It was the same room. The weather and location of the place didn't change one bit. But the servant who was kneeling down felt cold all over his body.
For half an hour, he had been kneeling here with his head lowered. His knees have long been giving him signals that he should stand up, but the butler gritted his teeth and endured the pain. After the failure of his mission, the butler didn't dare to even speak.
As someone who had served Zekram Bael for the longest time, he knew perfectly how ruthless this man is. He absolutely doesn't allow a single failure. And the butler had seen many of his past colleagues die miserably for not realizing this fact. Some of them he had to bury himself.
And knowing one would ask why he didn't try to escape and instead stayed here, kneeling on the floor. Well, the answer to that question is because of experience. He had seen many fools who thought they could escape or hide after failing a mission. But their fates are ultimately the same. They all died after being chopped to pieces.
So knowing that trying to escape is futile, the butler, left with no other choice, decided to accept his fate and come clean. He thought this way, he might even get a simple death and not suffer much.
But as time went on, the butler began to grow extremely nervous. Zekram has been keeping his silence as he was looking through the windows this whole time. His reaction didn't change much even after hearing that he had been forced to take on a crime that someone else had committed.
This behavior is completely uncharacteristic of Zekram. The butler who had been serving him for almost two hundred years knew that the usual Zekram would go into a rage and kill everyone who was responsible for the failure and then think of a way to counterattack.
But now, even when it had been 30 minutes, Zekram seemed to be lost in thought. Had it not been for the faint sounds of breathing and occasional footsteps, the butler would seriously suspect that his master had been killed, and all this time, the one standing in front of him was a corpse.
But no matter what, the butler knew that whatever his master was thinking was definitely not something good. Especially for him.
The smart thing for him to do is get the hell out of here, but then again, when he is already inside the tiger's mouth, how could he escape so easily?
Just as the butler was imagining what sort of horrible way he would die, Zekram's voice suddenly sounded in his ears. And what he said surprised the butler greatly.
" Go and inform the shadow garden that I want a private meeting with Shaltier." Zekram's voice was calm, and there were no signs of anger or hatred at all.
" Yes, I will do that at once, master, " the butler bowed and left the room immediately. It was only after he left the room that he realized what had happened.
He had been able to walk out that door alive without receiving any punishment. The butler was so moved that tears came down uncontrollably on his face. Thankfully, he managed to get himself together.
After wiping away his tears and snot, he calmed himself down and went back to his job again. He knew even if he survived now, he should never let a situation like this happen again. Although today he was lucky enough to survive, who knew whether his luck would continue to save him the next day?
And just like that, Butler left to do his duties, not realizing that his presence had made him a legend amongst the servants of the Bael mansion for being able to live after failing a mission.
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After his servant left, Zekram Bael finally took his gaze away from the window. He calmly took a glass of wine and held it near his face.
" It seems even after all these years, I still can't do anything to your daughter, Azrael? But then again, she has the blood of His Majesty Lucifer. But I wonder how long would this protection last. The throne of the underworld has been empty for far too long. It is time for a Bael to finally sit on that throne". Zekram said as he crushed the glass with his hands.
" And when that happened, all you disgraces would be put in your place. The underworld can only be ruled by a devil. It was the same in the past and the same in the future, " he spoke as his Power of Destruction began to spread all over and destroy all the glass shards that were scattered around the room.
" A hybrid like your daughter would never be able to take the throne, " he muttered as he looked in one direction as if he was in conversation with someone there.
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" Mother, it's about time you stopped dodging the question. Tell me what happened in the past that Zekram would hold a grudge against me". Roxanne said with an annoyed face.
For the last few minutes, she had been trying to get her mother to fess up about her past history to understand what type of relationship she had with the devil ancestors. But unfortunately, her mother was very tight-lipped.
So finally, Roxanne completely lost it. I mean, come on, it's not like you had a crush on him and secretly married him before Dad, right? Oh, could that really be it?
Just as Roxanne's mind was coming up with various crazy possibilities, Azrael, who was silent all along, finally spoke.
" Do you really want to know?" Azrael asked as she looked at Roxanne. There was a complex look in her eyes that Roxanne didn't get.
Roxanne opened her mouth to say yes but paused after mid-sentence. Yes, why did she need to know this? Since Zekram decided to go against her, she should do what she always does. Crush all her enemies and make them feel despair.
It was such a simple thing. But why did Roxanne want to complicate things? After all, no matter what sort of friendship Zekram had in the past with her mother, it wouldn't matter for her. Roxanne wasn't one to show mercy to her enemies just because of them being old acquaintances.
This isn't like her at all.
'Ciel, run a full checkup up on my body,' Roxanne roared in her mind as her eyes began to grow very cold.
For someone like her to have her thinking changed so drastically, there is only one way for that to happen. That is, her mind was somehow influenced by a third party.
And what Roxanne hates more than anything is having someone manipulate her.
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