Reborn As The Daemon’s Wife - Chapter 140

Impatient to see what Alaya had brought, Jasmine made a make-do chair out of a rock and sat on it. She waved him over. “Come, don’t you want to know what Goddess Alaya brought us?”

“The snacks are for you.” He sounded disinterested with his back turned to her.

She scoffed at his response. “Don’t give me that. We both know you would be excited if I gave you some.”

She opened the basket and hummed exaggeratedly. “Hmm… this looks yummy. It must be a cheesecake from the human realm. I’m certain she made this shortbread on her own and these human realm berries look amazing. She certainly knows what I like..”

“Would you like some grapes? She packed many of them.” She held up a grape between her fingers.

“Jasmine.” He massaged the space between his eyebrows.

“Just a little taste.” She insisted and pulled him down to sit with her. “If you don’t like it, you can stop after that.”

“I don’t know what you are trying to do but you should probably stop it before it’s too late.” He warned.

“Trying to help you accept your needs.” She sighed. “If you don’t want to, it’s okay.”

She led the grape between her fingers to her mouth and peeked at him before she bit it, expecting him to interrupt her, but he didn’t. Grapes were his favorite and she had told Alaya about it hoping it would help them reconcile if she knew his food preferences.

Alas, it was not going to be nearly as easy as she thought. She felt ridiculous trying to entice him with the snacks and failing each time so she stopped trying. She didn’t want to ruin their walk so she stood and took his hand. “Let’s keep going.”

Luckily, his mood hadn’t been ruined completely by her tease so he squeezed her hand. He ignored the basket in her hands as they continued walking along the shores of the sea.

…

The following afternoon.

After returning from the academy, Jasmine thought about the tea party she had come up with on the spot the day before. Both she and Alaya knew that they were creating a chance for her and Dairon to meet up, and he was against the idea. He might just end up staying away to avoid them until later in the evening. Would Alaya really come?

There was nothing to lose if Alaya thought about it and chose not to come but it would be awful if she and Dairon drifted apart for such a reason. He wasn’t home and there was no way to ask him, so she decided to bake a cake. If Alaya didn’t come, she would send her the cake and have a tea party with Dairon later.

By the time the cake was ready, Rosetta had finished making tea for her. They set it up in the gazebo at the back of the mansion.

“Thank you.” She said to Rosetta when everything was ready.

“It’s my job.” Rosetta smiled and went back into the mansion.

Was there a way to contact Alaya and find out if she was coming? She wondered. She would have sent a message if she was certain that the little birds would deliver the letter in time.

She was still wondering whether or not to try her luck summoning her when Alaya materialized into the gazebo.

“Hey, did you wait for too long?” Alaya greeted jovially. She looked like she was smiling for the first time in years.

“I wasn’t sure that you were coming.” Jasmine circled the table and hugged her, then let her have a seat.

“I wasn’t sure whether to come either.” Alaya confessed as she sat down. She took note of the utensils that were all in pairs and swallowed bitterly. “Is he going to come?”

Jasmine shook her head. “He probably wouldn’t. Though I wish he did.”

“He is just as stubborn as his father.” Alaya sighed sadly.

His father… Jasmine had not heard a lot about him. Was it safe to ask?

Alaya reached for the teapot and poured Jasmine a cup, then poured some into her own.

Jasmine thought about it for a while and decided to ask anyway. “What happened to his father?”

Alaya took a bite of the cake on her plate and savored its sweetness. “He was a human. I didn’t meet him again but of course he would be dead even if my parents didn’t kill him for the mistakes we made.”

Jasmine bit her bottom lip to stop herself from saying a word. Alaya was yet to find out that she had been deceived. She still thought that her lover was human.

It would have been easier for her to accept Dairon if she had found out that her lover was a demon, perhaps she would have expected her son to be half demon. But now that she didn’t, what would happen when she did? Would she hate both her lover and her son?

“Are you alright?” Alaya asked, and Jasmine realized that all she had been doing was play around with her fork.

“I’m… curious about you and him.” She blurted before she could stop herself.

Alaya held her ceramic tea cup near her mouth. “I could tell you everything you wish to know. What are you curious about?”

Since she was willing to talk about it, Jasmine asked for all the details. “I would love to know everything that led to Dairon’s birth, if you don’t mind.”

Alaya took two sips of her tea and sighed sadly when she remembered the past.

“I was the only daughter in my family, but I had five brothers.” She started.

Jasmine frowned in confusion. She had never heard of any of them. “Where are they?”

“They are all gods of war. Gods of war don’t belong to their families. No one talks about them since they are born with a common mission—to protect the realm of immortals.” She explained.

“However, one of my brothers kept close contact with me. He doted on me even more than Bardumond doted on his sisters. My parents didn’t pay much attention to me and he took their place in my heart. He was everything to me.” She once again sighed, making Jasmine wonder what happened to him.

“At the time, demons had started going on rampage so some of the war gods were sent to different realms to ensure demons didn’t disrupt the balance between them and the realm of immortals. Tinnon was sent to the human realm.” She shut her eyes as she remembered it. If she didn’t have Dairon, she would have regretted getting influenced by Tinnon.

______

Two thousand years ago.

“Tinnon, you are here!” Alaya jumped into her brother’s arms as soon as she saw him. His secret visits were the only thing she looked forward to lately. He would bring her a token every time he snuck back from the human realm and for the few days he would visit, she would have someone to spend her time with.

He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and kissed her forehead. “I missed my lovely sister. I couldn’t stop myself from dropping by.”

He looked a little different and smelt like blossoming flowers. The human realm must have a lovely scent.

“But you claimed to love the human realm so much.” She teased.

“I would miss you even if I went to the best place that exists.” He opened his satchel as he spoke. “I need to go back soon.”

“Is the human world lovely?” She asked curiously. Everything he brought back for her was beautiful. It was hard not to imagine the kind of place they came from.

Tinnon glanced at her and took out an anklet from his satchel. “I already told you, the human realm is beautiful. I would permanently move there if that wouldn’t mean leaving you behind.”

“That’s so beautiful!” She exclaimed at the crystal anklet held between his fingers.

“It’s for you.” He presented it to her with a smile.

“Thank you,” She took it excitedly and inspected the material. “This is not made of any immortal realm jewel, is it?”

“It’s made of diamond. Humans get if from under the ground and refine it into a beautiful crystal that they use to make jewelry. You won’t believe what it looks like before it is processed.” He explained as he slumped onto the ground to sit.

She continued to study the anklet. “That sounds amazing.”

“It is. I watched them do it once.” He confessed. “And to think immortals look down on humans. They are interesting in their own way.”

Alaya studied the anklet longingly. Tinnon took it and helped her put it around her ankle, and she couldn’t stop staring at her ankle in admiration.

If only she could get to watch humans process their jewels.

Tinnon had also brought her snacks from the human realm which she gulped down hungrily. All the other times she would savor the taste and look forward to his next visit. This time, however, each bite made her longing to see the human realm with her own eyes intensify.