/
A swirl of blue black smoke was churning in a huge wave. She could just know even without seeing the figure of the man who was not able to use his power recklessly because of her presence.
Barbatos got down to the ground and whispered softly in Bael’s ear.
“Master, what are you going to do?”
“

”
Julia shut her mouth as she carefully placed her hand on Bael’s forearm, which had her all bound.
This should have been enough, right? She already confirmed that Legion was fine. And she made it clear to him that she had no intention of returning to the ground above either. Although Lerazier had been seriously injured, he was still a demon and would definitely recover soon.
As long as Legion got released as it was, everything could go back to normal once he left for the world above.
Julia gently lifted her eyes wide with tears welling up. Bael’s face had a rather inorganic light just like a sculpture. The moment she closed her lips in nervousness, Bael’s mouth curled up.
“Kill it.”
Julia’s eyes were instantly filled with astonishment. Regardless, Bael merely reiterated the situation as if he was absolutely enjoying it.
“Dig up the Sword Master’s heart and bring it to me. It’s been quite a while since I’ve tasted such a delicacy.”
“Yes, Master.”
“No! Such a thing—Legion
!”
At the moment when Julia was hurriedly trying to grab a hold of Barbatos, Bael clasped onto her waist tightly and lowered his head as if he wouldn’t allow it at all.
“Uhhp!”
His hot, hard tongue rammed against her chapped lips and dug in deep. He then entangled her little tongue as she kept on trying to run away and pulled her quivering waist even stronger. She twisted her body with all her might to escape, but she was utterly helpless in front of Bael.
Having already parted her lips, Bael simply lifted Julia’s light body over his shoulder. Her center of gravity was in jeopardy since she would have fallen to the floor immediately if she didn’t cling around his neck as there was absolutely nothing for her hand to hold on to. And there were no other options as well, so Julia could only hug his neck in a hurry instead.
“Kuh
”
A low roar that was mixed with laughter instantly pierced her ears. Right there and then, Bael spread out his huge wings before taking flight into the night sky.
“Demon King!”
“You were the one who seduced me first, so don’t you even think about getting away.”
“I, I didn’t wish for this to happen! We were already able to solve everything smoothly anyway!”
Julia hurriedly looked downwards. The ground, which was already buried in the ashes, quickly shifted away. The last sight in her eyes was the back of the demons that rushed along and the blue mana that was desperately resisting all of them.
* * *
Four years ago—the banquet hall that was glimmering brilliantly alone amidst the dark surroundings shone clearly through the dusty window. A banquet was being held to commemorate Estelle’s 14th birthday.
At that time, Julia had just been brought into the game world. She was utterly confused about everything, but she could have been so sure that she hadn’t been very welcomed even here—in this place.
An Abandoned Palace where every single entrance to a room was gagged upon with chains and locks. The maids shuddered even at the touch of her fingertips as if she was cursed and the soldiers were closely watching her every move just like a surveillance camera.
She couldn’t have not known it—unless she was an idiot. To them, she was merely a toy for fun.
To even forget the very first reason of ‘revenge for the death of the Empress’, harassing a powerless girl had then turned into a habit instead. She felt no absurdity at all since Julia Vestra was only born for that right from the very beginning.
‘It’s okay though. If you just wait for 4 more years

’
She hung her head down on her little crouched lap. If Estelle was like a banquet hall with scattering colorful and beautiful lights, she was the darkness that would serve to make it stand out even more. So, their current locations must be the best fit for each other.
Julia closed her eyes while ignoring the voice inside her head that had been constantly whispering the fact that she was sick. But just then, for some reason or another, the surroundings soon became noisy. The muffled footsteps gradually grew closer and closer and some presumably male adult-sounding voices could be heard.
‘What’s going on? To come to such a closed palace especially on Estelle’s birthday.’
As usual, today was a special day. In Julia’s mind, which had already been immersed in loneliness, the anticipation slowly lifted her head. A rush of expectation that someone might have come to see her instead. But at the same time, an apparent intuition that something was somehow wrong had caught her by the ankle as well.
‘Isn’t it okay to only look at it for a while? If it’s truly a lost guest, then I can just point out the way to the banquet hall.’
Julia’s troubles didn’t last long at all. Her loneliness had submerged before it slowly clouded her own judgment.
As she blinked her eyes helplessly, Julia carefully raised her body and eventually stepped out of her room. The dimly lit hallway was all gloomy without a single sign of presence and only the sound of grass bugs was resounding ever so eerily.
“I must have just misunderstood. Who would even come to such a place
”
It was right at the moment when Julia heaved out a small sigh and went back to the bedroom. A shadow had suddenly appeared from somewhere and shut her mouth tightly.
“Uhp

!”
“Be quiet!”
She struggled like crazy to resist, but she was very slender and her weak body had made it impossible for her to resist the man. Even if she was madly scratching against the back of the hand that had covered her right till her room, he simply subdued Julia as if those felt like nothing at all before entering the said room instead.
A cry was wildly yelling out in her head that she didn’t wish to die at all. The moment she tried to bite the hand that was right in front of her with all her might, the strength that had bound her gradually loosened itself.
“Are you a maid here? I’ll release you soon, so just hold still for a minute.”
There was a feeling of childishness mixed in the voice that had whispered urgently. When she glanced behind her back, he was apparently not that tall at all which made him seem like more of a boy than that of a man.