"Basically, you cannot tell me everything because 'the time is not ripe' but I should trust that you have no ill-intension and that you're by my side to protect me…" Taylor mumbled, summarizing the content he presumed to be important after Eris finished explaining what she could…which was not much.
"A Demon Queen protecting a perfectly normal human, whose parents run abandoned him…" Taylor laughed in ridicule.
There were often times he tried to tell himself that Eris had been sent by his parents, that they hadn't abandoned him, and that he was not alone in the world, but reality made it quite difficult for him to believe this.
"You haven't been abandoned! And where is the problem with a Demon Queen protecting you? You're far from normal!" Eris seemed genuinely angered about what she said, and she was not able to control her power for a moment.
The trees around her rustled and the bushes began to wilt as her demonic aura gushed out from her body. The pressure in a radius of five meters increased rapidly and a frown formed on Taylor's face as he was pressed into the wooden bench they'd been seated.
The wooden bench created and spiderweb-like cracks spread through the bank as Taylor's hand reached out for Eris' shoulder.
"C-Calm…down," He could barely say, while his mind felt fuzzy and his sight blurred. Eris realized only now that she wasn't in control of her demonic aura and she retracted it instinctively.
She shot up hurriedly and looked around to see if someone noticed her but that didn't seem to be the case. A moment later, her whole attention turned back to Taylor, who was trying his best not to suffocate.
He took deep breathes and regulates his breathing, while Eris looked worriedly at him. She hesitated to touch him in the belief that Taylor would hate this. It was as if she was fighting a Demon in her mind, quite literally.
"I guess, I know my answer now!" Taylor declared after he had organized his thoughts.
The answers he had received were not the reason why he was able to answer, whether he still believed and trusted Eris or not. Rather, what helped Taylor to come to a conclusion were the information Eris revealed subconsciously, and her reaction, which included her emotions.
'She knows that I haven't been abandoned and she said that I'm not normal!' Taylor thought while highlighting 'knows', and 'normal' in his mind.
"I still believe and trust you!" He spoke out loud, looking deeply at Eris, whose expression lit up the instant he finished speaking.
Of course, there were many things he was bothered about, but Taylor didn't believe that it was possible for Eris to fake the roller coaster of emotions that she had revealed in the last few minutes.
"I get that you don't want or that you cannot reveal some information because of whatever reason you may have, but I really don't understand two things," Taylor said with a weak smile on his face, a genuine smile.
Eris' joyful expression turned serious in an instant. The smile on Taylor's face turned wider and he nearly blurted out that Eris' reaction was cute before he cleared his throat to regain his composure.
"You still didn't tell me why you became so intimate with me, all of a sudden," Taylor mentioned, while he quietly added, "Not that I disliked it…"
He had a smug expression on his face, which quickly hid when he saw that Eris was still in a turmoil of emotions.
'Well that can wait for later if she won't be able to answer it for now,' He thought as other questions began to torment him.
"And how is it even possible for a Demon Queen to have enough time to stroll behind a normie in the mortal realm? I mean, don't you have to rule your own country, or whatever they call it in the Netherworld realm?" Taylor asked in curiosity.
He had chosen to trust Eris, which meant that he wouldn't doubt her anymore. If his decision was wrong, he would be sad and devastated but Taylor would accept the aftermath without regret.
That was what he told himself and he would stay honest about the decision he made!
Eris' tension quickly dispersed when she noticed that Taylor didn't change his answer and that he asked her purely out of curiosity.
"Well, that is because I can touch you now that you've awoken an Ancient Power…so I was happy…" She answered seemingly calmly, while she was internally abashed about her actions even if she didn't regret them in the slightest.
"As for the Demon Queen part, this is just my title. I don't have a kingdom, let alone an empire in the Netherworld realm. That would require way too much political knowledge and scheme, which is not really something I like to do…." Eris said before she thought of something as she eyed Taylor when she quietly added,
"I would rather spend my time calmly with others now that I am strong enough to receive the title Demon Queen."
Taylor heard Eris clearly and he could only smile. There was no need for words between them at this moment. Taylor was just relieved, which was why he started a light chat about certain things he was curious about,
"What exactly does this 'title' mean in the Netherworld…I mean the title Demon Queen?"
Eris was happy and relieved as well. Thus, she didn't hesitate to answer whatever she could answer, without revealing anything she was not supposed to expose yet.
"You can say the title Demon Queen is similar to the ranks humans use to label the strength of their Ancient Powers" She answered calmly.
Their discussion continued for quite some time, and Taylor quickly noticed that it was already late afternoon. He looked at the stance of the sun and frowned lightly.
"Now the biggest question is probably where we'll sleep tonight," He laughed lightly but began to scratch the back of his head helplessly.
Eris looked at Taylor, then her gaze turned toward her clothes and it was only at this moment when she recalled what their current situation was.
She began to laugh lightly, which caused Taylor to smile gently at Eris, the Demon Queen.
"I'm dirt poor, my things burned and the clothes I wear don't even belong to me. But, at least, we can still laugh…" Taylor said lightly, enjoying the sight in front of him.
Since his mind and heart were at ease after he chose to trust Eris fully, he felt like everything had gotten much better.
Who cares if he was poor, or that he didn't have a place to sleep if he was happy?
"You want me to hunt a few monsters from outside?" Eris asked when she got back to her senses. Laughing had allowed her to release all the stress that had accumulated within her for a very long time. She was basically forced not to tell Taylor about many things because the knowledge was bound to endanger him more than it would help him.
"The Church should have sent out the Inquisition by now. If you go on a killing spree outside the city, whether it's one or countless monsters, you will inevitably release some of your power. Let's prevent that for the time being, okay?" Taylor was thankful for Eris' proposal but it would probably make things worse than they were.
Eris nodded her head despite feeling that the Guivenhall kingdom's branch of the Inquisition would be unlikely to make her bend a finger before they would have ceased to exist. It would attract lots of attention, nonetheless, which was the crucial point Taylor wanted to avoid.
Attention would inevitably bring trouble, especially if one traveled around with a Demon Queen in the mortal realm, where Demons are, disliked, to put it in flowery words.
However, now that Taylor awoke his Ancient Power, he could do things that had been suicidal before.
And Eris' proposal was exactly what made him come up with the idea that formed in his mind.
[Author Note: Please comment how you like/dislike the novel! I accept every type of criticism]