The Devil's Temptation!

115 A Peek Into His Past I

Roshan blinked in silence, looking like it was the first time he’s heard such a word before. It sounded rather foreign to his ears and he couldn’t help but ask again.

“Relationships?”

Anna nodded in affirmation, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her hands around it, “yes.”

It took Roshan a few seconds to process what she meant, a soft laugh escaped his lips but his Hazel-green eyes revealed the sadness he held within. “There’s no such thing as relationships when being with a demon Anna, in Viscarrian it’s either you marry for political reasons or power, or maybe to spite someone.”

“Only that?” She found it queer, “no love or_”

“Not everyone is as lucky to meet their one true love, when they’re only seen as a weapon used to draw blood.” He cryptically emphasized before laying on the ground and rested his hands at the back of his head. He gazed up at the sky that had caught his annoying woman’s interest earlier and Anna didn’t fail to notice a glint of regret in them.

His gaze didn’t avert from the stars and Anna couldn’t stop herself from asking as she leaned in closer, leaving just a little gap between the two of them, “what was your childhood like?”

He said nothing in response to her question. A wistful breeze blew by, rustling the leaves and the sounds of cricket could be heard when the place turned silent again.

Anna was about to change the topic, seeing he wasn’t ready to open up yet when he started,

.....

“My father wasn’t the type of man who cared about the happiness of his children,” he neutrally began, “Azazel’s mother had just given birth to him when an insane prophecy got to my father about having a half-blood Demon. Bearing a half-blood Demon meant having the strongest of Demons since they shared two traits. A human and a Demon.”

“My mother was human to say the least and she was a slave to my father since the war of human slavery and stealing of kingdoms were still very much rampant. From what she told me, not sure if I believe it yet or not, my father took pity on her for no particular reason and made her his first consort. She didn’t want to suffer being a slave forever and agreed.”

He paused again, already getting tensed by it. Anna could see he was forcing himself to speak up and she wanted him to say it, she wanted him to ease the burden that weighed on his shoulder.

He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“My father wanted to make that prophecy a reality, so he got my mother pregnant, and that’s when I came along. Laura, Azazel’s mother didn’t fancy the idea of having a human for a consort but she never spoke against it due to the fear she had for my father. My mother told me how many times she unknowingly ate poison fed to her by Laura just to get rid of me, it affected my mother to some extent, but not me.”

Anna’s eyes widened, poison???

“When I turned seven, I was trained to have a cold heart, showing love and sympathy was considered weak by my father and each time I relented, he gave me a scar on my chest, using the hot ironed dagger he carries with him as my punishment. My mother felt suffocated by his callous attitude and decided to flee from Viscarrian, along with my sister but I_I stayed back, a decision I had to make, else he’d find them and kill them. My father made me watch_ ” and he paused again, as though the memories of it all were crawling back into his head, haunting him, he looked so regretful and Anna had the urge to hug him.

“Roshan.” She touched his arm, wanting to comfort him but then, something happened before she could say anything.

Like a flash of events, Anna’s eyes widened and before she knew it, she found herself in Viscarrian, back in the kingdom and shockingly, in Roshan’s room.

It looked empty as it had always been, the lights were out just as he always liked them or rather dwelled in them. If it wasn’t for the silvery-white moon that gave a little bit of light to the room, she wouldn’t have been able to see anything.

“How did I_”

She paused when she heard a light sob and it caught her attention, it sounded more like someone was secretly crying and when she looked at the bed, there was no one resting on it.

“Where is the_” she heard it again, followed by a soft sniffling.

She followed the sound of the light sob and when it was starting to get closer, she bent and looked under the study table. A little boy had curled himself there, his black hair was scattered on his head, it looked damp from sweating and she could see he was trying his very best not to sob loudly, afraid someone might hear.

His Hazel-green eyes shone like twinkling crystals and Anna doubted she’d seen a child look so adorable, yet so sad and lonely. Worst of all, he was playing with a knife in his grasp.

Is this....was this Roshan??

The little boy she assumed to be Roshan brought the knife to his arm and with a horrifying gaze, she watched as he closed his eyes and slowly cut himself, taking in the pain and opening his own flesh.

A panicked gasp left her lips and the boy didn’t stop, he kept cutting himself with the knife, more so to the extent blood filled the ground in no time. Strangely, he no longer cried like before, he just stared at the deep cuts he gave himself, and to his disappointment, they started to heal and the marks faded.

“You weren’t supposed to heal.” The glasses in the room shattered in pieces as those hazel-green eyes turned a deep red in anger. Anna had to close her ears and the room shook violently as his powers went out of control. The sounds of vase breaking and things falling to the ground terrified Anna, but the boy just remained under the table amidst the chaos, and Anna doubted he could even see her.

“Stop!” She couldn’t stop herself from saying to the little boy and almost like a command, it stopped and when she looked at the boy, he was back to sobbing as his face dropped to his palm.

Was this really Roshan??

With just the blink of an eye, she found herself in another place in the kingdom.

‘The dungeon?’

The same little boy had his hair tied in a ponytail and before him, he watched as several men got tortured, killed and decapitated in the most horrible ways, alive. Blood spilled everywhere, a sight Anna could barely watch but the little boy just sat there, hearing the screams, feeling their pain, but was unwilling to bat an eye or look away, even when blood spilled on his face.

“Are you seeing this?” A man stood before him, wearing a royal mantle and Anna didn’t need anyone to tell her before knowing it was his father.

“This is something you’re going to do when you get older.”

The little boy shakily stared at his palms, already reminiscing the sight of blood in them and he looked away, shuddering in fear.

“What if I don’t want to do it?” He asked with a considerable daring before meeting the gaze of his father.

“You’re even more naive than I expected humans to be, but you’re a half-devil too, we are made to torment the lives of people, we manipulate and make sure to ruin them like crushed stones.”

“But they didn’t do anything to us.”

The man gave his son’s head a pat and made him watch the awful scene happening again, “who says they haven’t? They’ve killed your people just as much as we’ve killed theirs, they are selfish and greedy people who wouldn’t mind betraying themselves for power.”

He dropped a dagger in his small palm, “your days of killing start now.”

Anna shook her head in disbelief, what sort of a father teaches his child such things?!! And at a tender age too.

His eyes were swimming with tears as he stared at the dagger in his palm and he looked at his father.

“You promise not to hurt mother as long as I follow your orders?”

Anna really felt like hugging the adorable child who just wanted to be loved and his father nodded.

“Yes.”

“No!” It was obvious he was only using him and he still lied to his face. Anna realized she wasn’t the only one who noticed, a white-haired boy who appeared to be a bit older than Roshan stood at a corner, staring blankly at the father and son. It took a few seconds before a look of pity flashed in them, but his gaze was fixed on his little brother this time.

A cute white rabbit was brought before Roshan and his father whispered into his ear, like a devil’s whisper.

“Kill it.”

As though hypnotised, the little boy raised the dagger up in the air, the look in his eyes had turned blank, as though every emotion inside of him got swept away and he brought the dagger down with quick speed, wanting to stab the rabbit and Anna’s eyes widened.

“Stop!” She blinked again and found herself back in the forest, her skin grew cold and she shook her head, hugging herself.

“Don’t do it, that’s not you, you’re still so little that wasn’t_”

“Anna!” She gasped after realizing Roshan was sitting up, staring at her with a confused gaze.

“Are you alright? You were screaming to_”

“Did you kill the rabbit?” She popped the question at him, leaving Roshan’s expression to pale and she had tears swimming in her eyes as she shook her head.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen, you were so little and you did all that to yourself, you looked so lifeless and helpless how could you do that yourself??” She was already yelling at Roshan who was baffled by her questions. She didn’t even realize she was grabbing the collar of his shirt and he shook his head.

“How did you know that?”