Demon King's Gardener

When Jurao arrived back in his office, he found Feyl was already there and waiting.

“I heard Vajur is making trouble as usual,” his valet chuckled, sitting in front of the hearth.

Jurao sighed, retrieving his lock and sitting at the low table, “Yes.”

“Well, want to hear about human courtship rituals to forget about it?” Feyl asked.

The Demon King did feel less tired as he replied, “Yes, please.”

His valet snorted, “Well, apparently, common courtship gifts include broaches - with the snow in the Bewitching Garden, a matching cloak would be very practical, don’t you think?”

Jurao nodded, working on his lock as he listened. He could make a broach - he might need his aunt’s help for one small enough for Braelin, but that was simple enough.

“Rings featuring clasped hands are also common,” Feyl continued, “Or belts. Very practical, those humans.”

The Demon King nodded again, still thinking about the broach.

“The only other things appear to be poetry or ballads,” his valet smirked, “But I didn’t think you would go for one of those.”

“No,” Jurao agreed, “I have no talent in those areas. A feat of strength would have been easiest, but…”

“As you heard, I did tell him about demon courtship rituals as well,” Feyl said, “Though I doubt he’d recognize them. Not unless you explained that was what you were doing, anyway.”

“Oh,” the Demon King looked up, “Earlier, I thought perhaps it might be easier for you to tell Braelin about my romantic interest in my stead.”

“Well… I would,” his valet shrugged, “But after how much you denied when others suggested it, I don’t think he’d believe it from anyone but you.”

“Ah,” Jurao sighed, “Yes, I see how that would be an issue…”

“Should I stop by tonight, or give the two of you more alone time?” Feyl asked, moving his brows in an odd way.

“I doubt I would be able to confess tonight either, but it’s your choice,” the Demon King replied.

Feyl sighed, “Oh, you’re no fun.”

“I don’t understand,” Jurao replied.

“I was teasing you, but you don’t get embarrassed, so it’s not very fun,” his valet replied.

“You wanted to embarrass me,” the Demon King asked.

“Just a little bit,” Feyl chuckled, “In a friendly way.”

“Friendly embarrassment,” Jurao considered, then nodded, “I see.”

“Do you?” his valet asked.

“... no,” the Demon King admitted.

His valet sighed, “Most people get embarrassed bringing up romantic feelings for others, especially when they aren’t sure they’ll be returned. Friends often tease each other about this, causing mild embarrassment.”

“And this is… fun,” Jurao asked.

“As long as no one takes it too far,” Feyl replied, “Or continues to do it after being asked to stop.”

The Demon King hummed in consideration, then shrugged, “I don’t really understand, but, Gaele also mentioned people get embarrassed discussing romantic feelings, so I understand that much.”

“Honestly,” his valet laughed, “It’s frustrating at times, but that’s my favorite part about you.”

“What is,” Jurao asked.

“The way you try to understand others but don’t feel a need to perform for them,” Feyl waved a hand, “It’s impressive.”

“Do you perform for others,” the Demon King asked, looking up and tilting his head.

His valet hummed, “Sometimes - not with you, though.”

“Ah, that’s why you’re usually calmer when we talk like this than usual,” Jurao nodded.

“More or less,” Feyl nodded in return, “What can I say? I feel comfortable around you, Jurao.”

The Demon King smiled, “I feel comfortable around you, too, Feyl.”

“Thanks for that,” his valet chuckled, standing and stretching, “Seriously though, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile at anyone not Braelin in the past two hundred years.”

“Really,” Jurao asked.

“Well, I may be exaggerating a bit,” Feyl admitted with a sigh, “I never thought you’d have a romantic interest, but I have to say, it doesn’t surprise me that you feel that way about Braelin. I hope he returns your feelings - you suit each other.”

“Thank you,” the Demon King replied.

When the time came, Jurao put his lock away to retrieve Braelin from the gardens for the night. He ran into the man with Gaele on the veranda.

“Your highness!” Gaele bowed, “Ah, good - good evening?”

“Good evening,” Jurao nodded, looking between the pair, “Is this usual.”

“Is this… oh!” Gaele perked up, then chuckled nervously, “Uh, Braelin tends to lose track of time out in the gardens, so…”

“The plants are starting to push me back to the castle themself now,” Braelin sighed, “I don’t really get it, though…”

“Isn’t it because you’d just work all night if no one got you…?” Gaele asked, voice strained with disbelief.

“Is there a problem with that?” the human replied, “I stop when I’m tired, after all.”

Gaele seemed at a loss, “But… you don’t…?”

Jurao smiled at his gardener’s usual single-mindedness, but then considered, “Do you usually stay up long after I retire.”

Braelin hummed, “... maybe…?”

“That would explain why you struggle to wake in the morning,” Jurao pointed out.

“Oh, yeah, probably,” Braelin agreed easily.

“And why you take like three or four naps a day…” Gaele sighed, then jumped, flailing their arms, “Uh, not that! There’s a! A problem with taking naps or anything!”

“I’m not going to yell at you for pointing out I take a lot of naps, Gaele,” Braelin frowned.

“Oh, um,” they chuckled nervously, scratching their chin, “Sorry, bad habit - I forget you weren’t always a noble and aren’t touchy about stuff like that… ah!” they looked to Jurao with another panicked expression.

Jurao held up a hand, “I also was not always a noble, and do find some nobles find insult far too quickly.”

Gaele sighed, collapsing a little in relief. Then they cleared their throat and straightened, “Uh, well, good night!”

As usual, they bowed and ran off as if worried the mood would change.

“They always do that,” Jurao observed.

“Only around you, my lord,” Braelin replied.

“Hm, well, they do greatly admire me,” the Demon King nodded.

His gardener nodded, agreeing, “But they’re managing longer conversations without freaking out as much.”

“That’s true,” Jurao said, then turned and waved towards the castle, “Shall we.”

“Of course, my lord,” Braelin said, falling into step with him as usual.

“Did anyone else try to attack you today,” the Demon King asked.

“Not today, no,” his gardener replied, “Feyl suspects no one else will for a while after what happened with Vajur.”

Jurao hummed in consideration, “I don’t think I was that extreme.”

Braelin shrugged, “That’s just what Feyl said.”

“I’ll ask him about it,” the Demon King decided.

***

“Not that extreme?” Feyl scoffed, sitting across the table in Jurao’s receiving room as usual, “What do you mean your reaction wasn’t extreme?”

“I only knocked Vajur out and carried him to my office,” the Demon King reasoned, “That’s not extreme.”

“Oh, not that part, no,” his valet’s temple throbbed as his smile strained, “But, when he was in your office, did you, perhaps, forget something?”

“I don’t think so,” Jurao tilted his head.

“And here I thought maybe it was on purpose,” Feyl sighed, “The door, Jurao - you left it open.”

“Well I couldn’t close it with Hujur standing there,” the Demon King replied, “And only Alae was in the waiting room.”

Feyl made a noise of disgust, “Hujur!? He’s usually more careful than that!” he made another noise of disgust, “Alae is the reason everyone knows you! Threatened! Vajur!”

“You did?” Braelin asked, looking up from his notes.

“I don’t think so,” Jurao replied, thinking back over the conversation.

“You threatened to fire him!” Feyl said in exasperation.

“That wasn’t a threat,” the Demon King replied, “I explained my expectations of his job performance and the consequences of failing to meet them.”

“How is that not-!” his valet groaned halfway through, then changed tactics, “But you definitely threatened to fight him!”

Jurao blinked, then flinched, “Ah, that’s true - but I still fail to see how that would be remarkable.”

“It’s not the threat, it’s the!” Feyl paused, glanced at Braelin, then added through his teeth softly, “Reason!”

“The reason,” Jurao frowned.

His valet sighed, rubbing his temples, “Yes, Jurao, the reason - you do remember why you threatened to fight Vajur…? How it made you break your desk?”

“... oh,” the Demon King said, “Because I said I would fight him if he attempted to attack Braelin in my presence.”

Feyl’s face fell, seemingly at a loss for words.

“Oh, that,” Breaelin said, losing interest in the conversation and returning to his notes.

Feyl slumped forward, head hitting the table, “You already knew about that…?”

“Not the details,” the human replied, “But the general idea.”

Jurao belated realized that his friend had - once again - been trying to discretely cover for his romantic feelings. He cleared his throat, “I explained after the evening meal.”

Feyl raised his head and asked with little emotion, “Oh. How did that go?”

“Vajur was upset that Minaz gave Braelin her seat at the table,” Jurao replied.

“I did hear about that,” his valet sighed, pulling himself up to sit back, “And what do you think about this, Braelin?”

“I certainly couldn’t fight a demon on my own,” the human replied, “I never kept up with combat training, so I couldn’t handle an experienced human fighter either. So I’m grateful that Jurao is looking after me.”

Jurao felt that twinge in his chest he was becoming accustomed to, feeling his face flush in surprise at the warmth he felt at the sentiment - or rather, the specific turn of phrase.

Feyl gasped, clapping two hands over his mouth and the other two together, eyes sparkling in delight.

Braelin flinched at the sound, looking up again, “Is something wrong…?”

Feyl waved a hand as he smoothed his hair with the hands that had been covering his mouth, plastering on his brightest smile, “No, nothing, never mind me.”

“Alright,” Braelin said easily, returning to his work again.

Feyl stared at him for a few moments, smile losing just a touch of brilliance at the lackluster reaction.

Jurao took the moment to master himself, surprised at how being aware of his feelings could make them so… prominent.

“Anyway,” Feyl sighed, sitting forward, “It was my turn, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Jurao replied, clearing his throat.

“But still,” Feyl continued, “I’m surprised you’re so… blase about so many threats to your person, Braelin.”

“Well,” the human looked up, “That’s normal for demon society, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” his valet sighed, “But you are a human.”

“I guess,” Braelin considered, “I just don’t think it would be right to hold everyone here to human standards, especially since this is the Demon Realm - and the cultural practices between human kingdoms can also vary greatly. While the lesson was really for Malson, Duke Marrion always said when in another country, you should respect that country’s cultural practices rather than insist on your own.”

“Oh right, you’re a half-prince,” Feyl said, then shook his head, “But being told that and being able to so easily accept it…”

“How did you come to understand our cultural practices so well,” Jurao asked, “I didn’t think humans were much aware of us.”

“No, we’re not,” Braelin agreed, “I picked most of it up from listening to Gaele’s playacting.”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” the Demon King said.

“Playacting?” Feyl asked.

“Lordis Gaele has a tendency to act out plays and books in the garden,” Jurao explained.

“They’ve gotten really good at it,” Braelin said, “Though… they haven’t done any acting since becoming my assistant…”

“I wonder why,” Feyl drawled, arching his left brows.

“As do I,” Jurao hummed.

“... they’re embarrassed,” Feyl sighed, “They obviously thought they were practicing without an audience and are embarrassed at having been caught.”

“Oh,” Braelin said, “I should apologize. I didn’t mean to embarrass them.”

“I’m sure they’re aware of that by now,” Feyl chuckled, “But you seem fairly taken with them, Braelin.”

“They’re about the same age my younger siblings would be now,” the human said, “Or the demon equivalent, anyway. So I think that’s it. Seeing them practicing in the gardens reminded me of the twins playing, so I guess I just… think of them that way.”

“Oh,” Feyl said, “No wonder your first instinct when they saw snow was to play.”

Braelin nodded in agreement, “Yeah, you wouldn’t normally think to do that with a bunch of other adults.”

“It has become a bit of fascination for people to try their hand at making snow people - nobles and servants alike,” Feyl added, “Thankfully - Hujur has enough on his plate without having to deal with potentially upset nobles.”

“That’s good,” Jurao said.

“He is still looking for a replacement glass statue, though,” his valet added.

“He doesn’t have to do that,” Braelin said, “I was already looking for one myself.”

“Yes, but you don’t have the resources Hujur does,” Feyl said, “And he’d rather there wasn’t snow as soon as possible - it’s not like there have been no complaints, after all.”

“I didn’t mean to cause problems…” Braelin sighed.

“It’s fine,” Jurao said, “I told you it was alright to leave it be, so it would be my fault in the end.”

“The one causing the most problems right now is definitely Jurao, so there’s no need for you to worry about a little inconvenience,” Feyl agreed and waved a hand, “Besides, all the Department Heads are troublemakers in one way or another. You’ll see it once the fuss around you dies down.”

“If you say so,” Braelin said.

The rest of the night went as usual, with Jurao and Feyl finishing up their game of Ascension before the valet left for the rest of the night.

Before retiring, Jurao looked to his gardener, “Will you be awake much later.”

“I just have a few more things to finish,” Braelin replied - though he did not appear to be close to finishing, finger-marking a passage in one book as he wrote notes.

The Demon King hummed, “If you don’t mind, I think I will wait - I want to see how late you stay up after our talk earlier.”

“That’s fine,” Braelin nodded without looking up.

It couldn’t be too late, after all, Jurao reasoned.