She Belongs To The Devil

Theodore covered his face with his palms and crouched down, bamboozled by that sly creature.

Ariel was holding her wrist where Herbert had bitten her. The wounds had almost already healed by now.

"Uh… Dad?" She knitted her brows in confusion and looked at her father.

Irene was pursing her lips and looking at Herbert with wide eyes. She was shocked that the binding ritual worked even when Ariel hadn't agreed to enter the contract.

Adeline was equally confused as her daughter. She had never seen the binding ritual before, and neither had she heard everything in detail about the same.

Ariel wasn't getting any answer from Theodore. So, she glanced at the boy for an answer. "Why did you bite me?" she asked.

But he simply gave her a mirthless smile and awkwardly turned his gaze away.

Thus, Ariel turned her gaze to look at Irene and asked, "Aunty, will you tell me what just happened?"

She turned her gaze at Herbert again, but she directed her question at Irene, although she didn't think that what she was going to ask was true, "Did Herbert give me some disease or something? Is he trying to hurt me?" She knew that if Herbert had done that, he would have been dead by now.

"Preposterous!" Herbert thought to himself while frowning at Ariel.

Before Irene could answer Ariel's questions, Theodore sprung up on his feet and extended his arm to grab Herbert by his ears.

"Ow! Ow! It hurts!" Herbert grimaced in pain and grabbed Theodore's wrist so as to escape from Theodore's hold.

Ariel noticed how Herbert's ears were a little pointed and also had a few white furs at the tip. "Dad…" She looked at the two of them and pursed her lips, not sure whose side she should be taking at the moment.

Theodore glanced at Ariel and then finally explained what Herbert had done. "This little brat here forced you into a contract without your permission. He is now your familiar!"

Herbert immediately defended himself, "There is no way in Heaven it was a forced contract. If Ariel didn't want me then I would never be bound to her."

"Shut up!" Theodore screamed and gave a piercing glare to Herbert.

Herbert shuddered a little and closed his eyes. He felt as though if he kept on looking back into Theodore's eyes then Theodore would gouge his eyes out.

Ariel furrowed her brows and scoffed. "Wait! He is my familiar? Just like that?"

"Yes. Just like that. The binding ritual is simple because until now, none of the beasts had tried to force a contract." Theodore sighed and kept on looking at that innocent-looking boy who didn't have an iota of innocence in him.

He wondered if this was another ploy used by his father to get to Ariel. However, considering how Herbert didn't try to deceive them by acting like a cute cat, but rather went ahead and became a familiar, Theodore had a little hope that whatever Herbert did was his independent action which was not directed by God.

While pondering upon all that, Theodore's grip on Herbert's ear had loosened.

And Herbert immediately grabbed the opportunity to escape from Theodore's clutch. He ran towards Ariel and jumped in the air as if he was going to cling to Ariel.

While in the air, the boy transformed into the white cat again and softly landed on Ariel's shoulder.

Herbert didn't waste time using the charm of the animal that he was now. He hugged Ariel's neck with his tiny forelegs and buried his tiny head into Ariel's neck. And he immediately began to purr so melodiously that Ariel's heart instantly melted.

She couldn't resist holding that cat lovingly and pressing her cheek on his tiny head. "Aww… I didn't know you could be this cute, Herbert," she murmured in her loving voice.

"Don't 'aww' him!" Theodore wrinkled his nose and frowned.

"But he's so cute…" Ariel looked at her father with puppy eyes and asked with a wide grin on her face, "Can we keep him? I bet grandpa wouldn't mind."

Theodore scoffed and mumbled, "Yeah, why would that old geezer mind? He was probably the one to set this sly bastard up for you."

Adeline came forward and intervened in the back and forth between the father and daughter duo, "Even if father did send him, won't his loyalty lie with Ariel now that they are bound? I know that Arion would never betray you, or even think of betraying you."

Theodore couldn't disagree with his wife.

And seeing how silent Theodore was, Adeline further said, "I don't think it is right to keep them apart. Why don't we take him in?"

Herbert turned his tiny head and gave a sly smirk as if to say that he won.

Theodore hated that smirking cat, and instantly bit his lower lip and raised his fist in the air, not to actually hit him but to threaten him and put him in place.

"Meow!" Herbert thought that he was going to get hit for real and buried his head back in his safe place.

Ariel lightly patted Herbert's head and glared at her father. "Dad! Stop scaring him!"

"He's the one who's scaring me… Who knows what his true intentions are?" Theodore grumbled and turned around.

The cat slowly turned his head again and softly mumbled, "My only intention was to find a master who was worthy of me. I was tired of living there in the Heavenly garden as a mere attraction. I wanted to be free."

"Yeah… right!" Theodore rolled his eyes in disbelief. "You wanted freedom and that's why you bound yourself to another entity."

Herbert turned his head to look at Ariel's angelic face. And he said to Theodore, "Isn't she the only entity in this whole universe who has the capability to wrap both God and Goddess around her little finger?"

Herbert rubbed his head on Ariel's chin and proudly purred, "If you ask me, I chose the right angel to bind myself to."

Ariel wasn't sure what Herbert meant when he said that she had the capability to control her grandparents. But she melted at the last sentence of his, it was the most flattering thing that Herbert said to her until now.

She looked at her parents and her aunt with a wide grin on her face. And she declared to them, "I am keeping him."

"Meow!" Herbert purred gratefully and snuggled with Ariel. He was happy that Ariel wasn't going to abandon him. But after everything he did earlier, he was already sure that she would take him in.

Theodore turned to look back at his daughter and said hesitantly, "Okay, you can keep him."

"Really?" Ariel hugged that cat tighter and jumped in excitement. "Thank you so much, dad! You are the world's best dad!"

Adeline and Irene were looking at Ariel with wide smiles on their faces.

Adeline was especially happy for her daughter and also grateful to Herbert for bringing joy to the otherwise grim night.

Theodore, on the other hand, was still a little uncomfortable by Herbert's presence.

He glared at the cat and swore in his heart to keep a watch on that sly creature. And he warned the cat in his mind, "You better maintain your façade if you are here with any ulterior motive, little boy. Because the day you show your true colors, it is going to be your last."

After saying their goodbyes to Irene, the three of them, along with Herbert, stood in front of the barrier that was giving off buzzing sounds that were inaudible to the humans.

Ariel then took a deep breath in and mumbled, "He will get through the barrier?"

"You won't know if you don't try," Theodore replied while giving a side-eyed glare to the little boy who was now pinching the lace of Ariel's gown and nervously standing behind her as if he was about to give the biggest test of his life.

A part of Theodore wished that Herbert would be kept out of the barrier like all the other beings from Heaven. But at the same time, the other part of him thought that he would be able to get in now that Herbert was practically linked to Ariel.

Ariel looked over her shoulder and asked the boy, "Herbert, why don't you come forward and try to walk through the barrier?"

Herbert took a deep breath and nodded. He stood in front of the barrier and gulped. He then closed his eyes and braced himself for impact before running head-on.

After a while, he heard Ariel shouting happily from behind, "Herbert! You did it!"

Herbert abruptly came to a halt and opened his eyes. A wide smile appeared on his face when he saw the vast field in front of him, the field which wasn't visible to him just a while ago.

He let out a peal of laughter and pumped his fist in the air. "I did it! I walked through! I am in my master's home!"