"Um... Mom, her hair isn’t dry yet."
Himanshu hurriedly cut in to save Demon .
His mom slowly turned her head and glared at Himanshu, as if her eyes were screaming— ’Did I ask you?’
It didn’t even take a second for Himanshu to understand his mom’s intentions. He immediately shut his mouth. He knew very well that speaking up now meant picking a fight with another demon.
Showing some actual common sense, he quietly lowered his head and started eating his breakfast in silence.
Now, whether she liked it or not, the entire burden of his mom’s questions fell on Demon shoulders. The Demon queen lifted her gaze from her plate and glared at Himanshu. The anger and a silent death threat for him were clearly visible in her eyes.
But thanks to the fake past and the made-up story of how they met that Himanshu had fed her... she was somehow managing to answer his mom’s questions with broken, short replies.
After a while, his mom looked Demon up and down. In Himanshu’s baggy clothes, she honestly looked very different.
A soft smile appeared on his mom’s face. "I’m really glad that..." His mom took a deep breath, "someone else is this close to my son... besides me."
Hearing this, a heavy silence fell over the dining room for a moment.
Himanshu, who was just about to scoop up some food, froze with his spoon in mid-air. It was as if his mom’s words had pierced straight through his chest.
Maybe if someone else had said it, it wouldn’t have hurt so much. But hearing this exact line from his own mom’s mouth had reopened an old wound. Years of loneliness, having zero friends, and the burden of always seeing himself as a total loser... all of it flashed in front of him in a single second.
The Demon queen easily understood the literal meaning of the line, but she totally failed to grasp this deep human feeling between the mother and son. She did understand one thing, though—that it made Himanshu feel bad.
But Himanshu’s extreme reaction to such a small thing forced Demon to think. How can a Khechad be this weak?
To break that heavy silence, the Demon queen forced an awkward, stiff smile. Her tongue literally twisted trying to say these human words, but she finally gritted her teeth and mumbled in a low voice, "After all... we are in a relationship."
Himanshu snapped his head up.
Instead of giving him relief, those words coming from Demon actually stung him. It was like this whole lie had just turned into a massive problem. He couldn’t understand it—he should have been happy that a fake relationship was at least giving him a chance to live a dream-like life for a few moments.
But maybe his bitter past experiences had turned even this beautiful moment into nothing but a fresh wound.
Himanshu took a deep breath, forcefully shoving his feelings back down, and made a decision... School is canceled for today.
Honestly, it was obvious that Himanshu had to make this call. After all, his mom already knew about Demon . Leaving her alone at home in this situation was basically asking for a disaster.
After finishing breakfast, Himanshu started giving Demon queen a full tour of the house. The washing machine, the fridge, the TV... every single machine and thing that she couldn’t wrap her head around, Himanshu started explaining them to her one by one.
When he opened the fridge door, the glowing light and cold air instantly made Demon queen think it was some high-level ’Ice Magic’. And seeing the spinning drum of the washing machine and its loud rumbling noise, she immediately clenched her fists, acting like some dangerous monster was trapped underwater and struggling to get out. Himanshu literally started sweating trying to explain to her that none of this was magic, it was just science.
Meanwhile, his mom finished washing the dishes and went to her room.
When she came out, she was completely ready for the office. She was wearing formal office clothes, which were obviously completely different from her home clothes. Demon got super confused seeing her, but she finally understood where she was going only after Himanshu leaned in and whispered it in her ear.
His mom grabbed her office bag and stepped into the living room.
Where Demon and Himanshu were already standing near the sofa, looking at her.
His mom walked straight toward the Demon King. The Demon queen’s body instantly went on high alert for a second. She didn’t know what was happening.
But the moment his mom lovingly planted a kiss on her cheek, the Demon entire body relaxed. She figured out that this was probably some weird way of saying goodbye in this world. Even though she found this human custom extremely bizarre, somewhere deep down... this selfless love from a mother was filling her empty, dead 8003-year-old heart with a very strange feeling.
After the Demon queen, it was Himanshu’s turn.
Just like always, he leaned his cheek forward towards his mom.
One second passed... then two... but he didn’t feel anything on his cheek.
He peeked by opening one eye. His mom had completely ignored him and was already at the main gate!
Himanshu stood up straight, awkwardly rubbing his cheek. He realized that his mom was still pissed at him for hiding the ’girlfriend’ thing. Well... if it was anyone else in her place, they would’ve done the exact same thing.
His mom opened the door. But right before stepping out, she suddenly turned back.
"I took a half-day off today," his mom said. "If you guys want to go out and roam around until then, you can."
Then a totally serious look took over her face.
"Your aunt is coming over this evening. I’ve invited her for dinner."
Hearing this, Himanshu’s eyes went wide with shock.
He gritted his teeth hard. Fear and anger were clearly written all over his face.
"Mom! She literally just visited like 4 days ago!" Himanshu almost yelled.
"Yeah," his mom looked at the Demon queen with a soft smile, "I invited her so she could meet my future daughter-in-law. Okay, bye."
And click! The door shut.
A terrifying silence fell over the entire living room.
Seeing the color completely drain from Himanshu’s face, even the Demon started to grasp the depth of this incoming problem.
Slowly, Demon queen was also realizing that she was the reason Himanshu’s personal life was dealing with such massive problems. But, as usual, she silently threw all the blame on Himanshu and freed herself from this mental pressure. It’s his fault. He’s the one who lied.
"What happened? Why do you look so stressed?" the Demon asked. "Didn’t you hear what your mom just said?"
Himanshu’s entire body went limp. He took a step back and slumped onto the sofa with a thud. He leaned forward and grabbed his head with both hands.
"If I knew about this earlier, maybe I could have stopped this incoming storm," Himanshu said in total despair. "Shit! Why did Mom have to drop this at the absolute last minute!"
Demon queen crossed her arms over her chest and said, totally confused, "I don’t get it. Why are you freaking out so much just because some aunt is visiting?"
Himanshu peeked at her through his fingers.
"I’m not freaking out over my aunt coming... I’m terrified of her son!"
There was pure terror in Himanshu’s eyes. While he was talking about that guy, he literally got goosebumps from fear and started anxiously biting his nails. "Nothing escapes his eyes! He’s a walking, talking lie detector! He has already caused at least ten couples in school to break up, just by looking into their eyes!"
Himanshu jumped up and started pacing around the living room in a full panic. "He will never, ever buy the fact that a girl this beautiful is my girlfriend! He’ll bust our lie in exactly 5 minutes!"
Silence filled the room again. Himanshu’s brain was running at top speed.
Suddenly, Himanshu stopped dead in his tracks, as if a jolt of electricity had just shot through his body. His facial expressions completely changed. It was super obvious that his chaotic brain had just cooked up a massive idea.
He turned and looked straight into Demon queen eyes.
"We are not staying home today."
"What?" Demon queen asked, furrowing her eyebrows.