Disclaimer: I don't own Beelzebub.

Chapter 6: Freezing Hell

The existence of demons was nothing new for her. Ever since Oga had told her the truth about Baby Beel, there was still the slightest bit of doubt in her. Moreover, it was a secret wish that all of that would be just a lie or a bad joke, and that the innocent infant would be a normal baby. That he would lead an ordinary life alongside his beloved human father…

However, it didn't change the fact that all of that was the bitter truth.

What her grandpa had told her back then in her childhood, was only half the battle. He had always described demons as cruel beings living in their own realm of fire. The very fire, which would burn a plain human's skin slowly but surely to increase his agony.

Now there she was, being in the said realm herself and learning it the hard way. The moment the future Queen's eyes landed on her; the moment Kunieda met her louring gaze… she felt it.

Baneful iciness.

She sensed the deadly chill coming from Hilda – from her bare eye – directed solely on her. Instantly, her grip on the unconscious Oga resting on her lap loosened as if the dominating figure above told her to do so with her freezing, loathing glance. At the same moment, Kunieda unconsciously clutched the non-sentient man even more tightly with trembling hands. Not only her hands, her whole body started shaking from tip to toe.

She was cold.

That was the complete opposite of what her grandpa had told. The complete opposite of what humans thought about hell being a boiling hot place. And yet, Kunieda was freezing. All of her limbs, the blood in her veins, even the air in her lungs – just everything in and around her was ice cold. And the source of it was the familiar person standing in front of her.

All the deadness came from Hilda.

"My, my. Seems like he isn't fit just yet after all."

It was the Demon Lord's comment about Oga, which made Kunieda gasp for air and come back to reality. She panted heavily while she was slowly becoming aware of her surroundings again.

"Kunieda-san! Are you alright?"

She turned left and found Furuichi with Baby Beel kneeling next to her and Oga. Although he asked her that, Furuichi seemed to have a feeling of unease, too.

At lightning speed, an object came flying towards their direction and landed on a spot behind them. Without paying much attention to it, they riveted on the throne again. Seeing the Blonde's outstretched hand, they concluded that it was her doing.

"Disappear." was Hilda's sole speech before she turned her back on the humans. She spoke some final words to the King inaudibly to the others before she left the hall.

After the future Queen was out of sight, Furuichi relaxed unknowingly. The mere presence of the woman put an enormous pressure on him, thus his mind told him to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Y-your Highness..." Furuichi was unsure how to call the King. "... would you allow us to retreat for the time being? Our friend needs to-..."

"Fine." The Lord approved without letting him finish. He gestured to one of his servants to help carrying out the unconscious man. Nevertheless, there was a little change in his attitude.

The humans almost reached the exit when the King ordered to continue the festivities. None the less, the tense atmosphere didn't escape the sharp intuition of the silver-head. The Demon Lord seemed to be stressed even if he hid it. Prince En was strikingly silent all the time. Murmur of voices reached his ear and skeptical gazes of the audience. Something else was going on there.

The disturbance was not only caused by Oga.

"Excuse me..." Furuichi addressed Kunieda and the servant. "I need to go to the bathroom. Would you guys go ahead?"

Kunieda met him with disbelief. "Can't you wait-... Furuichi-kun!" Before she turned around, the latter was already gone.

Furuichi sneaked off unnoticed by the crowd back to the hall. Since he was an invited guest of the Lord, he didn't need to hide actually. Anyway, there was a person he was looking for and planning to meet secretly – the only person there, who he could rely on blindly, although she detested him for any reason.

"Lamia!" he whispered her name loudly enough that the pink-haired turned around jerkily. She was surprised, or rather shocked to see him and that he had still the guts to talk to her.

"What the-... hey!" Furuichi grabbed her wrist and dragged her to a quieter place. Even though Lamia protested furiously, she kept her voice low to avoid attention. "Let go of me, you louse!"

"Lamia!" he released her arm for a moment and faced her. "I need to talk to Hilda!"

Someone was knocking on the door behind her. Even without turning around, Hilda would notice the aura of every familiar demon.

"What is it, Lamia?"

Lamia opened the door and entered. "Hilda-hime..." she hesitated nervously. Hilda knew that Lamia wasn't alone because of the way she called her. "Furuichi Takayuki... wants to see you."

A long silence filled the room which felt for Lamia like hours. She could swear that her fast heartbeats were audible enough for the Princess. "Let him in." came Hilda's plain answer out of nowhere. Lamia couldn't believe her ears and looked up at her back. Then, she realized the meaning of her words and obeyed immediately.

When Furuichi slowly entered and had a closer look on the future Queen – although she wasn't facing him – he suppressed the urge to compliment her gorgeousness. Even the Hilda from years ago would almost strangle him for it, so he couldn't even imagine what the person in front of him was capable of now.

That wasn't the Hilda he knew anymore.

"To think that you of all people would dare to see me." Hilda's voice was as emotionless as ever.

On the other hand, Furuichi chose his words very carefully in order to not agitate her. "To be honest, my heart has already sank into my boots. Coming so far was out of my predictions, too, but I need answers."

"For what?" she hissed.

"I must convince myself first. Only then, I can convince Oga to leave the Demon World... without you."

The temperature sank even by the mere mention of his name. "What makes you think that you'll get answers here?"

"I gambled." Furuichi shrugged. "No, I'm quite sure that you also want answers after what happened earlier... and me being here and talking to you now, it confirms my guess, right?"

She stayed silent, though Furuichi had no idea what she was thinking. Interpreting Hilda's silence without seeing her facial expression was even impossible for him. Therefore, he went on and posed the one question that he was dying to know.

"Do you hate Oga to such a vast degree that you wanted to kill him yesterday?"

A/N: Jeez! This chapter was supposed to stop at a much crueler cliffhanger...! (I'm mean, aren't I?) Well, you have to read it next time then: What will be Hilda's answer? A bigger mystery and a turn of events that you won't expect...!

Review, please!