She Belongs To The Devil

"Is that…" Kenneth furrowed his brows and kept on glaring at the gatecrasher who was surrounded by the twins and Zach.

Ariel took a deep breath in and then nodded her head. "Damien," she whispered.

She turned her head to peek a glance at Damien and the others hugging each other. She was glad that her cousins so readily accepted Damien's arrival.

Kenneth felt his chest getting heavier and heavier by the second. He was already aware that he would never be able to take Damien's place. He was aware that it would take some more time for him to gain their trust and get closer to them.

He had also believed that he was doing fine in terms of building a closer relationship with Ariel and her cousins. Ariel was opening up to him. Zach seemed fond of him. Niylah and Ramon weren't that close yet but he was making slight progress.

However, now that Damien was back in the picture, he felt as if the connection that he had built with everyone faded away in an instant. He felt as if Damien swooped in out of nowhere and took away his effort.

"Are you also going to forgive him that easily?" Kenneth asked Ariel. It was evident in his voice that he didn't like Damien's sudden arrival.

Ariel took a glance at Kenneth and looked down.

And though she didn't say a word, Kenneth understood her. He stepped closer to her and took her hand in his. He then took a deep breath in and asked her, "You haven't forgotten about your promise to me, right?"

Ariel felt a sharp pain running down her heart. She looked into his eyes and nodded her head.

Kenneth caressed Ariel's cheek and longingly looked at her. He was not ready to lose her before things even started between them.

Soon, Ramon brought Damien in front of Kenneth. Niylah and Zach also followed them.

Ramon then introduced Damien. "Kenneth, this is Damien, our friend who we always used to talk about."

He then turned towards Damien and said, "And Damien, this is the Crown Prince of Brenalia, Kenneth. He is…" Ramon glanced back at Kenneth and completed his sentence, "…a good friend of ours."

The first thing that Kenneth noticed about Damien was his eyes which were darker in red than his own. "I've heard a lot about you," he forced a smile on his face and held out his hand for a handshake with Damien.

Damien also forced a smile and gripped Kenneth's hand with a little too much force than what was required for a normal handshake.

Kenneth also replied by tightening his grip on Damien's hand. And he asked while slightly narrowing his eyes at Damien, "So, how did you know to come here? How did you know you'd find them here?"

Damien left his hold on Kenneth's hand. He glared back at the Crown Prince and answered, "I thought about Ariel and teleported. And it brought me here."

Kenneth gave a fake smile and commented, "That's quite a handy trick you have there."

"It is indeed," Damien also pretended to smile back.

Everyone could sense the unspoken tension between the two of them.

And before things got more awkward, Ramon interrupted the two of them, "Why don't we all head back to our rooms? We can sit down in the common space and talk. We have so much to catch up on!"

"Yes! Let's all sit down and hear what Damien has to say." Zach instantly clapped his hands and put his arm around Damien's shoulder. He looked at Damien and excitedly said, "I want to hear each and every detail of what he did for all those years."

Niylah came and held Ariel's hand. And she added to what Zach had said, "And I also want to see him apologize to Ariel and to us. At the very least, he owes us that."

Damien had an apologetic look on his face when he said, "Yes, I do owe an apology to all of you."

He glanced at Kenneth and truthfully said, "It wasn't my intention to come here to your Kingdom unannounced like this. But now that I'm here, I would be grateful if you wouldn't mind my presence here."

There was nothing Kenneth could do or say, except agree with everyone. He just hoped that Damien wouldn't overstay the welcome. He hoped that Damien would go back to where he came from after having a good conversation with everyone.

"Sure." He gestured towards the residence and said, "Let's go, then."

They all then gathered in the common room outside their assigned rooms.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Damien sat in between Ramon and Zach. They weren't leaving his side at all. Niylah and Ariel sat on the sofa that was on the opposite side of the boys'. And Kenneth sat down alone on the sofa from where he could see all of them.

"So, what made you change your mind?" Ramon asked Damien in a serious tone. He looked at Ariel and said, "Ary had told us that you said you never wanted to meet her again."

He cleared his throat and looked back at Damien. "And you actually didn't come to meet her, and us as well. You left a hole in all of our hearts, Damien." Ramon sounded very hurt when he said that.

Everyone looked at Damien and waited for him to speak.

Damien looked overwhelmed and apologetic. And he mumbled while pinching the back of his palm, "I'm so sorry that I never came back for all these years. I was a stupid kid who thought that if I distanced myself from all of you then you would all be safer. But I never thought that I was hurting all of you while doing so."

He took a deep breath in and glanced at Ariel. He then answered from the deepest corner of his heart, "I finally took the courage to come and find all of you because I was suffocating alone. The loneliness was devouring my soul. I missed you all so much that it hurt."

Ramon heaved a deep sigh and then placed his palm on Damien's knee as if to say that he was sorry and that he was there for him.

The others also understood that Damien yearned for their company. And they were glad that he had decided to take the actual step into getting what he wanted, except Kenneth.

Kenneth could tell from Damien's line of sight that what Damien wanted the most was Ariel's company. And he also recognized the look in his eyes. Those were the eye of someone who deeply desired love.

And he thought to himself while glaring at Damien, "You better not try to steal her from me. You already gave up on her once. You messed her up. And when she is finally ready to move on, you better not be harboring feelings for her."

Ramon glanced at Ariel and said to Damien in a serious tone, "Well, I don't know about the others but I forgive you, Damien."

He then turned his head to look at Damien and further said, "I know that it must have been hard for you as well. But… pull that kind of stunt again, and I will make sure that you won't be able to walk back into our lives this casually again."

Damien turned his head to look at Ramon and whispered, "I won't." He then looked at Ariel again. And though he had already made it clear to Ariel, he repeated it again while shaking his head slightly, "I won't ever disappear like that again."

And Ariel finally opened her mouth, "You better not."