She watches the boy from the corner of her eye. His constant yelling at her son and the contractor antics fall deaf on the duos ears. Hilda is watching them from afar and the fact that she doesn't intervene reveals how this is the norm for them.

Her gaze on them is interrupted when a blue cape fills her vision. She smiles coldly at one of the pillars who brushed a little to close to her and she's relieved that one of the higher ranking pillars strongly pulls the demon away from her. It seems the older members remember her status, while the younger looking ones probably know nothing of her. She will talk to En about being more active in his army. She's not going to have her son's army lack respect for the royal family.

The chair she is sitting in, is in the corner of the room. All the couches around her are empty except for two male figures who are lounging obscenely on them to the point they take the entire space. She thought she was giving enough deadly aura to let everyone know to leave her alone, but the two older men were immune to it.

Her eyes strayed away from the humans and landed on the older man and then glanced to the other. Behemoth and Furcas glanced back at her and then all three laid their eyes on one of the humans.

Silver hair and silver eyes.

Just the sight of the familiar traits made Iris' jaw clench and stomach roll. How badly she wanted to get up from this corner, walk over there and slap that human so he would be quiet. Even his voice was the same. She could be across that room and crushing his windpipe in less than a second.

She couldn't even lift her foot before Behemoth muttered to her "Iris, that boy isn't him."

The older demon drank the last of his drink and glanced at the empress. "He's different, that boy over there knows nothing of his past life. He will be different this time, I can feel it."

He looks just like him though. Though he was the reincarnation of her husband's contractor, he had no memories.

No memories of how his actions impacted their marriage and changed her loving yet powerful husband into a depressed video game addict. How he betrayed them and destroyed their friendship.

Her hands were shaking now as she remembered how they were covered in blood. In her best friend's blood.

Her revenge for his disloyalty somehow felt bitter when she cried over his body and cradled him in her arms. His beautiful silver hair stained in red, his eyes empty and unseeing of her tear stained face.

Looking up from her shaking hands, she's met with those damn gray eyes. The human has finally stopped shouting at her son and is now openly staring at her. His expression is one of someone who is seeing a familiar face but cannot place where they know the person from.

Does he remember?
Remember their lives before he betrayed her? Their memories of being friends since children. How he promised her he would always be by her side no matter what happened.

Solomon.
Her Solomon.

The one who stayed by her side till one night he strayed away. And in revenge for his straying, she killed him. And for centuries she wondered if she would ever find out why he betrayed her. But no matter how long she searched for answers she found nothing.

Dealing with Solomon's betrayal she looked for answers, and her husband delved into depression and video games.

And now, here he was. Standing across the room for her. Staring at her.

Rage filled her.
How dare he look at her?

She was stuck between wanting to destroy the human boy while also embracing him and begging him to please remember.

Remember his past life so she can finally find peace and know why. Why did he betray them. How could he hurt her. He was her best friend.

Was this reincarnation of her best friend, revenge for her actions. Actions of pushing him to becoming a spell master and then the contractor of her husband. A life he never wanted.

The human boy looked away and his gaze fell on her son's contractor. The look on his face took her breath away as it was one that she saw while looking at photos she hid away. Only to pull them out when she was feeling somber of lost days.

The look of longing was always on her best friend's face in these photos. And she was the target of this gaze.

How she missed this gaze for all her life was lost to her. But now she was seeing it once again on the boy's face. And once again the person who was being gazed at was oblivious.

Any form of revenge vanished from her mind as she watched this boy, Furuichi, walk away from the trio and head to the hallway. She watched how his hand raised and lingered on his chest, above his heart. How his face crumbled in pain for a moment before he turned into the hallway.

"We're gonna have to fix that." Furcas stated loudly enough for the two to hear. "His heart isn't in good shape since Lucifer ripped it out of him."

The doctor turned to her and ignoring the older male demon stated "If you're still looking for revenge, Empress, we can set up an interrogation. If you're not, then I ask for permission to aid the contractor. He has many injuries that have not been fully healed since the last battle he was in." The doctor froze and continued after a moments hesitation. "He has also been poisoned by the tissues and I would like to detox him as soon as possible."

Yesterday she would have denied his request but today she replied back instantly.

"Heal him."

Over the centuries the revenged she thought she desires was ill placed. She realizes now she never wanted to see that look of pain on her best friend's face again.

Getting up from her chair she walked towards the hallway. She was gonna see her Solomon, and as the room filled with demons parted for her without a word she held her head high.

She was the empress, and one of the most powerful demons in hell. She no longer desired revenge. What she desired was seeing the face of her best friend smile. Honestly, truly smile. And if she could be so daring, she wanted that smile to be at her.

Though she couldn't have her best friend back, she could at least get to know who this Furuichi was.