Thomas immediately recognized the pink eyeshes of the demon prince, and took some time to process the situation. The man was holding him firmly by the waist, his lips pressed against Thomas’, and his tongue twirling against his. The realization came slowly, like a tsunami suffocating him.

  His first reaction was to throw a punch, as hard as he could, towards Zagam’s stomach. The prince gasped for air and fell backwards, grabbing what he could to keep his bance, but only succeeding in bringing the bed sheets with him to the ground. They were in Mariane’s room.

  Thomas felt his whole body shake, as a nauseating feeling was rising within him and his stomach was turning.

  “What the fuck ? Is it Thomas ? You fucking bastard, can’t you chose a better moment ? If you hit me again, I’ll destroy you !”

  The prince was standing up with difficulty, holding his abdomen and gasping for air while shooting a dark gre at the human. Thomas had trouble breathing, his whole body felt numb, but he successfully articuted :

  “If you kill me, you’ll kill Mariane too ! So go on, destroy your lover with your own hands, asshole !”

  And sprinted out of the room. He ran through the corridor, jumped down the stairs while ignoring the curious gres of the demons in the living room, and sprang out of the dormitory. His mind was in turmoil, unable to process anything, so he simply called Bael’s number but couldn’t utter a single word, letting his tears fall and his breathing become ragged. After putting a sufficient distance between him and the dormitory, he fell on his knees and puked on the sidewalk. Spasms were shaking his body along with big sobs, and he felt like he was passing out. At this moment, a big silhouette ran to him. Thomas flinched and tried to curl up into a ball, still convulsing.

  “Are you alright ? What in Hell… No, come here. We are going to the castle right now.”

  He immediately recognized Bael’s voice, and closed his eyes, letting the tall man pick him up in his arms and carry him away from here. He was probably looking awful, with puke, tears, and snot all over him, but he didn’t care. Every centimeter that would bring him away from the princes was a relief.

  While they were walking away, Thomas could feel the king’s anxiety, down to his trembling hands and his shaky voice. However, he didn’t lose his warm tone, whispering reassuring words to the human.

  “Everything will be fine. You will be okay. We are going to the castle and you won’t have to see anyone you don’t want to. Just rest. It will be alright.”

  Thomas couldn’t process the meaning of the words, but hearing Bael’s voice was calming him down. He kept his eyes closed, his head resting on the king’s shoulder, and listened to the demon’s heartbeat. It was slightly fast from the anxiety, but even that was somewhat comforting.

  The trip wasn’t long, shortened by the king’s teleportation spell, and Thomas was quickly id on a bed, the same one he had used while recovering from the aggression. Feeling Bael stepping away, he slightly opened his eyes.

  “Stay, please… If someone comes…”

  The demon bit his lip with a hurt look. Thomas must have looked really terrible.

  “Nobody will come, don’t worry. I just need to grab some things, I’ll be here soon.”

  He reluctantly went away, but quickly returned with a basin filled with water and a towel. Very gently, making sure not to make prolonged contact, and while still wearing gloves, he started cleaning Thomas’ face. He looked like he was about to cry. The human smiled weakly.

  “I wasn’t kidnapped this time.”

  Bael raised his head to meet his gaze.

  “What happened ?”

  Thomas closed his eyes. Even thinking about it was making him sick again, but he pushed through and told everything to the king. As more words came out of his lips, Bael became enraged.

  “Did he say he wanted to destroy you ? That fucking… And Mariane ! She knows what you are going through and that you can appear anytime, but she goes and does that ? What sort of selfish inhuman beast is she ?”

  He was squeezing the towel in anger, and that sight made Thomas ugh weakly. It felt good to have someone angry for him.

  “Well, it’s her body. She wouldn’t stop living and doing what she wants because of an imaginary person in her head.”

  Bael pinched his arm, and Thomas groaned in pain.

  “Don’t talk about yourself like that. It makes the people who care about you upset.”

  The human rubbed his arm with a disapproving pout.

  “I wouldn’t know about that, you are the only one who cares.”

  But his remark, made in good fun, didn’t have the intended effect. Bael was looking at him with a hurt expression, tears building up in the corner of his eyes.

  “It’s unfair. Why do you live like that ? So unfair…”

  Thomas panicked, lifting his bust from the bed.

  “Wait, I didn’t say that to make you cry !”

  “I know. I’m just mad.”

  The king took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

  “I’ve already searched through half of the ancient library under the castle. I read a few mentions about a book with the spell to give a new body to a lost soul, so it definitely is here somewhere. I just need a bit more time. But if you go back to the dormitory, considering Mariane and the princes’ personality, what happened today will happen again. They won’t stop because of you.”

  Thomas slowly nodded.

  “I know. I need to get used to it.”

  Bael pinched him again.

  “Wrong answer ! Don’t ever get used to that ! What you should do is stay in the castle. I’ll find an excuse to keep Mariane here and prevent her from seeing the princes. I’m almost done, I only need a few days and you will have your own body. So hold on for a little bit, everything will be fine.”

  The human smiled along with the king, but inside he was doubtful.

  ‘Will the princes really go along with this ? I’m sure they won’t sit still.’

  ***

  The rest of the day was the most rexing Thomas had in a while. He stayed on the bed with Bael sitting next to him, discussing various topics.

  “So there is a ‘mage stone’ ?”

  The king nodded.

  “Yes ! It reacts to mana, the source of human’s power, and it hurts the more mana you have. Demons used it to build the castle, back in the day, since it seemed like a normal stone to us. But we almost had a diplomatic incident the first time mages came to Hell, so I rebuilt the entire castle and we stopped using it altogether. I think there are still some in the academy for research purposes, but exchange students are prohibited from touching it. We never know what can happen.”

  Thomas tilted his head.

  “I remember seeing something like that on the shelf of the history cssroom. But either way, it wouldn’t matter for us, since we aren’t a mage.”

  “Yes, from what I’ve seen Mariane isn’t a mage. Otherwise, she would have been found by the headmaster of the magic academy in the human world, and brought to their school. By the way, can you be different from her ?”

  “Yes, I can. Personalities aren’t real entities, they are defined by their role. So, sometimes, it happens that one of the personalities is a dog, or an angel. I don’t know anything about myself, I could be a mermaid for all I know.”

  Bael grinned.

  “It wouldn’t be so bad. There is a private garden behind the castle, where only the king is allowed to go. The ke over there is pretty big !”

  Thomas ughed.

  “Is that your secret pn to keep me all to yourself ? But we wouldn’t be able to go to the cafe you told me about, if I’m stuck in a ke.”

  “Okay, forget what I said, it would suck if you were a mermaid.”

  “And if I was an angel, wouldn’t that pose a problem ? Would I need to go to Heaven ?”

  The king shook his head.

  “If you are not born in Heaven, you don’t need to. However, you might need to go over there to get your birth registration.”

  Thomas opened his eyes wide.

  “There is birth registration in Heaven ?”

  “Of course ! What do you think, that the angels are still wearing tunics and walking on clouds ? Their society has evolved quite a bit over the years ! I’ll take you there someday.”

  The two men spent more time bantering before Thomas id back on the bed, exhausted.

  “Even if I have a new body, it would probably be a crafted one, right ? Like in movies. I would possess a doll, or something like that.”

  Bael affectionately repced a strand of hair behind the human’s ear.

  “I don’t think so. Judging from what I read, it looks like the new body will be created by magic to match your soul. That’s why it’s an ancient spell. Possession is pretty common, even a newborn demon could do it.”

  Thomas felt his eyelids close themselves. The pull from the inner world was getting stronger.

  “I see… Does that mean I will finally know what I look like ? I hope I’m handsome.”

  The king’s irises gleamed, like the first time he had looked into Mariane’s eyes.

  “I’m sure you are. Don’t worry about it.”

  And Thomas was forced out of the control room.