Chapter 1 - In the Birdcage

When I touched the thin blue iron-like material of the bar, I felt a cool sensation on my fingertips. The bars were all around me, and when I looked around, I could see they were circling me, the spaces in between them equal. The blue bars got more narrow as they went up, and they all gathered in one place. It was like a birdcage.

I was trapped in that birdcage.

The big country where I was born and raised, the ‘ Kingdom of Potpourri ’ was ruled by the Human race and the ‘ Stone Demon Kingdom ’ was ruled by the Demon race. These countries were at odds with each other and war was raging along the borders. Although the demons were stronger individually, the numbers and unity of the humans kept the demons from winning this war.

This conflict, which had lasted for several years, had gradually worn down the military strength and financial resources of both sides. This made the upper echelons of the two nations fear that any further warfare would leave them helplessly vulnerable if the other races decided to invade them.

The trigger was the scheming actions of the Underground race. While the Humans and Demons were battling each other, the Underground race and the Sky race joined hands and struck the two nations.

Oddly enough, this resulted in the Humans and Demons calling a temporary truce as they joined forces to repel the other two races. Afterwards, they took advantage of the truce and decided to cool their heads to set terms for a cease-fire, thus initiating the end of the war.

Although the tension was still high, it had been forbidden to fight on a large scale. Hence, both races decided to obey.

Included in this peace agreement was: ‘M arriages between the royal bloodlines of both the Human and Demon races .’ In other words, ‘ Let’s get someone from the royal family get married to someone from the other royal family so we can display the peace and friendship we’ve built .’

In the midst of all of this, the one chosen from the Demon race was the younger sister of the King of the Demon race, a 14-year-old girl. She would be married to someone from the royal family of the Kingdom of Potpourri.

The one chosen from the Human race was Etasha Sven Elf Potpourri. Etasha, The eleventh child of the Potpourri royal family, in other words, Me. It seemed that my mission was to marry someone from the Demon race and make the friendship between the two countries stronger.

My cheeks naturally puffed up as I touched my face with my cold fingertips. The space between each bar was so wide that a person could easily pass through, but they must have enforced some kind of magic — it was as if the cage was covered with a transparent film— and I couldn’t get out.

I came here to get married, not to be trapped in a birdcage! I hugged my knees, muttered and heard a huge sigh from beside me.

The owner of this sigh was the head of this country, the Demon King.

In the Demon King’s hand was a quill, and next to the inkwell laid a large stack of paper. Beside the Demon King stood a neatly dressed man from the Demon race holding a pile of even more paper. This man was from the Vampire race, and was the Demon King’s confidant.

Furthermore, in front of the Demon King’s office desk, stood a very beautiful male incubus, struggling with a bundle of paper. Other than that, there were several desks where prominent figures of a variety of races in the Demon Kingdom were seated. This was the office of the Demon King, which was the central part of the castle of the Demon Kingdom.

“The one who wants to sigh is me, I’m the one who’s trapped in a place like this!”

“That’s because you did such a thing on the first day you came to this country!” The Demon King with a blue vein on his face yelled at me and snapped the quill in his hand.

Such intimidation didn’t work on me.

“I came here to get married, you know. To think you haven’t even thought of what to do with me. I can’t go back to my country anymore, and if I don’t get married to someone in this country, the contract won’t take effect, so I have no choice but to do it!”

“That doesn’t mean you can crawl into my bed at night!” he fulminated.

“It’s possible the contract might take effect once we’ve had sexual relations, you know!!”

When I talked back like that, the Demon King once again sighed loudly and turned his gaze to the Incubus, “Hey… Curiz, is this prince really…?”

“Like I’ve told you many times, he smells like a virgin, front and back. Totally inexperienced.”

“So why does a total virgin get in my bed…? Is there a difference between our common sense and that of the Human race?”

“No, it’s also common sense for the Human race, that virgins usually don’t crawl into someone else’s bed.” Curiz replied.

The Demon King rubbed the wrinkles between his brows with his fingers and glanced over to the armored man standing in front of the door.

“Deuce, take this cage somewhere else… I’m not getting any work done.”

“But, Demon King, when we did that the day before yesterday, he was so bored that he tried to spread a curse all over the castle.”

“…”

The Demon King was stunned into silence.

“The prince promised that he wouldn’t spread the curse if we place the cage here for now, and had kept his word so far. The moment we move this cage, I think the same thing will happen all over again. I don’t want to clean the curse anymore.” The guard finished.

“Neither do I! But him complaining to me with that depressed voice is just as annoying as a curse!” The Demon King exclaimed.

A blue vein appeared on the Demon King’s forehead once more.

“Demon King, if you get so angry, the blood veins in your brain will explode.”

When I called out to him, thinking it was a tough situation, even more blue veins appeared on his forehead. He yelled, “ Whose fault do you think it is…!!”

The flame of the lamp had been extinguished in the office. At night, only one lamp was still on, and a lone man, a Vampire, remained in the office. It seemed he had to take care of some unfinished business during the day, and simultaneously keep an eye on me. He stayed here all night, because, like the Demons said, ‘ Nights are the time people in our race are active.’

Wrapping myself in a fluffy blanket in the cage, I somehow heard the sound of a pen scratching paper. As the flame in the lamp flickered, the man’s shadow flickered as well.

It was the man in front of me who blocked my defiance.

When I first came here, I tried to force the contract to take effect by quickly crawling into Demon King’s bed, but I was caught before I managed to do anything. The next day I was caught too.

When my attempt to seduce the King by crawling into his bed failed on the third day, I was transferred from the luxurious room to a cage. However, this cage was neither cold nor hot, as if some kind of magical power was present. The only inconvenience was using the washroom.

While the room came with a lavatory, the cage had none. When I was told that I had to use a pot in the corner of a cage that comes with a self-cleaning function instead, I felt like my brain was spinning. Anyone would find it difficult to go to the bathroom in public.

When I complained about this to the Demon King who came to check on me, he turned white and almost collapsed. He said, “I didn’t put you in a cage just to make you do that! I did it because you were causing trouble in the castle!”

That’s right, though I didn’t actually mean to be disruptive. My grievance was resolved, because before I knew it, the area around the pot was magically hidden from the outside.

Food was served. The food is very good, but the problem was that I just couldn’t get out of the cage. There was nothing to do. I tried asking for a book once, but I couldn’t read it at all because it seemed that the language of the Demon race was different from the Human race’s, so I gave up eventually.

There really was nothing to do.

During the day, the only thing I could do in this cage — which was placed in a comfortable, sunny spot by the window — was look outside and talk to the guard in armor, Who wouldn’t even respond to me. At night, all I could do was sleep.

I couldn’t bear the thought of living like this for days and days until I perished. Did they intend to keep me here until I die? I wasn’t married to anyone yet, so there was no way the peace treaty would take effect. Since I can’t get out of my cage, I can’t even force someone to marry me.

Once the contract was effectuated, neither side would be able to cross the border by force. This contract was bound by magic, so unless it was destroyed by a greater magical force than those who signed it, they would be bound by this agreement forever.

If I remembered correctly, the details of the agreement were as follows: ‘ The two countries will become friendly nations by marrying each other’s important kin. Once the marital relations are formed, one will not be able to cross the border to the other side by force.

By preserving the bloodlines who have intermarried with each other, the amity will be eternal and as neighboring countries, both will cooperate with each other. If a child is born to those who have intermarried, the right of succession to the throne shall be that of the country of birth, with the same qualifications as the others.’

Hugging my knees, I crawled under the blanket and looked at the owner of the shadows reflected in the flickering lights.

The truth was, I think this contract was unfair. For example, even if I were to enter into a marriage with someone, there was a risk that it would not be fulfilled. I just knew it.

The vampire man raised his face. I was looking over at him blankly, and when our eyes met, his beautiful red eyes swayed.

“Something about your quietness makes me uncomfortable.”

“I’m not nocturnal, so I’m quiet at night…”

“That’s not what I meant.” He chuckled, so I shifted my gaze away.

Actually, I think this man also knew I didn’t fit the conditions of the contract.

While I had the blood of my father, — The King — running through my veins, I was but the eleventh child. I was not the Queen Consort’s child, but the child to a maid of a Side Consort. My mother was the third daughter of a baronet. This status did not even allow her to attain the rank of Side Consort.

I still had several younger brothers and sisters, and I was the closest to my older brother, who was three days older than me. He was the child of the Queen Consort. My other brothers, who were born with a different status than me, were apparently being raised with the greatest care.

So, according to the terms in the contract, ‘ Important kins from both parties ’ My presence here had already breached the contract. I even had a slight suspicion that my father actually wanted to continue the war.

Furthermore, there was also the clause about having a child. According to my research in the first few days, there were no women of my age among the Demon King’s family.

Why wasn’t I sent back to the kingdom? Well, even if I had been sent back, I would have been disposed of since I was already considered someone who did not exist anymore.

I actually felt a little bit of joy when I was chosen to be the bridge to peace. I thought that maybe even I could be useful, but that was only half of what I really felt. As for the other half, I actually thought that my life would be targeted the moment I arrived here. They could claim there was a discrepancy between the contract terms and reality.

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‘ In fact, I am neither. I’m just a guest, a nuisance in the castle of the Demon King; I’m useless even in this country. ’ I swallowed a sigh that was about to leak out.

‘Ah, How quiet and somber nightfall is in the Demon realm.’ He mused.

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