[Location: Astaroth territory, The Underworld]
Zyel and his demoness wife, Amelia Astaroth, walked along the immense walls of the castle.
It had the appearance of a Victorian structure, though in truth it felt more like a modern interpretation of one.
The castle was vast, as if dozens of separate fortresses had been fused into a single grand structure.
Every room stretched to the size of a tennis court.
Despite its gothic Victorian foundation, the interior had been redesigned with modern aesthetics.
The walls carried elegant, royal colors while preserving their dark, classical charm.
Advanced lighting, electricity, air conditioning, fully equipped bathrooms, elevators, and even security systems had been seamlessly integrated throughout.
The result was a place that looked as though a modern architect had recreated a Victorian castle without abandoning its original spirit.
Amelia guided Zyel through the halls, leading him in seemingly random directions as she gave him a tour.
The castle stood within the territory of the Astaroth Household.
In the underworld, each household governed its own domain.
These territories functioned much like states within a nation, with each household head acting as both noble and ruler.
The underworld itself operated under a strict hierarchical monarchy.
At the very top was the king, the ultimate authority, who held the title of the Original Sin.
This position represented the highest power in the entire underworld.
Beneath the Original Sin stood the Four Knights of the Apocalypse. Known as Conquest, War, Famine, and Death, they possessed absolute authority second only to the king, answering to no one else.
Below them were the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth.
Though their influence and strength rivaled that of the Knights, their rank placed them just beneath them in the hierarchy.
None of these titles was passed down through bloodlines. Strength alone determined succession.
Any demon could claim a position by defeating its current holder in battle.
As for the household heads, they functioned as nobility, each one ruling over their respective territory with authority and autonomy.
Unlike the Original Sin, the Four Knights, and the Seven Sins, household titles weren't just handed out, they were bred into existence, passed down through bloodlines like something inevitable.
Amelia casually mentioned that her mother was the current head of the Astaroth Household, as if that alone didn't carry enough weight to crush someone.
"So you guys are nobles, huh?" Zyel asked, glancing at the woman glued to his side, her grip on his arm just a little too tight to be normal.
"Yeah... my mother could fight one of the Seven Deadly Sins if she felt like it. She just doesn't care," Amelia said with a shrug. "Influence, wealth, status, nobles, Sins, Knights... it's all the same at that level. The only ones who obsess over titles are demons desperate for power."
She let out a quiet scoff. "My mother is just a lazy old hag. Fighting? Not her thing. She eats, sleeps, wastes time, does absolutely nothing useful... and somehow she's still as strong as the Seven Deadly Sins. Ridiculous, right? She's perfectly fine staying a noble. A proud one, unfortunately."
Her tone shifted, something sharper creeping in.
Her expression tightened, worry laced with irritation. "That's why I'm concerned about what she might do to you. There's no way she'd accept a reincarnated lesser demon marrying her daughter."
"Don't worry... nothing's going to separate us. Not even your mother," Zyel said with a soft chuckle, the kind that tried a little too hard to sound confident. "We'll figure it out."
A few minutes later, they reached the kitchen.
It wasn't just a kitchen, it was massive, stretching out like a hall, filled with polished, modern equipment that gleamed under the light.
Two women moved about inside, dressed in those neat black and white maid outfits, skirts perfectly arranged, everything in place.
As if sensing their presence, the maids froze simultaneously before slowly turning toward Amelia and Zyel.
The moment their eyes fell on Zyel, they went completely still, stunned, as though they had witnessed something unnatural.
His beauty was so overwhelming that even demons like them could not ignore it.
An awkward silence filled the room as the two maids stared at him, their cheeks gradually turning red.
"Um... hello?" Zyel gave a small wave, pursing his lips.
He was fully aware of the effect his beauty had on them.
"Oi, you slutty maids... that's my husband. Stop fucking him with your eyes, or I'll gouge them out," Amelia snapped coldly, her eyes narrowing.
In the next moment, a faint heat radiated from her body, raising the temperature around her, while thick smoke began to curl from her hand as if it could ignite at any second.
"Calm down, honey. It's not their fault," Zyel said gently, patting her head.
Amelia, who stood at five feet nine inches, rested her head naturally against his shoulder, making it easy for him to comfort her.
That simple gesture was enough to calm her.
The anger in her expression faded, replaced by the soft look of a girl in love, and the temperature around her returned to normal.
"L-Lady Amelia... is he the husband you mentioned?" the maid with long brown hair and green eyes asked, pointing at Zyel while ignoring Amelia's earlier hostility.
"Yes, Leah. This is my husband," Amelia replied proudly.
She then gestured toward the brown-haired maid. "This is Leah. She's my personal maid."
Next, she pointed at the other maid, who had short, curly black hair, black eyes, pale skin, and delicate Asian features. "This is Yui. She serves Aria."
"I see... personal maids," Zyel said, turning toward them. "I'm Zyel Vazareth, a reincarnated demon. Nice to meet you."
"W-We are pleased to meet you... Master Zyel," the maids said together, bowing politely, their flushed faces revealing their fascination with him.
"My mother also has a personal maid named Mira. Along with her, Leah and Yui are the three head maids of the Astaroth Household," Amelia explained. "All nobles have personal attendants, but you don't need one. I'm more than enough for you."
"Anyway, could you prepare something for us to eat? My darling is exhausted. His transformation into a demon is still ongoing, so he needs a lot of energy," Amelia instructed.
"A-At once, Lady Amelia."
The maids quickly got to work, almost as if they could not bear to keep looking at Zyel any longer.
"Heh... cute maids," Zyel murmured, like he had just tossed out a harmless thought without a care in the world.
They heard him.
Of course they did.
Their blush didn't just deepen, it spread, crawling up their faces as their hearts started pounding like they had been personally chosen by fate itself.
"Is that so..." Amelia's voice slipped out low and wrong, like something coiling beneath the surface.
"Then I suppose we'll need new maids... because I'm going to kill these ones."
She smiled, not sweetly, not kindly, just enough to make it clear she meant it.
"Amelia, that's not happening," Zyel said, his tone flattening instantly, the air around him sharpening. "You don't get to kill every woman who looks at me. Especially the ones affiliated with us."
She froze.
Not because she wanted to listen, but because she felt it through their soul connection. That line he drew. That quiet, unmovable refusal threading through their bond.
"Fine..." she dragged the word out, lips curling into a sulk. "Then can I at least torture them?"
"No."
"...Tch."
She mumbled something bitter and incoherent, tightening her grip on his arm like she was claiming territory, burying her face into him as if that alone would erase the problem.
"Um... Lady Amelia..." Leah's voice wavered, though her eyes betrayed her, drifting right back to Zyel like she couldn't help it. "...does Lady Alisha know about your marriage? To... someone like him?"
The way she said him made it sound like he wasn't entirely real.
"No, she doesn't," Amelia snapped, irritation bleeding through instantly. "Where is she anyway?"
"Lady Alisha went to the Asmodeus Household for a private meeting with Lady Asmodeus," Leah replied, hands moving carefully as she set down porcelain plates and gold utensils, like one wrong move might get her killed.
"Private meeting?" Amelia let out a dry, mocking laugh. "You mean drinking, eating, and fooling around with her friend? What about Aria? She's not home, is she?"
"It has been two days since Lady Aria returned home," Yui answered calmly.
Zyel tilted his head slightly. "Hey... does your sister know about us? She's pretty obsessed with me too, right?"
"No, she doesn't know about what happened to you, darling," Amelia replied immediately, too quickly, her smile stretching just a little too perfectly. "She's not getting you. Only I'm allowed to have you."
There it was again. Sweet on the surface. Rot underneath.
"She probably hasn't even realized what happened," Amelia continued with a soft snort. "That I turned you into a demon, dragged you into the underworld, and bound your soul to mine. She probably thinks you just... vanished."
Zyel's expression shifted. Not dramatic. Just enough.
"That's not good."
The words landed heavier than expected.
"We need to find her."
Amelia waved her hand lazily, like the entire situation bored her. "Relax. She can take care of herself."
"Amelia."
That was all he said, but it was enough to make her glance at him.
"She's your sister. And my sister-in-law. Someone who's been obsessed with me for years doesn't just walk away from something like this. If she thinks I disappeared... she might break."
He meant it.
Not lightly, not vaguely.
He knew exactly what kind of obsession that was.
The kind that doesn't fade, doesn't loosen its grip.
The kind that twists.
If the center of it suddenly vanished, who knew what it would turn into, what she would turn into.
"We're going to the human world," Zyel said, already on his feet, already pulling Amelia with him like the choice had been made long before either of them spoke. "We find her before she does something reckless."
Amelia clicked her tongue. Irritated. Resistant. Still moving anyway.
"Fine..." she muttered, glaring off somewhere that wasn't him. "We'll go."
Because she knew.
Once he decided something like this, it wasn't a suggestion.
It was already happening.