BRIDE OF THE RUTHLESS DEMON

THE NAPKIN AND THE NEW PLAN

Chapter 10: The Napkin Problem and the New Plan

Roxan and Damon finally got away from the dance floor. People clapped for them. The applause was less because they liked the dance, and more because no one had died yet. Damon stopped dancing and stood very straight again, like a soldier on duty.

“Done with the ritual,” he said to everyone nearby, his voice loud and serious.

“Very fast,” Roxan said back, trying not to laugh at his military tone.

They tried to walk away, needing a quiet corner. But Desmond found them. He was very excited and loud. He still had orange cheese stuff on his chin.

“Great job, King!” Desmond yelled. He was totally blind to Damon’s icy face. “See? Fun! People coming together! This is human culture!”

Damon looked down at Desmond. Damon thought Desmond was weird and useless. “Your people like a mess. This mess is bad for life. Bad for survival.”

“Mess helps new ideas!” Desmond shouted back. He grabbed a clean white cloth from a table and wiped his chin hard. “I found a good spot for my next idea. It’s about selling those big ships of yours to tourism groups—”

“Desmond,” Roxan said quickly. She used a strong voice that usually made people listen. “ Damon and I need to talk about work now. We need to count the snacks and check the food levels.”

Desmond looked sad for one second, then happy again. “Snack counting! Food levels! I am good at that!” He ran to the food table with his new mission.

Roxan sighed. She felt a deep tiredness when her father was around. “Sorry. He only acts this crazy when he is trying to buy a new company or sell something big.”

Damon watched Desmond leave. “He breaks many rules every second. He is loud, he touches things, he has bad ideas. Why do you keep him?”

“He is my dad,” Roxan said simply. “Family is hard for humans. We keep them anyway.”

They moved away from the crowd and stood by some big windows, looking at the city lights. Damon was a dangerous man, a killer, but the city below looked peaceful. Roxan felt a strange pull toward him in the quiet corner. It was a bad feeling because she knew the truth. He killed her family.

Stop it, Roxan. He is the enemy. Focus on that.

She needed to think straight. She needed information. She had to use this moment alone to push her own plan.

“You talk about being fast and smart,” Roxan started, changing the subject from her father to work. “I looked at your ship data. I think your water filters are breaking too fast on your colony ships.”

Damon stopped looking at the window. He looked at her now, clearly surprised. No one usually talked to him about ship mechanics at a party.

“The water filters?” Damon asked.

“Yes. Model KZ-9. They get blocked up with mineral stuff. I used to work with farm water systems on Earth. It’s a similar problem. You need to wash them with acid more often. The cleaning cycle needs to happen every 72 times you use them, not the 140 times your book says.”

Damon stared at her. He pulled out a small computer from his coat pocket and typed very fast. His eyes got a little wide as he read the screen.

“My engineers found this exact problem this morning,” he said quietly, sounding impressed. “They did not know why it was happening. You found the answer just by looking at a report?”

“I am smart,” Roxan said, feeling good about herself. She liked that she could surprise him.

A small smile came on Damon’s face. It was a scary smile, like a shark smiling, but also a little nice in a strange way. “Maybe Earth people are useful after all, Queen Roxan.”

Just then, they heard loud voices by the food table again. Desmond was now yelling at a very stressed waiter about the metal box that holds paper towels.

“It has to sit on its side for the paper to come out best! Forty-five degrees!” Desmond shouted, moving the box fast on the table.

Damon watched her dad. He looked back at Roxan, still smiling a little.

“Bad system,” Damon said. But he did not sound mean this time. He seemed a little happy, a little entertained by the chaos.

Roxan laughed out loud. It felt good to laugh. Damon was a king who killed people, yes, but he was also a man who was confused by human parties and paper towel boxes.

Damon looked at Roxan laughing. He felt a strange, new warmth inside his chest. He used force to win wars, but this human girl and her crazy dad were a new kind of fight. He wanted to win this one, too. The silly fight over the paper towel box, and their strange marriage, were now part of his mission.