The Demon Lord's Point of View

Chapter 4

I stepped out of the pages of my book carefully, hoping nobody would be waiting to ambush me when I returned to the Misty Mountain Library. The pages glowed brightly whenever we came or went, which drew far too much attention for my liking.

We'd had so many patrons visiting since the festival, which was great for Misty, but tiresome for me. I hated to admit it, but I preferred how the library was before, when it was just me and the other story spirits. It was calm back then, peaceful even. Now that I had to dodge fans as a daily occurrence, this place just felt stifling.

My home no longer felt like my home and I wasn't sure what to do about it.

The bond between the library and me warmed as it checked in. It never spoke in words, but I could feel what it meant all the same. It was worried.

"Don't waste your time on me." I tucked my book away in its hiding spot behind an old shelf. "I'm fine, honestly, it's just different now."

A book rose in the air, flying over to me and landing in my outstretched hands. It was Willow's manuscript. I walked to the edge of the upper floor, gazing at the book tree over the railing.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?" I asked, holding the pages Willow had worked so hard on tight. "It's not like she really needs me to finish reading it today or anything."

The library sent a jolt of magic at me that felt like an eye-roll. I sighed, unable to actually hide anything from Misty.

It knew I'd spent every moment since I got back from meeting with Willow reading. I was already three-fourths of the way done with her story. Not because I was doing her a favor, but because it was actually pretty good. The worldbuilding was intricate, putting me right in the story along with her characters, and the plot was excellent.

But something was...missing.

The romance just wasn't pulling me in like I expected it to. I'd brushed it off at first since I didn't really have any experience in that area, but the more I read, the clearer it was. Willow hadn't gone all in on this, sticking to surface level emotions instead of the intense feelings other books instilled in me.

I hadn't read the message the story gods had sent her, but I assumed it would be about that.

I even went back to the other romances I'd read in the past to make sure I really felt something with those. I had to be sure this wasn't just me not knowing anything about love before I brought it up to Willow. But those romances touched my black heart far more than hers, which was a shame since the rest of her story was amazing.

Honestly, it was so good that I was building myself up to ask her to enter my final book's contest. If I had to trust somebody to finish my story, she felt like a good choice. Her romance writing skills didn't matter at all for that since I was a villain. My story wasn't about love, it was about a great battle between me and the hero.

The library tugged on our bond again, pulling my attention to a vibrant red-haired woman walking inside. Willow's smile was wide as she chatted with Nyssa, her eyes bright as they roamed the library as if looking for something.

Or someone.

No, that was ridiculous. It had only been a day, there was no way she'd expect me to be done already.

Even so, I felt myself walking down the stairs to the main floor. I sat at a table close enough to overhear her and Nyssa, flipping to the last page I'd read in Willow's book. The baker was finally about to recover her lost memories with the dungeon core's help and I couldn't wait to see how it all played out.

Nyssa led Willow over to the front counter where the log books were kept. "Here's our donations list. If you could sort through all the new books we've gotten and write down who donated what, that would be great. Then you can add tags to the books as well."

"Sure, no problem," Willow said, but her gaze drifted over to me.

I buried myself in her book so she didn't catch me staring. What was she doing here? It sounded like she was volunteering, but she already had a busy job of her own plus writing. Did she really have time to volunteer as well?

Unless waiting to hear what I thought of her book was driving her crazy...

That idea filled me with an odd sense of pleasure. Everyone was always bothering me about my own story, but having her seek my opinion on something that had nothing to do with the insufferable hero was refreshing.

I read another chapter as she worked, gathering up all the books that had been donated to the library over the past week and laying them out on a table suspiciously close to me. I could feel her attention on me more than once, watching me read the story she cared so much about.

"What are you grinning about?" she finally asked me.

"Shhh, I'm reading," I said with the driest voice I could, steeling my face into a calm expression.

I hadn't even realized I was grinning, but she smiled that overly happy smile of hers and hauled even more books over. The clanking of metal drew my attention to the floor where dozens of tiny knights rushed to Willow's side. I continued to read, ignoring them as best I could.

"Lady Willow," their commander said with a bow, "welcome back to the Misty Mountain Library. May we be of any assistance?"

Willow smiled. "Actually, I could use some help writing names on these tags and putting them in their books."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

They chatted a bit more as she lifted each knight onto the table, handing them pens and labels as she organized the books into what I assumed were stacks based on who donated them. Other libraries had sent some over, but the bulk of the donations had come from the townsfolk, offering up whatever books they had lying around to our library as an apology for abandoning it after the wild magic storm.

I'd have refused them outright if it was me, but the library had literally glowed with happiness when they stopped by with their wagon full of books. It reminded me of the first time Nyssa had shown up. Eager and determined, just like the whole town seemed to be now.

I flipped to the next chapter, getting closer and closer to the end of Willow's book. Now that she was here, I might as well tell her my thoughts today, which meant I had to hurry up and finish the story.

Reading with her standing so close was far more difficult than I thought though. Every time her gaze wandered over to me, I felt myself re-reading the same paragraph over and over, as if the words weren't sinking in. I'd never been so unfocused in my life, what I could remember of it anyway.

"So, how's it going," she asked, peering over my shoulder to see what part I was on. "Ohhh, that's a good chapter! You're close to the end now."

The warmth of her body seeped into my back as her hair tickled my cheek. My heart fluttered in a way I'd never felt before as she leaned closer, pointing at something on the page.

"That was my favorite part," she said, excitement making her voice all the more pleasant to listen to.

Of course it was the scene where the characters declared their love for each other followed by a steamy kiss that I was suddenly thinking far too much about. I swallowed hard, pulling away from her a bit.

"I'm never going to finish if you keep hovering." I flipped the page slowly. "The knights look like they could use your help too."

She gasped as one of the knights tried to lift a heavy book, racing over to catch it right before he got squashed beneath its pages. The knights might be meddlesome, but they were a good distraction when you needed one.

I was a demon lord, a villain so terrifying that it took six books to build up to meeting me. I was not the type of man who got flustered over a cute girl.

So why had watching her play with Cerberus and the knights become more interesting than finishing her book? She was counting on me for my opinion and I would not let her down. Nobody else had read this. Just me and the story gods.

She needed me to help her.

I dove back into the book, reading chapter after chapter as the story reached its climax. The main character not only remembered who she was, but fell in love and chose the life she wanted to live.

The End.

I closed her book with a frown. Logically, the ending made sense, but it just didn't sit right with me for some reason. Finishing a good book was usually so satisfying, but finishing hers left me...wanting more, but not in a good way. It felt like the deep emotional layer to the story was missing, like this was a first draft and she was planning on fleshing it out later.

Except, this was what she'd submitted to the story gods, so I doubt she'd have left that out on purpose. How could she be such a good writer, but miss an important element like that?

At least she'd written the villain well. She was definitely my favorite character since her reasoning was explained really well and her lack of emotions had a reason. She was a villain after all. We weren't supposed to have big huge character arcs that let us overcome our flaws and find our happy endings.

Willow must have seen me set the book down, because she'd dropped Cerberus' ball and was heading my way with an eager look on her face.

She really was excited to hear my thoughts on her book, not to get hints about my own story or ask how I die, she just wanted to know what I thought about something.

And that was a wonderful feeling.

Before she made it over to me, a group of young teenage boys stepped up.

"These books are amazing," one of them said, beaming as he held up the first book in my series. "Are you really the demon lord?"

Children were the few fans I didn't mind talking to because I didn't have to put on a show or answer difficult questions. I just had to be scary and amuse them.

"Yes, I am." I stretched my shadows out, swirling them around the children as I bared my teeth. "So watch out."

Their eyes widened as I formed my hands into claws, rawring just enough to make them laugh. Then I let my shadows do the rest, putting on a little play with dancing demons and cute animals all hopping around in the shadows. That would entertain them for hours.

"Rawr?" Willow asked, her voice filled with mirth. "That's adorable."

"I think you mean terrifying."

My face burned as I focused on the kids to avoid any more of her teasing. Of course she'd been standing close enough to hear that. After a while, she nudged the manuscript I'd left on the table.

"So....," she mumbled, "what did you think?"

"Honestly?" I asked, suddenly intensely aware of how much I could hurt her with a wrong word or blunt comment. "I could use some time to put my thoughts together. And I'd like to read that note, if you still have it."

She glanced away from me, pulling a very worn and tattered piece of paper out of her pocket. It was a bit singed, with tiny teeth marks at the top from the dragons yesterday. I took it carefully, not wanting to put a single extra wrinkle in it.

The story speaks, but the heart is silent.

So the story gods thought the same thing I did: the book was great, but it didn't make them feel anything. And now I was supposed to explain that in a way that was brutally honest, but also didn't hurt her feelings so much that she'd want to stop writing entirely. I didn't usually worry about that kind of thing, but she'd come to me for advice. Nobody had ever done that before, so I wanted to put some effort into it.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets as she looked everywhere but at me. After a few minutes, she sighed. "The suspense is killing me. Why don't we get a drink while you mull this over."

I tried to step away, but one of the kids grabbed my hand. I was so shocked I almost jerked away.

"Don't go," the boy said, "tell us more about the demons. And your big battle."

There it was. The moment every conversation with a fan came to: the big battle. I extracted myself from his grip and took a step back. Willow seemed to sense my discomfort, because she patted the boy on the shoulder, nudging him back to his friends.

"The demon lord needs his rest," she said, whispering behind her hand like she was keeping a secret from me, "he gets pretty cranky otherwise."

They nodded as if that made total sense, which made Willow grin even more.

"Cranky? Really?" I asked, shaking my head as she pulled me away from the other patrons. "People don't usually send the demon lord off to bed, you know."

"Maybe they should," she said with a laugh. "Everyone needs a nap once in a while."

This woman was so full of joy, smiling as easily as walking, but she also worried and fretted over things just as much. She reminded me a bit of Nyssa actually, who'd clawed her way into my good graces eventually. I hadn't thought she could actually repair the library or get the townsfolk to apologize, but she'd won everyone over so completely that Misty was thriving better than ever.

It was hard to despise somebody like that. Writing the final book in my series would mean getting to know me deeper than anyone ever had. Deeper than I knew myself. If I was going to let somebody do that, I had to trust them first.

If Willow was anything like Nyssa, then maybe this was worth exploring.