teor should have been down at the plaza with Sienna.
Yet, here he was, standing before in a freshly donned uniform, and I couldn’t fathom why.
At my questioning look, he let out a faint sigh and took a few steps closer.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I'll apologize on her behalf."
"..."
My lips parted slightly in surprise.
He didn’t co all this way just to apologize, did he?
"It wasn’t anything worth apologizing for," I replied.
"Sienna will apologize to you too."
"..."
I was at a loss for words.
It seed that Sienna summoning as her personal guard weighed heavily on teor’s mind.
Not that I couldn’t understand why.
I shook my head lightly.
"You really don’t have to go that far. But, Sienna must’ve been hurt by what you said."
To hear "How dare you?" from her fiancé?
If it were , I’d have burst into tears.
No matter what Sienna did wrong, as soone planning to marry her, couldn’t he have phrased it a bit more kindly?
And to say it in my presence, no less. It might’ve bruised her pride.
teor gave a faint chuckle at my words.
"Compared to you, it’s nothing."
"Still, she’s your fiancée. That’s harsh. And for the record, I wasn’t hurt at all."
"If that’s true, I’m relieved."
With that, teor stepped beside , matching my gaze as I had been surveying the plaza below.
He seed to have decided, like the other knights, to stand watch over the surroundings.
I frowned slightly.
"Are you sure you’re okay being here like this?"
"This feels more aningful than offering prayers down there."
"Hey, that’s blasphemy! If you lack faith like that, Ammas might refuse to grant your wishes."
teor chuckled again, a soft sound that seed to radiate light from his face.
"I already have plenty of secrets from Ammas. No one hides more from the divine than I do."
"..."
Why was he suddenly dropping hints about my identity?
No warning, just straight to the point? That felt unfair.
Still, from teor’s perspective, turning a blind eye to the Demon King’s daughter for four years was essentially a betrayal of his god.
I let out a bitter sigh.
"...You're not alone. I have secrets too. Ammas probably resents both of us pretty thoroughly…"
"Resentnt is the least of our worries. If we’re exposed, it’s execution for both of us."
"..."
Execution.
The grim word made cough awkwardly.
"Ahem. But even if you were exposed, who could execute you? You’re the strongest. Would you go quietly?"
Of course, it wasn’t really my place to ask.
If teor ever ended up on trial, it would be my fault.
Still, since the topic of execution had co up, curiosity got the better of .
At my question, teor turned his gaze to . To et his eyes, I had to tilt my head back slightly.
He finally spoke, his tone steady.
"Before I let myself die, I’d kill the Demon King first."
"..."
His voice was calm, his expression devoid of emotion, as if stating a simple fact.
Right. He couldn’t die before slaying the Demon King.
That was also a reminder that teor and I weren’t on the sa side.
He likely knew that as well.
If he tried to kill the Demon King, I would undoubtedly stand in his way.
Because no matter who it was, I wouldn’t let anyone destroy my father.
I exhaled lightly and lowered my gaze, once again looking out at the plaza.
The sound of laughter below sparkled brightly under the sunlight.
Though soone now stood by my side, we couldn’t share the sa view, no matter how much I might have wanted to.
***
In the pitch-black abyss of the Demon Realm, Baal lay sprawled on a jagged, obsidian rock. To say he was simply lying down would be an understatent—it was more like he had collapsed.
His mind and ears felt utterly shredded, leaving him without the strength to even sit upright.
This was all thanks to Lloyd, who had been rambling on endlessly about his daughter every single day without fail.
For the past four years.
Listening to soone boast about their child for four years straight would drive even the Demon King into a ntal breakdown.
Lloyd was undoubtedly the most deranged being across both the Human and Demon Realms, spending four years ceaselessly prattling about his daughter.
"Can’t I just… make myself deaf? Should I cut off my ears?" Baal muttered weakly.
Lloyd’s bellowing response was imdiate.
"Those ears aren’t yours alone! If my daughter finds out her daddy’s ears are gone, she’ll be devastated and cry her heart out! I won’t allow my sweet girl to shed tears!"
"Fine! I won’t cut them off!" Baal shouted back, exasperated beyond asure.
He couldn’t let this go on.
He was the Demon King.
The supre ruler of the Demon Realm. How could he, of all beings, endure such agony for years just because of one uncooperative soul?
With a wry smirk, Baal gathered his resolve once more.
"Hey, you miserable Lloyd. Imagine this: your precious daughter, limbs torn apart, bleeding profusely as she lies dying. Her hair scorched to ash, her eyes gouged out. Ah, just thinking about it soothes my soul."
"..."
Baal paused, but Lloyd didn’t respond.
Heh. Looks like my words got to him.
Surely, the thought of his beloved daughter’s demise had left him crushed.
The satisfaction of tornting Lloyd filled Baal with glee.
"And that’s not all! I’ll pull every vein from her body, use them for cat’s cradle, and then stitch your clothes with the leftover blood vessels. Just imagine wearing rags sewn from your daughter’s veins. It would suit you perfectly, Lloyd."
He let out a low, sinister laugh.
The image alone was delightful. He felt positively elated.
Still, Lloyd remained silent.
Is this bastard crying?
Probably. That seed likely.
"You pathetic Lloyd. Do you feel it now? The agony of a heart torn to shreds? Every ti you prattled on about your daughter, I wanted to rip out my eardrums and cochleae. Now you’ll suffer a pain thousands—no, millions of tis worse than mine."
"..."
What?
"Are you listening to ?!"
At last, Baal roared, his voice like a lion’s thunderclap.
Lloyd flinched in surprise, his body trembling slightly.
He blinked, looking up with an innocent expression, as if completely clueless.
"Huh? What did you just say?"
"...What? You didn’t hear any of that?"
"Oh, right. What did you say? I was too busy thinking about my adorable, lovely daughter to pay attention. Yaaaawn."
Lloyd yawned, his mouth stretching wide as if he were suddenly overco with drowsiness.
That shaless display made Baal’s face flush with rage, cycling rapidly between red and purple.
The fury welled up from deep within him, rushing upward until it exploded at the crown of his head.
"You insufferable bastard! Aaaaargh!"
He couldn’t take it anymore.
Letting out a deafening scream that shook the entirety of the Demon Realm, Baal swung his fist and struck Lloyd’s head.
It was a blow packed with every ounce of rage he’d ever felt, enough to obliterate mountains.
CRACK!
A sharp sound reverberated as a fracture ford in Lloyd’s skull.
Hearing that crack, Baal felt a rush of catharsis.
"Good. Let that head of yours shatter. Tonight, I’ll bathe in your brain matter."
Closing his eyes, Baal let the mont of bliss wash over him.
It was sweeter than the finest wine, lting away all his frustrations.
But then, he noticed sothing odd.
His head hurt.
The pain grew steadily worse.
It felt like his skull was about to split open.
"Urgh."
Groaning, Baal clutched his head in both hands as the agony intensified.
It was only then that he rembered a critical fact.
He and Lloyd shared the sa body.
Years of ntal tornt had evidently eroded Baal’s grip on rationality.
"You idiot. No matter how angry you get, how could you hit your own head that hard? Did you forget that you’re ?"
Lloyd clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Writhing in agony from the throbbing pain, the Demon King let out a roar that echoed into the distant void.
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