>> Castle of the Tophet Kingdom:

At the same time, Abigor walks briskly towards the chamber of the Queen, when a sudden light beamed over the window.

She suddenly jolts out of surprise and wonder from what happens and took a peek to see what happened.

Her eyes then widely opens, and runs forward to see attend the Queen from her chambers. In a dash speed of running, she lifts the skirt hindering her feet.

Reaching the chamber of the Queen, she suddenly enters inside. The other servants attending her as Abigor gasped out.

“Why in a rush, Abigor...?” Astarte uttered calmly. Standing in front of the body mirror, she looked at the frustrated attendant on the reflection.

The attendant takes a time to breathe an air and look at the Queen. “Your Majesty...” she mumbled.

“Why...?” she asked. “The Magistrate, the mages... they summoned a mortal...”

Astarte quickly turns her head to look at Abigor as she heard the news. Her face show astonishment from what the attendant said. “... There’s a mortal... a human in our Kingdom, Your Majesty!”

“Your Highness...” one from the servant called out. She holds the hand of the Queen as Astarte look at it. Attaching to her pinky finger is the red string that lurks further not far from here.

“... What...?” Abigor uttered. Her eyes shunned from the attached red string, luring from somewhere. Astarte’s chest quivers, for some reason, and remembered the dream she has been seeing every night.

“It’s him; the one who I’ve been waiting...”

Her surprised expression turns soft; Abigor haven’t seen that looks on her master’s face since the time the previous Queen passed away. Without waiting for another moment, Astarte walked briskly away from her servants.

“Your Highness!” Abigor follows her with quick pace.

Astarte’s face flushed out. Her chest thumps like a beat of drum while walking briskly toward the place where the Magistrate is.

“Wait for me, Your Highness! Please, Your Highness!” Abigor keeps her pace to follow the Queen. Without stopping, Astarte moves further in speed, passing every servants and guards standing.

On her eyes show the compassion and excitement towards seeing the person in her dreams.

“He’s here... I can finally meet him. I can finally meet, and face my King...”

Going downstairs, a trot sound heard in the staircases while holding the hem of her skirt. She then reaches the exit. “Open the door!” with a loud command, the guards standing follows the Queen.

Stepping outside of the castle, she rushes towards the place where the Magistrate is. Behind her are the servants and attendant who are in rush to follow.

With the sun reaching the zenith, so as the Tudor dress she wears glimmer. Her beauty lures over the sunshine. Botis notices the Queen approaching, so he commanded everyone to bow down.

They quickly followed as the Queen arrived together with her servants.

“Your Highness...” Botis greeted. Over where they standing in circled formation is the man sitting on the ground.

Astarte nods to the greeting of the Magistrate, as well as the mages beside him.

Then, her eyes meet the man sitting on the ground. His eyes quivers as tears welled over. His body frets out from fear, and his expression show grim.

“Who summoned this mortal...?” Astarte looked again at the Mages around. No one dares to speak among them. Even Beelzebub got frigid to answer.

“... It was Mage Beelzebub, Your Highness...” with her voice stuttering, Vangloria answered the question. Beelzebub twitches out from fear even more.

“Beelzebub, huh... From the Household of Gula, one of the great Mages who stands before the previous King against the Hero...?” Astarte looked around again to see where Beelzebub.

“Y-your Highness...” the young girl called. She frets even more the time their eyes meet. “Oh, you’re the one huh?”

On her mind, the Queen Astarte might bestow a punishment for a predicament happened today. This is a total fiasco to the history of Demon race.

“Stand up; I want to see your face...” Astarte commanded. Beelzebub twitches even more and reluctantly follows the Queen’s orders.

“I—-I will take full responsibility—-“

“.... I was waiting for this moment to meet my husband and King.”

Their thoughts both collide. Everyone from the field got astonished from the thoughts the Queen gave. “Huh?”

Astarte smiles at Beelzebub and walked forward to tap her shoulder. “You did a great job, Beelzebub from the Household of Gula. What you summoned is the future King of this Kingdom.”

Silence reigns in the surroundings at the declared words of the Queen. No one dares to say anything. And so, she faces the man who is still sitting on the ground and look directly to his eyes.

“Nice to meet you, my dear husband... I am the Queen of this Kingdom, the Demon Realm. My name’s Astarte...”

Her hand reaches to the man, who remained baffled from what happened.

♦ ♦ ♦

>> The last time I remember is that the train’s going to hit me.

It was all, and nothing more. Then, a crimson beam of light shines underneath me and a surging hot feeling wrapped on my finger.

Attaching to it is a red string connected somewhere far away. I don’t remember anything... even the pain that supposed to be wrapped around me right now.

The tolling sound of train coming forward, the last face I remember; Catherine’s grim smile...

And everything vanished.

From where I was through, an empty white void sucking me in. On that place is a person wearing a cloak and hood.

“... Greetings, Mr. Justine Flores... the man I choose to be with the Demon Queen of Tophet Kingdom.”

Its voice is unidentified. Seems like a mixture of microphone sound wave, echoing in different sound. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“I am the God of another world. You have been choose to see the future of the Demon Realm, to build a nation where every living things cohabitate together.”

It’s kind of ambiguous and I don’t understand. Why...? Of all people, why should I be the one who needs to drag into this stuff?

“The red string attached to your finger is the link to the fate of your Queen, Justine. You are the only man for her and nothing else. Should you defy your fate to be the next king, the predicament and oblivion of the Kingdom will befall...”

“Huh?” what? What it does supposed to mean? I mean, why is it placed in my hands? I don’t understand anything at all.

“You will understand soon enough. Your fate has been moving along since the day you were born. Your feelings only capable to love no one but the Queen herself...”

Its words gave a strong impact to me. “Your feelings only capable to love no one but the Queen herself...”

What the...? I was about to ask a question when that person suddenly disappeared like a mist. Its then, my body turns into small particles as I completely absorbed from somewhere.

The next thing I knew is a strong gust of wind and thick smoke surrounds my sight. Glowing crimson light still remains on the ground.

An image of a person behind the smoke suddenly appeared. As if there is still the train approaching, I covered myself to brace the impact.

One second, two seconds... three... four, five seconds, nothing happened.

As the smoke covering up thinned, a voice speaks in another language. I heard it’s a voice of a man. “Huh? Where is this place?” I asked.

Slowly lose my arms around, I look at the surroundings. An open sky and sun at its zenith; purplish azure sky filled with cotton-like figure clouds; a meadow, wide enough to gather thousands of people...

But what made bizarre is a girl standing before me. My body twitches out of surprise and wonder.

She looks like a human, but a pair of horns and crimson eyes gazing at me.

“Huh?” I uttered. Where am I? Where is this place? What am I doing here? In a sudden, a man, preferably in his 90’s approached to me. Wearing slovenly robe and hood hanging from the back, its pair of amber eyes scrutinized me.

My body got frigid; he also has horns plucked on his head, and quite bigger than the girl. He says something in another language I don’t understand.

“Uwaahh! Who are you! Don’t come near me! Stay away!” I screamed out of fear. The fellow people comes around me, their eyes show wonder and curiosity as they lay a gaze.

What are these people...?! I don’t know where I am. “Who are you!? Where am I!?” I grunted, still trembling with fear.

The old man fuzzes his brows up on my words. He seemed doesn’t understand what I’m saying, either. So he waves his hand around me, and an invisible barrier disappears.

“I knew it; a language wall defies understanding between the humans and Demons...” the old man speaks. Wait, did he say perhaps... Demons?

Eh, and I finally understand him. I finally understand his thoughts. “This is weird, a mage Demon capable of summoning a mortal. Kind of eccentric moment we have here, teacher Botis...”

A Demon... I didn’t hear it wrong; the man next to him says it is Demon.

“Well, that sure is odd. But you see the attached red string glowing on his pinky finger?” the old man, who called Botis speaks. His face shows grin while pointing on my finger.

“A red string...?” another person, now a girl with same features as the others comes forward. “An attachment located to the castle. A guest for our Queen...”

Huh? What...? What’s that supposed to mean. “You are the man bestowed by the Goddess Lenir to betrothed in marrying our ruler, the Demon Queen Astarte...”

I don’t understand. What? “Our future King...” Botis bow down to me. The two beside him looked at each other, and does the same thing.

“Wha—-what the!? Hey! Raise your heads up!”

I blurted out of surprise. The three followed immediately and look at me. “Uh... Seniors, I did fail... my attempt to take a familiar with me and...”

The one who stands before me is on the verge of breakdown. Tears welled on her eyes and her body frets out of fear. “No, take it easy! There’s an explanation to this... please calm down, okay?”

Another one comes over her aid. A guy, preferably in his 20’s, has a scruffy, crimson hair and azure eyes. Pair of horns upped on top of his forehead.

“But, but... Senior Mammon...!” the girl breaks her emotion and start wailing. Wait... she called the man ‘Mammon?’ eh...?

“Calm down, Beelzebub. It’s not your fault. And like what Magistrate Botis said, there’s a reason for this.”

What the...? What’s the meaning of this? Mammon, Beelzebub, Horns, Demons... Magistrate... Demon Queen. Eh?

“Am I in Hell?” I grunted. The people standing around then gazes at me the moment they heard it, as I look at them.

“What you mean, ‘Hell’? There isn’t a place like that.” The old man named Botis chide in. The two youngsters look at each other with questions on their eyes.

“But, but your names... Botis, Mammon, Beelzebub... those are the names of Demons. No way I’m in Hell!”

“Hey, did the Magistrate you’re not in Hell. I don’t know what you are saying at all. But I sense that there’s something that link between you and the Queen...”

From the crowd, a young girl appeared, preferably in her early 18’s walked forward. A purplish red hair glimmers under the sun, and pair of yellow color in slit shaped eyes gazes at me.

A fair complex of skin and risqué clothing; a shirt tied up on her ample breasts, and midriff shown. Her skirt is quite skimpy; any moment and I can see underneath.

She has slender legs in high leather booths and cloak on. “I’m Asmodeus from the House of Luxuria. One of the Mage next to the Queen...”

Huh? Asmdoeus? The Demon of Lust...? Eh?

“Tristitia here from the House of Acedia, but he’s kind of quiet so I’m the one introducing... Loth, his doll and familiar is here to talk to you...”

A kid, around 10 years old stands beside Asmodeus while holding a battered doll. “He’s a ventriloquist...” the guy with crimson hair speaks.

“I’m Mammon from the Household of Avaritia... and this girl here is Beelzebub from the Household of Gula...”

Introducing him and the girl crying, I nod reluctantly. And they said I am not in Hell? The heck!?

“And I’m Prida from the Household of Superbia.” Another girl bows to me with a smile. “Uh, you guys...?”

“Hmmm...? What is—-Oh, the Queen is approaching! Everyone, go bow when she comes over...!”

On distant, Botis looked out. He said the Queen is coming here? Eh...? What should I do?

A few minutes passed, a young woman appeared. Basking under the sun is her alluring beauty that captive my eyes.

A young woman in her 18’s or 19’s walking briskly forward to this place.

My eyes mesmerize for how beautiful she is. My heart quivers from her presence; I don’t know why. Then, the red string attaching to my finger becomes shorter.

Each distance we have, it shrinks further and further.

Another stepped and she got closer to me. Her eyes are sparkling like a gem. Its emerald color stuns me completely. A blonde hair, swaying the dance of gentle wind and bask under the sun.

Its radiance captive me; she is a beauty no one can ever compare with.

Her lips form a pretty and bright smile. Though, horns plucked out on her head, that doesn’t even bother how impeccable she is. My eyes can’t avert off of her.

I don’t know... but my heart beats like a drum. It thumps like crazy and I don’t understand. It’s my first time to see such beauty, and that made me murmur...

“You’re beautiful...” those are the words left in my mouth. Without me knowing fully what exactly my mind dictates now.

And at this certain moment, I meet the Demon Queen and change my life drastically on this world.