A thousand years ago.
In the faraway kingdom of the Kingdom of Astoria, there existed two friends named Anna and Lucius.
Anna was a fair-skinned and golden-haired maiden, while Lucius was a white-haired man with blue eyes—though Anna did not know that he was a demon in human shape.
Anna was a healer who was famous all over the village for curing diseases with herbal medicine.
Lucius would visit her house every day to fetch rare herbs from the forest—herbs which were not available in any common locations.
"Lucius, where do you get such strange plants?"
Anna asked one day, as she held a flower that shone in the dark.
Lucius just smiled in silence. He could not inform her that such plants originated in the Demon Realm, where he belonged.
It started with a casual acquaintance. Anna was intrigued about the enigmatic man who never failed to bring unusual medicines. Lucius, on the other hand, slowly fell in love with Anna's compassion and wisdom.
Months went by, and the two became close. They would sit each night in Anna's garden, talking of the stars and tales of their lives.
"Anna, how did you realize you wanted to be a healer?"
Lucius asked one night under the stars.
"When I was little, I saw my mother die because there was no one to cure her. I vowed that I would never see anyone die because of shortage of medicine," Anna answered with sadness in her tone.
Lucius hesitated. It was then that he knew his choice of pretending to be human was correct. He wished to shield Anna from every bad thing in the world—including his own race.
A night, while Anna was preparing her medicines, she suddenly experienced a severe headache. She fell down, and Lucius quickly came to her rescue.
"Anna! Anna, wake up!"
Lucius shouted, and in his concern, he didn't realize his left eye was now red—a sign of his demon heritage.
When Anna awoke, she noticed the red eye. Instead of being scared, she stroked his face.
"Whatever you are, Lucius, I love you," she whispered.
It was then Lucius understood that he could no longer hide the truth. He admitted to Anna that he was a demon.
"I was not afraid of you at the time, nor shall I be afraid now,"
Anna said.
"What I see is the individual who has taken care of me, not the blood that runs through you."
At the center of the forest, under the light of the moon, their humble but holy wedding ceremony was performed. There were no witnesses other than the trees and the stars. Lucius employed his magic to conjure up radiant flowers, while Anna created garlands using plain flora.
"Before nature, I promise to love you for all my life," Anna stated.
"And I promise to keep you safe no matter what, even from my own kind," Lucius responded.
After a few months, Anna found that she was pregnant. Both were overjoyed, but fear also resided in their hearts. They knew it would not be simple for their child to be a hybrid in a society that hated the joining of human and demon.
When the last few weeks arrived before the birth of their child, Lucius grew ever more guarded around Anna. He employed his dark magic to form shields around their residence.
"Lucius, I am terrified," Anna confessed on one evening. "What if someone finds us?"
"I will not let you get hurt, Anna. I will defend our baby too," Lucius answered, hugging Anna firmly.
They did not know that observers watched them from the distance—individuals who had seen the weird happenings around their house.
Their passion was genuine and profound, but during those days, human-demon union was evil. When the villagers learned that Lucius was not a normal creature, they were stunned and frightened.
"Monster!"
The villagers shouted.
"We must kill that beast!"
They informed the kingdom, and magic knights and wizards descended upon Anna and Lucius's residence.
"Anna, listen,"
Lucius whispered while cradling their baby. His left eye became red—a sign that he was employing his dark magic.
"I need to keep you both safe."
Under their house, Lucius put an enchanted seal. There he concealed their child, ensconced in strong protection that would last one thousand years.
"Love him, Anna. One day, he will return,"
were the last words of Lucius as he killed himself to protect his family from any more harm.
Even after Lucius was dead, however, the people did not believe Anna. They murdered her too and burned their house to ashes.