a sigh.

“Is something wrong?” Jurao asked.

Braelin was sitting on a bench next to him, and looked up attentively.

“Yes and no,” Kloy replied, rubbing at his forehead, “You have very little demonic poisoning, Braelin, which is good - it just doesn’t make sense. If you’ve survived by eating demon fruit in the garden for ten years, you should be much worse off. Other than that, you’re quite healthy.”

“There must be something that can mitigate the poisoning, then,” Jurao asked, cupping his chin in his hand.

Kloy sighed again, “Other than actual medicine, human food, and time, the only thing would be an external regulatory agent able to absorb the demonic energy causing the poisoning. Usually, a-”

The physician’s face froze, then he looked at Braelin in surprise.

Braelin tilted his head, brows furrowing.

“Usually what,” Jurao prompted.

Kloy’s cheeks darkened as his black demon blood rushed into them, and he cleared his throat, “Usually a lover.”

Jurao frowned now, “But no one knew about Braelin until today.”

“Yes,” Kloy agreed, “But Stranglehold Vines have a… particular disposition towards people they like.”

Jurao blinked for a moment, then flinched in realization, also looking at Braelin.

Braelin looked between them, clearly uncomprehending.

“… but you were so comfortable with them,” the Demon King said, recalling how they’d met.

Braelin continued to frown, and asked, “Why would I be uncomfortable with them?”

“Because they fucked you,” Jurao said crudely.

“My lord,” Kloy said, covering his eyes with his hand - pushing his glasses up with the motion.

“Oh,” Braelin blinked, confusion cleared, “Well, it’s not like they ever forced me, and it seems to make them healthier, so I don’t mind.”

Jurao looked to Kloy.

Kloy groaned, keeping his hand over his eyes - but he knew the Demon King well, “You are kindred spirits. Yes, it does have that effect.”

“It’s a good thing, though,” Jurao nodded, “Otherwise, you might not have survived this long.”

“I imagine if the garden likes him that much,” Kloy sighed, finally uncovering his eyes, “It would have alerted someone when the poisoning became too much for him to bear. But yes, this… was certainly one way to handle the situation…

“Before I forget,” the physician straightened up, “That other injury - was it ever treated?”

“… not exactly,” Braelin replied reluctantly.

Kloy nodded, “I’ll make some medicine to mitigate what poisoning you do have until we get some human food here. Let me know if that other wound hurts - I can also create medicine for it, though I’ll have to refresh my memory on human medicines. Poison mitigation is the only kind I know off hand.”

“Thank you,” Braelin said stiffly, bowing his head.

Jurao was very curious about this ‘other injury’, but chose not to press. It was no one else’s business, after all.

“One last note,” Kloy said, writing something down, “Now that you are able, please consult the kitchens for fresh food for the garden rather than injure yourself.”

Braelin nodded.

“Injuring yourself,” Jurao said.

Braelin rolled up one of his sleeves, showing a small series of cut scars, “I noticed that the plants would get healthier after dealing with an intruder. So whenever one got very sick, I gave it some of my blood.”

If I were a plant, Jurao thought, I’d like Braelin a lot, too.

“Only when they were very sick,” Braelin emphasized, rolling his sleeve back down, “They stopped me otherwise.”

“You have a knife,” Jurao said.

Braelin shook his head, “I have a thorn.”

Kloy sighed, “I suppose it was cleaned of poison first…?”

Braelin nodded, jumping down from the bench.

“That was mostly rhetorical,” Kloy sighed, “If it weren’t, you would definitely be dead. In any case, I have nothing further to add for now.”

“Thank you, Kloy,” Jurao said.

Kloy waved him off, “Keeping you all alive is my job, after all.”

The Demon King inclined his head, and headed out into the hallway - Braelin keeping pace at his side. Jurao suspected this had more to do with the curious eyes following them than anything else.

“Those were all the highest level of staff - except for my spymaster, Vajur, who is out on a mission,” Jurao said, “If you need anything, find one of them. I trust they will treat you well.”

Braelin nodded, then asked, “Is there a library here?”

“Of course,” the Demon King said, changing course, “Follow.”