Chapter 10:

Breakfast at the Demon King's abode always tended to begin relatively early. Satan Jacob preferred to dine with his generals. 'To familiarize ourselves with each other,' he justified with a small smile. 'Much less boring than eating alone at such a large table.'

Of course, no one dared question their leader's strange antics. Most adapted fairly quickly; waking up at the crack of dawn to complete their training regiment before joining the others for a tasteful meal. With the new integration of the army's divisions, the strengthening of their soldiers became the king's utmost concern. As such, breakfast became a good opportunity to hold somewhat informal meetings every week about each general's progress with their own division. Satan Jacob was never one for formalities, when he could help it.

The Demon King, always eager for some food, generally arrived first, just as servants were lining up trays of fresh fruit and bread loafs. When the staff attempted to prepare in accordance to his arrival, he chided, "no, take your time, really. I rather like watching you all work. Besides, it gives me time to enjoy the quiet before I drown in paperwork." Although his carefree attitude often offset the staff, they couldn't exactly argue against it either. In fact, some even found it unexpectedly refreshing.

The rest preferred to come in some minutes afterwards. Adramelech, once he heard of Satan Jacob's earlybird behaviour, made sure to meet him in time. Although the two wouldn't exchange anymore than a simple greeting, he kept insisting on it. Respect, maybe. For Alciel, it wouldn't be much different. Although he'd certainly prefer accompanying his king in the morning, as he used to do, he simply had a few matters to check up on before the day could officially begin. In the case of Malacoda, it often led to a inconspicuous grumble about the ungodly time until he set foot into the dining room, where his king and colleagues waited. Not that anyone could blame him; demon customs usually called for a much more nocturnal schedule, especially in his type. The sudden change could be difficult to get used to.

The only one to remain completely unbothered by the change was Lucifer. In fact, he could be late to every meeting and disappear at a moment's notice while still being punctual to breakfast. He'd leisurely stroll in, only to gently plop onto his self-assigned seat, the second seat on the king's left. He'd chirp on endlessly about the most mundane things for the sole purpose of talking. If didn't fill the otherwise awkward silence in the room, Alciel would've considered asking him to stop already and maybe swallow some of the food he was served for once. With the many responsibilities that their roles entailed, most of them were prone to a few moments of complete solemnity, if not most of the time. It was strange how Lucifer never quite seemed to feel the pressure, often laughing and joking around in the most infuriating manner as if nothing could ever tie him down. Some of the servants even wondered at times why the king kept him around.

However, today, Lucifer was nowhere to be seen. The four of them waited, actually waited, expecting a purple silhouette to burst through the wooden doors at any moment. Sure enough, nothing. Annoyed, Alciel waved over the closest maid, a petite lizard demon with a lithe figure and an angular face. "Go get that lazy excuse of a general. My Lord, late to th- "

The doors busted open with a loud noise. A pair of small pale hands appeared behind them, fingers stretching out to then cling to the entryway as a head leaned onto it for support. "I'm here…"

With a huff, Alciel wasted no time admonishing the fallen angel. "Took you long enough! Where were you Lucifer?"

The other didn't bother answering right away, and instead took his sweet time walking over to his chair, decidedly collapsing onto the soft cushion before absentmindedly running a hand through the tangled strands of hair. "Had some business.. Took longer than I first intended.."

"And what business might that be?" Malacoda said, intrigued. Lucifer's eyes briefly flitted in his direction before resting on the bunches of grapes conveniently placed in front of him.

"Had some extra sessions with some of the soldiers, but one seemed to have trouble following directions from me, so I had to put him in his place." He said offhandedly, as if he was talking about the weather. He plucked a grape from the bunch and tentatively placed it on his tongue, letting the flavor invade his mouth as teeth broke the skin.

Swallowing a chuckle, Satan Jacob, allowed himself a faint smile and added, "I do hope you won't kill my recruits so soon into their enlistment. It took quite a bit of negotiating to gather so many."

In response, Lucifer tore a piece out from his roll and plopped it in his mouth. "Why of course Sire, I did do most of the negotiating after all."

"Now that we are all present, let's begin," said Satan.