The Princess And The Demon

"I am sure if you survived those days, You will survive these as well...", Joseph spoke in a matter of fact, believing fully in the Young Lord.

"That is the main problem here. Back then, i was driven by a survival instinct, I was more of a wild animal, that instinct, combined with my past memories pushed me forward, to fight my way through everything, and at the time, I hated the humans, but all of that had changed..."

"What changed, Young Lord?"

"I did, I guess..." Eren said while staring at the red liquid, "It feels like i was wrong all this time, it feels as if everything i did was a mistake that complicated things even more...", Eren ripped his eyes which were as red as the liquid he was consuming to look at the closest image to a father he ever had, Not many knew but Joseph was Eren's mentor, the safe closet for his secrets and feelings...

"I am afraid i messed things up beyond repair...", Joseph looked at his lord and, for a second, saw the little boy he once found in the woods, the boy was m.o.a.ning in pain, calling out for his mother, What a vulnerable wounded child he was, Eren learned to mask that vulnerability of his under layers and layers of cruelty and strength, but Joseph, knew better than anyone that his feelings were like a hole inside, a hollowness caused by his childhood traumas and the lack of love and affection in his life, he knew that the void inside was there no matter how much he tried to hide it and cover it, it was for no use, the void was always there and the old man feared that it would swallow the little boy one day...

"Only death is final in this world, Young Lord, as long as there is life, there is also hope with it..." Joseph smiled warmly, which would have looked creepy to others but not to Eren...

"Have you ever been in love? " Eren asked, finally satisfied with the amount of blood he had consumed as he laid back in the pool staring at the black ceiling...

"I have..."

"And?" Eren was curious to hear what went wrong with his mentor's love story because surely, he wouldn't be in his bathroom serving him with blood while looking like a dead corpse if things went well with his beloved...

"Not all love stories end up happily, Young Lord, some are doomed to fail no matter how much you try to make them work..." Joseph saw the curiosity mixed up with sadness in Eren's eyes...

"She was, the most beautiful woman i ever saw, You could look at her all day and never grow tired of it, she was also, very strong and had a will of iron and a heart of gold, i always loved her secretly, waiting for the right moment to come and tell her, And that was my first mistake..." Joseph sighed, the memories of the past drawing a sad bitter smile on his old face...

"By the time i gathered enough courage, Her heart was already claimed by someone else, I tried everything after but it was already too late, I thought i could give up on her, and just wish her the happiness she deserves, But i couldn't..."

"And what happened to her?"

"She....Suffered..." Joseph looked at his hands, guilt flashing through his eyes..

"she suffered alot, and it was my fault, I was selfish and bitter, and... I did something i wasn't supposed to do, At the time i thought it was subtle and, Harmless, but my small doing had consequences, and consequences lead to consequences and it lead to her unhappiness and eventually her death..."

"I am sorry to hear that..."

"So that is the big problem Young Lord, You are in love?"

"No...." Eren said with a small smile upon his face, being in love with his fair lady was no longer the problem, he wasn't fighting it anymore, he was embracing the most beautiful feeling he ever felt, but he was afraid, terrified, of the idea of losing her, of the idea of the world separating them, of death taking her away, of someone taking her away...

"Love is the only thing that is right, Joseph, while everything else is wrong..."