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“As Sir Berith said before, he wasn’t really a caring father.”
“I understand. How hard it must have been.”
“No……”
“The culprit that had driven the Empress, who was loved by the people, right towards her death. That was such evidence of the injustice of a lowly and dirty blood and on top of that, a soul worthy of the curse itself.”
As he calmly continued each of his words, Julia’s mind grew colder. They were the exact words which got tethered to her that she was made to hear so much until they had been nailed into her ears for the past 4 years of her life back in the Imperial Palace.
As he proceeded to clasp her trembling shoulders gently, he then whispered ever so pleasantly.
“Julia Vestra.”
“Ugh!”
Her body had suddenly gotten so weak that she couldn’t stand on her own legs any longer. At the same time, she could feel that Berith was lifting his fingers that had been holding her by the shoulder one by one.
If he were to pull away like this, she would then definitely fall to the ground in front of those countless demons.
She ultimately choked on her breath. Her vision darkened and the stairs began shaking dizzyingly. Her red cheeks had already been drained of blood and they eventually turned white. A nightmare of the past instantly swept through before her very eyes.
In this manner, Berith must have seen her weakness as he finally realized the answer. Julia was truly desperate. She then hated herself because she was weak. She also resented herself for not being able to deal with it properly.
“Kukuku.”
Berith’s vicious laughter eventually pierced her eardrums. Besides, she just couldn’t stand it any longer.
Right at that moment when Julia, who had already lost her strength, was about to collapse helplessly, something strong pulled her straight into their arms. At the same time, everyone in the hall—including Berith—began to prostrate themselves.
“I should have told you not to touch what’s mine.”
“Master.”
Bael’s cool, red eyes slowly glanced over all the demons within the hall. He didn’t know why, but he had been feeling utterly terrible right from the very beginning, so he imprinted his eyes on each and every demon as if he was reminiscing something.
“Only I, myself, can touch, possess and restrain the key.”
Then, he hugged Julia’s waist tighter in return.
“Do you have any excuses, Berith?”
“There is none at all.”
In the case of Bael, that absurd excuse had somewhat brought anger. Berith instantly shut his mouth and shook his head, but it didn’t just end there. As soon as the Demon King looked away for a moment, a twisted smile appeared on the man’s lips who were only gazing at Julia.
‘If you don’t want to get caught and die, you’d better off following my words instead.’
He made some silent movements with his mouth. Julia wanted to avoid his gaze, but she completely couldn’t.
If she were found to be fake, Bael would inevitably kill her whether she had been the real key or not. That would be the case for both Revenna and Kimaris as well.
As he noticed that she had already been gripped by fear, a thick and sticky desire flashed across Berith’s beautiful face.
‘I’ll be waiting. We’ll see each other again very soon.’
Her eyes eventually darkened. As she bit down her lips, Julia had no other choice but to be simply held in Bael’s arms while waiting helplessly for him to leave post-haste.
* * *
The meeting in the hall ended as soon as it started due to Bael’s sudden appearance and Julia’s condition that started deteriorating rapidly. Nevertheless, in terms of results, Barbatos’s plan was still a great success.
Although Bael didn’t exactly roll up his arms and cooperated—considering the fact that Julia moved away which made his magical powers become unsettled and soon woke him up—he still came down directly to the hall in search of her. And just as if he was protecting her when she was found to be in a rather poor condition, he had even released a surge of powerful magic.
Each of the 72 demons was once a great figure who had ruled over various parts of the Demon Realm. But now, they were merely servants that gathered under the wing of Bael.
As a result, they knew for a fact that even the great demons who had laid a touch on the King’s woman, ‘Estelle Vestra’, would definitely disappear.
“Hey, why are you like this?”
“I’m just a little nervous…”
“Didn’t I already forgive you for leaving the bedroom with such a generous heart?”
Julia was very embarrassed at that particular moment.
As she walked out of the hall, she was already just about to discuss the case with Revenna and Kimaris right away when the suddenly intervening Bael had hugged her tightly before returning with her back to the bedroom. It had been an added bonus that she was eventually rolled up in an oversized blanket as her skin emitted such strange sensations right when he touched her directly.
The blanket was black while Julia’s face had already turned all white, so she was just like a small kimbab at that moment.
“Could you put your hand a little to the other side…”
“What.”
“No, please continue sleeping…”
Bael’s hands had kept on rubbing against her waist and hips, which ultimately caused her to panic.
But of course, that wouldn’t be his intention at all. He possessed no such regard in sexual intercourse and he only had a huge interest over a quality time sleep. On top of that, her body was, sadly, not as sensual or sexy as the demons themselves. Therefore, she was literally just a pillow to Bael.
‘Besides, he already allowed me to go out at some point anyway.’
Although he was already asleep, he nodded his head as if he was still annoyed by Barbatos nagging. Barbatos said that he had been dealing with Bael’s approval in this manner even till now.
‘Then, should I just try it?’
Before Berith could speak of it elsewhere, she had to meet up with Revenna and Kimaris first. However, to get out of the arms of the Demon King himself was a tad bit difficult.
At that moment, Bael’s breathing sounds could be heard blending around with such heavy drowsiness. She then strengthened her resolve and began to open her mouth.
“May I please go out for a while?”
“……”
“I know that you’ve already given me permission…”
“Lie down.”
“Yes.”
Julia, who was just trying to unfold the blanket, instantly returned to her previous kimbab posture. A small crease that was filled with utter sadness could already be seen engraved on her chin.