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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon
Chapter 193
etch him in silence as his expression slowly loses its teasing tone. There is something different in his eyes now. He doesn’t seem to be trying to convince me of anything. Rather, he seems to want me to understand something that has always been obvious to him.
“Demons are beings like any other race, Celine. Like you, like vampires, like fairies. We have our own domains, our obligations, our families, and our problems. We have our own rules and our own differences as well. Nothing humans imagine about us is completely true. Yes, evil exists. There are demons capable of doing things that even we find difficult to understand, and there are creatures that can be truly terrifying, but are we really the only ones?”
He pauses and looks toward Oana before turning his eyes back to me.
“Think about your own story. An example of evil is what your family did to you for years. Your family wasn’t made up of demons, Celine. They were wolves. And yet, I think I’ve made my point quite clear.”
I lower my gaze for a few seconds. His words touch a place that still hurts, even though it is no longer the open wound it
once was.
“So…”
“So don’t believe everything you hear. First, make sure it’s true. Question things, Ask questions. Investigate. Be a heretic if necessary. Decide for yourself and don’t allow anyone to impose their truth on you as the only possible and unquestionable one. It doesn’t matter if that person is a king, a god, a demon, or the man you love. When you allow others to decide what you should believe and how you should live, you end up giving them something you should never give them: your own free will.”
I stare at him.
“Humans… they are on their way to destruction.”
Zharzel tilts his head slightly and a small smile appears on his lips.
“They’ve been killing each other for thousands of years. Believe me, little wolf, you’re much safer in this world than in the human world.”
Then a question I can’t stop slips from my mouth before I have time to think about it.
“What is he like?”
A slow smile spreads across Zharzel’s lips.
“You mean the boss?”
“Wasn’t he your uncle?”
Zharzel shakes his head without losing his smile.
“No. Not really. I joke about that, but our structure doesn’t work the same way yours does. In our world, families don’t exist the way wolves or humans know them. In fact, only two demons of the highest hierarchy have somehow established themselves within a family structure. One is my father, although that happened very much against his will, and then there’s…”
“Him. When he met Ylva.”
Zharzel slowly nods.
“When he fell and left Heaven, three-quarters of the angels belonging to the god humans worship fell with him after
The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon
rebelling. Each of them, naturally, ended up having offspring, but none of them truly took on their responsibilities as fathers. For them, having children doesn’t necessarily mean raising them or taking responsibility for them”
B you have a son and you take care of him. I’ve seen it.”
“I’ve spent too much time among humans and other races. After my own father acknowledged me as his son and future heir to his throne, I decided to do the same with my son when his mother left him at the gates of Asmodeus’s circle My mother gave me quite a scolding for that and threatened to castrate me if I ever became careless with my seeds again
I raise both eyebrows at that and finally let out the laugh I had been holding back for several seconds. Zharzel watches me with an expression of absolute seriousness, as if he were talking about a matter of life and death.
“It’s not funny. My mother is the only demon capable of carrying out a threat like that without breaking a sweat, and she is also the only one who has managed to subdue a greater demon. She was the one who got my father to acknowledge me and now she sits beside his throne and rules alongside him. Even he respects her.”
“I believe you.”
I have no difficulty believing him.
Zharzel stands and looks at my swords again. His expression changes when his eyes settle on them and, for a few seconds, he seems to completely forget our conversation. He approaches the bench and runs a hand over the hilts without touching
them.
“Will you stay here? Will you do everything you can to achieve your own happiness?”
I shrug.
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“I’ve been trying to achieve that for far too long, Zharzel.”
“Then try harder. But this time, don’t think about everyone else. Be selfish for once. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
I watch him as he takes hold of Erebus’s hilt. His fingers close around it and he pulls hard, but the sword doesn’t move even an inch. Zharzel frowns, tries a second time, and finally huffs before letting it go. Then he takes Helel. This time, the sword comes off the bench with ease, as if it had been waiting for his touch.
“Hello, old friend.”
He steps aside and wields it with an ease that surprises me. His movements are fast and precise, completely different from what I expected from someone who had just admitted he couldn’t lift one of the two swords. Helel emits a faint glow in his hands and Zharzel smiles, satisfied.
“Do you have a few souls I can feed on?”
I look at him in confusion.
“Did you say souls?”
Zharzel stops his movement and turns his head toward me..
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