The next ten minutes were spent in explanation.

Nerith's mother had pulled Jax aside and walked him through the ritual. Every detail. Every sacred implication.

All his doubts were cleared by the end.

Whatever bullshit that priest had done. Whatever stupid oath Nerith had recited. None of it was mere formality.

It was real.

The soul binding had been invoked the moment Nerith called upon Lord Azoth. The kiss was meant to seal the bond completely.

But due to all the interruptions—the army, the fight, the near-murder things had stretched far beyond the normal ceremony.

And apparently, that had caught someone's attention.

Lord Azoth himself.

The demon god hadn't just watched passively. He had stayed. Observed the chaos. Found it... entertaining, perhaps.

And then he had blessed them.

Nerith's mother had gestured toward the statue of Lord Azoth.

The hand that had been resting at its side was now raised. Miraculously. As if bestowing divine approval upon the couple.

And that horny-looking face?

It was smiling now.

Jax stared at the statue.

'Is he smiling because of our bond? Or laughing at my situation?'

Probably both.

Now, Jax would have been absolutely FURIOUS if this marriage meant he was bound to only Nerith. That would mean cheating on Adelina. Betraying whatever they had.

He would have marched up to that statue and smashed its perverted face into rubble.

But he had asked that exact question.

And the answer had been... relieving.

In demon society, once a woman married a man, she could never marry another until death.

But a man?

A man could collect wives like trading cards. No restrictions. No consequences. Just keep adding to the collection.

'Wow. The demons really said "gender equality" and then threw it into a volcano.'

'Actually, I shouldn't complain. This unfairness is literally saving my ass right now.'

Jax now understood everything.

Why Nerith had been in such a desperate hurry. Why she'd grabbed the first semi-capable stranger she found.

'I literally thought she was dumb at first.'

He recalled his initial assumptions.

'If she married me, that didn't change anything. That bastard Ery...something, whatever his name was—would have just killed me and taken her anyway.'

The marriage wasn't protection.

It was sacrifice.

'She decided from the very start to throw away her love life. Her married life. Everything. Just to escape that animal.'

He looked at Nerith across the room.

'Poor girl.'

Then a darker thought struck.

'Wait. Shit. I'm her HUSBAND now.'

The weight of it crashed down on him.

'She's bound to me for ETERNITY. I'm a human. She's a demon. I have Adelina waiting. I have a hundred things to do. Quests to complete. World to conquer.'

His head dropped into his hands.

'I am absolutely, completely, utterly DOOMED.'

Later that night.

Jax sat alone in the luxury room of Nerith's place, mind racing.

'What do I do?'

Option one: Just leave.

Escape the demon realm. Disappear. Forget this ever happened.

'But then what? Nerith becomes the suspect. "Where's your husband?" "He vanished." Sounds great for her family's already-destroyed reputation.'

New punishments would rain down. Punishments he wouldn't be there to prevent.

And for himself?

'I'd be mildly wanted at best. Hunted at worst. And what if they discover my real identity during the investigation?'

Plus, he still didn't know how to escape this realm.

And Astrid was out there somewhere. Wandering alone with a bag of demon money and zero survival skills.

'I need to find her first.'

Option one was too risky.

'So... option two. Explain things to Nerith. Another lie. Something believable.'

Because telling her the truth that he was human was suicide.

'Demon or not, kind or not, there's no way they'd cooperate with a human. I'd be dead before I finished the sentence.'

Another lie it was.

His planning was interrupted by the door opening.

Nerith walked in.

And Jax's brain stopped functioning.

She wore a gown of deep crimson silk that flowed like liquid fire around her form.

The fabric clung to her curves before cascading to the floor in elegant waves. Thin straps crossed her shoulders, leaving her collarbone and the swell of her chest tantalizingly exposed.

Her white hair had been styled with delicate braids woven through, small gems catching the candlelight like stars trapped in snow.

This was clearly a first-night dress. The kind a bride wore when she intended to be... unwrapped.

Jax's jaw dropped.

His eyes went wide.

His brain screamed 'BEAUTIFUL' in seventeen different languages.

But Nerith?

Nerith's reaction was even MORE dramatic.

Her jaw dropped FURTHER than his.

Her eyes went WIDER.

And the aromatic bowl she'd been carrying—some kind of ceremonial incense thing slipped from her frozen fingers.

CRASH.

It shattered on the floor. Fragrant oils and herbs spreading everywhere.

Neither of them moved.

Jax looked down at himself.

Pajamas. A simple t-shirt. He'd been planning to either sleep or jump out the window—hadn't decided which yet.

'Do I really look that good?'

He genuinely didn't understand her reaction.

'I didn't even put in any effort. But I guess my natural beauty just can't be contained.'

Nerith stood petrified for several seconds.

Clearly thinking something.

Processing something.

Then she slapped both her cheeks.

Hard.

Forced a smile.

And walked toward the bed with measured steps.

She sat on the edge. Looked up at the ceiling. Refused to meet his eyes.

"So..."

Her voice was carefully controlled.

"I never got the chance to thank you properly. With everything that happened... it's been complicated."

Jax patted the bed beside him.

"You can thank me right now, you know."

His voice was pure suggestion.

She whipped toward him with a death glare.

Jax raised his hands.

"Cool down. I'm just mocking you."

The glare softened. But something else took its place.

Pain.

"I was a fool."

Her voice carried a weight that made Jax pause.

"For not recognizing you. That power you displayed. That oddness about you."

She shook her head.

"Things were always suspicious. I should have seen it."

Jax leaned back with a proud expression.

"Well, I've been like this since birth. The prodigy. The genius. The one blessed by the heavens themselves."

He gestured grandly at himself.

"That's what separates me from beings like you."

Nerith looked down at her lap.

"So you think of us demons as dumb."

It wasn't a question.

Jax maintained his proud face.

'Damn right I do.'

Then Nerith smiled.

But it was wrong.

Pain hiding beneath the curve of her lips. Agony masked by forced cheerfulness.

"Humans are always that way."

Jax's smugness flickered.

'Humans?'

"Let's leave this topic, Jax."

She finally looked at him.

"Tell me what you need from me. Tell me why you're showing your true self now."

Tears began forming in her eyes.

"After everything. When I—"

She stopped herself.

But the sobbing didn't stop.

Her shoulders shook. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Jax was completely lost.

'What the hell is going on?'

'Did she... did she know I was human? But from when? How?'

A small hint of dread crept into his mind.

His eyes drifted downward.

And found them.

On the floor.

Both his horns.

Lying there.

Slowly degrading. Crumbling. Astrid's magic fading away.

He hadn't noticed. He'd been too deep in thought. Too distracted by planning and worrying.

And now?

Now he'd stepped into an entirely new mess.

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