Chapter 490: New Concubine

The next morning, Loth’s eyes opened lazily, her vision still hazy as pale morning light washed across the room. For several seconds, she remained still beneath the sheets, trying to remember where she was, but the familiar scent of freshly prepared food reached her nose before her memories fully returned.

Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, and coffee filled the room with an aroma so ordinary that it felt strangely out of place after the horrors of the previous night. Loth slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, only to find Damian seated several meters away with one leg crossed over the other, reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee in one hand. A half eaten plate of eggs and sausages rested on the table before him while Rin sat nearby with his own portion, happily munching away without the slightest concern for manners.

Abel remained draped around Damian’s neck in the form of a black scarf, although his tiny dragon head had emerged from the fur as he silently read the newspaper alongside his master.

Damian briefly lowered the paper and glanced toward Loth, his expression calm and almost gentle. He pointed toward an untouched plate placed beside an empty sofa before returning his attention to the newspaper.

"Come and have breakfast," he said with a warm smile that looked completely different from the vicious expression she had seen on his face yesterday.

Loth slowly nodded, but the confusion in her eyes was impossible to hide. She lowered her gaze toward herself and froze when she realized she was wearing one of Damian’s oversized nightshirts.

The realization made her quickly raise her head, but Damian had already returned to reading as if nothing about the situation was unusual. Her face became slightly red as she instinctively pulled the clothing closer around herself, wondering when she had been changed and whether anyone else had seen her in this state.

"Every new article is making you out to be the bad guy," Rin remarked casually despite not looking directly at the newspaper.

He did not need to. Through his connection with Damian, he could see everything his master saw.

"I am the bad guy," Damian responded dryly, taking a slow sip from his coffee.

Abel nodded firmly at those words. As far as the Abyssal spirit beast was concerned, there was no reason to deny reality. Damian intended to kill the remaining princes, seize their sins, unite all seven deadly powers beneath his banner, and eventually challenge the heavens themselves. There was no version of that story where the man at the center of it would be viewed as a hero by those standing against him.

"Well, I’m sure the publishers don’t know that," Rin chuckled lightly as he continued eating. "They think they’re running a smear campaign against your name, but they’re really just stating the obvious. They simply haven’t realized it yet."

Damian merely shrugged indifferently. What publishing companies from distant realms said about him had little importance. He had spent enough of his life worrying about what other people thought of his actions. If the universe wanted to paint him as a monster, then it could do so. He had more pressing matters than convincing strangers that he was a good person.

Loth finally climbed out of bed and slowly walked toward the chair opposite Damian where her food had been placed. She sat down carefully, keeping her movements restrained as if she still expected someone to suddenly enter and remind her that she did not belong there. Her eyes shifted from the food to Damian before settling on the cup of coffee placed beside her plate. She stared at it with obvious uncertainty, and Damian noticed immediately.

"You don’t drink coffee?" His voice made her flinch.

"No... Yes... I’m not sure," Loth answered nervously before lowering her head. "I have prefer warm milk."

She was struggling to understand the situation. She might have become Damian’s personal attendant, but she was still an attendant. She was a lesser demon. She was not supposed to wear his clothes, sleep in his room, or sit across from him eating breakfast as if they were equals. If the wrong people saw her, they would certainly have something to say about it, and before yesterday, she would have expected to be punished for overstepping her station.

Damian calmly lowered his newspaper again. "You are no longer my attendant if that bothers you," he said before taking another sip from his coffee. "You are now Loth Hill, fourth concubine of the next Demon Lord. Call in some attendants to serve you properly."

The words struck her so suddenly that Loth forgot how to breathe for a moment. She stared at him in complete disbelief, but Damian had already raised the newspaper over his face again as if he had merely commented on the weather. His next words, however, made her expression change completely.

"Also, your brother will be avenged in two months when Hagrid comes here with the Prince of Greed to steal my throne," Damian continued calmly. "You won’t have to wait much longer."

Loth’s eyes widened. Her lips parted, but no words came out. Just yesterday, Damian had personally overseen the deaths of more than fifty thousand demons. Now, the same man was casually elevating her from a personal attendant to his concubine and promising that the man responsible for her brother’s death would soon walk directly into his hands. She could not tell whether Damian simply enjoyed causing chaos in Velmora or whether the entire realm had become too small to contain the madness surrounding him.

Before she could gather herself enough to respond, a knock came from the door.

"Knock! Knock!"

"Babe..." Hazel’s voice sounded from outside, and Loth immediately froze. Her heart began beating twice as fast.

"Come in," Damian answered indifferently.

The door opened, and Hazel entered alongside Ruby and Racheal. Their expressions were initially nervous, clearly aware that their relationship with Damian had become strained since the previous night, but the moment their eyes landed on Loth, their hesitation turned into shock. That shock quickly gave way to visible anger when they noticed what Loth was wearing and where she was sitting.

Damian slowly turned his head toward them.

The moment his black eyes settled on their faces, a shiver ran down all three women. The anger disappeared almost immediately.

"If you have something to say, say it," Damian said coldly.

The three girls exchanged brief glances before nodding quickly. Their eyes still occasionally drifted toward Loth, but none of them dared address her directly.

"There was a coup in Cinderfall," Racheal spoke first. "It was carried out by the Demigod Fulgur and approximately sixty thousand soldiers from Cinderfall."

Damian did not react immediately. He simply lowered the newspaper slightly and stared ahead, allowing the name to settle in his mind. A few seconds later, his gaze gradually sharpened as recognition finally appeared on his face.

"Is he?" Damian muttered.

Racheal nodded firmly. "He is the dragon from the Prince of Wrath’s inner circle whom you tried to recruit on Earth."

Damian’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. The image of the silver dragon immediately returned to his mind. Fulgur had been one of the few enemies on Earth who had left a lasting impression on him. Their encounter had not ended in friendship, but neither had it ended in the kind of hatred that made reconciliation impossible. Damian had offered him a place at his side if he ever chose to leave Kaizer, although he had not expected the opportunity to arrive this quickly.

He calmly folded the newspaper and placed it beside his plate.

"Did he win?" Damian asked.

The three girls shook their heads, and Hazel released a quiet sigh.

"From what we heard, the battle lasted through the entire night," Hazel explained. "Fulgur and his forces managed to injure Wrath deeply, and they even killed several of his ministers. But eventually, they were overwhelmed by Wrath and his other demigod allies who also serve in his inner circle."

Ruby immediately stepped forward, sensing that the information she was about to give could change Damian’s reaction.

"But Fulgur’s body has not been recovered," she said quickly. "We have reason to believe he escaped the capital. If he survived, he is most likely wounded and attempting to escape the realm. If our people move quickly enough, we may still be able to save him."

The three women had deliberately brought the information to Damian themselves. They remembered how his encounter with Fulgur on Earth had ended and how Damian had openly told the dragon that there would always be a place for him if he ever changed his mind. They hoped that bringing him an opportunity to recruit someone as formidable as Fulgur would help repair some of the damage caused by their disagreement with him.

"I see..." Damian muttered thoughtfully as his gaze shifted toward the half empty plates on the table.

This was an opportunity. Fulgur was powerful, experienced, and wise. However, there was one major problem. Saving him meant entering Cinderfall itself.

Damian leaned back slightly, his fingers tapping against the armrest of his chair as he considered the situation. If Wrath’s forces were already searching for Fulgur, then sending ordinary spies might be too slow. Every minute mattered, especially if the dragon was severely injured. Damian finally raised his eyes.

"Have William make preparations," he ordered. "I will be heading to Cinderfall myself to pull him out."

The faces of Hazel, Ruby, and Racheal immediately turned pale.

They had expected Damian to order his intelligence network into action. They had even hoped he would allow them to send their own people to locate Fulgur and extract him quietly. None of them expected him to personally enter the territory of the Prince of Wrath, especially when Kaizer had just suffered humiliation at Damian’s hands and would likely be more unstable than ever.

"But it’s too dangerous," Hazel argued quickly. "The Gate Stone leading out of the realm has been blocked by Wrath’s army. It will be difficult for a prince to enter Cinderfall without being noticed."

Damian casually shrugged off her concerns.

"The dragon is badly injured, correct?" he asked without looking at them.

The three women nodded but Ruby stepped forward regardless. "We can send spies ahead. We can locate him first and guide you there. If Kaizer discovers that you entered Cinderfall while he is already furious with you, the situation could escalate into another war."

Damian finally looked directly at her, and Ruby immediately stopped speaking.

"Have William prepare a carriage for me and make sure no one knows of my plans," Damian said again. "I’ll be back before the day of the execution."

The firmness in his voice made it clear that this was not a discussion.

Hazel slowly clenched her fists while Racheal lowered her head. Ruby looked as though she wanted to continue arguing, but none of them moved.

Damian picked up his coffee again and took a slow sip, his expression completely calm despite the fact that he had just decided to enter the territory of one of the most dangerous beings in the Underworld.

"Now," he said casually, glancing toward Loth, whose food remained almost untouched, "eat your breakfast before it gets cold. We have a busy day ahead of us."