Betrothed to the demon king

Chapter 5

At the age of six, the little girl started noticing something strange.

At first, she didn't think much of it.

She was still young, and there were many things she didn't understand. She

had already grown used to being alone. She had no friends to play with and no one in the village who wanted to come near her. So she spent most of her time with her parents and played by herself.

But then, something began to change.

One evening, while she was walking outside, she suddenly felt a strange wind pass behind her.

She stopped walking.

The wind was cold.

She slowly turned around.

There was nobody there.

She looked around carefully, but she couldn't see anyone.

Then she saw something.

Two strange eyes were staring at her.

The little girl froze.

She didn't know who the person was or where the eyes were coming from. She only knew that something was watching her.

She blinked.

The eyes disappeared.

She looked again.

Nothing.

She became frightened and quickly ran back home.

"Mother!"

Her mother turned toward her.

"What is it, my child?"

The little girl ran into her mother's arms.

"I saw someone."

Her mother looked around.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"What did you see?"

The little girl tried to explain.

"Strange eyes."

Her mother stared at her for a moment and then laughed softly.

"My child, you're having one of your childish thoughts again."

"But I saw it, Mother."

Her mother rubbed her head.

"There is nobody following you."

The little girl looked toward the door.

"Are you sure?"

Her mother smiled.

"Yes. Now stop thinking about it."

The little girl nodded.

"Okay, Mother."

She trusted her mother, so she tried to forget about what she had seen.

But she couldn't.

That night, while lying in bed, she kept thinking about the strange eyes.

She wondered who they belonged to.

She wondered why they were watching her.

Eventually, she fell asleep.

The next day, everything seemed normal.

But that was only for a while.

As the days passed, the strange presence appeared again.

Sometimes she would feel someone following her when she was walking.

Sometimes a cold wind would suddenly blow around her.

Sometimes she would turn around and see nothing.

And sometimes, she would see those strange eyes again.

Always watching.

Always disappearing whenever she looked properly.

She became afraid.

She tried telling her mother again.

"Mother, I saw those eyes again."

Her mother laughed.

"You are thinking too much."

"But they keep following me."

Her mother shook her head.

"Maybe you're imagining things."

The little girl became quiet.

Maybe her mother was right.

Maybe it really was only her imagination.

After all, she was still a child.

But deep inside her heart, she knew she was not imagining everything.

Something was there.

Something was always around her.

Life continued like that for some time.

During the day, she would play by herself.

At night, she would sleep beside her parents.

Their home was peaceful.

Her mother would sometimes tell her stories before she slept, and her father would sit nearby.

Everything looked normal.

But whenever she was alone, she could feel the presence again.

It followed her.

It followed her wherever she went.

Sometimes she would hear something behind her and quickly turn around.

Nothing.

Sometimes she would feel as if someone was standing beside her.

When she looked, nobody was there.

The little girl didn't know what was happening to her.

She only knew that she was afraid.

In her childish mind, she began to believe that the strange presence was the devil himself.

Or so she thought.

She remembered the things she had heard people say about her.

She remembered how they avoided her.

She remembered how they whispered whenever she walked past them.

And she remembered the question she had once asked her mother.

"Am I cursed?"

Her mother had laughed and told her she was her perfect little baby.

But now, the little girl began wondering if there was something her mother wasn't telling her.

Maybe there was a reason everyone avoided her.

Maybe there was a reason the strange presence followed her.

Maybe it had something to do with the day she was born.

But she was only six.

She didn't know what a forbidden day truly meant.

She didn't understand the things adults whispered about.

She didn't know why her parents became nervous whenever she asked questions about her birth.

All she knew was that something was following her.

And every time she felt its presence, the same strange wind would blow.

One night, she woke up suddenly.

The room was dark.

She looked around.

Her parents were asleep.

Then she felt it.

That cold wind.

It moved slowly across the room.

The little girl sat up in bed.

Her eyes searched the darkness.

And then she saw them.

Those strange eyes.

Watching her.

She couldn't scream.

She couldn't move.

She simply stared at them.

For a few seconds, neither she nor the mysterious presence moved.

Then the eyes disappeared.

The little girl pulled the blanket over her head.

Her small body trembled.

She didn't know what she had gotten herself into.

She only knew one thing.

Whatever was following her had been there for a reason.

And one day, she would find out what that reason was.