The sun had risen, its rays intensely illuminating the room, brighter than the blue fabric of the curtain covering the window, filtering its radiance into the room's darkness. Sargonas woke up, disoriented, not remembering how she had ended up there. The last thing she remembered was slipping and falling to the ground. However, that wasn't what occupied her thoughts at that moment.

She yanked open the window curtains, allowing the sunlight to flood the room, pushing away the darkness, and said, "That fool kissed me," she murmured, touching her lips with two fingers as she recalled the sensation.

Her skin, naturally reddish, turned even redder as she remembered the situation. What did he mean by being in love with her? She wondered as she stood up, checking if she had been injured in the fall.

"I don't have any pain in my head or any part of my body. He probably used healing magic on me," she commented while searching for a new nightgown in the wardrobe. "I was wearing different clothes before. Did he bother changing them for me?"

She wasn't bothered by the fact that he had undressed her; after all, she had seen him naked at the slave auction. But what really bothered her was that he had done it while he was unconscious.

Knock, knock, knock

Someone was knocking on the door. Sargonas approached, and before opening it, a male voice was heard from the other side.

"Sargonas, are you awake?" Henry asked, waiting a few seconds before knocking on the door again.

Knock, knock, knock - three soft knocks echoed on the wooden door.

"Yes, I'm awake, but I'm getting dressed," she lied to find out what he wanted.

Without wasting time, Henry replied, "It's already noon. I suppose you must be very hungry. I passed by your room to bring you lunch. I have your tray here with me."

"Why don't you send one of your dozens of maids? Or are you trying to show off humility now?" she said sarcastically.

There was a brief silence, as if Henry were considering her words. Finally, he spoke, "Actually, I want to talk to you."

"Why didn't you say so from the beginning? Did you need to bring me lunch just to talk to me?" she asked mockingly.

"You're right, but I was also worried about you. You've fallen twice, and even though I used some healing magic, it's not my specialty."

"You're lying! You know you are! You even bothered to undress me and change my clothes!" she shouted angrily.

"It wasn't me," Henry replied.

"Then one of your maids?" she inquired.

"Yes."

With much curiosity to discover what he wanted to talk about, Sargonas opened the door and saw Henry standing in the hallway holding a tray covered by a shiny silver lid.

"Come in," she said, allowing him to enter the room.

Henry came in and placed the tray on the nightstand, slightly moving the lamp powered by a magical stone.

"Take a seat, you can eat now or wait until after our talk. Although I'm sure it'll be quite cold by the time we finish talking," he said.

Sargonas sat on her bed near the nightstand and took the tray with both hands, resting it on her lap.

"I can do both," she said, uncovering the tray and letting the steam escape onto the nightstand.

The tray contained a piece of well-cooked meat bathed in a succulent sauce, accompanied by a variety of brightly colored vegetables. The aroma whetted her appetite, and her stomach growled, anticipating the meal. The single dish was elegantly presented, with cutlery arranged on the sides of the tray, not on the plate.

Taking the small knife and fork, Sargonas began cutting the meat delicately, remembering her royal manners. The first bite almost brought tears to her eyes; it was exquisite, but she remained silent and continued eating as if it were nothing. Meanwhile, Henry stood watching her.

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Although it wasn't her first meal since she arrived, every dish she tasted continued to surprise her. Her stay in the mansion brought back memories of when she had a banquet all to herself, with dishes arranged exclusively for him and his concubines.

Henry remained silent, his yellow eyes like burning flames, fixed on her. Sargonas, in turn, stared at him intently while eating and asked, "Do you always dress like this? In black shirts and white pants?"

"Yes, although when it's cold, I usually wear my magical cloak that keeps me warm. What's wrong with my way of dressing?" Henry replied.

"When I was king, I changed my attire every day; I had a room dedicated just for clothes."

"I'm not a king, and neither are you. Besides, I like to dress like this. It reminds me of my black scales when I was a drakontos," he said, touching his head and stroking it.

Sargonas, struck by the reminder that he was no longer a king, decided to get straight to the point to clear her mind.

"Well, what did you want to say?" she asked as she took some vegetables into her mouth with the fork.

Henry approached her, and for a moment, she feared he might try to kiss her again, so she closed her eyes. However, Henry gently took a seat beside her and began to speak.

"Sorry for the kiss. That's the first thing I wanted to say. I thought those words and the kiss would prevent a fight. I detest unnecessary fights."

That hit her heart hard. Sargonas felt as if Henry had been playing with him and his feelings. The way he tried to avoid conflict deeply upset her. Although, deep down, she wished those words were true. The question of whether she was falling in love with him began to echo in her head. Angry, to try and push away that intrusive thought, she decided to respond, "You took your time. I didn't think someone like you would stoop down to someone so insignificant," she yelled as she finished chewing and moved the tray aside.

"That's not true, I..."

"What's wrong with you? Just say it already! Are you afraid of me? It didn't seem so when you took advantage of me."

"No! I'm not afraid of you, nor do I hate you, it's just that... I planned to meet you for so many years; I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me, even if it wasn't with good intentions."

"I wanted to kill you..."

"Let me finish first," he interrupted. "When I met you, I realized I was chasing a ghost."

"A ghost?" she repeated, confused.

"Yes, a ghost. In my head, I believed that if I found you and let you stay with me, you would feel indebted for my help. However, when we first spoke, you told me you hated me. Why would you want to stay with me after all I've done to you? I behaved like an idiot..."

There was a prolonged silence as Henry considered what he wanted to say next. Then, looking him in the eyes, he continued, "I always thought I hadn't done anything wrong, that everything was against my will. I fooled myself to be able to move on from what I had done. War isn't good, killing isn't right, and yet..." tears began to well up in his eyes. "I chased a ghost to not accept reality, to not face what I had done. I locked myself in this mansion, created a family, and forced them to chase a ghost."

The demon king, Sargonas, was confused; Henry's words had deeply shaken him. The tears didn't stop flowing from his eyes. Did he still hate him after all these years? He questioned that, and when he tried to speak, Henry continued, "You're stronger than me. Not only did you defeat me in that fight, but you also took a piece of me with you. I'm truly an idiot. Since you arrived, I treated you as someone inferior, but that night, that night when I found you trying to escape, I realized something."

"What?" she instinctively asked.

"That I never found the true demon king. I'm sure I never will. However, I want to ask you something selfish. I want you to stay with me because, even though I was always chasing a ghost, chasing you made me so happy. I love everyone here, they are the best thing that could have happened to me. Can you let me keep chasing you?"

Could she keep hating him truly? Had Sargonas been chasing a ghost in him by maintaining that hatred? In fact, she had only remembered him when he had spoken of the spell. Hadn't she forgotten him a long time ago? Had she forgotten all that because she had focused on surviving? Was she falling in love with him simply because Henry had treated her well?

She didn't have answers to all those questions, but something was clear to Sargonas. Henry had won her heart. She was in love with that young-looking man with horns. But did he have the right to love?

It had only been a day since she met him, perhaps less, but Sargonas couldn't get out of her mind anything else but that kiss and Henry's caresses. She remembered his long, warm, and soft fingers on her cheeks. Just thinking about it filled her stomach with butterflies.

She took the larger hands in hers and confessed, "I think I've really fallen in love with you; it's not a lie," tugging at his shirt and kissing him.

His lips were what she craved most at that moment. Perhaps it hadn't been just a day, perhaps it had been ten years of hatred and more than a hundred of fatigue, sadness, and suffering. Maybe this was the reward she deserved after so many years of hardship. She convinced herself of that reasoning and continued kissing him with force.

Henry didn't pull away and responded to the kiss with a loving embrace. Their bodies wrapped around each other and remained like that for several minutes that felt like hours. Finally, Henry pulled away from the kiss, embarrassed, and hugged her tightly against his chest, as if not wanting to let her go, and whispered in her ear.

"I love Beatriz."

"I don't care. I had many concubines. I just want you to have eyes for me once a week; that's enough for me," she whispered, her face buried in his chest, then continued, "Can today be that day?"

"O-Okay," he replied with embarrassment, bringing a hand to his head and fiddling with his horns.

"Can you close the curtains, please?"