[▷Barbatos

You just keep on bothering me. In such a situation like this, it would be much better to fix a leash on her.]

Julia, who initially struggled to escape, then calmly entrusted her body to him when the SIGHT window popped out. She didn’t even think to ask him why he was suddenly doing that. She could just vaguely conjecture that it was related to the human who was currently invading the underworld.

‘Now, I have to really prepare my heart. In regard to the possibility that the intruder was truly Legion himself……’

As she thought about him all through last night, doubts started to get piled up in her head on the other hand as well.

What did it mean to be her, a Princess who was abandoned simply for being useless and ignorant? What did it then mean to be him, who had grown to be a Sword Master, but eventually threw away all his wealth and fame before plunging into the depths of this hell?

Besides, she was the one who had driven him into the mud……

“Usually, you’d be walking around briskly, but what’s going on today?”

“Is Julia actually a dog? If you hold on to her like that, her heart would definitely wane though?”

Revenna straight away rescued Julia by snatching her, who was already dangling by the nape of her neck. Then, as she used her magic power, she quickly dressed Julia up into an outfit.

She got donned in a bright yellow mini-dress that resembled spring petals and a large ribbon was attached around her waist with a sky blue fabric. From a distance, she appeared like a yellow lily of the valley that was dangling from a large leaf.

Julia hurriedly shouted ‘sit’ to Bero, who rushed towards her, while wondering if it had mistaken her for a toy before looking back at Barbatos once again. In her big eyes, Barbatos’s stiffened face—for some reason—was reflected.

“Well, what did you come here for today? The Demon King is not inside.”

“I’m keeping my eyes on you… kuhk!”

Barbatos, who had been speaking well enough, closed his mouth all of sudden. Revenna’s high, pointed heels were all lodged at his feet. It looked very painful, which made Julia heave a deep breath unknowingly. At the same time, a dialogue window popped in her mind.

[▷Barbatos

The key must be closely monitored until the reason of which the Sword Master has invaded the Demon Realm is clearly revealed. They are such a cunning and clever race that they can’t be trusted at all, so you don’t really know what she’s actually hiding under that such innocent face.]

Julia immediately changed her mind. When she swung her thumb up and showed it to Revenna, Revenna gave a seductive smile in return before twisting her heel even more strongly.

* * *

As the day started later than usual, time eventually passed rather quickly.

Julia was still not allowed to go out of the castle, but she, who had already been weak in stamina, found it difficult to even look inside. The Demon King’s Castle was huge and complex while it was all divided into districts. Nevertheless, she had wandered around a little each day yet there were still many more of it left.

Julia let out a small sigh as she felt Barbatos’s gaze staring straight at her from behind.

‘It’d be easy to ask for a favor if it’s just me and Revenna, so what should I do?’

Julia tried to borrow Revenna’s familiar whenever she had the opportunity for it. All because it was her own plan to persuade Legion to leave the underworld immediately by sending him a letter.

However, she could not easily open her mouth knowing that Barbatos had his eyes wide open while following her everywhere and the fact that if things were to go wrong, Revenna would not be able to avoid the consequences as well.

As Julia grew restless as she tried spying on a chance, the sun quickly set. The red moon was already rising in the darkened sky of the Demon Realm. Julia looked out of the window and she stopped walking back to Bael’s nest. Then, the other two demons turned towards her.

“Why? Do you want me to hold you if you’re tired?”

Revenna rushed towards her while being aware that Julia was just as weak as a sugar doll. Before any sound could be heard, Julia took a step back as she shook her head quickly.

“That’s right—for the time being, I’m going to stay in my room instead of the Demon King’s bedroom. In order to do that, we have to separate here then…”

“You mean the room where you stayed in for a while? I kept managing it, but why all of a sudden anyway? Did the Master drive you out?”

“What’s going on?”

Barbatos, who had been following after Julia while keeping his mouth shut all day long, spoke out for the first time.

Demons almost had good hearing, so he must have fully listened in to their previous conversation. For all that, the reason why he asked again contained some disapproval in it. However, Julia was not discouraged at all.

“I told the Demon King about it last night too.”

“You’ve gotten the Master’s permission—are you sure?”

“Yes, maybe…”

When she asked him last night, Bael didn’t really respond much. If he had truly refused, he would have clearly answered her. Julia then gently nodded her head.

[▷Barbatos

That’s weird. Somehow, the key is acting out at such a sensitive time. Is she finally done with her whims or is this human just spouting lies?]

Again, Barbatos was suspicious. Even Julia, who was confident at first, ended up flopping like a deflated balloon in front of his direct cold gaze.

[▷Barbatos

If it’s true, it would then be absurd to bring the human back to the Master’s nest. However, if it is actually false, it would be like playing around with the key’s prank instead—which is definitely a problem.]

Numerous calculations were going on under the indifferent and cold expression of his. In such a case, adding more words could raise suspicion once again, so Julia just waited patiently for his thoughts to end in return. Barbatos eventually took off his monocle and rubbed his forehead in exhaustion.

“Just wait in your room for now. I’ll ask the Master directly if that’s actually true or not. And I’ll also put a watchman at the door, so don’t you dare think about fooling around.”

“Yes, but can I sleep with Bero instead? I’m still scared and lonely by myself…”

“Heh heh.”

Bero, who had received Julia’s gaze, quickly approached as it wagged its tail. Unaware that Julia was already jiggling a snack behind her back, Barbatos simply nodded his head thoughtlessly this time.

“It follows you quite well. It’s Lerazier’s familiar anyway, so I don’t care.”

“Thank you!”

While he looked away, Julia quickly popped the snack into Bero’s mouth. Then, she gently stroked the huge young beast.