THE DEMON KING WHO WAITED FOR HER
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
By C.G.
THE MAN WHO CAME WITH A CONVOY
The night was restless.
Mako stood on the balcony of his mansion, staring into the dark sky as if it might answer the questions burning inside him. Since Linah had returned to the village, a strange unease had settled in his chest—an instinct he had learned to trust through centuries of war and loss.
Then his phone rang.
He answered before the second ring.
"Speak."
The voice on the other end was low and cautious. "My king… it is me."
Mako's jaw tightened. The bodyguard he had secretly sent to the village—his eyes where Mako could not be.
"What is happening?" Mako asked.
There was a brief pause. Then—
"A convoy arrived this afternoon."
Mako's fingers curled slowly around the phone.
"What kind of convoy?"
"Black vehicles. Tinted windows. Armed escort. The entire village gathered. They say… he is the president's son."
The words hit harder than any blade.
Mako's breath slowed, but his eyes darkened.
"And why has he come?"
The guard hesitated. That hesitation was answer enough.
"To ask for Linah's hand in marriage."
Silence swallowed the line.
Somewhere far away, thunder rolled.
Mako felt it then—the sharp, ancient jealousy that no crown, no power, no throne had ever erased. A jealousy born not of insecurity, but of possession. Of destiny.
"Describe him," Mako said coldly.
The guard swallowed audibly. "He is tall. Broad-shouldered. Wears wealth like armor. His skin is smooth, his smile practiced. The women whisper when he walks past. They call him Prince Cally."
Mako closed his eyes.
Prince.
Another one.
"They say he studied abroad," the guard continued. "Owns companies. Speaks softly, but with authority. He brought gifts—cattle, fabrics, crates of food. He says he has never forgotten Linah. That he came before… and was rejected."
Mako's chest burned.
Yes. He remembered.
Before Linah disappeared. Before fate pulled her into the underworld. Before she remembered who she truly was.
"How did she react?" Mako demanded.
"She did not come out immediately," the guard replied. "Her parents received him. The village elders listened. But… my king—he looks confident. As if he already believes she is his."
That was it.
Mako ended the call.
He turned sharply and dialed Linah's number.
Once.
Twice.
It rang… then went silent.
Voicemail.
Mako tried again.
Voicemail.
A dangerous calm spread through him.
He stared at the phone as if it had betrayed him.
"She cannot answer," he murmured. "Or she will not."
Both thoughts ignited something dark and possessive inside him.
Linah was not just a woman waiting in a village.
She was his queen.
His soul-bound.
The woman who crossed worlds to save him.
And now another man dared to step into her life with convoys and promises?
Mako laughed—low, sharp, and humorless.
"So this is how they challenge me," he said softly.
He turned and strode back into the room.
Within minutes, the mansion was alive.
Servants froze as Mako passed. Guards straightened instinctively. Power rolled off him like heat from a furnace.
"Prepare the car," he commanded. "Now."
One of the guards hesitated. "My king, it is late. The road—"
"I said now."
No one argued.
As he dressed, Mako's thoughts raced—not with doubt, but with certainty.
Linah might be surrounded by tradition. By expectations. By men who saw her beauty and her kindness.
But they did not know her fire.
They did not know her past.
They did not know what she had sacrificed.
And they did not know what it meant to love her across lifetimes.
Mako paused, gripping the edge of the table.
If he touches her…
If he pressures her…
The demon king inside him stirred.
"No," Mako whispered, forcing control. "She must choose freely."
Still, jealousy burned.
He sent one last message.
I am coming.
Then he left the mansion, the engines roaring into the night as the car sped toward the village.
Far away, under a sky heavy with stars, Linah returned late to her parents' homestead.
The village was quiet, wrapped in the soft sounds of night insects and distant drums from a neighboring ceremony. Her feet were tired, her heart heavy. The day had been long—too long.
Questions, whispers, expectations. Faces watching her as if she were no longer the same girl who once vanished without a trace.
She pushed open the door to her room.
Then froze.
Someone was sitting on her bed.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The oil lamp on the small table flickered, its light falling on a familiar broad frame, folded arms, and eyes darker than the night itself.
"Mako…?"
Her heart nearly escaped her chest.
He looked troubled. Not angry in the loud way—but in the dangerous, silent way. His shoulders were tense, his jaw clenched as if holding back something fierce.
"How did you—" Linah whispered, quickly closing the door behind her. "How did you get here?"
Mako stood slowly.
"I asked myself the same question," he said. "How did I end up hearing about another man coming for my woman… from someone else?"
Linah blinked, confused.
"Another man?"
Mako took a step closer.
"I called you," he said, his voice low. "Again and again. You did not answer. Your phone was switched off. And then I hear you were seen late at night, returning from somewhere after a suitor arrived with a convoy."
Linah stared at him, stunned.
"So that is why you look like this," she said softly. "You followed jealousy all the way to my village?"
Mako's eyes flashed.
"Do not make light of this, Linah."
She lifted her chin. "Then do not accuse me without listening."
Silence stretched between them.
Linah exhaled slowly, then walked past him and sat on the edge of the bed—the same bed he had been sitting on moments ago.
"Yes," she said calmly. "He came. The president's son. With gifts, elders, and promises."
Mako's fists clenched.
"But listen to me," she continued firmly. "I rejected him. The same way I rejected him before. I did not even step outside when he arrived."
Mako searched her face, looking for doubt, for hesitation.
He found none.
"I left because I went to see my grandmother," Linah said. "She called for me. And while I was there, my phone died.
The battery was empty."
She reached into her bag and pulled out the phone, holding it up.
"I did not switch it off to avoid you."
Mako's shoulders dropped slightly, the storm inside him shifting.
"You should have told me," he said quietly.
Linah stood and faced him.
"And you should have trusted me," she replied. "You of all people should know my heart."
Their eyes locked.
Mako's voice softened. "When I heard his name… when I imagined him standing where I could not stand, speaking words meant for you—"
He stopped himself.
"For the first time since becoming king," he admitted, "I felt powerless."
Linah's expression changed. She stepped closer and took his hands.
"There is no man who can take me from you," she said gently. "Not with wealth. Not with titles. Not with convoys."
She touched his chest.
"My heart crossed worlds to find you."
Mako closed his eyes briefly, resting his forehead against hers.
"I followed fear," he confessed. "Not jealousy alone. Fear of losing you… again."
Linah's voice softened. "I am not disappearing this time."
Outside, the wind shifted.
Neither of them noticed the shadow that lingered briefly near the hut… nor the eyes watching from afar.
In the distance, plans were already forming—plans fueled by desire, bitterness, and dark ambition.
The night was no longer peaceful.
It was waiting.
END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE