Right behind Agares’s back, two pairs of eyeballs glistened with yellow amongst the drooping draperies. Her familiar, the man-eating crocodile, had cast a shadow the size of a house on the floor. Due to the fact that the shadow had been that large already, it was difficult to even predict how huge it would truly become when it actually appeared.
Amidst the astonishment that erupted among the emissaries from the small countries, Agares’s fangs began to reveal themselves viciously.
“Besides, the princess whom you had sent was different from what we asked for in the first place. But it turns out that she was the real key, so it’s rather difficult to forget that you guys even deceived us in the first place.”
“…”
“I want you to know that I’d be troubled if you think that I’m the only one who is outraged by that. This is also the last kind of favor that I can show you by encouraging you to be very careful with your words from now on.”
Just like it was to prove Agares’s words, the demons began to get lined up behind her while lowering their eyes gravely. The warriors from the Human Realm took a helpless step back at the demons’ hostile attitude.
Agares’s heels softly echoed as she left the hall along with a simple message; ‘rest well.’ Only then did the rising atmosphere within the hall subside a little. The emissaries who came down from the Human Realm could finally let out a sigh of relief.
* * *
Later that night, the blood-red moonlight softly descended in the dark room. The emissaries who had come down from the ground could hardly sleep due to the unfamiliar scenery and atmosphere.
In the end, the knights from Elgos, who eventually got up from their beds, each began sharing their feelings of the day. The first thing that came out as the hot topic was, of course, the rumors surrounding Julia herself.
“They said that Vestra’s Second Princess had turned out to be the Demon King’s concubine, so it must have been true. Grand Duke Agares is now in the palms of a mere human.”
“I heard that the Demon King holds the princess every night and won’t even let go. Her name is Julia. She’s a natural-born temptress and seduced me as well. There is also a saying that she had even seduced the war hero of Vestra before.”
“Ingrem V’s temperament isn’t usually that strong, so how can that woman be related to him? It would be a rather big deal to say that such a wicked woman is actually the real key. I don’t even know how she could bend the Demon King right down to her will.”
The eyes of the men who expressed their displeasure turned towards the lodgings of Vestra’s entourages. On the outside, it was said that Julia, the younger sister, had instead been sent to protect the heir, Princess Estelle, but they did not know the whole truth in the first place.
‘Maybe they want to control the Demon King by using her beauty alone.’
King Ingrem V was an overly greedy monarch in comparison to his own ability and qualifications. No one had opened their mouths, but not a single one was so dumb that they couldn’t read the subtle atmosphere in the air. Silence was just another expression of agreement after all.
In fact, the reason Elgos had sent out entourages wasn’t just for an armistice agreement with the Demon Realm.
It was already widely known that the Second Princess of Vestra had considerable influence in the underworld. Elgos had no intention of leaving it all alone. It was already annoying enough that Vestra had taken advantage of the chaotic situation during the war in order to bring themselves to the same status with Elgos as well.
“We can’t just stay still.”
“Anyway, if the princess were to come into contact with the Vestra entourages, we don’t know what kind of tricks they will try once again. So, before all of that, we’ll have to use our hands first.”
“All for the glory of Elgos.”
Their real mission was actually to kill Julia Vestra and put the blame on Vestra’s side. If only they could separate the Demon King and Vestra before using this kind of opportunity in order to establish direct diplomatic relations with the Demon Realm itself.
‘It can eventually prevent the Demon King from becoming a Demon God and at the same time, bring down Vestra as well.’
The mission which they carried was absolutely enormous. And in the end, the eyes of the Elgos knights flashed with such determination.
* * *
Julia had been staying in Bael’s bedroom for several days already. In fact, the emissaries from the Human Realm were assigned quarters that had been separated from the Demon’s Castle where she was staying, so she would never run into them if she didn’t come out of the castle. This was actually Julia’s own will.
The atmosphere had not been that good because the Demon Realm’s intention that was to protect Julia and the Human Realm’s intention which was to get her back could not be entirely met. She did not want to worry the people around her by acting unreasonably in such a situation at hand.
“Oh, this is very delicious!”
Julia was currently having a late meal. The table which she had sat at was lined with soup, bread, sausages, smoked fish, cheese as well as some fruits. It could be seen as a long-lasting lineup of food that suited to be stored for a long time and it had been a diet that was no different from what she always ate before.
Even so, the reason why Julia had made such a loud and cheerful gesture was because of Bael, who had been sitting right across from her while watching her every move.
If there was a kind of temperature in his gaze, would it feel like this? Bael’s languid face rested on his chin, but wherever his eyes had reached her, they became strangely hot somehow. Every time she saw that middle finger was moving ever so slowly, she kept thinking about how those long, hard fingers had tortured her previously.
Julia tried hard to ignore the heat that she could feel from him. But it was crystal clear that Bael had no thoughts about it, so she instantly felt ashamed to be conscious of it for some reason or another.
Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 12 chapters in advance!
