His intention was so obvious that it made me embarrassed.

“It seems unlikely that I’ll get an audience this week.”

“Then where are you staying now? If you don’t mind, why not stay at our mansion with your companions? You must all be exhausted from the long journey, and you need to rest.”

Gined hesitated for a moment before accepting my offer.

It goes without saying that my parents were delighted to have the former leader of the Holy Knight Order and the current Prince of Freyr visit.

After arriving at the mansion, I led Gined to the study.

“You’re quite lucky. You arrived at a very opportune time. We have someone who can help us.”

Though I wasn’t sure if Gined would be pleased with him.

“Who is it?”

Instead of answering, I rang a bell.

Soon after, Michalis entered the study.

“You called, miss?”

“Is this the person…?”

Recognizing Michalis, Gined looked startled.

His gentle expression quickly turned sharp, reverting to the person I originally knew. Even though he was no longer a priest, he still seemed to harbor hostility towards vampires.

‘Well, who would find vampires friendly, anyway?’

“Oh, look who it is. No wonder Janet abandoned her prey and ran away. She must have seen our prince!”

Michalis exclaimed frivolously, his red eyes gleaming with excitement and anticipation.

“So, what trouble has arisen this time, Lou?”

Watching him deliberately draw out my name made me feel a sense of self-loathing, knowing I had no choice but to rely on Michalis.

It seemed Gined felt the same way.

However, the composed Gined didn’t show it. Instead, he calmly handed the paper with the ancient words to Michalis.

“Do you know how to read this?”

“Oh, let’s see. Of course. This was a guy who was quite active when I was born. He was very proud of his muscles and often behaved as if his brain was made of muscles too. To others, he was just an obnoxious muscle pig…”

“So, what’s his name?”

[Hagenti.]

Michalis whispered the name as if he was casting an evil spell.

“Hage-”

I almost repeated it unconsciously but quickly shut my mouth. A demon’s name was the most powerful spell binding it, so it should not be uttered carelessly.

Fortunately, Michalis’s explanation jogged my memory of hearing that name before.

“I think I heard it while in the Underworld. Isn’t that demon the one who was a manager in the Underworld a long time ago and was corrupted and banished to hell?”

“That’s right. But he was so powerful that he somehow managed to escape from hell.”

“He’s a much greater demon than I expected. This is serious.”

Gined’s face grew even more serious.

“Why?”

“In fact, we suspect that the demon has infiltrated the imperial palace.”

“What? The imperial palace? Why do you think that?”

I didn’t know how powerful the demon was, but he was certainly out of his mind.

What kind of demon would voluntarily go to the palace where the descendants of the Sun God resided?

“The reason is simple. Despite searching all over Arcadia, we couldn’t find him. The only place we haven’t searched is the imperial palace.”

“There’s a saying that the darkest place is under the lamp. He must be trying to exploit that.”

“But how can we search the palace without permission to enter…”

“Don’t worry. Pinion isn’t completely foolish, so he won’t just sit and watch.”

While we were talking, someone from the family family suddenly arrived. Somehow, they knew and came straight for Gined.

“Thank you for waiting, Prince of Freyr. His Majesty the Emperor orders you to enter the palace immediately.”

“What, at this hour?”

It was indeed welcome news. But it was already dusk, and nearly midnight.

“It seems your presence at this mansion was quite unsettling.”

Michalis chuckled.

“I’ll go with you.”

Judging that the Emperor wouldn’t have anything nice to say to Gined, I decided to accompany him to the palace.

Seeing me enter the palace with Gined, Pinion raised an eyebrow in disapproval. However, he didn’t say anything.

Even though Gined greeted him with perfect etiquette, Pinion barely nodded in response. After hearing the situation, he openly expressed his annoyance.

“You want to search the people entering and leaving the palace? Are you out of your mind?”

I felt embarrassed just listening to Pinion’s sharp reaction.

But I could understand Pinion’s reaction.

Most of the people entering and leaving the palace were prominent nobles or priests, and even those without high status were outstanding figures in their fields. Before Pinion could criticize Gined further, I hurriedly intervened.

“There’s no need for a thorough investigation. Just by watching, we can tell if someone is a demon or not.”

“I have neither the obligation nor the reason to permit that. Finding the demon is something the imperial staff can handle, and the Kingdom of Freyr should focus on compensating the Empire for the damages caused.”

“There’s no need to deploy imperial staff. Just allow me to assist Gined personally.”

“I do not permit it.”

“Why not?”

“Do I need a reason? As long as you set foot on this land, you are my subject, and you must follow my orders.”

Pinion’s overstepping statement made me tremble with anger.

“You’ll regret those words someday. No matter how much of an imperial you are, you can’t stay on this earth forever.”

“I’ll think about that when the time comes.”

‘When you come to the Underworld, you won’t even be able to look me in the eye…’

When that day came, I intended to personally throw him into hell. But now was not the time. I took a deep breath to calm my anger.

“But you know that Gined and I can handle this faster. Dragging it out will only worsen the situation. Who knows what harm the demon might cause. And as the Queen of the Underworld, I have the right to punish those associated with it.”

Only then did Pinion reluctantly grant permission.

“Since Lou insists, I have no choice. But you will pay dearly for this.”

“I understand.”

As we left the palace, I cautiously spoke to Gined.

“I apologize on behalf of His Majesty’s remarks. I’m sorry, Gined.”

“It’s fine. And His Majesty’s words weren’t entirely wrong. This isn’t your responsibility, so you have no obligation to help me. I’m just sorry that I can’t refuse your help.”

“No, this is my responsibility too. As I said earlier, I am the Queen of the Underworld.”

The former male leads no longer wielded the same power as before. Gined no longer had loyal subordinates, and Pinion, now Emperor, couldn’t abandon his duties to hunt demons. Iscallion, who had barely survived after being critically injured, was out of the question.

In other words, it meant that no one else but me could handle this matter.

“But how are we supposed to find Hagenti…?”

Summoned transcendents usually stayed close to their summoners, but in this case, all the mages were dead, making his whereabouts unclear.

Once again, Michalis provided the answer.

“Demons are essentially beings of hell, so you should be able to find him. After all, you’re the Queen of the Underworld, aren’t you? Use your intuition.”

Although it was a vague and uncertain piece of advice, I had no other ideas, so I decided to try anything.

I practically camped out in the imperial palace, searching for any trace of Hagenti.

But days passed without any results.

One day, while wasting time, I suddenly smelled a very familiar and foul odor without any warning. It was the smell of sulfur that pierced my nose whenever I got close to hell.

And that smell was coming from the Emperor.

“Huh…?”

I grabbed him by the collar and sniffed like a dog.

“Why do you smell like sulfur, Your Majesty? Could it be…?”

“What are you talking about? Are you suspecting me?”

Well, the smell was too faint to accuse him of being a demon.

“But if it’s strong enough to linger, then the demon must be near you, Your Majesty. Do you remember who you met today?”

“I met countless people. At least a hundred attendants passed by. Notable figures include your Father, Duke of Dronay, and Roengreen. And…”

“Ugh, got it. Now, could you please step away? The sulfur smell is overwhelming.”

“You grab my collar without warning and now you’re telling me to get lost? Do you have no awareness that I am the Emperor?”