Strangely, none of the triplets were there to greet Maxence when he came back to the Citadel right after their failed attempt at hazing that led to an encounter with the angels. Their absence made everything peaceful for him, lessening the stress he initially thought he'd suffer upon coming back. The other demons who passed by all greeted him as usual, as if he had not just been running around escaping the House of Pandemonium and eventually turned into a demon as well.

So utterly strange, yet he enjoyed this kind of serenity.

Smug at the thought that the angels really did do something in order to pass disciplinary action on the triplets' abuse of their power, Maxence swaggered down the hall with a casual and easygoing air that he has never enjoyed feeling even once before while he was there. He was going to enjoy this while he still can because tomorrow, he will officially report for his duties and the triplets are definitely going to come for his ass.

After all, they are big on revenge. No punishment could ever hold down their tempers and grudges. He definitely has to prepare for their wrath.

"Brother Maxence! Brother Maxence!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, a swarm of miniature little monsters also known as the younger generation of demons came and crowded around Maxence. They're all clad in the red jersey uniform, signifying that they had just been from combat training. He liked being with the younger people of the Citadel since they did not hold prejudice against him like the others his age did. They even looked up to him a lot as a reliable senior despite initially not being a demon, so it's more comforting to be with them.

"Brother Maxence, there is something weird about you!" one child named Ai pointed out as she poked Maxence's side.

"Haven't you heard?" another named Francine chimed in as she smiled up proudly at Maxence. "Brother Maxence is now a full demon!"

Everyone gasped as greetings of congratulations followed after, hands coming up to pat Maxence while some were a bit too enthusiastic and he had to cough a bit.

"Watch your strength you little rascals, you're about to make my lungs fall out," Maxence chuckled heartily as he reached out and patted two random heads.

"You still look weak, Brother Maxence! You don't look like a demon at all!" a kid named Kris remarked, earning him a displeased slap to the back of the head from another.

"Watch your mouth!" the eldest kid, Xian, hissed at Kristian.

"Hey, do demons have to look a certain way?" Maxence teased Kristian, reaching out to pinch his nose. "I can look sickly but that isn't the identifying marker of my identity as a demon."

"I know that!" Kristian pouted. "What I really meant was that Brother Maxence looked weak but that only meant you shouldn't mess with him because he's actually a demon. Like a duality."

"You turned that around quite well, I’m not mad," Maxence laughed as he ruffled Kristian's hair.

"Of course! I know Brother Maxence is one of the best infernal demons out in this world!"

His heart couldn't take the purity of all these children that Maxence could only pat as many heads as he could to show his deep and utmost affection for them. It's really on sight – if anything happened to these kids, Maxence will not hesitate to kill whoever was responsible and then himself.

A kid named Gregory poked him from behind and loudly asked, "Brother Maxence! How did you become a demon?!"

The kids all stared up at him expectedly, wishing to hear the tale as well. They were probably expecting to hear a heroic tale of how their Brother Maxence was forced to succumb to Pandemonium in order to deal with hounds, coolly becoming a demon who easily dealt with all of them after his transformation.

The question made Maxence's heart ache, and he didn't know exactly how to tell them the whole actual story. He didn't know how to relate to them how he got his human friend into the trouble he was in which then led up to him eventually having to help her out by sacrificing his humanity. It's a traumatic experience for Maxence who would very much prefer forgetting about all of it and move on with life, but should he tell the youngsters that?

Maxence was internally struggling with himself about what to say when suddenly, everyone straightened up and behaved themselves, a strong turn from their initial rowdiness.

"Maxence, so you're awake now."

Turning around, Maxence smiled shyly when he saw that it was Xifeng, staring at him blankly before her eyes flitted over the children trying to hide away from her line of sight.

"You children have been bothering your Brother Maxence instead of proceeding to your next class?" Xifeng barked sternly, pointing accusingly at them. "Hurry up and be on your way! You are wasting time!"

Without bidding Maxence goodbye, the children scrambled away, afraid of being scolded even more by the strict and scholarly minster.

"Aunt Xifeng, they're the only ones friendly enough to talk to me and you really had to scare them away," Maxence chuckled dryly as he rubbed his arm. He suddenly couldn’t look at the minister in the eye, feeling ashamed of what he has done even though he knew he didn’t do anything wrong.

“I want to talk to you,” Xifeng said.

“Talk? Not punishment?” Maxence smiled tiredly.

“Talk,” she said as she turned around, leading the way.

Maxence was led into the very same room they talked in before he escaped. He felt defeated, coming back with Pandemonium completely taking hold of him. He felt bitter as he sat down, the delicious snacks laid out in front of him suddenly looking bland.

“Do you feel fine, Maxence? Did the twins hurt you too much?” Xifeng asked, genuinely worried. “The angels told me about what they did, and they are currently undergoing the appropriate punishment. They will reflect on what they did and they will never do it again.”

Maxence only laughed sardonically, knowing damn well they will never stop even with a heavy punishment. The only thing they will garner from the reflection of their actions is the fact they need to bring Maxence to a more secluded place and be more subtle.

“It’s alright Aunt Xifeng, everything is fine.”

“I know you’re not,” she said. “You’ve been forced into being a demon against your will after you've been struggling so hard to escape the other infernals from finding you.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Maxence said. “I’m just going to deal with it. Whatever I do, nothing will change. I’m still a demon.”

Xifeng stayed silent for a few moments. She sipped her tea, sighing heavily as she said, “I’m sorry.”

“You have done nothing wrong,” the younger mumbled. “I know you were just delivering what Dad wanted since he’s out of the city.”

“No, I’m sorry because of the fact that I couldn’t do anything to stop him even though I am the one who knew best of your feelings. It was all against what you wanted for your life yet I still helped force you to be one of us. You’ll never trust me again and I’m sorry.”

Maxence sighed. To be very honest, he did hate Xifeng for siding with those who wanted him to change. She was the person he trusted the most since she personally took care of him ever since he was young. Even when she was not really tender or very close to him, she still acted as a mother in the stead of his actual mother who has passed away too early.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” was what Maxence ended up saying again, not entirely ready to say that he forgave her.

Xifeng sighed again as she drank her tea. "Well this time, I want to talk to you about your duties. The Board of Infernal Duty wants you to be on the field."

"I can't say no, can I?" Maxence asked, uninterested as he ate one of the cakes on the table.

"Unfortunately…"

"Well so be it," Maxence smiled. "Make sure you remember the part of town that I am assigned to. If ever I don't come back, just know I fucked up and got killed."

"I know that's not going to happen," she said.

"Don't underestimate my negligence and incompetence, Aunt Xifeng," Maxence joked. "One of these days I might even accidentally throw myself on someone's blade."

"I'll personally hunt down your soul in the Chasm and rip it apart if you do that," the woman mindlessly said it as if it was just a joke and yet, Maxence felt chills run down his spine because he knew someone as powerful as her was definitely capable of doing such a thing.

An erratic knock suddenly came from the door.

"Come in!" Xifeng called out. The door opened and in came an infernal who went up to her.

"Minister Xifeng, Prince Neo has told me to inform you that he has arrived and he needed his son to proceed to his room. They needed to talk."

Maxence wanted the ground to swallow him.

"Thank you," the woman said, nodding towards the infernal who walked out of the door after his business was done.

"Did you hear that, Maxence? Your father wants your presence."

Maxence groaned as he slammed his head against the table. His father wasn't insufferable and stuck up as his position would insinuate – in fact, he was the very opposite. Righteous, a man of few words and never showed a single facial expression. When he's together with Maxence, he never knew how to act as it would only result to his father mildly lecturing him. Mild didn't sound so bad, but Maxence got one every time he moved, making him feel like he was a complete and utter failure in his father's eyes.

"He's been out for two months, surely you missed him," Xifeng said, but it sounded more like she was convincing him rather than saying a statement.

"I don't know how to face him," Maxence wailed. "I don't even want to. All I'm going to get from him is a calm and serene earful of why I'm a worthless piece of shit but censored."

"Whatever, Maxence," the woman sighed as she waved her hand. "Go on, hurry up and finish your food. Don't make your father wait."

Maxence wanted to take his time and stall, but Xifeng was constantly pressuring him to finish and go that when he choked on a cake, he gave up stuffing himself and went on his way just to get this over with.

Neo's quarters were at the topmost floor of the Citadel along with all the other ministers. Maxence used to stay here as well when he was younger, but as he grew older and was bullied for staying at his father's place, he has moved out to stay at the dormitories. Each chamber had a huge metal door that protected the inside, and only a select few were allowed to get in, as the doors would burn any unidentified person who tried to enter without permission.

Since he was family, Maxence invited himself in and easily got inside. The interior of the chamber was huge, almost as big as a house mostly thanks to the various sacred texts that it housed from all the previous owners of the chamber that were not successfully moved out into the Hall of the Past.

"Maxence, is that you?"

The young demon turned to the voice and saw Neo near the shelves that lined a wall, slipping in a few books before walking up to him. The man looked as serene as ever, in the standard red suit of the demons with his blond hair slicked back neatly. He had his single spectacle over his right eye, signifying that he had been reading before he came in.

"Hey Dad," Maxence awkwardly said, scratching his nape. "How have you been?"

Neo quietly stared at him before he nodded. "I'm fine. Business was hectic and tiring since those ancient scrolls really needed my devotion but at least the past two months are over. How about you?"

Maxence was slightly impressed that his father had said that much to him. Before, he'd only talk that much if he had something to say about what Maxence has done that he deemed wrong.

"W-Well…" the young demon looked up to the ceiling as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Not much."

"Escaping the House of Pandemonium, single-handedly fighting hounds after turning into a demon then waking up from a coma and harassed by the triplets right after is not much to you, hmm?" Neo chuckled, driving Maxence speechless.

“Yeah well it wasn’t easy,” Maxence laughed painfully.

Neo sighed as he reached out. He was a veteran demon, already two hundred years old before he met Maxence’s mother and even more years added to his age now that Maxence was an adult. He has seen so many things for the past century, encountered lots of conflict related to the world of Pandemonium and Avalon, dirtied his hands to protect the balance of the world and yet, when he placed his hand on Maxence’s head, he was so gentle that Maxence felt a bit embarrassed.

“You’re always acting like you’re strong. I won’t be surprised if it gets you killed someday.”

Maxence chuckled softly. His father was right, but in a world like this, did he have any other choice but to act strong even if everything was ruining him?

“I’m sorry for being selfish, Maxence. This old man just did not want to see the only family he has left vanish so early, that’s why I ordered everyone to force you into becoming a demon even if you didn’t want to.”

Maxence lowered his head and rubbed his arm uncomfortably. “Honestly… you should have told me yourself. Somehow, things wouldn’t feel forced if you asked me directly.”

Neo closed his eyes, guilt painted across it. “I’m sorry for not being a proper father to you”

“It’s alright… really. I’m a demon now, nothing will change. I’m not angry, I’ve accepted it. Even though I insisted on being a human, a part of me knew I’ll still turn into a demon one way or another. ”

“Then… will you promise me that you will do your duty properly?”

“I mean… I can try,” Maxence shrugged, scratching his nape with uncertainty. “But like… I am peerless when it comes to being lame in scythe-play and combat. I’m just saying don’t blame me if I die or something. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come for my poor soul and tear it to pieces.”

Neo smiled with a little chuckle. “What? Why would I do that?”

“Aunt Xifeng told me she’d do that,” Maxence said.

“And you believe her?”

“She once tied me up upside down just because she got angry that I threw myself on Emerald’s scythe.”

“Of course she’d be angry, she took care of you ever since you were a child. She doesn’t want you to throw away the life she worked hard to nurture.”

Maxence pouted distastefully. “It’s still a very cruel thing to do to a child, don’t you think?”

“She only did that when you started scythe-play at the age of twelve, which is honestly just discipline, don’t you think? If we went soft on a cambion, you wouldn’t be able to catch up with your peers.”

“You’re right at some degree… but what if my mortal teachers find out? You would’ve had charges for child abuse.”

“But it didn’t happen.”

“But what if it did? I would lose my precious Auntie Xifeng and my dad.”

“You and your smart mouth,” Neo chuckled heartily as he ruffled Maxence’s hair affectionately, who was amused of how it’s suddenly so easy to talk to his dad. Or, well, maybe it’s just something that he didn’t really bother with before so he never got around to finding it out sooner.

"Has Xifeng told you about your duties? I was told that the Board of Infernal Duty has assigned an area to you already. Did she give you details about what you will do starting tomorrow?"

Maxence shook his head. "I think she was about to get to that since it was our topic but the messenger you sent came in and you ordered for my presence."

Neo nodded. "I see, I see. Well, Xifeng will most likely call for you after we do our father-son business here. Meanwhile, to orient you before you start your duty, you must read this."

He handed Maxence a small, clean white book with his name right on the front. He was confused why his name was on the cover, but when he flipped through the pages, it's a detailed explanation of everything he had to do.

"Introduction to Infernal Demonic Patrol, by the board of Infernal Duty," Maxence read off the first page, squinting at the outrageously small print. Is the Board of Infernal Duty tight on budget?

"Infernals get this handbook when they enter the right age for deployment... Congratulations Infernal Maxence for pledging allegiance to Pandemonium... Please read carefully blah blah blah… So I'm assigned at Delphine Road."

He looked up to his father and grinned. "You know where that is, right?”

The old man nodded. “I do.”

“Then, if I don't go home after a few days, it means I've been killed and thrown into the dense woodland near Delphine Road. You know what to do. I want my ashes right next to mom."

A small smile flitted over Neo’s lips. "You grew up with a sick sense of humor, Maxence. I completely failed at being a parent."

“Well, you couldn’t be in two places at the same time, right?” Maxence softly grinned. “It’s not something you should be sorry about.”

“But still… I’m a bad parent and yet here I am, demanding you to be a demon and to properly fulfill your job. Do I even have such a right?”

“Well you are the Prince of the Frost City's House of Pandemonium...”

“You’re right.” Neo sighed. “But I’m a parent, first and foremost. I shouldn’t be exercising my power that excessively over my own son.”

Maxence reached out and squeezed his dad’s shoulder. Really, he never planned things to turn out this way. It’s hard to stay mad at his father who’s feeling remorseful of his shortcomings. What’s even stranger is the fact that his spirits are lifted, knowing someone still relied on him and genuinely wanted him in the House of Pandemonium not for the sole purpose of being a high official’s child.

“I’ll work properly, Dad. You can sleep peacefully without worrying over me ending myself. You gave me one reason to do this.”