The Yandere Demon Lords & Me-Chapter 31: The World is Watching - 7

The oracle's words still rang in his skull.

"You are not a king. You are a throne."

"The more they love you, the worse it gets."

Rein didn't speak as they left the temple.

Not a word to Zeraka.

Not to Valaithe.

Not even to Elaris, who walked behind him like a knight escorting a ghost.

They made camp at the base of a sunken ridge. Half shelter. Little warmth.

Zeraka curled up by the fire. Tail twitching, muscles tense.

Valaithe meditated in a circle of bones and mushrooms, muttering to herself in a language that smelled like rot and rain.

Elaris sat perfectly upright. She never blinked.

Rein stared at the flames.

Then at his hands.

Then at the brand on his ribs, still faintly glowing beneath the wrappings.

They were all bound to him now.

Not because he wanted them.

But because something about him had pulled them in—and changed them.

He thought of Seraphael's voice in his skull.

Of Zeraka's bite. Of Valaithe's spores. Of Elaris's dreams.

And he thought of the crows.

"The more they love you..."

He stood.

Silently.

Softly.

And stepped away from the fire.

He didn't even gather his things.

Rein left in the middle of the night.

No speeches.

No whispered goodbyes.

He didn't know what he was walking toward.

But he knew what he was walking away from.

He made it nearly two miles before the first one caught up.

Zeraka.

She landed behind him like thunder in fur and fang, claws at her sides, boots sinking into wet moss.

"You left without me."

"I did."

"You're not doing it again."

He didn't answer. Just kept walking.

She followed.

Ten minutes later, a soft squelch in the dark brush.

Valaithe.

Dripping rot and beauty in equal measure, staff swinging lazily at her side.

"I was curious how far you'd get before realizing I was already in your lungs."

"Still not a reason to follow me."

She smiled. "But you didn't say not to."

She joined the other side.

Twenty minutes later, the sound of armor.

Elaris.

Lighter now, stripped down to only leathers, her face still pale with rain. She didn't speak.

Just fell into step behind him, one pace off-center.

Like a bodyguard.

Or a shadow.

He stopped in a clearing of black grass and broken stone, turned slowly to face them.

His voice wasn't angry.

Just tired.

"You don't even know what I am."

Zeraka, "I don't care."

Valaithe, "I do. And it's beautiful."

Elaris, "I always knew."

He stared at them one by one. "I'm trying to keep you alive."

"You already did," Elaris said.

"Then stop following me."

They all answered at once.

"No."

He looked up at the sky.

Still no stars.

Still no peace.

Just three women behind him and the weight of a prophecy he never asked to hold.

He exhaled.

Then turned.

And kept walking.

And this time—

They didn't follow.

They walked with him.