Watching the bustle before it, the Upper Evil Spirit sat silently on the throne, counting down the time.
It did not mind the commotion.
In fact, in a certain sense, it quite enjoyed it.
This was the Upper Evil Spirit's first time attending a gathering as a king. Being the focus of attention, admiration, and respect felt wonderfully fresh. Normally, it was either beheaded or dismembered, sometimes without even an intact corpse left behind. When had it ever enjoyed treatment like this?
It would have been even better without the task waiting for it.
Thinking of everything it might have to face next, the Upper Evil Spirit felt troubled.
It could not help sighing.
Why couldn't it create a double?
If it could split itself in two, sending its double off to work while it stayed here to rest and enjoy the splendor a king deserved, how wonderful would that be?
"Your Majesty."
The voice of the courtier beside it rang out.
The Upper Evil Spirit turned to look at Monte's ingratiating smile.
"His Highness simply hasn't adjusted yet. Everything will get better with time."
Monte offered this comfort with his eyes wide open to the lie-time was powerless against emotional knots. Most of the time, when people claimed that time had untangled one, it was merely a helpless reflection made after time had worn someone's life down to its end. Usually, it was nothing more than a way to label themselves as someone who "let things go."
After all, holding a grudge against the dead would make one look ineffectual.
But the living?
They remained as hard and unyielding as cast iron and steel.
Naturally, this displeased Marquis Walton.
After glaring at the notorious sycophant, the old marquis spoke solemnly.
"Your Majesty, His Highness has a knot in his