/
The breeze subsided quickly as soon as Kimaris removed his lips. He soon blinked in embarrassment for a moment before he started muttering to himself.
“It is true that magic powers wouldn’t work at all.”
“Are you trying to do something to me?”
“I just wanted to make a contract to serve you as my Master.”
“What?”
Demons would often sign a contract to subordinate themselves to someone but it was a very rare occurrence for the high-ranked demons. Until the contractor released the seal, they would become slaves to the Master for all eternity. They would turn into a kind of ‘beast’ that could be summoned whenever needed.
However, a high-ranking demon such as Kimaris himself would have chosen to die rather than having themselves turned into such beasts. It was such a humiliating contract in a way.
Julia could never understand Kimaris’s choice. This was the first time she thought that it was lucky that his magic didn’t work at all.
“Why would you even do that?”
“Because you saved me.”
“If you’re talking about that thing back in the prison, it was…”
“No.”
Kimaris was about to shake his head in denial. Then, a being that had been forgotten for a while eventually interrupted their conversation.
“If possible, just accept it. Kimaris has a rather single-minded temperament. Surprisingly, he’s actually bad-tempered?”
Revenna stood up from the bed while folding over her fluttering fan. Then, with such strides yet gracefully moving her steps along, she glared at Kimaris terrifyingly.
“By the way, are you in a bad mood? Kimaris, did you actually go easy on me when you lost your heart?”
“That’s not true.”
“Or? Come to think of it, you didn’t resist me properly back then as well? Do you like being beaten in pain? Would you like me to hit you hard then—right now?”
“While wielding a battle ax loaded with magical power like a monster?”
Kimaris’s forehead eventually creased. He looked at her with goosebumps once again as he recalled the time when he had fought with her.
“It’s true that I ran towards you with the intention of dying. But I really did my best in my own way.”
Revenna’s strange past, which Julia had never known at all, was finally revealed. Before Bael swept through the whole Demon Realm, she was the one who led the 26 battalions……
Julia was curious about it, but she just decided to put up with it. No, at the very least, she decided to not ask about it in front of Kimaris. It was due to his face that appeared extremely hateful when he looked at Revenna.
Revenna, too, seemed to be satisfied with his answer in her own way that she eventually unfolded her fan once again and clapped elegantly. Then, she began to throw out some words.
“So, that’s it. Now, can I say that you’re on Julia’s side at present?”
Julia’s eyes, which were about to skip along without thinking, became extremely wide. The words seemed to get passed by, but the impact that the single word had on her was just exceptional.
“What are you talking about…”
“I knew it? You’re not truly Estelle, are you?”
“What, what are you talking about? I am Estelle.”
Julia reflexively shook her head. She didn’t even have the time to calculate whether or not she had actually donned a proper face on herself. In fact, all she could ever think of in her head was that she couldn’t afford to get caught at all.
Unfortunately, she was not that good at hiding her expression though. Kimaris, who could make a good sense out of Julia’s countenance, immediately wrapped his arms around her and glared at Revenna in return.
“Revenna, don’t you change the subject and speak up.”
Kimaris’s expression had changed in an instant. His eyes flickered horribly as if he was about to twist her neck in case anything were to happen at all.
“You really didn’t know from the very beginning? I went to the Human Realm in search of water without using any demonic magic and saw Estelle Vestra. She’s doing well though? While you’re the one who got stuck here in hell?”
“……”
“It’s actually a shame since you are the real key and do you know that something really bad could have happened to you? The Master really hates being deceived.”
“Then, am I going to… die now?”
Julia’s voice, which had already given up on all her own excuses, began trembling devastatingly.
The truth had now been discovered. Besides, Revenna also thought of her as the key, but that was just wrong. She knew of it because she had already seen through the original story after all. The real key had always been Estelle and Julia was just like a foreign figure that shouldn’t have even existed.
But how could she explain this? If they found out that she was worth nothing, even they would eventually despise her. How could she then dare to say that……
Just as Julia’s vision became blurred with her own tears, Revenna grabbed her shoulders in return.
“I think I can slightly understand it even if I haven’t heard it all. There must have been some very difficult circumstances before you arrived here, right?”
“……”
“But don’t worry? No matter what might happen, me and Kimaris will absolutely protect you.”
“If you actually want to leave this place, please give me an order, Master.”
The two demons’ gazes were all directed towards her. As they looked at Julia, there was a tint of sincere concern within their eyes. Thus, she soon decided to gather up her courage as well.
She confided the events that occurred in Vestra Imperial Palace, one after another, before Julia had been passed over to the Demon Realm. She appeared so calm that her worries if she were to burst into tears had been overshadowed thoroughly. Unknowingly, she was actually making the two of them wrathful once again.
“So, His Majesty eventually decided to send me over instead of Estelle. Estelle is a noble person who will soon become the Empress in the future and while I am useless, I am also difficult to deal with…”
“No way! Where could there be such a saying!”
“I truly understand His Majesty’s entire decision, although the method was a tad bit coercive too.”
It was in the middle of the night when some men had come upon her all of a sudden before they dragged her helplessly out of her own abandoned Palace. The place where she arrived later had been the Emperor’s bedroom and Estelle was already standing next to him—just like usual.