She paces on the carpeted floor, unable to fall asleep. Aaron’s words ring in her head. Where was home for her? And did she really have a say in which dimension she belonged to? She was tempted to consult the goddess about her issue, but Lillian stayed silent in her head. Ever since she witnessed a glimpse of the butler’s true demon form, the Fallen Mother had barely let out a peep.

She was alone again, with only the company of her thoughts to comfort her. But her mind was rarely a comfortable place to be in. If she truly paid attention to the collective roar of her thoughts, she had a feeling she would never sleep. So, as she basked in the moonlight shining from her windows, she decided that she would seek out a distraction. It always helped her to find an activity and focus on it to the point of exhaustion.

She tiptoes out of her room, quietly turning the doorknob before sliding into the halls. She makes a beeline for a pair of dark, oak doors and enters the room.

Rows of books greet her, filling endless shelves. Her fingers trail over their spines, causing her heart to thrum with glee. When she was bedridden, the Lord had insisted that she kept herself occupied with the books from his library. It was like he had given her keys to a personal heaven.

If he hadn’t seen her as a sister, she would’ve kissed him on the spot.

She peruses a shelf full of fiction, looking for the next fantasy to get lost in. Cedric had told her that he enjoyed Dickens. But which book should she start with? She had always been a fan of A Christmas Carol. She reaches out to grab the book but another question nags her. What was the Lord’s favorite Dickens book?

Before she could remind herself that she didn’t need to know Cedric’s favorite books to enjoy his library, she hears music drift from the other side of the room. Entranced, she grabs A Christmas Carol and makes her way through the forest of shelves to the source of the sound. What she found took her breath away.

The Lord was playing a piano in the center of the room, eyes closed in a reverie. She wanted to say he looked ridiculous, sitting there so freely in his nightshirt, but the moonlight made him look ethereal - like an angel. And the music coming from the keys was beautiful, so much so that she felt tears well up in her eyes. She was bewitched by the simple sight of the demon boy caressing the piano. He touched the instrument with enough love and care to make her wish those hands were on her.

Cedric stops playing, his eyes snapping open to the view of his lone audience.

“Nicole,” he said, breathing her name like it was a prayer.

“Cedric,” she whispered. They stood staring at each other, both of their cheeks red as roses.

Snapping out of her trance, she curtsies to him with her book tucked under her left arm. “I didn’t know you were still awake, my Lord.”

“I see you’re making good use of my library,” he said, regaining his composure.

“I am an avid reader, my Lord,” she said, showing him the book she chose.

“Dickens,” he said, nodding. “You have good taste, although I can only read A Christmas Carol during the holidays. But I’ve always had a place in my heart for Great Expectations.”

“Oh,” she said, “I found that book sad.”

“Really?” He sits back down, this time facing her instead of the piano. “I thought the opposite. I felt that it was full of hope.”

“What makes you say that?” She crosses her arms, trying not to feel awkward standing above him.

“Pip’s fortune came from an unexpected place,” he explains. “Even though there are a lot of scenes in the book that are sad, he always hoped for better things. It helped me believe that my life wouldn’t be spent serving my sister.”

“You’re everything he wished for,” she said. “In terms of your social status, at least.”

He chuckles, pushing back his wavy hair from his forehead. “I suppose you’re right. Many people would kill to have this life, this fortune. But fewer people would truly have reason to envy me.”

“Is it because you’re a demon?” She takes a seat on a nearby armchair, finally able to converse with the Lord on a face to face level.

“It’s because I’m an orphan,” he said, pinning her with those mismatched eyes. “I don’t have a family, at least one that cares about me. I had to take the remains of the Philips money and build a fortune. I had to be my own family and send myself to school. Only then could I build my own home.” He spreads his arms wide, motioning to the entirety of the manor.

“That’s amazing,” she said. “You made all of this yourself.”

“Having a demon around certainly helped. Hell, even being a demon made things easier. But what about you? I hardly know a thing about you.” He rests his chin in his hands.

“I …” She trails off, not knowing what to say. She hadn’t expected him to put her on the spot like this.

“You like reading,” he said. “You also have a bad habit of not sleeping during odd hours of the night.”

She blushes. He continues, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “You say that you’re an assassin, but you hesitated when given the chance to kill me. You’re fond of Mr. Whiskers and the sweets Martha makes. You despise your lessons with Aaron but you sit through them anyway.”

“It seems like you know more than enough about me.”

“Do I?” He gives her a look so intense she looks away, embarrassed.

“No,” she said. Those eyes of his could pry the truth from a compulsive liar. What he didn’t know was that she was a girl from a different dimension, from another corner of space and time and that she came from a family just as broken as his. He didn’t know she was damaged and enough of an idiot to make a deal with a goddess to save her cat only to be tricked into fulfilling an impossible task. And most importantly, he didn’t know she wasn’t sure where her home was.

She lets her story tumble out of her mouth, rambling like a mad man. He listens patiently, not interrupting her even once. When she finished, he didn’t say a word, sitting there with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Does Aaron know about this?”

“Yes,” she stammers. “How-”

“I’ve been having dreams about your interactions with him, visions if you will. I wasn’t sure if it was because of my mental link with Aaron or if my imagination decided to be especially colorful recently.”

“So you see why I’ve had some trouble sleeping recently,” she said, tugging at her own hair in frustration.

“You are faced with an extremely vexing problem,” he said. “But this can hardly be solved in one night.”

He turns around, facing the piano again. She looks at him with confusion as he cracks his knuckles.

“What are you doing?”

He tilts his back towards her. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to play the piano. You’ve got a unique problem, but I’m going to help you solve it.”

“I don’t understand. How is this going to help?”

“Your main issue is figuring out whether you want to leave this place, yes? In your heart, you’re not sure where home is,” he said, pressing the first few keys of a song.

“That’s right,” she said, getting comfortable in the armchair.

"Relax," he said. "I'm not sure if this will work for you, but this song has always reminded me of where home is. Maybe listening to it will help you as well."

She closes her eyes, letting the song wash over her. A cynical part of her said that this was a ridiculous idea, that listening to him play the piano wasn't going to solve the matters of her heart. But, as the music continued, she felt something inside her shift, like a gear clicking into place. For a brief moment, the answer to all her problems flashed in her mind. Before she could commit it to memory, it dissolves into a tangle of blue string, escaping her grasp. She should’ve felt a sense of panic, but the melody of the song keeps her calm. As Cedric kept playing the piano, she felt reassured that the answer would always lie inside her, just a few feet beneath the surface of her mind. A wave of peace washes over her and she drifts to sleep.

Cedric continues playing, his fingers flying over the keys. When he finishes, he stands up, bowing to an invisible audience. He may not have been born with magic, but turning into a demon gave him certain abilities. One of them was putting people to sleep.

He walks over to Nicole, eyes lingering on her pink lips. He couldn’t help but feel like the Prince gazing upon Sleeping Beauty for the first time, spellbound. But, unlike the Prince, he clamps down on his desire to kiss her. Instead, he lifts her up gently, hoisting her over his back, and carries her back to the guest room.

He sets her down on the mattress, taking care to pull the blankets over her. Satisfied with his work, he returns to his library, only to be greeted by Aaron’s presence.

“My Lord,” the butler said, bowing to him.

“Aaron,” Cedric said, acknowledging his presence. “Can’t sleep?”

The tall man smirks. “You know demons never sleep.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t still try,” the Lord said, sitting in a nearby armchair.

“You still haven’t accepted who you are, even after all these years. I thought you liked being a demon.”

Cedric sighs. “It has its advantages. But ever since my transformation, I’ve had to keep a greater restraint over my … sinful thoughts.”

“Is this because of a certain lady of the manor?”

His face turns red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Aaron gives him a knowing look, his gold eye gleaming. “I’m the Demon of Lust, my Lord. You can’t hide such things from me.”

Cedric stays silent, refusing to his butler the satisfaction of being right.

“You know, there are ways of relieving these desires,” he said. “You don’t have to suffer like this.”

“What kind of man would that make me, if I were to sin so freely?” The young Lord crosses his arms.

“A happy one,” Aaron said. Cedric huffs, looking away.

“I’ll be happy if she decides to make the manor her home.”

“Ah, so she’s told you her story.”

“Is it true this time?” Doubt colors the Lord’s words.

“Yes.”

“I still feel guilty,” he said, covering his face.

“For what?”

“For letting my sister get to her.”

The butler shakes his head. “You struggle needlessly with your human impulses. You’ve already declared her a lady. Your debt to her is repaid.”

“She was tortured,” Cedric said. “You can’t take back that kind of pain.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to agonize over it,” Aaron said. “It won’t help her feel any closer to you. Besides, you still need to find that murderer the Queen has ordered you to catch.”

“I forgot about that,” the Lord said.

“The lady is the worst kind of distraction.”

Cedric shakes his head. “Not at all. She’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a while.”

The butler doesn’t press him any further. After all, it wasn’t his responsibility to stop the flowers of young love from blooming, especially if the thorns of lust grew just as powerfully.