Dancing with the Devil

First sight of the devil

With the shackles still on her wrists, Kalista let out a dull grunt, indicating that he had hurt himself. He released her and put his hands behind his back.

"Sorry." He struggled to utter a single word and shrank his head as he lowered his eyelids. The piles of cloth on top of his head slipped through his movements, and Kalista unconsciously helped him to pick up the rags, only to freeze for a moment.

There's something on his head.

Kalista touched in disbelief to make sure the ugly horns were actually growing on his head and not some ridiculous decoration.

He flinched toward the corner and scrambled to hold the cloth over his head, but his sharp fingers drew more. In the random twisting, his body also lost the cloth cover. A black tail with a tuft at the tip wrapped around his strong thighs and flinched when it came into contact with the cool air.

- The devil.

Kalista had encountered these creatures in books, legends, and picture books, but she had always assumed they were mere fabrications of fiction. How could they be real?

"Lancelot?" Kalista exclaimed in disbelief. She struggled to reconcile Lancelot's face with the image of the legendary evil creature. "Are you ... Lancelot?"

She should have realized that he never responded to the call.

He was not Lancelot. How could Lancelot, who knew the underground palace as well as she did, end up in this dark room?

Her mind rejected the possibility, but her body reacted first. Kalista took a step back, reached for the table knife on the ground, and gripped the handle tightly.

The devil sat up slowly. The panic and confusion that had appeared in his eyes receded like the tide, and the dark, deep eyes with deep red irises returned to their calm, stagnant state. He stared silently at Kalista, his gaze shifting to the silver knife in her hand.

The point of the knife was pointed uselessly at him.

Demons do not have chains around them, and of course ordinary chains do not hold them. Kalista understood that he could take her life whenever he wanted.

With her hand shaking as she clutched her knife, Kalista had no time to ponder the existence of a demon in the castle. Step by step, she backed up against the jagged stone wall. The mechanism of the secret door was on her left, and if she pressed it, the revolving stone door would open. But the knight outside the door had not gone far.

With the demon's claws menacingly in front and the knight's sword poised behind, Kalista found herself trapped in a perilous situation. As she pondered her escape, the demon lunged forward.

Kalista only had time to glimpse a fragment of her own body, which had fallen silently to the ground before her eyes. Her left hand was seized, compelling her to move away from the secret door's mechanism, while the knife in her right hand was also wrested away, rendering it harmless. The tip of her nose brushed against her chest, and the muscles in her body tensed for a moment before she took a hesitant half-step back, as if startled by the sudden contact.

The demon leaned in, its breath like scorching lava as it whispered in Kalista's ear, "There were two knights on patrol nearby. Please don't move."

Her hands were trapped by the demon's inhuman claws, and Kalista's body was completely immobilized. Her fear of death was magnified to infinity at this moment, never imagining that her life would end at the hands of the legendary evil creature.

Kalista's mind raced, uncertain of the demon's true intentions. She knew she had to fight for her life with every ounce of her strength. Gathering herself, she whispered, "Mr. Demon, I do not know exactly why you were imprisoned here, but I can show you the way out of this dungeon."

Her words were met with silence.

Kalista bit the tip of her tongue, forcing herself to keep calm. Admittedly, her idea was unverified, but at this moment, she couldn't afford to show any concern. Pretending to be confident, she said, "There was a relatively raised stone brick on the far right side of the second-to-last row of the rear wall. Press it, and a door will appear. This door leads to a hidden river outside the castle. You can leave the castle by water."

The demon moved his lips and hesitantly asked, "You... Why do you know this?"

He seemed to know the answer, which meant there was a high probability of tunnels and waterways. Kalista put on a stoic mystery, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you why."

The demon let out a soft sigh, which sounded strange, as if hope had risen in one moment and then faded quickly, "But I can't leave the castle."

Kalista breathed a sigh of relief as the demon seemed to have lost his heart for her. If she could figure out why and use it, she might even be able to work with the devil.

"I made a contract with the owner of this castle." Said the devil.

"I can help you," Kalista almost blurted out, explaining a second after she had calmed down.

"I guess there were conditions that must be met for the contract to work, and if you were subject to those conditions, I can help you break the contract."

"Even if I asked you to kill the Count of Vladimir?" The devil asked, and it was clear from his tone that he had no expectations.

Kalista said, "Then I will help you kill him."

The demon stepped back and looked down to make sure she was joking. Kalista raised her head and looked back as candidly and firmly as she could. The clamps on the wrist were gone.

"The Count likes girls with light hair," Kalista said, pushing her straggling blond hair to her chest and reaching out to touch the knife the devil had snatched away. The blade was not sharp enough to cut through the skin of his fingertips. "He never thought he would die trying to make merry."

The demon licked his lips, contemplating the feasibility of the plan. Moments later, he returned the knife to Kalista and picked up the silver tray from the floor, handing it to her. "In return, I will help you find the secret escape from the castle behind the wall."

Kalista embraced the tray and said, "To avoid arousing the guards' suspicion, I won't be returning to the dungeon anytime soon. How will you communicate with me?"

"I can't leave the castle, but I still possess the ability to move freely. I can find you without alerting the knights."

Kalista, having witnessed his swift movements, had no doubt about his words: "Alright, I'll be waiting for your message. The plan to kill the Count would require some time to prepare, and there was only one way for me to retreat, and that was right behind you. So, you need not fear me breaking my word."

The demon nodded, briefly informed Kalista of the knights' current patrol locations, and guided her to a safe route. He tenderly touched her cheek before releasing her. A wave of warmth washed over the bruises beneath her skin, bringing an unexpected sense of lightness that she didn't dwell on.

Kalista pressed the brick and emerged from the dimly lit room, her back drenched in sweat. Fortunately, she adhered to the path the demon had shown her and encountered no one. The guard at the exit merely cast a disdainful glance at the tray in her hand and waved her away with a look of distaste. She wisely retreated, carefully avoiding any potential guards, and made her way back to her room.

Mabel was sleeping soundly with her pillow.

Kalista meticulously packed her props for the show and stole a glance out the window before turning in for the night. The rain had ceased, and so had the wind. The air with the fragrance of earth crept into the room through the cracks of the window mullion, and brought a wisp of roses.

Not far from her window was a small garden, where roses of every hue bloomed more vibrantly, having been nurtured by the recent rainfall. Similarly, within the castle of Serafinia, Kalista had cultivated a garden filled with a variety of roses and rose plants.