“That’s why I could recognize him from the time he ran amok, he was using that small fire.”
“You dare call the magical power of this King of the Four Realms merely like that?!”
“You don’t get tired at all, you cheeky kid.”
“Aaaaagh! So noisy—shut up, I don’t want to hear it! Aaaaaaagh!!”
Paimon appeared absolutely frantic. But the wounds on his body would simply disappear in a day anyway. Nevertheless, he felt unfair and resentful as to why he had to suffer such an insult. He just couldn’t understand what was really happening to him.
Amongst the demons who spat out such curse words above his head, there were also those who once claimed to be Paimon’s own limbs. Those who had been whispering sweetly while moving like slithering tongues in his mouth, were now looking down at him with such cold, contemptuous eyes.
“Why, why?! Humans are mere slaves! You can just torture and kill them as you please! Nobody told me what to do back in the western land!”
“Of course it was. No one would have even cared whether you broke a taboo or simply died because of it.”
“No! Shut up, shut up, shut up!!”
“Do you even know why you were banished to the west in the first place? It was only because something that should have not been born got actually born. Just because of you, all of us got demoted from the hierarchy. No one welcomed you in the first place. No one, not even a single one!”
There were two main reasons why all the demons had gathered here. The first was to get within the line of the King’s sight and the second had been to settle off a personal grudge.
Despite being ranked 56th and 66th respectively, at the end of the hierarchy, Revenna and Kimaris could still enjoy the same level of authority as the highest-ranking demon simply by winning the key’s favor. If Paimon were to die at this time, the ninth place would immediately be vacant. The demons were then expecting to win the favor of their own Master or his concubine through this sudden incident.
In addition, Paimon had already acted excessively careless and made an unmanageable number of enemies. That was the main reason why the nails and hammers that had pierced his tiny body possessed so much force.
The lust for power and their own personal grudges were falling promiscuously over Paimon’s head.
“Master, it’s time for the execution.”
Judging that the atmosphere had already dropped to a lull, Bottis looked up at the seat of honor. The demons’ glistening gazes soon turned to their silent King. Bael then lazily swept through his long black hair.
“I’ll just leave it up to you.”
“Yes, I will definitely give him more pain than death itself.”
Bottis’s body began to swell greatly and from his pitch-black breath, countless numbers of venomous snakes poured out before they clung onto Paimon’s body. In regards to poison, there was undoubtedly no one who could compete with Bottis both above and also below ground.
Just enough to not die, but still, painful enough that even death would actually look like mercy.
As long as Bottis was alive, Paimon would be imprisoned and become a living corpse—unable to live or even die for an incalculable amount of time. That was the price that he had to pay for touching Julia Vestra, the King’s woman.
When Bael rose from his seat, all the demons in the prison moved out of the way before bowing down while honoring him. Barbatos soon followed his master.
“Would you like to go to the tower?”
“No, I’m going back to the nest.”
“Julia Vestra has fallen asleep. There are no apparent wounds on her body and Lerazier as well Kimaris are keeping guard by the entrance.”
As he could guess Bael’s purpose, Barbatos quickly added in. He also noticed that the moment Kimaris’s name had come out, the Master’s expression turned slightly distorted. Then, he added on even more quickly.
“I’m sorry. It’s my own negligence.”
“How should I deal with a servant who keeps on coveting his Master’s things?”
“Please give me your order.”
Barbatos immediately got down on one knee. Nevertheless, Bael didn’t spare him a glance as he just moved on.
“Don’t let me see him.”
“Understood.”
“But my key seems to be quite close to him, so it would be better to leave his disposition alone.”
Even after speaking, Bael could feel that his mood was very heavy. He still couldn’t figure out why his heart was feeling irritated for no reason. He wanted to release this anger of his even if he had to shed tears from the key’s eyes. As he thought of the little human who would begin crying and clinging onto him had made him even more intrigued.
“…”
His impulse was broken right at the moment he saw Julia, who was purely in deep sleep.
Falling asleep in a nest that he had built while wearing a robe which was much larger than her own body, her face looked very comfortable. The small, faint sound of her breathing had calmed even the meaningless discomfort that he had been feeling until just now.
He took a seat silently at the head of the bed. It was just like that from the beginning too. As he looked at the key, all the destructive impulses that had been invading his brain all this while seemed utterly meaningless. Then, he just languidly closed his eyes as he wanted to fall asleep like that forever.
‘Thank you, Demon King. Were you just trying to heal me? Thanks to you, I’m feeling much better now.’
At the time when Paimon had been running rampant, Bael, who was heading to the tower, could feel the waves of magical energy that was swirling unsteadily within the castle. The first thing that came to his mind was the clear stupid face of Julia Vestra.
He finally turned around and found that the woman was staggering while being trapped inside a huge blazing fire as well as thick smoke. Bael’s rationality instantly snapped as he saw her being pale and ready to collapse at any moment.
He just couldn’t understand. No matter how important the key was, she had only been a tool, but the reason why his anger had soared to the top or even why he didn’t tear Paimon to pieces on the spot and……
‘Ah, finally!’
The reason why he wanted to grab a hold of the woman who was simply walking away with her back turned to him before pulling her for a kiss once again.
