As I entered the reception room, I paused for a moment before continuing to walk.

Outwardly, my movements remained smooth, so no one would have noticed my slight hesitation.

But inwardly, I was quite surprised, because an unexpected face was before me.

‘Why are you here?’

The first emotion I felt was joy, followed by surprise.

Hair tied back in an unripe olive color, eyes of the same hue.

A stern expression at first glance, buttons done up to the neck. A monocle on one eye. And the specially made gloves always worn due to an innate obsession with cleanliness.

I wasn’t mistaken.

‘Faivel!’

An infamous sharp tongue even in hell. A genius of negotiation who never loses even a grain of barley.

Extremely sensitive about even a single coin, meticulously examining documents down to the last period to find errors, making subordinates tremble. The best middle manager.

The competent assistant that other elder sisters so coveted, and more!

And there he was, mixed in among the other assistant candidates before me.

‘Could he have come knowing it was me?’

Eager to speak with him, I conducted the individual interviews more briefly than originally planned. Then I kept only Faivel behind.

“My lord!”

As soon as the door closed and there were no more signs of people, Faivel ran towards me with a bright face, hopping excitedly.

He must have known it was me and come on purpose.

“I’ve come to serve you. You said you needed this Faivel, didn’t you?”

“My goodness. How did you…?”

“Your third elder sister gave me a hint.”

Faivel bowed elegantly in greeting.

I looked at him for a moment before finally pulling him into a tight embrace.

“It’s so good to see you here. I won’t forget your loyalty.”

Honestly, this was touching.

It’s been a few years since I disappeared, so my siblings are probably fighting over the territory I used to rule.

It couldn’t have been easy to leave that situation.

“In return, how about tripling your salary when you return to the demon realm?”

“Hearing you say that really makes me feel like I’ve met you again.”

Faivel grinned as he attempted to negotiate.

My subordinate, my assistant, who never hesitates to seek profit anytime, anywhere.

Seeing him made my heart feel fond…

“Or make me your concubine too.”

“You’re pushing it.”

Let’s cancel the fondness.

Still, it was touching.

“How is the current situation?”

“It’s chaos. Actually, because there’s no one with overwhelming magical power, the lowest level of hell still has no ruler. Because of that, even the administrative processing for souls that have atoned for their sins in the first stage has been paralyzed…”

Faivel shook his head as if it was giving him a headache.

“So to sum up, due to the absence of the master, the administrative processing got messed up and you just left it and ran?”

“Precisely!”

“Since you left, it must have all collapsed.”

“I don’t know what happened after I left.”

Faivel smiled like a snake.

In human world terms, it’s like over a dozen minor royals fighting for the throne. Since no one is overwhelmingly powerful, they’re all heading towards mutual destruction.

In that situation, a capable minister tried to maintain the foundations of the country, but eventually just went “Ah, forget it!” and abandoned everything…

“No matter who takes over, without me there, things won’t run properly.”

“How admirable.”

Faivel was a subordinate loyal only to me.

As far as I knew, there wasn’t any particularly grand reason… it was just because I was the master who trusted and let Faivel do whatever he wanted without interfering.

Since Faivel shines the most when allowed to do as he pleases, it seems that was quite moving for him.

If I were to give one more reason, Faivel enjoyed organizing the gold and treasures I brought back whenever I won a war.

Because only I could give him that pleasure, he followed me, and it’s been… over 700 years now.

“So, my lord. What is your goal?”

Though we hadn’t met for a few years, that’s only a long time by human standards.

Since it was common for us not to meet for 30 years or so when I went off to war, Faivel treated me very comfortably.

As if we had just met yesterday.

“Have you heard about the dagger?”

“Of course. The story of the Desert Emperor receiving a revelation and offering the dagger and his younger sibling to Empress Nix is all over the marketplace.”

At Faivel’s answer, I told him about my elder sisters’ story.

“Hmm. So you need to find someone suitable to love while also preparing for the possibility of not finding someone?”

“Yes, that’s about right. But I will find someone.”

“In that case, I think it would be better to have as many candidates as possible. Like… your fourth elder sister.”

“I was thinking of my fourth sister’s harem too.”

Sinful souls first had to be immersed in the boiling cauldron of the lowest level of hell that I ruled.

Then they would rise one level at a time, with the level I ruled called Sin, and my fourth sister’s level called Lust.

In the level of Lust, everyone learns about love.

They couldn’t rise higher without learning about love.

And my fourth sister would choose souls she liked from those who entered there, put them in her harem, and never let them go until she got bored.

“Let’s use the Lust level as a motif. How about… an Empress Concubine Selection Competition! What do you think?”

Faivel spread his arms wide.

“A concubine selection competition…”

“Your tastes are quite picky, my lord. Honestly, I wonder if we can find a man who perfectly matches your taste, but well. If we bring in enough candidates to fill an entire cruise ship, surely there will be someone among them?”

It’s not a bad idea.

In fact, it’s such a good idea that I wonder why I didn’t think of it before.

The problem is timing.

If I were confident I could meet someone, I could throw away everything as an empress and hold the selection competition right now.

If I fell in love at first sight, it wouldn’t take long to stab my heart.

But what if I don’t meet anyone?

“I haven’t completely pushed out Helene yet. If I hold something like that just when public opinion about the empress is starting to improve, it would surely damage my image again.”

“You want a compromise then.”

“This isn’t war, after all.”

In war, the basic principle is to leave nothing behind.

But in politics, you always need to prepare a place to return to, a corner to hide in, an escape route.

If I can’t become a demon. If I have to live as a human.

I would need to lead those under my protection and become emperor.

“Then how about 3 years? It would be best if you naturally fall in love with someone within 3 years, and if not, you can hold the concubine selection after expanding your power in 3 years.”

“Hooh.”

“Whether she’s a saint or whatever, she’s just a human after all. Three years seems like enough time to erase her presence.”

Faivel was confident.

Confident that he could remove any obstacles in my path within exactly 3 years.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

And I trusted Faivel completely.

“Ah, it’s fun starting everything anew, isn’t it? First, I’ll create an intelligence organization. Just provide the funds.”

“I’ll give you a blank check. Do as you see fit.”

“This is why I love you, my lord.”

“Love? Be careful not to let the emperor and crusaders find out you’re a demon.”

I brushed it off nonchalantly as I stood up.

The assistants I had already selected weren’t bad either, so if Faivel guides them well, they will become a formidable force.

‘I’ve gained military officials, and my original civil official has returned.’

With sufficient wealth and power, all that remained was justification.

The justification for why I must become emperor.

“By the way, my lord.”

At that moment, Faivel’s grin suddenly disappeared.

Unlike before, he lowered himself before me with a rather serious expression, and I too changed my gaze to a more serious one.

“I will split my magic core in half and give you the seed. Please use mine as a foundation to regain your original status.”

“!”

All living beings have souls dwelling within them. Those souls have grades and hierarchies.

With my position vacant, my brothers and sisters may fight over the throne, but it’s one of the laws of the demon realm that someone like Faivel, born to a lower rank, cannot interfere just because they are strong.

So it wasn’t strange for Faivel to offer half of his magic core to me, who had a higher soul rank than him, but it was touching.

You know what they say.

The one who reaches out when you’re in trouble is your true ally.

“I won’t forget your sacrifice.”

I took the dark red seed that Faivel tore from his own chest and moved it to my chest.

In just a year, this will take firm root and become my new magic core.

Of course, I’ll have to be much more careful around those with holy power, but it was worth the risk.

‘Ah, this feeling, it’s been a while.’

A sense of satisfaction spread like mist from deep within my soul.

As I stroked my chest in satisfaction, I held out my hand to Faivel.

“Thanks to you, I can reduce the time needed to build a foundation.”

“I don’t care whether you’re here or in the demon realm, my lord. Both seem fun to me. But I gave it to you because I want to see you freely using magic like before.”

After a year, just breaking the cores of monsters I hunt will allow magic to seep into the core.

If my Astaroth knights kill monsters and offer their cores to me, it means I can easily obtain magic without having to move this wretched body.

“I’d like to hunt monsters for you myself, but since I split my core to give to you, that’s too much… Is there perhaps a human who could hunt monsters for Her Majesty the Empress?”

Faivel gave me his magic core as if it were nothing, but in reality, it wasn’t an easy thing.

For humans, it would be like cutting a liver or lung in half and giving it away, so he needs time to recover. So I didn’t expect Faivel to be able to hunt monsters.

He wasn’t a combat agent to begin with.

That’s when it happened.

“Will that make you healthy?”