Bea and Pedro rushed to the underground dungeon as fast as they could. The two knew Eliza well; with her personality, there was not a shred of doubt that the unruly princess would make a mess of the situation, especially considering that Peter was still injured and likely unconscious.

It was that belief that helped them arrive at the scene in a blink of an eye. However, as soon as the two noticed that there were no signs of guards handling the place, their guts had already prepared themselves for the worst.

Eliza’s deafening scream into too fast of a muffle following suit had already explained to them everything they needed to know. Bea and Pedro exchanged a worried look for just a second before rushing into action.

“What is the meaning of this… Eliza!” The elder princess, upon seeing her sister in the arms of the boy she adored, gasped in horror. Of course, in a normal situation, the feeling that arose would be jealousy, but this was all but a normal situation. Instead, only worry and fear rushed into the future heir to the throne as her dear friend was a mere movement away from breaking her sister’s neck.

“Peter, what are you doing!?” Next to Bea, Pedro also exclaimed in horror. Like the princess, the dark-skinned attendant had also known Peter ever since his childhood. Even though the boy had his tendencies against the teachings of God, Pedro also knew that he only showed true disdain against the angels, not the practitioners of those beliefs. For him to act with this kind of violence was unheard of, and had it not been for him actually seeing the situation at hand with his own eyes, Pedro would have denied it with all his soul.

Nonetheless, the fact still remained: Peter was standing there in his underground cell holding a hostage. One wrong move, and a life could be lost.

Amidst the tension, only a single voice sounded in reply:

“What do you mean ‘what am I doing’? Isn’t it obvious?”

“Peter, calm down, and let’s talk things out…” Pedro raised his hand and took a step forward, trying to ease the situation. However, doing so only tightened Peter’s chokehold on Eliza, causing the young girl to yelp in pain and the dark-skinned boy to step back in fear.

“Peter!” Bea cried out, both angered and worried.

“Peter, please, listen to us!” Pedro continued. “It’s okay! No one’s gonna hurt you! Just… take things easy, and let Her… let Eliza go, okay?”

He had purposely hidden the fact that the girl Peter was holding was in fact another princess, in fear of losing even more ground on the ongoing negotiation. However, all of his painstaking calculations had gone to smoke with only a single sarcastic remark:

“It's a bit rude to address the young princess that way, don’t you think?”

“You…”

“Peter, then you know what she means to me, right?” This time, it was Bea that continued. “Let her go, lest you want to make me your enemy.”

Upon hearing her threat, the boy paused for a second in disbelief. But just as the two thought that they had finally convinced their friend to listen to reason, Peter laughed – the kind of shrewd, cunning laugh that was a mockery to their entire being.

“You don’t have the guts to,” the boy only answered as much, a smirk clearly shown on his face.

“Peter!” While Pedro shouted in anger, preparing to charge at his friend for his inhumane behavior, a sudden hand blocked him from moving a step forward.

“... Your Highness?” The dark-skinned boy uttered in shock as Bea was the one who moved before him.

Meanwhile, the princess’s brows furrowed as she asked the one question that had been on her mind since the beginning of their conversation.

“You… you’re not Peter, are you?”

Bea never lost her trust in Peter. Even when the truth was laid bare before her, the princess refused to believe it. And it was this stubborn trust that reminded her of one more possibility – the truth that only she was aware of.

In return, the boy’s lips curled to form a smile.

“I’ll let her go, you tell him to get her out, then we’ll talk.” He ordered.

“... Deal.” Nodded Bea.

“Your Highness!” Pedro cried out in protest. But all he received was a single shake of the head.

“Don’t worry about me,” Bea let out a light smile. “I’ll be fine. After all, I’m probably the strongest around here.”

There was a hint of arrogance in her words, but it was the truth. Though Pedro undoubtedly boasted the better physique, Bea was the only one in the cell who had mastery of magic, meaning that she had the best offense and defense against any kind of threat that could show up. Pedro was aware of this too, and so, the dark-skinned boy had no choice but to reluctantly nod:

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“... I understand.”

“Good,” Peter nodded as well, finally letting go of his hold against Eliza and pushing the young girl towards Pedro. “Now get out of here.”

The young girl, finally free from the perpetrator, gasped as her body quivered in fear. Pedro could only pat her gently on the back as a consolation and took her out of the prison cell, but not before throwing Peter a look of contempt.

Once the two disappeared from the scene, the boy asked with a grin.

“How did you know?”

“You didn’t call either of us by our names ever since we arrived,” Bea answered, her eyes now cold as ice. “You don’t know, do you?”

“You overestimate yourself quite a bit, little Princess,” “Peter” chuckled. “I know what I need to know, and I can say with confidence that I know you two, Beatrice Bedryant, First Princess of Britain… Oh, or should I call you ‘Bea’ instead?”

“Then why…”

“Did you really think I’d made a mistake as simple as that? It was a hint I purposely threw for you, Princess.”

Bea could only grit her teeth in anger. Even the clue that she had picked up, all of it was just a ruse; a carefully laid-out trap that the being in front of her purposely showed them. And not only did she still take the bait, she even called it out in pride as if she was the one who caused it to slip up.

“Where’s Peter then?” She seethed.

The one facing her, on the other hand, was absolutely enjoying every moment of the situation.

“The boy is still in here.” Revealing the glimmering amber cross in his hand, “Peter” grinned. “Right now, he’s wandering inside the cross’s dimension fulfilling our contract.”

“I knew it. You’re…”

“Oh, of course. Where are my manners?” Lightly bowing in a taunting manner, “Peter” continued. “The name’s Balam, Demon that governs the earth. Pleased to make your acquaintance, wretched spawn of Bedryant.”

“Give Peter his body back.”

“I believe you’re misunderstanding something, lady. I’m not taking his body at all, or at least, not in the way that you think I am. This is only temporary at best; I’m only barely maintaining a consciousness as we speak. After this conversation of ours, he’ll be back as good as new, so don’t you worry your cute little head, my dear Princess.”

“And why should I trust you?” Bea clenched her fists.

“Do you have a choice?” Smirked Balam. “You might talk big about having magic, but remember; this hostage situation is much harder for you, isn’t it?”

It was a blatant mockery thrown at her, saying that Bea cared more about Peter than her own sister. And yet, the princess couldn’t retaliate. She knew that it was true – even if it was for a moment, she really believed that Eliza could be someone she could sacrifice, but not Peter. And because of it, she could only let out a sigh of defeat and raised her hand in the air:

“Fine, you got me. What do you want, Demon?”

“Simple; to destroy the reign over humanity that your beloved God had created.”

“And that is related to us how?”

“The boy is a chosen one; surely you’ve heard the prophecy from your lineage, right?”

“I’ve just learned about it recently,” answered Bea. “But what about us?”

“Oh, please. As if you don’t know about your own forefather.”

“I hate to break it to you, but He’s not someone you can just summon on a whim,” a smirk now formed on Bea’s face. “Archangel Michael isn’t someone that will bat an eye to a few hostages, even if it’s his own flesh and blood.”

“Ah, yes, that fool and his so-called ‘perfect justice’.” Chuckled Balam. “But I don’t need him to come anyway. Imagine, he finally returns home after who knows how long… only to see everything that he holds dear destroyed. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“... You sick bastard.”

Bea couldn’t help but shudder when she saw the sheer ecstasy on the demon borrowing Peter’s appearance when he spoke of her clan’s destruction. However, the fear only lasted a second before his face soon lost all sense of hostility, replaced quickly by a joking expression:

“... I kid, I kid,” the demon waved his hands in jest. “Even I have standards, you know. After all, I also helped build this land, so it would be a shame if I were to break it myself.”

Pausing for a moment, as if to revel in seeing Bea’s distressed face, Balam continued.

“Okay, that’s enough horsing around. What I want is simple: help us get out of this place.”

“The prison?”

“Britain.”

“Why?”

“To look for my kin, what else? I couldn’t care less about your family if I have to be honest. You lot are rotten to the core; dealing with one of you is hard work enough already.”

“Then you should have stayed put,” Bea scoffed. “I’m going to free Peter in three days anyway.”

“And how do you plan to do that, Your Highness?”

“There will be a trial for him. I’ll defend him to rid his crimes, and once he’s let go, you’re free to convince him to follow you around. If you can, that is.”

Her stance was clear: Balam was never needed. After Peter was free, he’d have no reason to keep the demon around anymore. He could return to his old, mundane life, or even better – live out his new life here, right in the capital, along with her. Such was her trust in Peter, an unwavering belief that she was the most important piece that he cared about.

Faced with such conviction, Balam… laughed. It wasn’t a laugh of malice, but a laugh of sheer amusement, as if the demon couldn’t bear to see such stupidity in his entire eternal life.

“Did you really think that you’re so important to him?” Wiping off his tears of comedic joy, the demon asked. “And even if that was true, did you honestly think that you can free him through just a trial?”

“It was a promise between me and the current Queen,” Bea answered with confidence. “If I am to be a true ruler, there’s no doubt that I will fulfill that promise.”

“Ah, yes, your clan’s so-called ‘quality of a ruler’. As if that thing isn’t rigged from the start.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly that, girl.” The demon scoffed. “Use your head for a second: did you truly expect that this so-called trial will be fair for you? When the boy bears the chosen name? When both of your families have been at each other’s throats since the dawn of time?”

“But…”

“Remember this, Princess: for you Bedryants, ‘justice’ is just whatever you feel is right. In order to impose that ‘right’ on others, you’d stoop to no end. Going into anything organized by your clan expecting fairness is akin to expecting a fish to climb a tree.”

“You… You’re wrong.” Bea could only shake her head in denial.

As if waiting for this moment, Balam let out a grin, raising his hand forward to offer a shake. “Then let’s make a bet of our own, Princess. I promise to stay quiet from now until the end of the trial. You won’t be seeing me causing any trouble during this time. However, as soon as the trial is deemed to be rigged, we get to go wild, and you won’t have any complaints. Deal?”

“... Deal.”

All her life, Bea was taught to never make a deal with a demon. However, right now, it was her belief that was on the line, and she wasn’t about to let anyone trample on it, demon be damned. If this was what she needed, then she’d happily accept it, all to bring back Peter’s freedom through her own hands.